Page 10 of One Night With You

I pressed my lips together, holding back a smile. “You do realize that I’m a grown man and don’t need all three of you in here hovering?” My parents merely glared at me, and I held up both hands. “You know what, that’s fine. Everything is going to be fine.”

Lincoln pulled up his phone again. “Okay, common side effects of marrow donation are around two days in and it’s back and hip pain, fatigue, even throat pain, muscle pain, insomnia.”

“Don’t forget headaches, dizzy, and loss of appetite,” Ethan added.

“Some people can recover in two days or a week, other times it can take a whole month or a year,” Mom put in.

“Did you guys memorize that one website?” I asked.

“We looked atmultiplewebsites,” my mom said, before she moved forward and cupped my cheeks. “It scared me so much when you were sick the first time, but you were going to help your friend, and I love you with all of my heart. You care about so many people, my Kingston. And I’m honored to be your mother.” She leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached up to grip her wrists and squeezed. “I’ll be okay. Eddie needs me.”

“I know, baby. I know.”

“We all tested to see if we were a match the first time,” Ethan said as he cleared his throat. “And we would all do this, but you’re doing it for a second time. And I so love you for it.”

“I’ll be okay, you guys,” I whispered, and she then she kissed my forehead, and let me go before each of my dads hugged me tight.

As soon as they moved back, the nurses came in, and then it was time to prepare.

The procedure was very similar to the first, with nopain, just an uncomfortable sensation. And this time I didn’t react to the anesthesia adversely, so I was able to go home after they checked my vitals, and they waited for any reaction.

I wouldn’t hear from Samantha or Eddie for a bit, and that was fine. We needed to make sure that Eddie’s body didn’t reject the donation, and everything was grafted the way that it should.

It had worked before, and it would again.

And while I knew that having already donated twice in my life was a rarity, if I somehow matched again to someone else, or if Eddie needed a third, I would do it. Although I knew I probably needed to recover.

They could take what they needed, just to keep him safe.

I was strong enough—I had to be.

By the timeI got home, the family hadn’t left me alone.

Instead, the parents were cooking in the kitchen, making sure that I had plenty of things to heat up. The fact that they had made sure that the pans they put in the freezer weren’t too heavy so I wouldn’t have to lift anything was ridiculous, but caring.

They understood me. And they were damn good at it.

“So your ass hurt?” Oliver, my youngest brother, asked. It didn’t matter that we were all in our twenties and I was approaching thirty, Oliver was still my baby brother.

Emphasis onbaby.

“Really? That’s where you’re going with this?”

“I know, it’s all about your hips. Wasn’t there that old song about your hips not lying or something?” he asked.

“I cannot believe you just called it an old song,” Mom called from the kitchen, and I held back a chuckle. Laughing too hard didn’t feel quite great.

While everything was still numb, and I didn’t have too much discomfort, it was going to hit me soon. I was tired, and while I liked having my family here—including Kane and Phoebe here—I really just wanted some peace and quiet.

“You guys don’t need to stay all day. I promise I’m okay.”

“One of us is going to stay with you all night. Just in case. We’re here for you, and you’re just going to have to deal with it,” Mom said firmly. I smiled and settled deeper into the couch.

I lay back and watched my family eat as the nausea had hit me, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the anesthesia,or the donation itself. So I did my best to get comfortable with some saltines and ginger ale.

Kane and Phoebe—who had arrived for dinner—left first, and I knew they did because they wanted to set the tone, and then my parents finally left, leaving just my brothers.

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