Page 49 of Mending Scars

When Ethan and Tristan came back and sat down with their huge order of chili cheese fries and a hot dog, Ethan gestured to the food. “Help yourself. We won’t finish them all.”

Tristan stabbed a clump of fries with his fork. “Yeah, Uncle Ryker, they’re so good. Have some.”

I laughed as he stuffed the food in his mouth, making his cheeks bulge out as he attempted to chew. Ethan’s mouth twitched as he fought a smile while halfheartedly scolding, “Tristan, don’t put so much food in your mouth. You could choke.”

Tristan continued chewing his food before looking up at Ethan. “Sorry, Daddy.” He rubbed his stomach in circles before patting it. “They’re just so good.”

A loving smile spread over Ethan’s face. “I know. Just be careful, son.”

Tristan continued eating as Ethan directed his attention to me. “So, how’s everything?”

“Pretty good—we’ve been looking for a house.”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Really? How’s that going?”

“We found the perfect house, but we don’t have enough—the seller denied our offer.”

Ethan’s face fell slightly. “I’m sorry, bro.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay—not your fault. They gave us a good counter, even offered to cover the closing costs, but it was still about ten thousand too much.” I sighed, feeling defeated. “I just feel so bad that I can’t give Kaiya the dream house that she deserves.”

Ethan reached behind Tristan and patted me on the back. “You’ll find something—don’t worry about it.”

I nodded. “Yeah.” I took another drink from my beer before changing the subject. I hated thinking about the devastated look on Kaiya’s face when we found out we couldn’t afford the house. “How’s everything with you?”

“Work has been great. I’ve been selling a ton of prime property above market value.”

Ethan sold commercial real estate in and around Boston, which had proved to be a profitable career for him. He lived in a luxury condo in the Wellesley area of Boston and earned enough where Molly didn’t have to work.

“And…” Ethan’s eyes lit up as a wide grin spread over his lips. “Molly’s pregnant.”

“That’s great, bro.” I swallowed the lump that inexplicably formed in my throat. “Congratulations.”

I didn’t understand the uncomfortable twisting in my gut. I should’ve been happy for my brother, but I guess I wasn’t completely over what had happened yet. Whenever Molly’s name was mentioned, it caused anger to rush through my veins.

Ethan broke through my thoughts. “She’s not as far along as Kaiya, though. Molly’s only seven weeks. How many weeks is Kaiya now?”

I thought for a minute, trying to push aside the negative reaction I was having to Ethan’s news. “She’s about eighteen weeks. We find out the sex of the baby at her next appointment.”

Ethan smiled knowingly. “You want a boy, right?”

I shrugged. “When we first found out, all I could think about was that I wanted it to be a boy.” I chuckled and shook my head. “But lately, the thought of having a little Kaiya running around has been going through my mind a lot.”

“That would probably be better than having another Ryker terrorizing everyone,” he joked as he shoved my shoulder.

I bit my lip and clenched my eyes shut as a sharp pain shot up my neck and through my chest.

Ethan’s humorous tone flipped to concern. “Hey, are you okay? I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

I exhaled through my nose as I grit my teeth. “You didn’t. I just have an injury that I haven’t fully recovered from yet.” I slowly rotated my shoulder and winced again. “You hit it in just the right spot.”

“Injury? What injury?” Ethan asked in confusion.

I opened my eyes as the pain subsided. I could see Tristan out of the corner of my eye, oblivious to us as he munched on his hot dog. I sat up straight and moved my shoulder again to work out the remaining stiffness and lingering pain. I turned to meet my brother’s perplexed eyes. “I was shot.”

Ethan’s eyebrows practically sprang up into his hairline. “What? When? And by who?” His voice rose angrily with each question.

“About six months ago. Kaiya had been shot at by her brother, and I blocked her and took most of the impact from the bullet.” I rubbed my hands together anxiously as I remembered the shooting. The anguish of almost losing Kaiya felt fresh when I thought about that night. “But it still went through me and into her. I… I thought I’d lost her. The doctors said it was only inches from piercing her heart.”

---