Page 80 of The MC's Little Brother

She hummed, and I heard her footsteps as she moved somewhere she could talk. “It’s okay. Looks like a double ear infection that got pretty bad.Zoey never complained, so Maggie didn’t notice until the fever wouldn’t come down. Some antibiotics and rest will do wonders. They’re keeping her here until the fever breaks, and I volunteered to stay. It means an extra long shift for me, but Maggie is distraught. I don’t want to leave her hanging.”

“I figured. You’re a saint, sweetheart.”

“No, I’m not,” she chuckled. “I’m just trying to beat Rooster on best godparent.”

I huffed out a laugh and rolled my eyes. No, she wasn’t. She did the same thing whenever anyone in the crew ended up in her hospital. She volunteered to stay and worked until they went home. Then she checked on them at home until they were back on their feet.

“How’d Xander do?”

Sobering, I glanced out the window toward the backyard. It was too dark to see much, but last I checked, he was sitting on one of the swings. Alone. I hated leaving him all alone.

“Mattias?”

Blinking a few times, I tuned back into the conversation. “What? Oh, he did fine. Ellie woke up at one point and I came home to him singing to her in the rocking chair. I think it freaked him out, leaving him here. He seems really upset.”

“Did he say that?” she asked.

“No. Just a feeling. He looked like he wanted to cry after we got out of the girls’ room, and he’s been in the backyard by himself ever since.”

She sighed. “I’ll talk to him. He told me he wasn’t comfortable with individual therapy, but he’s comfortable talking to me. Maybe he can tell me what’s bothering him.”

A part of me was jealous. I understood why Xander trusted her so much; she was a kind and friendly person. I just didn't know why he didn’t trust me. He knew both of us for the same length of time, but for some reason, he only felt comfortable talking to her. What the hell was I doing wrong?

“So, since you have my car, you’ll have to pick me up tomorrow. Be a good boyfriend and bring your bike. I haven’t gotten nearly enough time on the back of that beauty.”

My mouth ticked up and I let out a breath. She had this insane way of putting me at ease when I was stressed out. I’d need to do something specialfor her after such a long shift at work. Maybe cook her favorite dinner before she went to bed for a good twelve hours. She woke up early today and would be up all night and all day tomorrow. She deserved a little spoiling.

Butch and Skylarreturned around nine, with all four kids asleep. Ryder had slept through the entire drive to and from the hospital and woke up for a little while for a bottle, but he was back down right before they got home. Skylar looked a little better, her smile more relaxed and happy. She looked around the house, her eyebrows going up.

“Wow. It looks great in here. Whenever Rooster babysits, it looks like a tornado passed through.”

“I had help. Flash was on clean up and Xander got the girls to sleep.” I relayed everything we’d done and all the information they needed about Ryder. He still didn’t sleep through the night, but he’d be out for a few hours at least since he just went down. They headed upstairs to check in on their kids after another round of thank you's, and I went looking for Xander outside. He was still on the swing, swinging lazily, his focus on his feet.

“Ready to go?”

He looked up at me, and his hands tightened around the chains for a second. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closed it again with a defeated sigh.

“Yeah. Is Mel coming back?”

Whatever he wanted to talk about, it was obviously hard for him. I knew that feeling. Admitting to Wyatt that my dad was hurting me felt like a spiked ball in my throat that I couldn’t get out. It took months and him witnessing it for me to finally come clean. If Xander needed more time, I needed to respect that. Whatever he had to say, I’d back him up when he was ready.

I decided to let it go, answering his question as we headed around the house. I didn’t want to disturb the family crossing through again. “Not tonight. Zoey’s staying a while and Mel’s staying with her. She’s selfless like that.”

He nodded, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “When is she moving back to her house?”

There was apprehension in his voice, and I got the feeling he wanted her to leave about as much as I did.

“If it were up to me, never. But it’s not up to me. Just like I let you have the time to think about things, I gotta do the same for Mel.” And because I didn't want to make any big decisions without talking to him first, I asked, “Do you want her to go?”

He shook his head vehemently. “No. I want her to stay.”

Throwing my arm around his shoulders, I led him to Mel’s car. “Me too.”

He went quiet again, and the whole drive home he stared out the window. When we got back home, Thor met us at the door, that big goofy grin on his face. Xander knelt down next to him, and the tension around his eyes eased a little as they said hello to each other. We headed to our separate rooms, and I put my phone on loud enough that if Mel got out early, I would hear it ringing and come get her.

I wasn’t sure if it was the way Xander was acting that mirrored how I acted as a kid or if it was because I was sleeping alone, but I had a nightmare for the first time in years, except this time I wasn’t alone when Jorge came after me. I was Xander’s age, maybe a little older, and I stood protectively in front of a toddler, no older than Ellie, who looked too much like Xander. It freaked me out, and I sat up with a shout when I finally managed to drag myself out of it.

My heart hammered in my chest and I felt my lungs burn like I’d been running a marathon. I thought I got past that shit. I wasn’t a little kid anymore and Jorge had no power over me. Honestly, if he showed up now, I’d pound his ass into the ground without a second thought. There was nothing to be afraid of. So why the hell couldn’t I sleep?

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