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“Don’t listen to him, Cap.” Hughie chuckled. “Torture him.”

“Look—it’s like a hippo trying to outrun a cheetah.” I heard Tadhg and Ollie laugh, and even though I was mad as hell and had blood dripping down the back of my neck, I had to admit it was a lovely sound.

* * *

“Gerard, you don’t throw hammers at Johnny,” Mam repeated for the tenth time when we walked back into the kitchen, having just returned from the out-of-hours doctor for a quick stitch-and-go.

“Fine,” Gibsie huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “But you remind him right back of what he’s not supposed to do to me.”

“Oh, Lord, save me from the stupidity of teenage boys.” Setting her handbag down on the island, Mam ushered us both onto the stools and sighed heavily. “Johnny, you don’t smother Gerard with your bloodied T-shirt and trip him up. You know he gets squeamish around bodily fluids.”

“Mybloodied T-shirt,” Gibsie corrected, narrowing his eyes at me. “It was my bloodied T-shirt to matchmybroken chin.”

“You didn’t break your chin,” I scoffed. “You grazed it.”

His mouth fell open. “I have a gaping hole in myface!”

“Yeah.” I glared back at him. “To match the gaping hole in myhead!”

“I havefourstitches,” he growled, pointing to his bandaged chin.

I pointed to my bandaged head. “I havesix!”

“The point is, you shouldn’t be giving each other stitches,” Mam snapped. “You’re both going on eighteen years of age. You’re getting a bit old in the tooth for this carrying on.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Dad said when he walked into the kitchen with Sean on his hip. “What did you two do now?”

“We had a small miscommunication,” Gibsie replied, elbowing me in the ribs. “A little crossing of wires.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, elbowing him back. “But it’s balanced out now.” My gaze landed on Sean in his brand-new Bob the Builder pajama set and I winked at him. “How’s my big man?”

He grinned back at me. “Onny.” Wriggling down from my father’s arms, he scooted across the kitchen, heading straight for me with his little hands up. “Ow-ow, Onny.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and bent down to pick him up. “That’s right, but I’m okay.” Setting him down on the counter in front of me, I poked his belly and snickered when he howled laughing. “You’ve got a big belly.” I chuckled, poking him again and grinning like a dope when he squealed in delight. “Is this Santa’s belly? Hmm? Give me that belly—”

“You really like this one, don’t you?” Gibsie mused, watching as I lowered my head for Sean to investigate my bandage. “You’re going soft, Kav.”

“Look at him,” I defended, pointing at my girlfriend’s baby brother. I’d spent a lot of time with this kid since they all moved in. Sean always seemed the happiest to see me, and he was too bleeding heartbreaking to ignore. I knew it wasn’t right to favor children, and I’d never admit it aloud, but if I had my pick of the bunch it would be this one every single time. And maybe Ollie. Screw it, I liked them all, but this one? He was something else. “Look at those big eyes,” I ordered, pointing at Sean’s big chocolate-button eyes. “He’s like a puppy. How could you not love that face?”

“He’s a person, not a puppy,” Gibsie laughed.

“He’s my puppy, aren’t you, buddy?”

Sean nodded happily. “Onny.” He smashed my cheeks in his hands. “My Onny.”

“Your Onny?” Gibsie teased. “No, no, I don’t think so.” Draping an arm over my shoulders, he said, “This is my Onny.”

Sean’s face reddened. “My Onny.” Clutching my face in his tiny hands, he pulled me closer. “My Onny.”

“Christ, lad, you’re like the baby whisperer,” Gibsie chuckled, sounding impressed. “He was barely communicating the last time I saw him, and now he’s all over you.” Frowning, he asked, “Is it just the J’s he has trouble with? Is it a speech impediment or something?”

“He doesn’t have any trouble,” I replied in a baby voice, pulling a face at Sean. “You’re just taking your time, aren’t ya, buddy?”

Sean nodded happily and I knew he didn’t have a notion of what I was talking about, but he was so fucking cute that he made me laugh anyway.

“See that bold boy, Sean?” I teased, pointing to Gibsie. “We’re going to get him, aren’t we? What do we say when we chase people?”

“Oof.” Narrowing his eyes at Gibsie, he lunged forward and barked, “Oof.”

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