Page 120 of Better Late Than Never

“I mean,” he went on, “that would be like me going to visit Quinn and Savannah, but blowing off Landon because—well, he has a girlfriend now, but when he didn’t have one. Or not bothering to see Quinn and Savannah until they have kids. Quinn and Landon are stillmykids.” He huffed sharply. “I can’t imagine just… thinking it wasn’t worth the effort to see them.”

I swallowed. That made perfect sense after hearing him talk about his boys and especially after seeing him with them. It was impossible to picture Connor blowing off either of them, never mind because one didn’t have a girlfriend or kids.

And holding up my family beside his… fuck. I loved my family, and I knew they loved me, but I didn’t much like the unflattering light this conversation was shining on them.

Connor cuddled closer to me and kissed my shoulder. “I’m sorry your family hasn’t prioritized you like they should.”

My throat tightened, and I closed my eyes as I laced our fingers together. “Theydolove me. I know they do.” Why did I sound like I was trying to convince myself, not him?

“I don’t doubt they do,” he said gently. “But it does sound like things are a bit… imbalanced.”

“They are,” I admitted. “And I’ve kind of tried to bring it up in the past, but I get shot down pretty quick.”

Connor shifted, and when I opened his eyes, he’d propped him up on his elbow and was gazing down at me, clearly puzzled. “Why’s that?”

I licked my lips. “My sister, mostly. Growing up, she always saw things as…” I thought about it. “Well, any time my brother or I asked for something, in her mind, it was always framed as us getting something she didn’t, or something being taken away from her. It…” I laughed. “It’s just the way she is, I guess. So like when I was home for Christmas and asked my parents if they might come visit me the following year, she started asking why I thought they shouldn’t come see her and her kids, and I…” Sighing, I rolled my eyes. “It just wasn’t worth fighting over, you know?”

“But they see your brother, don’t they? Is it an issue when they see him?”

I shook my head. “He lives closer to them, so they see him pretty often. Plus he has kids, so it would make sense for them to make the effort, even if it cuts into time spent with her kids. I’m just a childless bachelor. Who am I to selfishly take her kids’ grandparents away?”

“Good God. Did she also expect a present at other kids’ birthday parties?”

I snorted. “If that had been a thing in our generation, I guarantee she would have.” I paused. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she does that for her kids.”

“Oh my God,” he groaned. “Landon had a friend growing up whose parents always made sure he had a present at everyone else’s birthday party. My ex-wife came right out and asked how he was going to manage as an adult, and the mom just blew it off as, ‘he’s a kid, it’s not a big deal.’”

“Yeah?” I chuckled. “What’s he like now?”

“Probably as much of a hellspawn as he was back then,” Connor muttered. “That was when we lived in San Diego, and I don’t think Landon or Aimee kept in touch with the family.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

“I know, right?” He chuckled, but then he sobered and squeezed my hand. “Kind of sounds like what your parents did with your sister, honestly. Letting her go unchecked enough that she runs the show now.”

“Kind of,” I admitted. “And it’s just… I guess it’s easier to avoid conflict by not bringing it up. Even if I talk to my parents one-on-one, it’ll eventually get back to her when they start making plans, so…” I waved my other hand. “It’s like pulling teeth just to get them to FaceTime with me.”

Connor’s eyebrows jumped. “They don’t evenFaceTimewith you? When you’re this far away?”

I shrugged, not sure why this whole thing made me feel ashamed. “I don’t have grandkids for them to fawn over.”

Connor stared at me. “I can’t imagine not talking to my boys just because they don’t have kids. And I still can’t imagine your parents prioritizing your sister’s tantrums over coming to see their son.” He scoffed and shook his head. “If one of my boys took issue with me seeing his brother, we’d have a problem.”

That made sense. It made perfect sense. Connor fiercely loved both of his boys, and they quite clearly knew it.

“How did they get along as kids?” I asked, partly out of curiosity and partly to escape this topic.

He eyed me, and I had a feeling he recognized the subject change. Mercifully, he went with it. “Oh, they fought. They’re really close now, and Quinn and Savannah even offered to let Landon live with them while he was going to school. As teenagers, though?” He whistled, shaking his head. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah? That’s hard to picture.”

Connor groaned, wiping a hand over his face. “Oh my God. During my last shipboard deployment, I almost dreaded calling home because Aimee would be losing her mind over the boys fighting. She sent me a picture one day of Quinn with a black eye and Landon with a bloody nose, and she captioned it, ‘Tell me how your day was—I dare you.’”

“Oh, wow.” I laughed. “Okay, that sounds intense.”

“Right? But they mellowed, especially after Quinn graduated high school. Now you’d never know they ever had any sibling rivalry.”

“Aside from some brotherly shit-talking, right?”

---