Page 104 of All the Beautiful Things

Stopping by later today. Want to show Julio the man who loved me more than any other until him.

I grinned at her text and then it rapidly fell. Today was not going to be the Merry Christmas Dad wanted to give everyone. Not this year when the day would be filled with similar texts like this. Visits. Phone calls. Where Dad would feel obligated to let everyone know about his diagnosis and treatment.

He’d spend the day reassuring everyone he was fine, that he’d beat this and that they had no reason to worry or be afraid.

Typical Dad. Comforting everyone when he was the one who would need the help. I had no doubt many of these conversations would end with abundant use of tissues.

Still I texted back Charlotte.

Are you talking about me or Dad?

Smart ass. You were just the annoying pseudo-brother who would never leave Melissa and me alone.

Not my fault you two were loud and obnoxious. Dad will be thrilled to see you.

And you?

I’ll be the one making sure this Julio guy of yours is worthy of you.

So overprotective as usual. See you this afternoon. Oh. And I think Mom’s coming.

I set my phone down on the nightstand and then rubbed my hand over my face, shoving back my hair and then scraping my jaw that needed a good trim.

It still amazed me how some of the kids who lived with us still held Dad in such high regard. We helped them through the worst moments of their lives and often, had to send them back to scenarios where they were still in danger. In Charlotte’s case, her mom got the help she needed and has stayed clean. For the first few years after Charlotte returned to Marni’s home, Marni would come over for dinner. She was that thankful we were there to help her daughter when she couldn’t. Which meant I knew Charlotte had a great support system. She had her mom, and she was a smart, intelligent woman. She didn’t need Dad’s approval or blessing.

But it meant a lot, and it would to Dad, that she wanted it.

She wouldn’t be the only one who showed today either.

Sighing, I turned to kiss the top of Lilly’s head. She sighed beneath it and her hand at my stomach ran softly up to my chest before sliding to the side and hugged herself against me.

“Did I wake you?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, lips brushing against my skin and heating my blood. “I don’t mind though. What time is it?”

“Not quite seven.”

“Do we need to get moving?”

“No.” I rolled her to her back and kept my weight off her by propping up on my elbows. “We have some time.”

Lilly’s hands, soft and warm, ran up my chest and over to my shoulders before sliding down my arms. She yanked, forcing me to collapse onto her at the same time she spread her thighs, giving me room to fall against her.

“Good.” She grinned, impish and mischievous, and pressed her lips to me. “Then show me what you have planned for us.”

Who was I to resist?

* * *

Every worryabout the day ahead was wiped away as soon as Lilly and I walked into Dad’s house.

I’d feel ten thousand pounds of that worry and stress on my shoulders in order to see her reaction all over again.

Her hand gripped mine, held it tightly in her trembling grip as she grinned so wide her cheeks were in danger of splitting in two.

Her reaction to seeing his house even after being here last night hadn’t diminished at all. I nudged her playfully. “You already saw this,” I teased.

She grinned up at me, amber eyes bright and happy, and shrugged. “It’s so amazing it takes my breath away.”

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