Page 33 of Brother to Brother

“Tix!”

“Trix it is,” I said and stood, picking him up when he reached for me. We went out into the living room where we found Archer, standing with a concerned looking Rush and Nox.

“Did you seriously agree to marry this asshole?” Rush asked and I immediately scowled at him.

“Language!” I admonished.

“That doesn’t answer the question,” he said.

“Yes, and it’s my business and Archer’s,” I told him.

“Oh my god,why?Why would you do that?” he asked and looked completely baffled.

“Do you really have to ask?” Nox leveled his twin with a downright tempestuous look.

“Shit, man. I just never thought I’d see the day, let alone that it’d be –” he stopped mid-sentence and looked like he was struggling.

“What? That’d it’d be Grinder’s leftovers?” I asked softly.

Silence met my question and I set Noah down in a chair at the table. I brought down a bowl and filled it with his favorite cereal and added milk, bringing it and a spoon over to him. I sat down with my son and helped him eat, we were doing really well with him feeding himself and making less mess in the process. I smoothed down his bed head and watched him for a moment while the guys all stood around looking guilty or just plain at a loss for anything to say.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you can say whatever you’d like about me, treat me how ever you’d like, as long as Noah is treated well and you don’t treat me poorly in front of him, okay?”

“Rush, Nox, I think you guys had better go for now,” Archer said pinching the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. Nox punched Rush in the arm.

“Ow!”

“Shut up, you big baby, let’s go,” Nox said and he didn’t sound at all happy with his twin. I didn’t blame him. Rush had a bad habit of opening his mouth and inserting his foot. This was no exception.

The boys piled out of the apartment’s front door and shut it behind them leaving Archer and I staring at one another over my baby’s head as he happily munched his cereal, apparently none the worse for wear over what’d happened the day before.

“Change your mind?” he asked. I shook my head silently.

Archer nodded and rolled his lips, “I’ll uh, get us an appointment at the courthouse.”

I nodded and swallowed hard, “You should let your brothers know, not just Rush and Nox, but the rest of the club, you know? So that they can be there; they might get upset if they feel left out. It’s kind of an important milestone.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, you know its Saturday. You don’t have work, why don’t we go over to the club and let folks know what’s up. I don’t think it’s a good idea you hanging around here today, you know, after what happened.”

I nodded again, and smoothed my lips together, “That’s a good idea,” I murmured.

Archer sank into the seat next to mine and asked, “What’s bothering you?”

“A lot of things,” I said quietly.

“Talk to me,” he said and I closed my eyes.

“It’s okay,” I told him, “You don’t have to pretend all of a sudden to care because I’ve agreed to marry you…”

He sat up straight and shifted in his seat, leaning back, “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have asked you to in the first place; don’t you think?”

I sighed and fixed my gaze to the tabletop, “I know the reason you’re doing this is for Noah, and that’s okay. I’m used to being an afterthought.”

“Right, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why do you put words in my mouth?”

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