Page 80 of Needing to Fall
She released my hand quickly, making me wonder if Lynx had told her about me, if he had warned her about my issues. I really didn’t know how to feel about that, if I should be happy he had taken that initiative or sad that he had talked about my problems with someone else.
“Uncle B!” a little voice came from behind Bailey before a little girl with light brown hair put up in the cutest, little pigtails pushed past her mom and came directly at Lynx.
He let go of my hand, scooped the little girl up off the ground, and held her in the air as she giggled.
“And who’s this? This can’t be my little Bray. No, this little girl is an imposter!” he said in a wonky voice that made the little girl laugh. “No, my little Bray is small. You are way too big!” He pulled her down against his chest, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
My heart skipped a beat. Seeing Lynx with the little girl made something in me want, really want to have my own family. I had thought about it a lot lately, but seeing that had sealed the deal.
Lynx would be a wonderful father. Me, I would do the damned best I could. I wanted it. I wanted the happiness that little girl felt for her uncle and he for her. I wanted to see that every day.
My heart warmed and thumped hard in my chest just as Lynx turned the little girl to me.
“Reign, this little peanut is Braylynn. Braylynn, this is Reign.”
She smiled at me. “Hi, Reign. You have a funny name.”
“Braylynn Marie!” Bailey snapped at her daughter.
I cut in, “You’re right. It’s nothing like Braylynn. That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful, little girl.”
She giggled and squirmed in Lynx’s arms. “Come on! Mommy cooked.” She said it like it didn’t happen often.
“I only cook when I have to,” Bailey explained with the same smile plastered on her face. It wasn’t fake or forced; it was genuine and I felt it. “I’m not horrible, but it isn’t something I enjoy.”
“Sis, you’ll have to teach her how to cook, because Reign burns water,” Lynx teased.
I smacked him on the arm, laughed, and then immediately stopped, feeling like I had done something wrong. Was it the laughing, joking, or that I was playing around with him? I didn’t know, but Lynx pulled me into him, still holding Braylynn; kissed my temple; and said, “Babe, relax.”
I breathed out and nodded.
We walked into the house, and it struck me hard. This was not a house; this was a home, a place where not only people lived daily, but a place where peoplelived.
The pictures on the wall in the hallway showed smiling faces and special trips. Braylynn’s pieces of artwork were in frames like they were the most expensive paintings in the world.
It was a place where people had built a life and were living it every day. I wanted that. I needed that.
I was so stuck on the pictures I jumped when Bailey stood next to me and said, “I love pictures. Mal says I take so many every second of Bray’s life is documented.”
“Mal?”
“Malcolm, my husband. He’s in the living room.”
I nodded absently, looking at a picture of Bailey, Lynx, and what looked to be their mother and father because they were spitting images of them.
“That’s our mom and dad. It’s one of the last pictures we have of them.” The sadness in her voice was immediate, and I felt like shit for staring.
“It’s beautiful.” I looked up and saw one with Bailey and a man in a raft. “This one looks fun.”
Bailey’s eyes moved to the picture, the smile returning to her face. “Mal took me rafting. I told him he was nuts, but I had one of the best times of my life there. You ever been?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t been out in the world to have any of these experiences, and I felt that loss. I wanted that. I wanted some memories: happy ones, fun ones. I deserved that. Lynx and I deserved that.
“You should have Brody take you. He’s great at pretty much everything.” I admired the love for her brother that poured out of her. I also admired the pride in her words. If I had a brother like Lynx, I would feel the same way. “I’m sorry about the hugging outside. Lynx told me that touching doesn’t fly.”
I turned to her, about to say something, but she cut me off.
“Don’t say it’s okay, because it wasn’t. Lynx has been through a lot and knows more than he should.” I smiled at that. “But I should have listened, and I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable at all.”
