Page 53 of Ky
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ky
There were things that had to be done. Things that I needed to not only talk about, but get set up as well. Yes, I’d been avoiding pretty much everything lately. While I wanted to change that, I didn’t have the first real idea how to go about it.
The baby thing wasn’t going away. I felt weird calling it ‘the baby thing’ but I wasn’t sure how else to refer to it. The baby was coming and each day that passed was one day closer to meeting it. Ingram hadn’t found out what she was having when she went to the doctor. She said she didn’t want to know, that she wanted it to be a surprise and that no matter what, she was going to love it with all her heart. I suspected that she already did. Though she didn’t really talk about the baby, she did take good care of herself. And it was great that Chris was there to help guide her. He made sure she ate mostly healthy things and introduced her to the “bad”—or good, as I called them—things slowly. He didn’t let her overindulge in sweets or fried foods, which Ingram had come to find out that she loved. She never grumbled about any of it. She took walks and rested when she got tired.
There were so many other things though, and the list seemed to get longer as the seconds flew by. I realized that Ingram was slowly trying to take steps to be independent. I also saw that I needed to help her in any way with that. So, that got me thinking about what had mademefeel independent.
A car. That was a big thing. But what good was a car if she didn’t even know how to drive? First, I had to teach her how to drive. But then I thought about how she might handle that. I’d seen her in a car, just riding as a passenger, and she always seemed tense. It had gotten better the more she went out, but that didn’t mean she was completely at ease with it. So, I thought it was best to not do anything that might stress her out until after the baby was born. It looked like that would have to be set on the back burner.
What else?
A job. Yes, that had helped me feel more like my own person. Like I was a part of the world around me rather than standing there like an outsider. I’d been lucky enough that my grandma’s neighbor had sort of taken me under his wing and given me a job at his garage and restoration shop. You guessed it, that was where I not only learned how to rebuild a car, but found that I loved doing it. I read books and manuals, anything I could get my hands on, just so I would know every little thing about cars and how they worked. How each one was different and how they’d changed over the years. What did Ingram like to do, or what could I see her loving? I honestly had no idea. And again, was it really a good time to try and find her a job?
It was all too much. I didn’t know where to begin or how to get her the things that would make her start to feel comfortable out here.
Chris was so much better with this shit than I was. I wanted to ask him—maybe even beg him—to help me out on this, but I could tell that he really wanted me to handle it. Fuck, things were such a mess.
I couldn’t get her a place for herself, because, yet again, the baby thing. And if I was being real, I wanted her close so that I could help out as much as possible once she gave birth. I hadn’t had much experience with babies or kids, but I was smart enough to know that they took a lot of time, energy, and care. There was no way I was just going to leave her to handle that all on her own.
I wasn’t sure what that left. Maybe I could explain to Chris what was going on in my head and he could give me some advice. Guide me in some sort of direction on what the best way to go about it might be.
Only, that meant that I would not only have to sit down and talk, but I would have to open up about my insecurities. I wasn’t ready for Chris to see me as someone that couldn’t handle shit. I didn’t want him to know that I was weak in any way. Even the little glimpse that I’d let him have, had been too much for me.
“Hey,” I said as I walked into the kitchen after getting home from work. “Where’s Ingram?”
“Oh, I think she’s in the shower,” Chris replied as he moved around putting groceries away.
“Here let me help,” I said and moved to do so.
“Ky,” he said but there was a knock at the door that interrupted us.
I looked at him for a beat then walked to answer the door.
“Hey, brother. What’s up?” I asked Mouse as he stood just outside the doorway.
I hadn’t expected him there but that didn’t mean anything. Before Ingram and I moved in here, a lot of the guys would come out here regularly. They still did, just not nearly as much, which I could respect.
“I’m here to pick up Ingram,” he said and gave me a look like he didn’t understand why I was asking him that.
Then something in me snapped. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I was ready to beat the fuck out of Mouse.
There was not one single reason that he should have been there to pick up Ingram. There was no place that they needed to be going alone.
Before I knew it, I had him pinned up against the side of the house, my forearm pressing into his throat.
“The fuck, Ky?” he choked out.
“The fuck you doing with my sister?”
“Kynaston!” Ingram’s voice called out from behind me but I couldn’t shut the rage down and look at her. “Let him go, now.”
“No way in hell. Tell me, Ingram, why the hell is he picking you up like you’re going on a fucking date or something?”
“Ky, stop.” It was the calm tone that came from Chris that made me relax a little. “What are you doing?” His hand landed on my arm and as I blinked, I realized that maybe I’d jumped the gun.
I released Mouse and took a step back. Then I waited for an explanation.
