Page 90 of Broken

Millie texted me her address, and I picked her up on my way back to the Carter's house. As we drove past my childhood home, I snuck a glance in its direction. It was a normal house. No ghosts of the past lingering in the shadows, no demons waiting to take their pound of flesh. Just a house with a covered porch and a green lawn in the front.

The for-sale sign that sat in front of the house had been removed, and a white swing hung from the underside of the porch's roof. A couple of bikes had been discarded on the lawn. I wondered if a family bought the house. How many kids did they have? Were they old enough to be friends with Aine? I smiled and fought back the tears that threatened to fall. I sent a little prayer into the ether. A prayer of hope and love for the family that bought my childhood home.

I sighed as we pulled up in front of Kai's mother's house. Kai wanted us to move our bags to his house today. But his mother insisted that she needed at least one more night with her granddaughter.

The arrangement worked out for all of us. Kais's mom was happy with a night of movies with Aine. We could have our girl's night, and the guys would be at Cals bar later.

Cal and Aine were watching a movie in the family room when we walked into the house.

"Mom! Did you know Uncle Cal likes old movies too?" Excited, Aine ran up and hugged me.

"I didn't. What are you guys watching?" Whenever we had movie nights growing up, Cal would end up with his nose in a book or doing anything but watching movies with us. Unless we picked a horror movie. Even as a kid, he loved anything gory and spooky.

Shit. When the thought came to mind, so did another thought. What was he watching with my daughter?

"Callum. What movie are you guys watching?" I asked sternly, looking into the family room. I walked in at the perfect time. The telltale scene where Janet Leighs Marion Crane is in the shower just minutes before Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, stabs her to death.

"She said she watched it, I swear." Cal turned to me with a grin on his face, his mother sitting on the sofa across from him. "You can ask my mom; it was the kid's idea."

"Aine, did you really tell them you saw this?" I asked. She had never lied before. I wonder what got into her now.

"Riley and I stayed up late one night and watched a bunch of old movies. This is Hitchcock's best film and mom. This movie is so good!" I was flabbergasted. My little girl watched and loved classic horror movies now. I didn't know what to say.

"Well, okay then. Aine if you have nightmares tonight, I'm holding your Uncle Callum responsible."

The elder Aine laughed as I walked down the hall to the room I slept in the night before. I left the trio to their movie. Millie chose to join them while I showered.

I called Kai to let him know our plans. We were going into the city for dinner and drinks. After that, the plan was to hit a couple of bars and end the night at Cal's. I also informed Kai that his brother was a bad influence on our daughter by watching horror movies with her. He joked that Aine was a bad influence on him. Not the other way around.

I ignored the suggestion, although it wasn't entirely impossible. Aine had a way of getting her way with certain people. Her honesty and kindness seemed to win people over.

I laughed. In barely a week my daughter wrapped both her uncles around her pinky. They deserved whatever trouble she would give them over the coming years. Would there be coming years here? There was the matter of my job in Palm Springs. I took a leave of absence to figure everything out, and decide if I wanted a life here, or if I wanted to ask Kai to move down there.

The sight of Aine, Callum, and his mother in the family room watching old movies together made my heart swell with joy. That love, the extended family, that's what my daughter deserved. A grandmother who doted on her, uncles who would do anything for their niece, and aunts who would be there to give her dating advice when the time came.

She deserved all of that and more. My hand subconsciously slid to my belly; they both did.

"So, can I ask how far along you are?" Millies's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Sorry. If you don't want to talk about it. I just did the schedule at the doctor's office, and I'm the one who squeezed you in. I just figured..."

"Oh. Millie. Uh..." Well, this was awkward. I didn't realize I left the door open after my shower. At least it was Millie and not Callum.

"Please, come in."

I gestured for her to come and sit in the room while I finished getting ready. I had my underwear and bra on, so throwing a dress over everything took a whole two seconds. I chose a black sundress with yellow sunflowers. It had spaghetti straps and an open back.

I completed the outfit with my favorite black flip-flops. They'd been my go-to all summer, seeing me through the worst and the best moments so far.

I turned to Millie and smiled. She was so sweet, and I genuinely like her. "It's okay Millie. Kai and I decided to keep the baby a secret until I'm out of that danger zone. I'm barely pregnant, so a lot can happen in the next few months to change that."

Millie nodded quietly. "I get it. I miscarried once. It would've been painful if I told people over and over again that I lost the baby."

She had a distant look in her eyes, sad and heartbroken. My intuition told me the miscarriage had something to do with her abusive ex. I didn't want to pry. but Kai did say he thought I'd be able to understand what she went through.

"Millie, did the guys ever tell you about my past?" I asked. I never talked to anyone about the things that happened to me. I did promise to go to counseling, and I knew I needed to. I wondered if talking with someone like Millie would count.

"Cal told me a little. Your dad was an addict, your mother drank herself to death basically. He said your parents beat you a lot too." She heard the basics of my childhood hellscape. I nodded in confirmation.

"I was raped when I was sixteen. By my first boyfriend. Noah found us and saved me." She looked shocked. I took the expression as her admitting to not knowing that part. No surprise. The Carter boys had always been protective of my privacy, and that night was a shared pain between me and Noah.

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