Page 46 of Wicked Dreams

“It’s not about me. My dad told me what happened to your moms. Can we just sit down and listen to it, please?” They all shrug and nod between them, and we move to the kitchen table.

Somehow we all have spots now, and it makes me smile. Then I remember what’s about to happen, and I try to wipe the stupid grin off my face. Good job, me. Gray pulls the phone out of his pocket but also grabs his laptop sitting next to us on the counter.

“As soon as you gave me the phone, I emailed the recording to myself in case something happened. I’ll pull it up on here so it’s louder.” Oh, good.

Much faster than I’m prepared for, Gray has the recording set up and hits play. “It’s fine with me if you want to listen to all of it, but you can fast forward a little bit if you want to get to the part that I need you all to hear.”

“I’d like to listen to all of it eventually, but I’m anxious to hear what you’re so worried about, so I’ll skip ahead.” The other guys agree as Gray does his thing.

When he hits play again, I recognize it as the spot about a minute before my dad starts talking about what Mal did. “Yeah, that should do it.”

“What are we listening for, Rory?” Wade looks so calm and curious, and I feel awful.

“Trust me, you’ll know when you hear it.” I reach over and lay a hand on his arm.

When my father starts talking about Mal and her part in everything, it’s like the air gets sucked out of the room. I watch as each one of the guys goes from curious but relaxed to furious and rigid. Once the clip moves on to Brendan’s role in things, Gray stops it. No one says anything. I want to break the tension and see how they’re feeling, but I don’t want to make this worse.

“He’s probably lying.” I expected that from one of them. Not from Wade, but as the oldest, he’s had the most time with Mal. It’s probably harder for him.

I squeeze his arm, so he looks at me. “I understand why you would think so, but I don’t think he is. Why would he tell the truth about everything else but lie to me about something that theoretically I shouldn’t even care about? It doesn’t make sense, and I’m so sorry.” My gaze moves around the table at all of them.

Hayes and Adler remain stoically silent with their arms crossed, but Gray surprises me. “It actually makes a lot of sense. Mal has always been good to us, there’s no denying that, but we can’t exactly say she’s sane. We’ve always admired her for her determination and strength. If she wanted all our dads and one big happy family, she wouldn’t be deterred by anything as minor as wives. The very fact that we have Rory sitting in this room with us is proof enough about how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants. This is fucking brutal and painful, probably the most for you, Wade, because you’re old enough to have memories of your mom and have the most time with Mal banked. I’m so sorry, brother.”

Gray’s words are met with silence, but Wade looks up at him with tears in his eyes, and they stare at one another until Gray gets up and gives Wade a hug. Wade’s shoulders shake, and I can’t hold it in anymore. My own tears and sadness over everything that they’ve suffered break through and run down my face quietly. Hayes and Adler get up to join the group hug, and it’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming to see them all together like this. Hayes sees me staring and crying and nods his head to come over, so I do, and they wrap me up too.

I’m not sure how long we all stand there, holding each other and crying, but when we pull apart, everything has shifted. It’s us now. Whatever happens moving forward, happens to all of us. I’ve got them, they’ve got me, we’ve got each other. The heartache may never go away, but between the five of us, it won’t be so hard to carry.

“What are we going to do, Wade?” Adler looks to his big brother for the answer.

“I don’t know yet. Today has been a fucking rollercoaster ride though, and I want to sit down and catch my breath for a moment. Let’s take the afternoon to be grateful for the good stuff. We’ll deal with the rest of it later. Is that okay?”

I slip my fingers into Wade’s. “Yeah, that’s okay. Let’s go into the living room, pile on the couch, and watch some mindless show or movie and nap.”

“That sounds perfect, Little Bird.” Gray takes my other hand, and the five of us spread out along the giant couch.

Wade pulls me into his side, Gray lays his head on my stomach, and Adler and Hayes sprawl next to us. My eyes start to close as Hayes searches for something to watch. There’s still a thick layer of sadness hanging over us, but this moment is peaceful. Listening to the strong and steady beat of Wade’s heart, I close my eyes and sleep.

Gray

LittleBirdfallsasleepless than a minute into our group snuggle, and it’s so cute. She makes Wade calmer. The news about Mal is a complete mindfuck. Of course I’m angry and confused, hurt, betrayed, all of it, but the twins and I were babies when our moms died. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel the pain of their loss and absence in our lives, but it’s different for Wade. He has good memories of his mom and the things they used to do together. He’s really close with Mal. To find out that the woman who took you in and raised you, who knew how much you loved your mom, is the reason she’s gone? Fuck, man. I can’t imagine everything he’s feeling.

If we had learned this at any other time, we’d all be on a murderous rampage right now. Rory is the difference. With her here, we know there’s something else worth fighting and living for. I want to tell Wade that Mal needs to die for what she’s done, but I know he needs this afternoon of peace. I love Mal, I probably always will, but I’ve always been very aware of her darkness. I’m not as surprised by all this as I should be. At this point, I want to confront her, bury her, and move on to bigger and better things. We’ve lived out Mal’s revenge fantasy long enough, and Rory is done being a pawn in her father’s games. It’s time we all live for ourselves now.

I don’t bother fighting the smile that takes over my face when I think about our collective future. We can travel the world, fuck Rory on every continent, marry her, pump her full of babies, anything we want can be ours. My dick instantly gets hard at the thought of seeing Rory round with my baby inside her, but I tell it to calm the fuck down because there’s plenty of time for that later. I want to enjoy her without the responsibilities that parenthood brings for quite some time.

The light outside slowly fades, and Hayes and Adler fall asleep on each other. I snap a picture on my phone to taunt them with later, and Wade notices, giving me a halfhearted smile. Rory is still passed the fuck out, making these cute little noises every once in a while and definitely drooling all over Wade’s shirt. He looks down at her with pure love and adoration though. Any one of us would happily trade spots with him.

It’s so quiet with everyone but Wade and I asleep while we mindlessly watch reruns ofThe Office. I almost don’t hear him when he starts to speak.

“We need to have a conversation with Eddie. He deserves to know before we kill her.”

I sit up straight and face him. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

His face is devoid of emotion. “We’ll never be able to move forward and be happy with Rory if we don’t. And that’s what I want, a life with Rory. Mal deserves far worse than what she’ll get.”

“I’m in complete agreement, brother. You know they’ll all support that too. Eddie will be the wildcard, but he’ll understand once he learns the truth.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to lose anyone else. I don’t think I’d survive it.”

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