Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Doing what?”
Mom shrugs.
“Does anyone find it strange that none of us really knows what Foxx does?” Banks asks. “Is he in intelligence? Is he a spy? Is he really not our brother at all but a plant from an enemy?”
“That would explain a lot.” Maddox walks in and smacks me on the back. “What’s up?”
“Foxx likes his privacy,” Mom says. “We need to give it to him.”
“Oh, the irony,” I say, making my brothers laugh.
Maddox slides a box on the counter. “Here. This was on the porch.”
“Thanks, Mad.”
Banks hops up and slides the box to himself. “I believe that’s mine.”
Mom drops the spoon in her hand against the counter. “Banks Owen Carmichael, if you hacked my Amazon account again …” She yanks the box away from him and picks up a knife. “If this isn’t pods for the coffee maker, you’re in trouble, little boy.”
Banks backs away, frowning.
She rips the knife across the tap holding the box closed. Maddox and I look at each other, amused.
“Banks,” Mom says, glaring at him as she pulls out a box of individual packets of potato chips. “Who gave you my password?”
“No one,” he snaps back at her. “But I love how you thought you made it the one thing I’d never guess.”
“You obviously guessed it.”
“And I’m touched.”
Mom tries not to smile.
“What was it?” I ask.
Banks spins around. “My birthday. For the first ever—it was my birthday. It’s never mine and it’s never been Maddox’s.”
“True,” Maddox says. “I’ll vouch for him on that. It’ll give you a complex after a while.”
Mom shakes her head. Eventually, the frustration turns to a chuckle.
Banks gives her his best smile—the one that works on most people. “Can I have them, though? Since we already got them?”
“I’ll put them on your Christmas list.”
“I just want you to know that the youngest child usually takes care of their elderly parents,” Banks says, walking backward toward the door. “And that is me.”
He turns to leave.
“Good,” I shout. “I heard you have lots of experience with the elderly recently.”
“Fuck off, Jess.”
The door slams behind him. At the same time, Maddox gets up.
“I need to go,” he says. “Ashley will be home soon, and I promised to take her out to dinner tonight.”
“Good boy,” Mom says.
“Later,” I say.
“See ya.”
The door shuts—quieter this time.
The house is still for once, an unusual occurrence for this place. Someone is always coming and going. It’s my normal. I grew up with this. I’m used to it. But now I wonder … will it be too much for Pippa?
Mom sits down beside me. “How’s Pippa? Did you check on her?”
“Pippa was fine,” I say. “I think she’s just a little overwhelmed.”
“I probably had a hand in that. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
I grin at her. “You’re fine. She’s not used to …” I search for the right word, but only one comes up. “She’s not used to a family, I guess.”
Mom sits back and looks at me curiously.
“She feels like no one has ever loved her before,” I say.
“I hate to hear that she feels that way. That must be awful.”
“I know. I want to find her parents and rip them a new asshole every time I think about it.”
“How can we make this transition easier for her? What can I do to help?”
“We’re probably going to have to ask her that. I just try to make sure she knows I’m always thinking about her. She’s felt very … invisible, I think? Maybe inconsequential? I don’t know the right word. She agreed to move in with me this weekend, but I see her hesitations. I get it. But I want her to know that … this is it. I think of her more than I think of myself. Maybe if she realizes that, she’ll relax a little.”
Mom nods. “She needs reminded she’s loved.”
I nod too. Clasping my hands together on the table, I take a deep breath. “Just for the record, she doesn’t want to have kids.”
Her brows shoot to the ceiling, and she visibly processes my statement.
“There are a lot of reasons,” I say. “I think the biggest one is that she doesn’t understand that love is infinite. Do you know what I mean? She thinks I could not love her one day, or that her kids may not love her. She’s never seen how it works.”
“Do you think she’ll change her mind?”
I shrug.
“Are you okay if she doesn’t?” Mom shifts in her seat. “If Pippa never wants kids, can you imagine yourself at my age without them? It’s a real question, Jess.”
I’ve thought about it a lot. I’ve played it out repeatedly in my head.
I wouldn’t want to have kids with anyone but Pippa. But if she doesn’t want them … I don’t want to be with anyone else either.
“Mom, it comes down to this. I love Pippa Plum because of who she is as a person. And this decision is a part of her. Would I like kids? Yeah. Is it the make it or break it question for me? No. Do I feel sad when I think about being your age without kids? A little bit. But when I think about standing in my kitchen and not having her walk in the door—I can’t live with that.”