Page 4 of Forever King

My brother hums into the phone. “You’re coming through loud and clear. Make sure Salem tells Kate I’m on it so she doesn’t worry. Got it.”

Closing my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. “Or you could just go to the tux place and get fitted so it’s ready for the wedding. That could happen, right?”

Salem once again says something in the background, and Kellen sighs. “I’m getting it from all sides here. Okay, I swear I won’t screw this up. I’ll get there today or tomorrow. It’s just that you have us all going to that place out near you and I’m in the city all the time, but I’ll get to it. Scout’s honor.”

I imagine him holding up the Boy Scout sign with his fingers, but the problem is I don’t remember Kellen ever being a scout, so that pledge means nothing. I don’t feel like pushing himanymore today, though, so I’ll have to take him at his word for now.

“Thanks. Okay, I’m off to call Marius. Have a good one!”

“You too, baby brother, and don’t get so stressed out. We have the easy job. All the guy has to do is show up and look good. It’s Kate who’s doing the heavy lifting with the wedding.”

He leaves me with that thought. He’s right. Kate’s done far more planning for our big day than I have. Not that I didn’t want to, but choosing colors for dresses, flower arrangements, and the million other details that go into a wedding don’t seem to need much input from the groom.

Here’s to hoping I’ll have better luck with Marius. Although I don’t even know if he’s awake before eight on a Tuesday, I call him and am surprised when he answers sounding like he’s been up for a while. Domestic life with Eden seems to have made him a changed man.

“What’s up, Ronan? I bet you didn’t think you’d get me all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, now did you?” he asks with a laugh.

Caught off guard at how awake he truly sounds, I fumble out, “Well…not really, but you know.”

“No need to explain. I know I haven’t always been Mr. Rise and Shine. The baby had different plans, though, and since Eden had errands to run this morning, I’m the guy in charge of the progeny today. So what’s going on?”

Stuck on his use of progeny instead of his daughter’s name, I ask, “Does Lily’s mother know you refer to her like that?”

He gives me a full belly laugh before answering, “Probably. I call Lily everything but her name, to be honest. Nugget. Dumpling, but that’s usually only after we get dinner from that great Chinese place. Pumpkin. It’s all pretty much food, frankly. Well, except for Little Duck, but that’s just because I call her mother Duck. Don’t worry. She’ll know her name by the time shehas to go to school. So what’s going on this fine April morning, and why are you calling me?”

I’m not sure how to deal with this very awake, very chipper version of my brother. Before Eden, Marius tended to be pretty sarcastic most of the time. He had his genuine moments, of course. Definitely that night he found me after I tried to kill myself was one of them, and we’ve certainly been closer since then, but for most of my life, Marius was the brother who seemed comfortable being snide and cynical about life.

This Marius confuses me, but I can’t help but admit I like this guy.

“The tux. That’s it. I’m just wondering if you’ve handled that. Kate asked me if all of the groomsmen had taken care of business, so you get a call from me at this time of day asking if you’ve done just that. I spoke to Kellen already, and he promises he’s going to get to the store today or tomorrow.”

Even as I say that, I suspect the reality will be sometime later this week after I slyly insert the tux into a text conversation I’ll start in a few days. I love my brother, but he’s predictable in his forgetfulness.

Marius hums as all of that runs through my mind and then answers, “Maybe I’ll just buy one. I’ve got at least two more weddings coming soon that I’ll probably have to wear one to, so why not?”

It’s like I don’t know the people in my family at all anymore.

“Buy one? Just for Matthias and Ava’s wedding?” I ask, wondering if the second one he means is his own official ceremony coming up.

“Well, yeah,” he says, quickly adding, “You don’t think Kellen will be doing the formal thing?”

This time it’s my turn to laugh. “Kellen? You mean the brother in between the two of us? That Kellen? I don’t even knowif he’s asked Salem to marry him. What makes you think he’s going to be getting married anytime soon?”

Marius stays silent for a few seconds before I can practically hear his shrug through the phone. “I don’t know. I just assumed once you and Matthias get married that he would.”

I can’t imagine why he ever thought that. Kellen and Salem have never seemed like the marrying types to me. If anything, they’re the perpetually single types.

“Well, regardless of that ever happening, I need to be able to tell Kate you’ve got this tux situation handled. Can I tell her that, or will you force me to lie to my future bride just one month before we get married?”

Unlike Kellen, this brother has shown himself to be susceptible to this kind of emotional manipulation, so of course, I use it. Whatever it takes to get him to have the damn tux by my wedding day is fine with me. Not that I think he’ll show up in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, but the last thing I need that day is some drama because the damn tux store is closed when he realizes he forgot to handle his shit.

“I got this, baby brother. I promise you I won’t let you down,” Marius says in an uncharacteristically somber tone.

“Thanks.”

“Can we talk about something fun now?” he asks, back to his usual happy self.

I know what he wants to discuss. My interview with that woman from New York Magazine. I knew he’d have something to say about it since it’s due out today. He probably read it online already.