Page 18 of Dark Truth

“Aunt Emily! Where have you been?” one asked, her eyes tilted up to Emily’s.

“I’ve been a little busy, my love, how are you, Breanna?” I wasn’t sure how she could tell them apart.

They looked exactly alike and were dressed in the same outfits. I stared at them, totally stumped about which one was which and how I’d ever tell them apart.

“I’ve missed you terribly, Aunt Emily. I cried! Where were you?” the other one asked, and Emily knelt down on the concrete path that led to the steps.

“I’m so sorry, Rhiannon. I didn’t want you to cry.” She wrapped her arms around both girls, and I saw how she struggled to swallow down tears. This was what she’d missed, and it hit me hard.

She’d been denied even this little bit of love, which right now, looked like more love than one person could ever ask for. Trent’s hatefulness had done this. Emily hadn’t denied these girls anything, her brother had. I swallowed down my emotions, pushed the anger down, so that I could get through this with Emily without punching anyone.

“Come on, girls, let’s go see the rest of the family,” Emily said, and we all looked up to the house.

A woman stood there, rather pretty, with a nervous smile on her slim face. She had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and was around Emily’s height. Her smile wobbled for a second, and then she held her arms out to Emily. She pulled Emily tight to her, and I heard quiet sobs from both.

I looked around, useless at that moment, and tried not to make myself conspicuous. I felt a tug on the jacket of my suit and looked down at a face so much like Emily’s only smaller. The little girl even had Emily’s gray eyes.

“Who are you, mister?” she asked, and her sister immediately piped up.

“He’s her boyfrien’, silly.” The little voice that dropped the ‘d’ in boyfriend, dripped sarcasm in a quiet whisper at her sister, and I could see that although Emily might not be their mother, but she had influenced them. I couldn’t help but smile at it all.

“Your sister’s right. I’m Emily’s boyfriend.” I didn’t want to say a name because I had no clue which was which.

I took a deep breath and realized that was the first time I’d said that to anyone. I was someone’s boyfriend, or boyfrien’ as the little girl had called me. It was all weird, but I was surprised to find I didn’t mind. I’d never had a family, but already it was living up to my expectations of what having a large family would mean.

Before I knew it, I’d been introduced to seven children, two of which were babies, three wives, Emily’s mother and father, and to Trent. The one who had kicked her out of this group full of so much love. Each wife and brother, niece and nephew had a moment alone with Emily, and even her parents took her aside.

Her eyes were red, and her nose looked raw from all of the crying, but she was happy. Very happy. I could see it in the way her shoulders relaxed and how much she laughed. Emily didn’t laugh just to appease someone or fill quiet. She laughed only when she meant it.

Then I met the group of people spread around the house. Her brothers Kevin and Mason sized me up in the kitchen when I went in to find Emily some juice. They stared at me, silent, and I stared back. Then Kevin had grinned, and both held out their hands to me.

“Great to meet you, I’m Kevin.”

“I’m Mason, the better-looking one. How are ya?”

Two sets of hands were shook, and I introduced myself, although it had nonchalantly been done already.

“I’m good. Big family, huh?” I raised my eyebrows and stuck my hands in my pockets.

“Yeah, it gets noisy sometimes, but it’s nice.” Kevin grinned and stuck a baby bottle in a bottle warmer. “Babies are great too, by the way. Never thought I’d say it, but there ya go.”

“You’re Bridget’s dad?” I asked, not totally sure which child belonged to which parent yet.

“Yeah, and soon to be uncle to this one’s upcoming addition. Which is why he’s on bottle duty for Jessi.” He laughed as he mentioned his sister-in-law’s name.

“Get some practice in, huh?” It was an odd conversation, but it was conversation.

“That’s the idea.” Mason grinned, and Kevin laughed.

“Who knew we’d end up like this?” Mason looked up at me and shook his head. “The word daddy was not in my vocabulary, and now we’re expecting our first child. It’s a miracle after Laura’s battle with cancer.”

I smiled to hide the pain the words caused. It confused me why it caused me pain, but it did. Was it because I might never be able to have a child of my own? I’d never really thought about it, but now that I knew I might not live to see a child grow up, I had to wonder if it was fair. What about the medicine I was on? Would that cause problems?

I turned around and rummaged in the fridge until I found a bottle of juice for Emily. I didn’t want them to see my face. I had to take a deep breath to get rid of the thoughts, to get rid of the pain, and focus on what was important.

“Well, good luck with the new baby,” I said to Mason and left the kitchen.

I met Trent in the hallway of the large house and looked him straight in the eye.