Page 47 of A Baby for the Firefighter

“It seems alright. I mean, it could have been worse. His dad’s in the hospital, but he’ll recover, and it looks like the house will need some repair work, but that’s all. Griff was pretty upset, though.”

“Yeah, I bet. Good thing he has a strong firefighter boyfriend like you to rely on, huh?”

I grimaced, because I so wasn’t living up to that image, and that needed to change. Griff hadn’t even wanted me around this morning. He hadn’t kicked me out, no, but his reluctance to interact with me in any way hadn’t been super subtle. I could take a hint when it was given to me, and I’d had a bad feeling ever since he’d woken and tip-toed off into the bathroom.

What had happened last night was really weighing on him, and I wasn’t sure how to help him, but I had to think of something.

First though, I had to figure out my own shit. “I think I’m going to call Daniel,” I told my cousin.

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you thinking about taking that job?”

“Maybe just part-time for now. I know I can’t leave you hanging, but I do need to get back into my actual job.” Sooner rather than later. I’d thought I could overcome my trauma by waiting it out, but clearly, that wasn’t happening. Confronting it head-on was the only thing I had left to try.

“Good for you,” Shane said.

“Yeah, good for me.” I gave him a smile and hoped he was right.

21

Griffin

Eli suggestedthat we meet at the school so we could get on with our theater work. He’d told me he’d gotten Eric to unlock the auditorium for us, but no one else would be there. Perfect, really.

“So how is it going with our mother?” he asked as we walked into the auditorium.

“It’s not too bad, really. She made me breakfast.”

Eli laughed. “Did she?”

“Yeah, pancakes.”

“Matt and Jake tried to make me pancakes last Omega Day. It was a disaster.” But he was smiling at the memory.

“Yeah? I think I remember you telling me about that.” We reached the auditorium and went inside. The school felt weirdly empty at this time, even though I knew it was only because all the students were contained in classrooms. “Mom really seems to be sorry about what happened,” I told my brother, just to see how he took it.

“Huh.” He didn’t give me any visible reaction at all.

“I think she means it too.”

“That’s nice.”

Okay, this was obviously not something Eli wanted to talk about. Message received.

“I’m sorry,” Eli said after a moment. “I know you want this to be true, but I also know she’s going to change her tune once Dad wakes up.”

“Do you really think so?”

He shrugged. “She wouldn’t have kicked me out if it wasn’t for Dad. But she did go along with it. There’s no reason for me to believe things are going to be different now.”

“I don’t know,” I said, preparing my paint. “I guess I just always keep hoping for the best.”

“It’s what you do.” Eli gave me a small smile. Still, it seemed he wanted a change of topic. “You said you had something you needed to talk about? Something other than our parents, I mean?” He pulled up a chair and got his yarn and needles out.

“Yeah, uh… You know I did ask Dean to stay over last night.”

“Oh? Good for you! Wait, don’t tell me he tried anything.”

“Oh no, he didn’t. I did,” I said with a grimace.