“Don’t make me bop ye upside your head. Yer just like me little fuckers.” She narrows her eyes on me, then smiles. “Be patient with John, love. Everything we know is changing and the more change that comes, the more they’re all going to become more protective. I’m warning ye now because I see it coming.”
“It’s not my patience I’m worried about. It’s his.”
“Johnathan Dillion Black has been waiting for you all his life. Someone to call his own. Being not quite the middle child of seven, but almost has taken its toll on him. Nothing is ever truly his. He has shared and nurtured when it comes to his brothers. Always the peace maker,” she replies.
“Always the one doing the fixing,” I murmur.
“Aye, see. Ye get me boy so well.”
I look out at the dance floor and my gaze lands on John. He’s hovering over a little boy that’s having a tantrum on the floor.
“Ah, shite,” Shauna says as she apparently loses the game.
I look back at Cass, widening my eyes. Her shoulders shake with laughter as mirth shows in her eyes. She shrugs it off.
“She wouldn’t be the first,” Cass says.
“Oh God. Not my babies. I need to start cleaning my mouth up now,” I groan.
“Are ye pregnant?”
I freeze. I can’t say yes. It’s too soon. However, I’d feel like a liar if I said no.
Thankfully, John comes to save the day. He has the little boy in his arms from the dance floor. He’s the cutest little guy. Gray eyes and dark hair. The moment they reach us he almost leaps into my lap and wraps his arms around my neck.
Shauna moves over, but I see the little frown on her face. John must pick up on it too. He reaches for Shauna and she goes to him.
“Now this looks like a future,” Cass says and stands. “I’ll leave you be. Maybe ye’ll catch the fever from giving all these wee ones attention.”
With that, she floats off humming. John takes the seat she left, holding Shauna in his lap. He gives me a brilliant smile.
“I’m not going to lie, I’ve been watching you with her all day and thinking what it will be like to have our own,” John says.
“This isn’t insane… you want this? Like now,” I say.
“Nope, and I’m pretty sober today.” He winks. “You have no reason to doubt me.”
Suddenly, the little boy in my arms starts to hum. At first, I think he’s humming something random. I used to hum to myself when I was younger. It drove my father crazy.
I freeze. That memory came so easily. Me humming, my father’s face as I hummed to myself.
However, I’m brought back to the moment as the little guy cups my face. He stares at my chin as he hums some more. The song clicks and I draw my burrows.
“Say yes. No scared. Yes, okay?” he says reaching for my hand and John’s and linking them together. “Bella, say yes to everything.”
I look to John. I’m sure all the blood has drained from my face. John has a surprised look on his as well.
“He’s humming “You’re the One that I Want”. Who is this kid?”
“Hey, Sammy, where’d you hear that song?” John says.
The kid doesn’t answer. He jumps off my lap and races across the room to wrap around the leg of the woman with Paige and Camille. I look back at John.
“Could he have been there last night? Oh my God, John, after the movie we—”
“He and his family arrived this morning. No, he wasn’t there,” John says. He shrugs. “Coincidence. After all, you said it yourself. It’s a classic.”
When Logan calls it a night and collects his daughter, I need a drink.
John
“You look tired,” I say as I walk up behind Roni and wrap my arms around her.
She shrugs. “A little.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“I remembered something about my father today. It was something small. The little kid humming triggered it.
“I had pretty much given up on remembering more of my past. Sometimes… there are days when I think I should leave it all where it is. You know, like it’s all going to come back and bite me if I finally figure out how to pull the fog back,” she murmurs.
I turn her to face me. “Hey, if you remember nothing, I will be here to help you make new memories. If you remember everything, including the day you were born,