Room One Hundred and Nineteen: Watching Her (Club Sin: Seattle Session 2)

16. Miles

16

MILES

R ick rang the doorbell, and we waited. Patience had never been my forte. Just as I was about to knock on the door, it opened.

But no one was there.

“Dr. Miles?” a little voice said, and the three of us dropped our gaze to find Betsy, who was wearing a long nightshirt and her damp hair was wild with waves, looking up at us.

“Bets! What have I told you about opening…” Our girl came barreling into sight, immediately halting to a stop when she noticed who was at the door. She blinked. Once. Twice. A third time. Almost like she couldn’t believe that we were there.

“What are you guys doing here?” Her eyes bounced back and forth between us before her attention moved down to her daughter. “Baby, you shouldn’t open the door. That’s dangerous.”

“But it was the docs! Mike and I saw them sitting in their cars from the window.” My hand rose to scratch the back of my neck. We’d been busted.

“Okay, but still. Say hi, and why don’t you guys, umm…” She looked around, weighing her options about where to send her kids so they wouldn’t overhear whatever ass-chewing she was going to hand out.

“Actually.” Her shoulders slumped forward, almost in defeat, and that was the moment I started to get worried. “Go back and sit with Mike and watch the movie. The docs and I are going to talk right outside.”

“Okay, Mom!” Betsy turned and waved goodbye to us then joined Mike, who was watching us from the couch looking miserable.

“We can talk outside,” Elena said quietly, brushing her body past ours, and I shut the door behind us.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked quietly. Too quietly as she kept her distance from us. And I really fucking didn’t like it.

“You really think it was going to be that easy to brush us off?” I asked a little too roughly, and her eyes rose to meet mine. I could see how tired she was. Weary and hurt.

“You guys…”

“We want real,” Rick said, and I had never been more relieved for someone to interrupt whatever asinine thing that was about to slip past her lips.

“You want real?” she repeated, her brows bunched. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Let us be the judge of that,” I quickly added as gently as I could manage. “Let us try at least.”

“Try?” She licked her lips and glanced away. “What if…”

“What if we can’t handle it?” Josh asked, surprisingly intuitive, because when Elena’s gaze met his, she nodded. “That’s not going to happen. What is it you think we won’t be able to handle? Some puke? We see that shit on a daily basis. Literally, at work.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t work. This is real life. Those two kids are real. They’re with me twenty-four, seven. You three know that. Their dad signed away his parental rights so I could get full custody, and he wouldn’t have to pay child support. They’re here. Always.”

“Good,” Rick said, and I noticed how Elena braced her body, almost like her heart knew he was going to say something deep. “First, thank fuck the dumbass took the easy way out. This way, it’s easier for us to adopt them down the road.” I winced on the inside because even though I knew she cared about us and maybe was falling in love with us, I knew just how tricky a situation this was, and I sure as shit didn’t want to scare her off. “He saved us from having to run him down to sign. It’s done.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“The hell we don’t.” Josh and I said the words almost simultaneously.

“Elena.” Rick slowly moved towards her, like he was approaching a wounded animal. He leaned lower so they would be at eye level. I held my breath when he reached for her hand, fully expecting her to swat him away.

But she didn’t.

She held on to his hand like it was the only thing that kept her from floating away.

“Gorgeous, we want to be here. We want to get to know them. We want to be a part of your lives and for you three to be a part of ours. And if we get lucky enough, you need to know our intentions here aren’t for us to be friends. I’m not sure if we made that clear when this started, but it needs to be said now so there is abso-fucking-lutely no doubt or confusion.” He lifted her hand to rest against his chest. Instantly, Josh and I moved closer. My arm slipped over her shoulder while Josh took her free hand.

“We want to be a part of your family.” Rick’s steady, confident voice was clear, but my eyes were glued to Elena’s face. Her eyes welled with unshed tears, overcome by emotion. “We want to be there for the three of you. Today. Tomorrow. Always.”

“Rick,” she whispered, and I pressed my lips to her forehead.

“We know this probably feels really fast,“ I cut in. “Technically, it’s only been three weeks, and even though the kids know us, they haven’t seen us with you this way. We get that. But what you need to know is that we’re grown-ass men. The three of us have your back. Not because of some crush we have on you but because we love you,” I laid out. Josh grunted, raising her hand onto his own chest.

“That being said, there is nothing inside”—his chin lifted and pointed toward her house— “that would ever make us run off. If anything, you should be completely prepared for us to be running in when something important happens.” Truer words couldn’t have been spoken. Rick and I grunted wordlessly, letting her know we were all on the same page.

“You say that now…”

“There is only one way for you to find out,” Rick gently said, and it felt like time held still for a few long seconds. Elena’s tired eyes moved from one man to the other before her shoulders rose and she nodded. “Okay,” she said softly. “But I just… I need you guys to do me a favor.”

“Anything,” we said at the same time.

“If, or when, you realize my life comes with too much… will you tell me first? So, I can let the kids down gently. I don’t want their hearts to break and?—

“Is it their hearts or yours that you’re worried about?” Josh asked, and she shrugged. “Either way, that’s something we can promise you because we’re not going anywhere.”

“You haven’t smelled the house yet. They puked everywhere. And I still stink. Mike threw up on me, and I haven’t showered yet.”

“Okay, then.” Rick stepped back and pulled her hand. “That’s where we’re gonna start. You’re going to go shower in your bathroom, and we got the rest.”

“You… No! You can’t! There is?—“

“Yes,” Josh and I added with a nod.

“Go shower. We got them and the house,” Josh encouraged, and by some damn miracle, maybe something bigger than us out in the universe was feeling generous, our girl nodded.

“Okay. If you’re sure. But if it’s too much?—“

“It won’t be,” I vowed without letting her finish her thought.

I might have been the one saying the words, but I knew the three of us meant them.