34. Chapter 34

Ever since the night before when I'd laid there beside Posie staring at her beautiful features as she slept peacefully, I'd wanted desperately to know what it was like to have her beneath me. To taste her. To make the woman of my dreams come from everything I always dreamed of doing to her.

I knew it wasn't the right time then. She was worn out after caring for my Pops, dealing with her very recent breakup with the cock weasel ex of hers, and then the death of Pops that still felt unreal. Even I expected to see him at his house whenever we made our way there. There was too much going on to add intimacy to our relationship even though I desperately wanted to. When Posie grabbed a shirt to throw on and started to lift the one she'd been wearing last night over her head, I had to look away. It was either that or pounce on her then and there.

Instead, I reached over and caught hold of the pants I'd taken off the night before and stepped back into them. My clothes were still packed away in my truck and my family had driven it, along with my son, back to my parents' house the day before.

By the time I got my day-old clothes back on, Posie was also dressed in a simple t-shirt, jeans, and slip-on shoes. We locked up the barn and walked over to the house my grandparents had lived in my entire life. When we got to the porch steps, it became harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other. Posie seemed to hesitate as well with her eyes glued to the rocking chairs.

"He should be sitting there," she said so quietly that I had to focus to hear her. While the man had been my grandfather all my life, there was no way to deny that the bond between Posie and Jack Carter was stronger than even the one he had with his grandsons. She had truly become his daughter after all the years he spent looking out for her.

"Come on," I said as I grabbed her hand and tugged her onto the porch and down to the chairs. You take that one." I pointed at the one my grandmother used to occupy every time we came over. Then, I sat down in the chair my Pops always sat in. Once we were both seated, I reached over and took Posie's hand in my own and we sat there staring out across the street at the home she lived in the last time these two chairs were occupied with a couple who loved one another fiercely.

"The day in the barn all those years ago, I went home and told my dad about you."

"Did you tell him what a weirdo loser I was?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

I shook my head. "I was so confused that day. There was a part of me that needed to protect my Pops from someone I thought might be taking advantage of him, but then there was the other side who was curious about the sad girl hiding out in his barn."

"Well, that sounds loads better." Sarcasm dripped from her lips right alongside the words as she continued to avoid my gaze by staring off into the distance.

"I wasn't ready to know you back then. My dumbass was too selfish, too ready to get the hell out of here and leave this little ass town in the dust."

"What if you decide you hate it here again?"

"Nah. I've come to appreciate this town, what it represents, and who lives here more than any other place on the planet."

"Still, you might change your mind."

"Posie, the thing I stupidly left here to find was my own identity outside of my family's influence. I found that years ago. You even helped me do that through our letters. Staying gone longer than necessary was all about bad timing and being trapped in a situation I wasn't able to get out of quickly. I wanted to come back years ago. This town, these people, my family, you… I want J.J. to be raised here where I know good people will always be looking out for him. I want the peace of mind of knowing that the people I love the most are close, so if anything ever happens, there is someone that we can count on. My family needs to know that they can count on me to be there for them too."

"It's a powerful feeling, having your family surround you. You Carters are good at making someone feel like they have an Army at their back." Posie grinned over at me as she said that and it hit me, maybe for the first time, that this girl who I had fallen in love with through many years-worth of letterswas already a part of my family. A very loved and cherished part.

"I never want to force you to live without them at your back either. I need you to understand that the decision to come back here was an easy one for me because it was past time to bring my ass home."

"Okay."

"Okay," I mimicked with a wink as we both turned to see my mom's car pull in followed by the rest of my family and my truck that was being driven by my dad.

"Looks like the calvary have arrived." Her assessment made me grin as my parents each got out of the vehicles they were driving and approached the porch first.

"Nice to see those chairs getting some use," Dad called out. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Posie run her hand over the arm of the chair she gently rocked in. As soon as my parents hit the porch, my woman stood to greet them. My son, who had been helped out of the truck by Evan came barreling up to me with his arms wide open.

"Dad, Uncle Evan had so much fun wiff me."

"He did?" I questioned and glanced over to my brother who laughed at his nephew's assessment of how the night went.

"Yup. We pwayed cars and then we drew pictures." While my son leaned in, to make it harder for his poor uncle to hear him, he forgot to lower his voice for the quiet part. "He's not good at making people wike me."

"That's impossible, buddy. We won't tell Uncle Evan that he can't even draw a stick figure right. That might hurt his feelings," I admitted rather loudly while trying to hold back my laughter.

"It's so good to have you both here, even if…" Mom started to say as Posie hugged her tighter.

"Let's go on in the house. It's starting to get muggy as hell already. Too early for air this thick." Dad complained. He moved to open the door before stopping. "Sorry, the house is yours now, Son. Have you been inside yet?"

It was like I was being called out by my own dad for having a sleep over with Posie. "Where did Daddy sweep last night?" My own son asked. I rolled my eyes at my dad as Posie giggled by my side. The noise caught J.J.'s attention making his head snap around. "Dad!" He yelled and pointed at her. "It's Posie! She's here!"

"She is, buddy." Posie seemed shell-shocked to be called out by my son, who I didn't think she'd ever officially met. He was too young to pick up on the fact that he startled her though, and instead, ran over and threw his arms around her legs to squeeze her tight. "Posie! Daddy wuvs you."

Mom sniffled as Posie leaned in and fluffed my boy's hair. Once she had him untangled from her legs, she bent so that they were eye-to-eye as he stood there, and she kneeled before him. "I could use a helper to get breakfast started for everyone. Do you think you can be my helper today?"

"In the kitchen?" He asked with comically wide eyes.

Posie nodded emphatically. "Yep, we have to crack some eggs," she started, but before she could get any further my son yelled, "YES!" Then he took off for the door after he made a fuss of yanking Posie to her feet. She followed in dramatic fashion as Dad held the door open for them.

"Well, that was a sight to see." Mom sniffed back her emotion and dabbed at her eyes as we all followed them into the house. Despite not having changed a bit since the last time I visited, the house felt empty. It was missing its soul with Pops' departure. He should have been there to see his great-grandson enamored with his favorite girl.

Before I made it inside the house, my dad reached out to grab my arm and hold me back. After Mom and my brothers made their way inside, Dad leaned in close and spoke quietly.

"It's not lost on me how much you've been wanting to be close to her over the years, but I needed to remind you that Posie has been through a lot in a relatively short amount of time, Son. She just lost the second man she considered her dad and that was on the heels of breaking up with her live-in boyfriend who she caught in the act of cheating on her with the woman who previously sabotaged her 25th birthday and purposely set out to mess things up between the two of you."

"I am aware of everything that has happened. All we did was talk and reconnect last night. Don't worry, your pseudo-sister's virtue was safe from me." I tried to make light because it was weird to have my own dad throw a caution flag up on the situation.

He shook his head. "Posie probably doesn't see it this way, because she considered your Pops to be her Dad, but she's like a daughter to your mom and me, too."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Things are going to feel really weird when we send out the invitations and you're listed as her father-brother and my father."

Dad smacked me on the side of the head but turned his face because he couldn't hide his own laughter. "Dad would be laughing his ass off over that."

"Pops did set this whole thing into motion," I reminded him.

"He would have been ecstatic to walk out and see the two of you sitting in those rocking chairs this morning."

"For a minute there, before you guys pulled up, it felt like he was there."

"Probably so, Son." He threw his arm around my shoulder and tugged me closer to the door. "Now, remember, that girl means a lot to me – to the whole family, really – so you treat her well."

"Is she going to get the same lecture about dating your son?" I teased.

Dad shook his head. "Nah, because she doesn't need it. That girl has been infatuated with you before you ever even noticed her."

"That part kills me."

Again, my dad shook his head as he held the door for me to pass first. "It shouldn't. You weren't ready for her yet, Max. If you had really taken an interest back in high school, and then left, things probably wouldn't have ended up being long-term and it could have caused issues with her being so comfortable around the rest of us. Everything happens for a reason."

"Yeah, so I keep being reminded." We walked in just in time to see J.J. splatter an egg across the kitchen as he slammed it down on the counter.

"I think we can scratch chef off future career paths for destructo-boy," Evan called out.

"I can dwal stick people," My son taunted his uncle back.

"Fair enough," Evan laughed as the tips of his ears turned red. "I have Posie to draw pretty pictures for me, though."

"No!" J.J. yelled at him. "Posie is ours, right Daddy?"

I had to clamp my lips down between my teeth to keep from revealing the shit eating grin that wanted to sprout. Instead, I nodded my head and watched as my son did the same. "You can dwawl with me later, Posie."

"I would love to, J.J. How about we get that sticky egg cleaned off your hands?" She took him to the sink and held him lifted up between her body and the counter while Mom tackled cleanup on the egg splattered across the kitchen island and part of the floor.

Ihad been right about the number of weird casseroles that were delivered at Pops' house that day. As soon as word started to spread, townsfolk who had known my grandfather started popping in to offer their condolences. According to my parents, most everyone knew that Pops' health had been on the decline, so there weren't a whole lot of people shocked by his loss.

By the time the last person who didn't belong in our immediate family left, everyone was wiped out and emotionally drained. J.J. had fallen asleep on the couch an hour earlier, despite the noise of everyone who left saying their goodbyes in that room.

"I'll go make a bed up for him," Posie managed to garble out through a yawn.

"We can take him back with us again for the night," Mom offered.

"Thanks, but I think it will be better if he wakes up in the same house he's been in all day." Posie climbed the stairs and was out of sight before Mom could respond.

"I thought maybe the two of you needed time to grieve."

"So do you and Dad," I reminded her. "We'll be fine. If we're not, we'll call. I promise."

Despite how exhausted she looked; Mom managed a small smile. "I really like the fact that you're throwing out "we" so naturally."

"It's been a long time coming. We're not really there yet, but I have hope that it will all work out now."

"Me too. Our girl will be good for you and J.J. Love you, Max. See you tomorrow."

"Careful going home."

After my parents left, Evan was the last man standing. "You headed out too?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay the night. I'm too tired to go anywhere and I can run interference with the little man if he gets up early, so you two can sleep in without questions being asked."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I think we're all too tired for…"

"Not my business and don't want to hear anything you might have been about to say about you and my sister hooking up." Evan mock gagged. "It fucking sucks that Pops' death was the catalyst to get you back here, but I'm really happy you are. She deserves to get exactly what she wants in life and that's always been you, Max."

"You once told me you had a thing for her," I reminded my younger brother.

"Nah." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair to push it back out of his face. "Posie is special. I loved her – still do. It's not in that way, though. Never was. I was always jealous of the time that you being with her would take from me. I love working with that girl. Love hanging out and doing movie nights or going on silly little mini adventures to get inspiration for our graphic novels. There was a time when I was selfish enough to make you believe I would step in and make her mine." He choked out a laugh. "If Posie knew that she'd kick my ass from here to the end of the Earth and back."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." I glanced around. "I'm guessing you have a room picked out for the night?"

"I'll take the one next to your boy and leave my door open. You can go join Posie in her room."

I offered a quick nod to my brother as he moved to lock up. "I'll check to make sure everything's secure. You head on up."

I grabbed my son off the couch and carried him upstairs to find Posie coming out of one of the bedrooms. "The bed is all made up for him," she whispered and watched as I went to lay my son down and quickly removed his shoes before tucking him in.

When I moved back into the hallway, Posie had secured a baby gate across the hall, so that J.J. wouldn't be able to tumble down the steps if he woke up sleepy.

"Thanks for that," I whispered as Evan came upstairs and stepped over the gate.

"Night, Sis." He leaned in and kissed the top of Posie's head before tipping his chin up at me. "Night, Max."

I offered a return tip of my chin and wrapped my arms around Posie. She looked like she could crumble at any moment.

"Night Evan. If you or J.J. need me-"

"I know where to find you," he insisted after cutting me off.

I followed Posie into the bedroom she still had at Pops' place. It no longer looked like a girly bedroom. Instead, there were tons of pictures hanging on the walls of her with my family over the years. There was a giant teddy bear sitting on a chair in the corner. I assumed it was the graduation gift she had been given by my parents because he wore a graduation cap.

Posie's gaze followed my own and she smiled warmly at the bear. "I bet J.J. would love cuddling up in his arms to watch his shows in the morning."

"Nah, that bear is special to you."

She waved off my concern. "He is special and that's why I want to share him with J.J. I don't believe in having things simply sit around and collect dust. The bear deserves to be well-loved, and I have a feeling your son is just the person to do that."

"You are so fucking perfect," I whispered into her hair as I helped her out of the shirt she'd put on that morning. "Why does it feel like a week has gone by since we got dressed this morning?"

"Grief, plus too many energy vampires draining our reserves today." Her list was short, but highlighted the biggest reasons we were both bushed.

Posie moved to her dresser and yanked out a tank top and a girly set of boxer shorts to put on. When I groaned, she chuckled softly. "I'm not sleeping naked with your son just down the hall for the first time."

"I know. I'm going to go see if Evan has something here I can borrow. My bags are still out in the truck, and he's already locked up."

Truthfully, I would have slept in boxers again, but I didn't think I could handle watching her get changed. After removing her shirt, my dick was already semi-hard. It had been a long day, as much as I wanted to sink inside of her and never come back out, we both needed some rest first.