Chapter 42

Millie

“Bitch, where the hell have you been?”

I was just walking up the front steps to Mum’s and Dad’s place when I heard a voice. Jamie came running over, rugby tackling, I mean, giving me a hug before stepping back. “You didn’t call me back. How did it go? Did the guys respond well?” She peered into my eyes, trying to gauge the answer from my expression. “Are they onboard with things? Are they going to fight it out bare knuckle style to determine who will actually be the father?”

“Might want to take a breath there, love, and let Mills have a chance to answer you.” Brock moved in and gave me a quick hug. “How’re you holding up?”

“Weird.” Both of them looked me over in concern. “Sorry, that doesn’t make any sense, but yeah. We met last night and I expected to turn up to an empty table.”

“Millie…” Jamie said.

“But instead, they were all like, ‘Don’t drink wine and have every dish off the menu.’”

“That’s how they got you to choose something to eat when out?” Hunter asked, appearing at my shoulder. “That’s freaking genius. Maybe we’ll eat before closing time when we go out as a whole family.”

“And then Noah asked me out on a date.” I expected a response, any response, but they all just stared at me. Hayden sucked in a breath, but my finger was up and in his face before he could get a word out. “You are going to be nice to him.”

“Of course,” he replied smoothly.

“No threats.” I stared at all three of my brothers. “I mean it. He and the guys are coming by tonight?—”

“Fuck, I wish I’d known that,” Hunter said. “Anything we’ve done that will piss the parental units off? We need to confess tonight because when those guys walk in, Mum and Dad won’t give a shit about what we’ve done.”

“We’re not five.” Brock rolled his eyes. “And anyway, after our big relationship announcement, everything else is small potatoes.” His hand went to my shoulder. “We’ve got your back. Dad is gonna get all overprotective and shit.”

“Brock—”

“You’re his baby girl.”

All three boys stared at me, willing me to understand. The little girl that couldn’t work out why I was treated differently to the boys threatened to raise her head, but I knew. Part of that was due to the situation I found myself in right now. If the boys had a drunken romp with a girl, the worst they could end up with was a STI.

“Who can look after herself,” I insisted. “I used that trick you guys taught me the other day and downed a guy ten times bigger than me.”

“You what?”

I smirked at Brock’s sharp reply, resisting his attempts to get answers. Instead, I walked faster and faster, the guys trying to outrace me as we reached the door.

“Muum,” I called out once we got inside. “Where are you at?”

“In the kitchen.” But she dropped her knife the minute we walked in. “How are you, darling? Did you get into the doctor’s yet? You need to start antenatal care straight away to ensure your baby is healthy. Now, where are those boys of yours?”

“What’re we, chopped liver?” Hunter asked, moving forward to sneak a chunk of cheese from her chopping board. This earned him a hand slap, followed by a kiss and a hug. “I remember when you used to be excited when we came by for dinner.”

“Enough.” Mum fixed my brothers with a steely eye. “You all need to be on your best behaviour for when Millie’s men arrive.”

“Millie’s men.” Dad came in with a beer in hand, his brows jerked down in a frown. “How about we meet them once we know which one is the father? What’re we going to do tonight? Say welcome to the family if you make the cut?”

He was right. Of course he was, but that didn’t stop his words from stinging. They reminded me of just how ridiculous this situation was. I’d tried to address it with the guys last night, but they just brushed over it.

“We’re all in until we know,” Noah had said, looking around the table for confirmation. Knox and Charlie had nodded in response . “You’re not going through this alone.”

“Be nice.” I replied in a small voice, not the same as my usual one. Most of the time I needed to make my intentions known loud and clear to be heard at all. “Invite them into your home. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You get to meet three guys and end up getting to know them over a meal?” I shook my head. “I invited them around for dinner because you said you wanted to be part of the process.”

“We do.” Mum took my hand and squeezed it before shooting Dad a dark look. “And you can stop being so bloody grumpy. If any of you try to scare these men away, well…” Watching Mum suck in a breath was a bit like observing a house cat decide it was a lion. I couldn’t help but smile. “You can cook your own damn roast.” She stepped away from the kitchen bench and Dad’s eyes widened. “And don’t go thinking you’ll be snuggling up to me tonight.”

“Alright, alright.” Dad sidled closer, holding Mum in his arms before giving her a long hug. “Just for you, love.” He winked at me, making clear he saw sense. You could say a lot about my family, but when they said they’d do something, they did.

It was everyone else that was the problem.

Hours later we were all sitting at the table, waiting. The roast was done, the meat and vegetables waiting in a warm oven for the guests of honour. But they weren’t here. My legs were crossed, my heel kicking up and down, up and down, and Jamie was watching it in alarm.

“Maybe—” Dad started to say.

“Let’s just eat.”

My stomach growled obnoxiously, making clear what it thought. We’d chewed through all of Mum’s crudité and dip and eaten slice after slice of bread, all while I’d looked at my phone. Knox had insisted we set up a group chat to share news in, and I’d put the address and the time of dinner down and followed that up with a message letting them know tonight wasn’t compulsory. No one had even replied. Not to blow me off or say they were tired, just no response at all.

Was this how it felt when I ghosted them the morning after? If it was, I regretted it. Nothing worse than going into a situation buoyed up by assumptions only to find out how wrong you were. Trouble is, I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end, and I didn’t like it at all. The only thing to do was move on and fast.

“Let’s just wait…”

Mum was going to specify a window of time, but a knock at the door had her jumping up and moving.

“Mum…” I said. “Mum!”

Fuck ‘em, that’s what I wanted to say. They couldn’t even be bothered to get here on time, but any shitty thing I might have to say died the moment they clumped into the house. Still dressed in their work uniforms, the three of them were a complete mess.

And all the more perfect for it.

I soaked in every line on their faces, the red rimmed eyes, the sooty hands. Charlie was a brunette right now, his hair stiff with soot. They stank of fire and smoke, and yet it was better than the most expensive aftershave, because of the story it told. They’d been out all day fighting a fire in the industrial sector of town, someone had said, and hadn’t stopped home for a shower or anything, coming right here. I got to my feet, feeling a little wobbly from the shock and then moved closer.

“Guys, this is my mum, Heather and my dad, Angus.” I introduced each member of my family. “Fam, this is Noah, Knox, and Charlie.”

“Jeez, you’ve had a bloody day of it, haven’t you?”

Where was the grumpy Dad of hours before? Not here. He was up and out of his seat, a broad grin on his face as he offered them his hands.

“Not sure you want to shake that, Angus,” Knox said, flexing his dirty fingers. “Heather, if we could borrow your laundry sink or something to clean up?”

“I had this really nice shirt I was gonna wear and everything,” Charlie said. “But Millie said you were eating at seven, so we may or may not have broken some land speed records getting over here.”

“These are for you, Heather.” Noah produced the kind of flower bouquet you picked up at a petrol station, but she looked at them as if the flowers were the rarest of hothouse blooms. “And these are for Millie.”

“Oh shit, we are never going to get away with hassling them about anything,” Hunter mumbled.

OK, the flowers were very pretty. He handed me a massive bunch of orange roses with reddish tips around the edges of each petal. My cheeks burned hotly as I stood there for a second.

“Take the flowers from the man, Amelia!” Mum urged. “Then show them the guest bathroom upstairs, so they can clean up. Boys, you like roast lamb, don’t you?”

“Love it.”

Noah’s lips twitched as he stared at me, barely acknowledging my mother.

“Boys, get these men a beer, because by the looks of it, they earned it,” Dad said.

“You didn’t think we’d come,” Knox said after I ushered them into the big bathroom upstairs.

“I wasn’t sure,” I said, busying myself with pulling out soap and clean hand towels.

“You didn’t think we’d come.”

A finger tilted my face their way, and I was forced to take them in. They didn’t realise that was a painful thing. Not just because the pangs of anticipated rejection were still wracking me, but because their state reminded me of an unfortunate reality.

“OK, no, I figured you’d all come to your senses.”

“Millie…” Knox moved forward, running his hands under the taps and then pumping liquid soap to help scrub them clean. Noah took the other, working with the same efficiency.

“What? If I spent the day fighting bloody fires, I wouldn’t have turned up for Mum’s lamb roast either.”

“We’re not here for roast lamb.” Charlie sidled closer. “Though, damn, it smells good.”

I watched Knox dry his hands and then nod to Charlie to take his place.

“You asked us to come and we said we would,” he told me as Noah dried his face off and then joined us.

“You need us to meet your parents, and so here we are.”

“Right, well, this was all very strategic. Dad was ready to hate all of you on sight, but seeing good, hard-working men in the flesh helped turn the tide.”

“And what about you?”

I’d spent my teenage years wanting to kiss Noah in my upstairs bathroom, but it came as a surprise to want the exact same thing now. Difference was, I wasn’t a kid waiting around to be kissed. I watched his eyes go wide as I reached up and tugged his head down to meet mine.

The last time we kissed, it was through an alcohol and revenge fuelled haze, so in some ways, this felt like the first time. No, better. I knew his mouth somehow. When to close the gap, when to brush his lips with mine and then he was taking over, tugging me against him. The cute dress I wore was getting all sooty, but I didn’t care. More, I wanted more. He pulled back, though, his grin a perfect echo of the one that had me mooning after him as a teenager.

“Like that, huh?”

“Like this.” Charlie stepped in, running his hand up my throat, and out of all the make-out sessions that happened under this roof, this was the most illicit. “Been thinking about doing this all day.”

Dirty thoughts, it appeared, as he held me in place and conquered my mouth. I was left panting, my lips feeling swollen as Knox stepped closer.

“I’m trying to make a good impression here,” he rumbled. “And I’m pretty sure this is not something your father would approve of.”

“He’s not having your baby. I am.”

I was a mouthy little shit, and even that felt way too bold to me. Not so for Knox. His big hand reached out and then came to rest on my still flat stomach.

“Yeah, you are. Now come here and kiss me before I start getting jealous.”

“Can’t have that,” I said, stroking his cheek. “You all need equal face time.”

Sometime later we all walked downstairs to find my family sitting expectantly around the table. Mum was already dishing up vegetables while Dad carved the lamb into wafer-thin slices. My best friend, however, just smirked, her eyes sparkling, as if she was dying to say I told you so.

“Enough out of you,” I whispered, taking a seat. Mum had extended the table, adding another one to the dining table and covering it with one long tablecloth and bringing in extra chairs. The guys all sat down around me.

“You’ve got a little something here,” Jamie hissed, tapping her chin. I rubbed at it furiously, my fingers coming away black.

“Perils of dating a firefighter,” Knox said with a smile, accepting a beer with thanks when my brother handed one over.

“Perils of dating several of them,” Noah added.

“Grubs up!” Dad announced. “Help yourselves. Don’t be shy. Heather made enough meat to feed an army of hungry men. So, boys, tell us a bit about yourselves…”