“He made it through the surgery,” the vet said. Nick breathed a sigh of relief but the speech wasn’t done. “It was difficult, though. We got the tumor and it hadn’t spread. If he was younger, it would easier to call, but there were some complications and we almost lost him. We have to wait and see.”
Ice trickled through his veins. He managed a nod. “Ok. Can I see him?”
The vet’s face was gentle. “No, I’m sorry, not yet. I want you to go home, Nick. Give him some time. I promise I’ll check in hourly if that will make you feel better. I think Alexa needs you.”
Alexa. Lily. He wanted to promise them a happy ending, but he didn’t know if they existed any longer. Did they?
“Alright. I’ll come back later. I’m staying here overnight.”
The vet gave him a tired smile. “Fine, I know I won’t be able to change your mind. I’ll tell the nurses to expect you.”
“Thanks.”
He walked out and headed home.
***
Maggie was there waiting with Alexa when he got through the door. He quickly gave them the news. “I’m going to take a few hours to eat and rest, and then head back. I’d like to stay with him overnight.”
Alexa wrapped her arms around her chest as if trying to gain warmth. “Yes, that would make me feel better. I’m going to put on some pasta for everyone, open some wine, and we’ll eat soon.”
Maggie followed him to the living room. “Where are the girls?” he asked.
“Upstairs playing. I brought them over some new dolls.”
“Barbies?”
Maggie blew out a breath. “As if. I hate Barbie, though the pool was pretty cool. Her name is Shanna and she kicks butt.”
“I swear to God, Mags, if she wears leather I’m throwing it out.”
“Nah, just leopard print with some cool boots. Oh, and I brought some male dolls too. They’re her employees.”
He smothered a laugh. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”
“What’s new? Spill.”
“I just gave you the news.”
“No, you’re going to the dark side. I see it because I’ve been there.” Her voice softened. Besides Alexa, his sister knew the tendencies he fought—the reminder that maybe he couldn’t be what his family needed. The self-doubts came sometimes, but he hadn’t struggled this bad for a while. “You know how crazed I am about Dante, right?
He shuddered. “That cat is a menace. Hisses, spits and won’t let anyone get near him except you and the twins. And Wolfe, of course. I just don’t get it.”
“You don’t have to. Dante is the best cat ever and you’re just jealous he doesn’t like you.”
“Stop fighting,” Alexa called from the kitchen. She drifted in, set two glasses of Merlot on the table, and headed back out. “I swear I always need to referee you both. Be nice.”
Maggie stuck out her tongue. Nick fought a chuckle.
“So, where were we? Oh, Dante. Well, last year we got a scare and thought we’d lose him. I kind of freaked out. I guess animals are our trigger button. I mean, come on, me and you never thought we’d have a happy ever after. Not possible with the dynamic duo from hell who birthed us. I started doubting I could keep making Michael happy, then I got crazed about the twins, and I was sunk right into the pit of doom.”
Nick sipped his wine. That tight feeling within him began to loosen. “What did you do?”
Maggie shrugged and plucked up her glass. “I had a bad few days. Got in a fight with Michael. Started believing my life was just an illusion ready to crack open. And then to boot, Dad called me.”
He almost sputtered on his wine. “What? You didn’t tell me Jed was bothering you? Son of a bitch, I’ll kill him.”
She waved her hand in the air. “I took care of it. He divorced wife number three, or four, I keep forgetting, and wanted to stop by for a family lunch. Of course, I told him no thanks, he laid a crapload of guilt on me, and I was reminded that most things don’t work out. I started thinking about that time he put me down in front of my friends when they were over, calling me a drain on society because the only thing I’d ever be good for is to breed since I was too dumb to have any type of career.”
He tightened his grip on the glass and swore he’d kill the man. “Mags, I’m sorry. He keeps surfacing like the proverbial bad penny and screwing with our heads.”
“Yeah, daddy dearest certainly knows what buttons to push. I got rid of him, but I kept remembering stuff. Dante ended up being ok, but I realized I walk the edge a lot. Hard to forget. Michael was patient with me, and waiting when I climbed out of the past, but I realized something else.”
“What?”
“It’s not worth it, Nick. We got our shot at happiness, and it’s here. Today. Now. It’s never going to be perfect all the time, but if we keep leaping into the abyss at every bad challenge we face, we’re going to burn out.”
The truth of his sister’s words slammed through him. Broke him open. And made him bleed.
But it was a clean cut, getting rid of the junk and infection that festered, until it ran clear again.
“How’d you learn all this stuff?”
Maggie smiled. “Mama Conte. She’s like a witch, just knows what to tell me at the right time. Michael probably sicced her on me, thank God.”
Michael’s mother, aka Mama Conte, was both wise and knew how to crack through the barriers to get to the bone. Nick was happy his sister had a mother figure in her life who saw how beautiful she was, inside and out. “Yeah, Alexa is a bit of a witch herself. She’s...special.”
Maggie nodded. “I know. But so are we. A bit more screwed up, but deserving. Don’t you think?”
Yeah. Once again, he did believe that. He’d just lost his way a bit.
His wife popped her head back in with a frown. “What’s going on in there? It’s way too quiet.”
Maggie winked and squeezed his hand. “Nothing, just made my older brother speechless. As usual.”
“Uh, oh. Anything I need to know about?”
They shared a look. “Nope,” Maggie said. She took another long sip of wine and stood up. “But I gotta go babe. Time to save Michael, he’s been with the twins a while now and I only got one text. Alarming.”