There was only one other sight that could rival the one of my siblings waiting at our usual table for me, was the sight of my boys all sitting in the living room when I got home at the end of the day. All of my siblings perked up at the sight of me, and I greeted them with a wide smile. Once Lauren had been handled, it was much easier for us to become closer. I enjoyed being extremely close with my siblings again, and our weekly lunches we had together were something I looked forward to.
I slid into the seat next to Knox, giving him a side hug when I had settled in. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm a little late. Raven felt like trying to get me to stay home today."
"I ordered for you," Marie told me then smirked slightly, her foot gently knocking against my leg. "I don't blame Raven for wanting to try to keep you home. You've been quite busy lately. Your first month off in a while, yeah?"
I laughed, pushing hair away from my face. Everyone liked to constantly remind me that in the past few months I'd been balancing a relationship, publicity for my book, handling my mother, and aiding Charli in her party planning. Yes, I had been busy, but I loved it. When I had first moved to Savannah, I tried to finish high school online, but soon found I was getting too busy to maintain that. My father and mother couldn't harass me about considering they were in the middle of their down fall, and after speaking with my brothers, they gave their consent.
"I'm all theirs this summer, I already told them that," I pointed out, leaning back in my seat. After rushing to get out of the house and to the restaurant, I was a little winded, which was a fact I would carefully hide from my boys or else they would want to try to make me exercise with them again. I glanced around then frowned, eyebrows furrowing together. "Where's dad and Charli?"
"Your dad is in the bathroom," Micah replied, his eyes remaining on the lit up of screen of his phone, obviously entranced with whatever it was he was looking at. "Charli couldn't make it according to Zain."
I peeked over at Zain, silently awaiting confirmation on this matter and more details.
Zain nodded and even looked a little forlorn at the fact that his fiancee couldn't join us. "She had to leave for New York, early. Something about her family and planning. I'm not really certain on all the details, I hadn't had time to properly wake up when she explained it to me."
"I'll have to call her tonight," I said, partially to myself. "Make sure she's okay and doesn't need any help with anything."
"Kiddo!"
I sat up straighter and beamed at the voice that belonged to my biological father. He wasn't always able to join us for lunch, considering he was in and out of town a lot for business, but when he was able to, I was always overjoyed. I shot up out of my seat and flung myself into his arms, hugging him tightly. I looked a lot more similar to him than I did Lauren, sharing the same blonde hair and green eyes.
"Aren't you just glowing?" he exclaimed as he sat next to Marie, practically across from me. "Taking some time off looks good on you."
I rolled my eyes at him, though I was grinning. He had been one of the many people to persistently harass me about taking some time for myself. He claimed that he didn't need his only daughter dying at a young age from over working herself too much, and in some aspects, I had to agree with him.
"It's summer now, daddy," I chimed, sending him a smile. "I have all the time off that I want."
"Actually, Sang," Zain spoke up, drawing my attention to him at practically the other end of the table. "I have a proposition for you."
My eyebrows shot up at those words; the last time he'd had a proposition for me, I had ended up shirtless, passed out in bar bathroom. I was weary of him and Knox's propositions after such an event, but always decided to pretend to listen to them before I turned them down. I turned in my seat to face him better and put on my best listening face. Marie snickered, fully aware that no matter what he was about to say, he was most likely going to get turned down.
"What is it you would like to propose to me, Zain?" I asked, trying my best to keep the weariness I was feeling out of my voice. He must've caught it anyways, because he shot me an irritated look and I shrugged. He was my older brother, I had every right to be weary of him sometimes.
"As you know, Charli left early to go to New York to plan," he said starting off slowly. Whenever he drew out his words like that when about to ask me something, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I narrowed my eyes, daring him to continue. "There's a lot of planning left to do, and the wedding is in October, which is crazy, right?" He paused, as if expecting me to agree. I lifted my glass, swirling the glass around and fixating him with an impatient glance. "And we had been talking about how great you had done with the party. And I can't be in New York most of the time, I have a lot of business work. And basically, what I'm asking of you is to please come to New York for the summer and help Charli out some."
I had taken a sip of my water as I had waited for him to spit out whatever it was that he had wanted; I promptly spat it out onto my lap at his words. I stared at him, my eyes widening from disbelief. I had informed all of my siblings the night before that I had been discussing a vacation with Corey, and it was completely unfair of him to ask me of this when it was my first time off in what felt like forever.
"What?" I snapped, gently setting down my glass though I felt like throwing it at the wall or maybe even Zain's head in the moment. "Zain, I can't. Sweet Corey may kill me if I agree to this, I might die of a heart attack at 22 if I agree to this, and who knows how much time I'll have to vacation if I do this instead of going away with the boys! I can't!"
"Sang," Zain used his brotherly voice on me and I lunged for him. Knox caught me around the waist, pushing me back into my seat, glancing between Zain and I nervously. It was a good thing he was there between us or else Zain would have been flat on his ass getting pummeled. My siblings and I had gotten closer, but it didn't mean we hadn't stopped roughhousing and beating the shit out of each other. "Just listen to me, okay?"
"No," I huffed, crossing my arms and pouting like a child having a temper tantrum. I knew that I was being slightly unfair, but so was he. I had been overworking myself for so long, and now that I finally had a break, he wanted me to work more?
"Only 25% of the time you're in New York would be spent helping Charli," he continued calmly, apparently unphased by my frustration. "The rest would be you and the boys spending time together. New York has a lot for you to do, and I know for a fact that you love it there. I know you don't want to let Corey down and I know that you definitely deserve some time off. Which is why Charli and I will pay for your hotel rooms and everything else, and the only thing you'll have to do in exchange is help with some wedding things, speak with some officials for me for the business, and spend time with your boys. Come on, think about, Sang."
My arms dropped to my sides and I softened, actually considering his words. New York did hold a special place in my heart. That was where I had kissed Axel for the first time, as well as fully realized how much I loved them. It wouldn't be so awful to spend some time planning the wedding, then the rest of it with my boys in a city we all loved. Of course it wasn't the beach like Corey and I had originally talked about, but it was still a vacation that held a good amount of promise. My eyes darted over to my dad, silently questioning him on his thoughts; he was one of the people who firmly believed that I deserved a break and I valued his opinion.
His mouth tightened into a firm line and he looked over at Zain, who was starting to look increasingly nervous. "You promise that Sang won't be working her little tail bone off again?" He asked, serious and fatherly. "We've already had one scare with her. I don't need her ending up in the hospital again, and if there's even a possibility of that happening to her in New York, then I don't want her going."
Zain looked mortified at the mention of the hospital trip I had taken the month before and everyone else at the table became solemn as well. I curled my hands into fists, resisting the urge to hit something. The entire thing had been an accident, but no one would let me forget it, which I understood. It had been scary, not only for them, but for me too.
"I wouldn't ever ask Sang to do this if I thought it would have that outcome," Zain replied, a fierce protectiveness forming. "I want her healthy and happy just as much as everyone else at this table."
"Yeah but what if she does end up in the hospital again because of this?" Marie snapped, leaning back in her seat. Over the past year and half, after what Lauren had done to me, we had grown closer and she had grown rather protective, partially blaming herself for what had happened when I arrived at that house that horrific morning. "The blame will be on you, not her, because she's too nice to say no to something like that."
Zain leaned forward, his eyes hardening into a glare. Marie regarded with him disdain, but didn't seem to react to the anger she had evoked in him. She had never really cared much about provoking people or upsetting them, or even the aftermath for that fact, she did without thinking and often times it worried me greatly.
"I wouldn't ask Sang to do this if I thought it would impact her health, Marie," he growled out in a low voice. "I love Sang, and I don't ever want to go through what happened again. In fact, if she wants to, she can decide to back out at any time. Now let her make her own goddamn decision like the big girl that she is."
"Funny," Micah scoffed, crossing his arms and scowling. "Didn't you use to try make decisions for her all the time just about a year ago?"
For all the progress we had made, there was one thing we were still trying to work on: Micah forgiving Zain. Micah had been treating Zain better lately, but any time he thought our older brother might be pushing it when it came to me, he instantly reverted back to how he used to treat Zain, believing that he was protecting me when all he was really doing was staring shit. If I didn't step in now, it would only get worse.
"I'll do it," I announced quietly, but sharp enough that it ended all chatter and arguing. All eyes were on me, something that still made me squirm in my seat and caused my palms to grow sweaty. "I'll come to New York for the summer, help out with the wedding, and spend time with the boys. But if at any point I've had enough, I'm leaving. I'm leaving and you're paying for my flight to Bali."
My siblings and father burst into laughter; I only managed a weak smile, wondering how I was going to explain this to my boys, but more specifically, Corey.
***
I dragged my feet as I entered the house, part of me happy to see my boys but another part of me reluctant to face Corey and tell him the news. He had seemed so excited the night before when we had begun researching and discussing potential plans, and although it was still going to be somewhat of a vacation, I knew it wasn't the vacation that he wanted.
There was a click of nails and the sound of skidding from the living room, and a grin formed on my face. I dropped my purse and kicked off my shoes before crouching down, preparing for the incoming pup. I squealed as Romeo slid on the floor and then collided with me. I laughed, collapsing to the ground with Romeo sitting on my stomach, giving me great big puppy kisses.
Romeo was me and the boys' pit bull that we'd had for about 3 months now. He was only about two weeks old when we got him, making him still a puppy. He had a great amount of energy in him, which I adored. I loved taking him for walks and running around in the backyard with him, though Axel didn't exactly appreciate it when Romeo and I treaded mud through the house. Romeo loved all the boys, but he had taken quite a liking to Raven, and Raven wouldn't admit it, but he loved it. If Romeo wasn't sleeping with me, he was sleeping with Corey and Raven.
I pressed small kisses to Romeo's muzzle then wiped away the dog slobber that was on my face. "Yes, hi, boy," I cooed, petting his head. "Mommy is home and she missed you so much. Can you let me up now though? There are some other boys I missed a great amount as well."
"You just love running over Sang, don't you?" Marc's amused voice filled the room and I grinned, letting my head rest against the floor. "Imagine the damage you're gonna do to her when you're full grown!"
Marc scooped down and picked up Romeo, who greeted my handsome boy with the same amount of love and licks that I had received. I pulled myself off the floor and pushed my hair out of my face, nudging Romeo's face out of the way to peck Marc's lips.
"Who's home?" I asked, stretching. I cracked my eyes open to watch Marc's reaction, and smirked as he looked at the strip of stomach I had revealed in the process. "Also, see something you like?"
He grinned and set Romeo down, letting the dog run off to do whatever he will, most likely chew through one of Axel's shoes again. Marc wound his arms around my waist, sliding his hands down to right above my butt and pulling my body against his. I hummed contently in response.
"Mhmm," he confirmed, tracing his nose against my cheek and then dropping a kiss to my nose. "And I believe Corey and Raven are home. I'm about to head out to get some food for us. Axel and Brandon should be home within the next hour, though Brandon did say he might get tied up with something at work."
I patted Marc's chest and took a step back, mentally preparing myself for the discussion I was about to have with Corey.
"Is Corey in his room?" I questioned, shifting foot to foot. I didn't intend to come off as nervous, but I knew that I was.
Marc narrowed his eyes at me and tilted his head, but replied, "Yeah, he is. I'll be back soon, okay? You three better stay out of trouble or else Axel and Brandon will have my head."
I nodded, my hand fluttering up to my throat while I watched him leave. I sighed and decided that I might as well get telling Corey over with, like ripping off a band aid or something like that. I would have asked Raven to come along for moral support, but figured he would probably be napping, and the next best thing would be to get Romeo to come with me to distract Corey with his cuteness.
"Ro," I called out as I started up the stairs and towards Corey's room. "Come on! Let's go visit Cor! You know, the tall blond one who gives good belly rubs." I had to bite my lip to keep from giggling at the last part, but didn't succeed as Romeo yipped in response and bonded up the stairs and down the hall after me.
Corey's room was cracked open, indicating that he wasn't sleeping and probably wasn't working on anything serious. I knocked before poking my head in anyways, just in case. I would hate to disturb in the middle of doing something serious. He lifted his head and looked away from the computer, beaming at the sight of me. It only made me feel worse that I was about to dim his mood.
"Hey, love bug," I muttered, settling onto the edge of his bed. Romeo jumped up beside me, resting his head in my lap, as if he could sense the distress I was feeling. Corey turned completely in his chair, probably noticing the morose tone to my voice.
"What's wrong?" He asked, his eyes scanning my face, as if my expression could give him some kind of answer. "Did something happen at lunch? Did one of your siblings do something? I swear to God... I'm going to have to get Raven to talk to them again... Just because you're the younger sibling doesn't mean-"
"No, Corey," I cut him off, aware that it was unfair to let him blame my siblings. "It's not that, and besides, you know I can handle them." I inhaled deeply before pushing on. "Zain asked me to come to New York. He wants me to help Charli with some wedding planning. But, I wouldn't be doing much, just a few things here and there. Most of the time would be spent with you boys."
Corey's face fell and I almost whimpered. Out of all the boys, he was one of the one's I hated letting down the most. It always upset me when he was upset, and this time I was the one responsible for his disappointment, and that stung.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking down, blinking hard to prevent tears. I concentrated on Romeo, petting his soft ears. Romeo looked up at me with his big puppy dog eyes, as if trying to reassure me it would be okay and that Corey wouldn't be too upset. "I know I shouldn't have agreed, but I love New York, and I thought you guys might like to spend the summer there. But if I'm wrong I can tell Zain no, I can always tell him I changed my mind, I know that-"
"Sang," Corey sounded amused, causing me to jerk my head up and look at him incredulously. He was crouching right in front of me, smiling softly as he cupped my face with his hands. "Shortcake, I don't care where we go as long as I'm with you. Sure the beach would have been nice, but I like New York and we'll make memories there too. We'll have a great time there."
"Really?" I sqeaked out.
"Really." He chuckled, pulling me into a hug.
I giggled and hugged him back tightly; we didn't break the hug until Romeo whimpered, sick of being trapped between us.
a/n:
1.) This is a long one, yay!
2.) This is unedited, I'm sorry, but I wanted to get this to you ASAP since I deprived you of an update for so long.
3.) I feel like my writing in this one sucks I'm sorry.
4.) The GB boys will be back very soon so please get your panties out of a bunch.
5.) You've met Sang's biological dad and Romeo!! Sang's biological dad needs a name because I'm lazy, so drop some ideas in the comments please!
That's all for now, folks! See you next time, sorry that the updates have sucked recently, I'm TRYING.
xoxo,
ry.