Chapter 10

(***Aaron***)

I spent the rest of the day with my parents at the park near my house. The park is right against the beach, so we walked along the beach, passing the time with idle conversation. I didn’t miss the looks they shared with each other when I gave them vague answers to some of their questions.

By the time we got back home and started preparing dinner, I could tell my parents were starting to get antsy and wanted answers about my big reveal this evening. I told them, in simple terms, that they would just have to wait. My mother didn’t like this, but my father just nodded his head.

I fear that my mother will take what I have to tell her far worse than my father will.

"Okay, dear, I think everything is ready. When are Quinn and Annie going to be here?” My mom asks a few hours later.

I have just come out of my home office when she asks, so I glance at my watch to see what time it is. “They should be here soon. Rylan and her sister should be here too.”

“I like Rylan. She is a lovely woman.”

I roll my eyes because I know that if she ever becomes aware of my feelings towards Rylan, I will never hear the end of it. One day, maybe. For now, I will try my best to keep her oblivious.

“She is a good friend, mom.”

I hear her chuckle when I say this. All I do is shake my head, then walk to the living room to check in on my father. He is reading a woodworking magazine while he waits for everyone to arrive.

“Hey, find anything useful in there?”

He looks up from what he is reading but shakes his head. “You look tired, Aaron. Did you get any sleep last night?"

I shake my head, then look away from him. Last night was a mess. After telling them goodnight, I went to my room and tried to sleep. I tried, but the same nightmare that propelled me out of my house earlier that night came back with a vengeance.

Today has been rough so far only because of my lack of sleep.

The sound of the doorbell makes me take a deep breath, and then I go answer the door. I am pleasantly surprised to see that Rylan is the first to arrive. I have to do a double take between her and the woman beside her.

Rylan is wearing a pair of faded blue jeans with a white t-shirt that has Mickey Mouse on it. She has her hair up in a ponytail and minimal makeup on. To me, she is just stunning, no matter what she wears.

Rosalie is wearing a blue dress that matches her sister’s eyes. She looks timid, but I can sense that there is strength under that shy exterior that she hides behind. I have never met her sisters before, only her brother Andrew and their father. She did tell me that her younger sister on her mother’s side looks like her twin, but seeing it for the first time in person is a little... startling.

“You must be Rosalie." I hold my hand out to shake hers as I greet them both. I say absolutely nothing about the bruises on her face.

Rosalie takes my hand briefly, then nods her head. I look at Rylan, then lead them both into the house. I take them to the living room, where I can hear my parents talking in low tones. They both look up and go silent when we enter the room.

“Oh, Rylan, it is nice to see you. Who is this lovely woman beside you?” My mother gushes as she stands up and walks over to us.

“This is Rosalie. She is my youngest sister.”

“You have more than one?”

Rylan laughs as my mother guides her and Rosalie to the sofa. I share a look with my father, then leave the room to get something for everyone to drink. He joins me in the kitchen as I make everyone a glass of the iced tea my mother made.

Quinn and Annora have arrived when we return. Annie is practically glowing in the fifth month of her pregnancy. She is just starting to show, and Quinn is even more protective of her than he was before.

I sit the drinks down on the coffee table, then walk over to Annie and give her a hug. “You are radiant, Annie.”

She smiles at me, then walks over to Rylan and Rosalie. Quinn motions toward the hallway, like he wants to talk to me in private, so I follow him into the hall. He looks worried.

“What’s going on, Q?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Do I want to talk about my PTSD issues right now? No. Will I anyway? Yes, because it needs to be done. I need their help. I need all of you.”

Quinn nods his head and pats my shoulder, then we both walk back into the living room. My father looks our way as we enter the room. There is worry in his eyes, and I know it is probably best to just rip the bandage off after dinner rather than now. If I do it now, then the dinner that my mother cooked will have been wasted.

“Who's hungry?” I ask loudly.

Annora rubs her tummy and nods enthusiastically. Rylan nods her head as she looks at her sister, who nods too. My mother claps her hands, as she is always happy to feed people.

“Then let's head to the dining room. Mom made lasagna, garlic bread, and a big ass salad. Who wants wine? I have red and white.”

“I opened a bottle of each before I put the lasagna in the oven,” mom says as we all head to the dining room.

Mom heads into the kitchen to grab the lasagna, and Rylan offers to help with the rest. I'm not sure I like them chatting, but if she and I have a future, getting on my mother’s good side isn’t a bad idea. My heart does a little flip in my chest as I think of a future with her.

I want that now more than ever.

Dinner went smoothly, thanks to Quinn. While everyone at the table was digging into their dinner, he stood up with his wine glass in hand and tapped it gently with his fork to get everyone’s attention. He glanced over at Annora, and she just nodded her head as she smiled at him.

He announced that they learned two things at their recent doctor’s appointment. One was that there was not just one baby but two. Baby number two was hiding and made itself known during the ultrasound. The second was the gender of each baby.

Baby A is a boy, and the surprise baby, baby B, is a girl.

My mother let out a happy squeal, then jumped up from her seat to rush around the table so that she could give Annora a hug. The rest of the dinner conversation was centered on the two babies. I did not miss the subtle looks my mother was giving me and Rylan.

Why do mothers do that when one child gives them grandchildren? Is it just a built-in thing to want to be a grandmother at a certain age? I will have to talk to her about it later. I don’t need that kind of pressure right now.

Or ever, if I am being honest.

I need to work through my current issues before I can even think that far ahead. So far, I have been very careful when it comes to sex. No condom equals no sex. Or, as my friend Kimko says, no glove, no love.

So, there are no mini-me's hiding out there to bite my future in the ass.

Two hours later, dinner has been cleared away and the dishes taken care of by all the men, while the ladies all head into the living room to relax. My mother was going to do the dishes, but my father volunteered for the three of us to do the dirty work.

Once the dishes were done, I joined everyone in the living room. After a few minutes of small talk, I felt Quinn give me a nudge with his elbow. I move away to stand by the fireplace, then clear my throat loud enough for everyone to hear.

When I feel that I have everyone’s attention, I am suddenly not in the mood to do this anymore. I take a deep breath, shove that feeling aside, and then look at both of my parents. This is mainly for them, after all. I just asked the others here for moral support since they understand some of what I have been going through.

“I know you two have been wondering all day why I wanted to have this dinner with everyone,” I say directly to them. “Well, I am in trouble. I have been drowning for years in a dark pit that I am desperately trying to climb out of.”

I watch as my mother reaches out to grab my father’s hand. He grips hers as he nods his head for me to continue. I take a sip of my water before I go on.

“I have been dealing with my PTSD in a bad way. Booze, women, fast cars, gambling, and anything that just numbs me or chases away those nightmares from my time in the army.”

“Why haven’t you ever told us any of this before now? Is this why you don’t come to visit or let us come visit you as often as we want to? You have chosen to keep us in the dark, and that isn’t fair to us, Aaron.” My mother’s voice is soft, but I can hear the sadness in it.

“Is it just nightmares that you deal with?” Rylan asks.

The sound of her voice makes me look over to where she is sitting with her sister. There is a look in her eyes that makes me swallow hard. I have been hiding all of this from her too. Well, I did tell her some of it, but now I will tell her the rest.

“No, there is more, but I am not willing to go into depth on all of it tonight. I will later, as I get my shit together, I promise.”

I look back to my mother, and she is looking at Quinn. There is anger in her eyes as she looks at him, and I know what she is thinking. Why didn’t he tell her how bad I was doing?

“I asked Quinn not to say anything until I was ready. He also didn’t know just how bad I had been doing. He has gone through his own hell and come out on the other side. I was there for him then, and he will be there for me now. Don’t be angry with him, mom.”

She takes a deep breath, then looks at me. “What are you going to do now that we know? What is your plan?”

“I have started therapy with Dr. West; he helped Quinn and was an army spouse. We have a plan of action, and this was step two. Step three will be me taking a step back from the company for a while to get a grip on my nightmares. I will be going to group meetings with other vets and starting a drug cocktail to regulate my mood swings and anger.”

Without saying a word, my mother gets up and comes to me with her arms open. I let her hug me as I hugged her back.

“You have a strong support system here, and we will all help you get through this,” she whispers.

I nod my head.

“We will be moving out here until you are in a better place." My father’s voice makes me lift my head to look at him.

That is something I never thought of. Having them close is a good idea. “I think that is a good idea.”

“I need to get Annie home,” Quinn says as he walks over to me.

He shocks me by pulling me into a tight hug, which I return instantly. He is my brother in more ways than one, and I know without a doubt that he will always have my back. That is why I will trust him with all my demons and know that he won’t walk away.

“I love you, man,” I whisper.

“I love you too. I got you, brother. Call me anytime, and I will be here.”

“Thank you.”

He steps back, nods his head, and then I watch as he and Annie walk out of the room. I take a deep breath as my mother walks out of the room with her head down low. I never meant to hurt her. All I wanted to do was keep an untarnished image of me in her head.

“I will go after her. We will probably head to our room for the night. You and I will have a talk tomorrow, but for now, just know that I understand why you didn’t tell us. I am not happy about it, but I understand.” My father clasps my shoulder firmly, then leaves the room to go after my mother.

I can feel Rylan staring at me, and I shift nervously on my feet as I finally look her way. She glances at her sister, then walks over to me. There is sadness in her eyes that makes me feel like shit.

She grabs my hand, then cups my face with her other hand. “This was really hard for you to do, but why was it so important that I was here for it?”

“You know why.”

“I need to hear it, Aaron.”

Instead of saying the words first, I close the distance between us and capture her lips with mine. I kiss her softly, then pull away. “You matter to me more than you think.”

“That will do for now. I am sorry for...

I silence her with another quick kiss. “We will talk about it another night. Now, take your sister home before I decide to finish what we started the other night.”

Her eyes darken with desire, but she takes a step away. There is a smile on her face as she reaches into her pocket for something. She moves my hand so that my palm is facing up, then places something in it.

I look down, then chuckle. “So that is where I left that.”

“I stepped on it. Next time, leave something softer to step on.” With that said, she motions to Rosalie, and they both leave the room.

I walk them to the door, but before Rylan steps out behind her sister, I spin her around and kiss her again. This time I kiss her harder and take full advantage when she gasps in surprise by slipping my tongue into her mouth.

We pull away from each other when we hear soft laughter. She walks away from me quickly. I laugh as she bumps into the side of her car.

“Until next time, Rylan.”