Page 3 of Silver Linings

“I don’t know if this helps any, but the fact that they did that does not surprise me in the least.”

“Yeah, I honestly wasn’t surprised, either,” Lily said, laughing. “Their only child, still not good enough for them. Oh well, I’ve had Gia and Juliette this whole time, cheering me on and loving on the baby. Who needs a biological family when you’ve got a great chosen one?”

“That’s a good way to look at it.”

Lily didn’t respond. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders and pressed her hands into her lower back.

“Where does this basket need to go?”

“Do you remember where the closet is in the hallway?”

He sighed. “I haven’t been gone that long, Lil.”

“You really have been, Gunner.”

Well, she certainly knew how to cut right through him. Gunner may be blunt and gruff to the point of pain, but Lily was usually all spun sugar. She shouldn’t be able to see his weaknesses and push them back in his face, yet there she was doing exactly that.

“Here,” he dropped the basket in front of the closet. “I need to find Gia.”

“She’s in with your mom.”

As if on cue, Gunner heard Gia’s laugh filter through the door from his mother’s room.

“Guess I should go see her. You going to be okay with all that?” he asked as he gestured to the laundry.

“Gunner, I’m not about to break putting away a few towels. Jeepers, it’s like you don’t remember me at all.”

“Oh, I remember you, Lily. Specifically, how stubborn you are.”

“Yeah, well, you would know all about stubbornness, wouldn’t you?” She huffed and started moving the towels onto the shelves.

Gunner just shook his head as he walked away. Why the hell would Gia hire Lily to help around the house when she was clearly about to have her baby? And where the hell was the father of her kid? Why was he letting her work instead of insisting she be at home, resting?

Two

“Hi, mom” Gunner masked his nerves as he walked into his mother’s room. He wasn’t allowed in his parent’s room as a little boy. Not until his father left them. And even after, it wasn’t some place he wanted to spend a lot of time.

“Hi, baby.”

Gia moved from the side of the bed to a small chair, freeing up the space for Gunner, but he just stayed standing at the edge of the mattress.

“I should have come sooner. I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“None of us did, sweetheart. I don’t blame you for wanting to be off saving the world. Now, come sit down and give me a proper hello.”

He moved closer, placing a kiss on her cheek before sitting on the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Oh sweetheart. I’m okay. Gia and Lily have been so good about making sure I don’t miss my medications.”

“I’m glad Lily’s here helping.”

“Me too. You know, every time I look at her, all I see is the little girl who refused to wear her hair in anything but braided pigtails that summer we moved in here.” The last summer their family was whole. The last summer before his dad walked out on them. “Don’t think about him, Gunner. He has no place here.”

“How—”

“You always have this scowl that takes over when you think about him.”