Star: It won’t be too weird for you?
Me: No. It’s fine.
It’s not fine. Not fine at all. But he’s Ryan’s brother. I can’t avoid him forever, can I?
I have four sisters. They are all blissfully happy.
Sam, one of the Reed brothers, met my sister Peck and they have a son and another baby on the way.
Josh, who works at the Reed brothers’ tattoo parlor, married my sister Star and they have a new baby, a little girl.
Tag is living with my sister Finny, and she’s pregnant. Tag already has a little boy, Benji. Tag wants to marry Finny, but she swears she doesn’t need a piece of paper.
Ryan, who also works as a tattoo artist at Reeds’, married my sister Lark. She’s not pregnant yet, but they’re trying. Lots.
And then there’s me.
And then there’s Mick.
And he was with me the day I lost my baby. And I haven’t seen him since.
And he’ll be at karaoke tonight. Shit.
Mick
I fell in love with her at the worst possible time. She was in the midst of something wonderful, and then she wasn’t. Her life changed in the blink of an eye. And in this situation, it wasn’t a change for the better. I can still remember when she felt the first cramp. When she pressed her knees together tightly in the front seat of my car as though she could hold that life inside herself by sheer will alone. And if will were all it took, she’d have succeeded.
But she didn’t succeed, and we were over before we’d begun. She was too hurt. She was too raw. She was wishing for what could have been, while I was wishing for what was. And what was…well, it was nothing. At least not to her.
My phone chimes in my pocket. I roll my eyes when I realize Ryan has changed the name I had for him in my phone again.
BestBrotherEver: Karaoke tonight at 7
Me: Why?
BestBrotherEver: My wife told me I was going. I’m going. That means you’re going.
Me: Why?
BestBrotherEver: You need to get out more. I’m worried about you.
Me: Is Wren going to be there?
BestBrotherEver: I don’t think so.
Me: Are you lying to me?
BestBrotherEver: Would I do that?
Me: Yes
BestBrotherEver: I’ll see you at 7. VIP section so the girls don’t get mobbed.
I shove my phone back into my pocket. Then I make a phone call. One that will either fix everything or ruin what was left. I’m just not sure which.
Wren
All the best stories start with “Here, hold my beer.” So, when I see Mick pass his beer to his brother Ryan and start toward the karaoke stage, I know right away that he’s in big trouble.