“Fish are hard to take care of!”
I chuckled watching their interaction. “It’s not a pet.” Mikey’s face fell, but Ivy looked relieved. “But we can arrange that for next time.”
Her head snapped towards me so quickly, I thought it might snap off. I raised my hands in surrender. “Just kidding.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You better be.”
“What’s in the box?” Mikey asked. He was practically begging at this point. “It’s huge.”
I walked towards the box, hefting it up, so that I could move it closer to Mikey. “Here,” I said. “Open it.”
Mikey didn’t need to be told twice. He starts ripping into the wrapping paper with gusto, and I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled inside of me. It had been a long time since I’d experienced the type of excitement that he was showing.
“Is this what I think it is?” Mikey asked. His eyes, which were slightly lighter than his sister’s, but they had the same sense of mischief in them.
Ivy leaned over my shoulder, trying to get a peek into the box. “What is it?” she asked. When she did get a look at the gift, I could see that she still didn’t know what the hell she was looking at. I wasn’t surprised. This was definitely a gift for a thirteen-year-old boy, and while Ivy knew the ins and outs of Mikey’s medicine, I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t know what the latest and greatest game was.
“This is VR,” Mikey said. He reached a hand down, grabbing the goggles gingerly.
“It’s the latest system,” I told him. There was a hint of pride in my voice. I was the little brother, so there were few opportunities to be the hero. It was a nice change of pace. Plus, I was too old to be playing with video games, but I’d been dying to use this new system.
“What is VR?” Both of us looked at Ivy, who looked like we’d just told her we would be playing with nuclear weapons.
“It’s virtual reality,” Mikey filled in. “And this is the best system there is.”
Ivy nodded but said nothing.
“That’s Marco!” Mikey said.
I smiled. “You’re welcome. You’ll have to tell me how it is.”
Mikey nodded. His eyes were bright and eager. “You’ll have to come over and play.”
I glanced over at Ivy who’d been silent this whole time. I wondered what she thought of this whole situation. I’d gotten the gift for Mikey before the wedding. I’d wanted him to have it for when he came to our place, but I’d thought it might have been nicer for him to just take it with him.
“Let’s get you back to the nurse,” Ivy said.
Mikey looked disappointed, but he nodded. I too was a little disappointed. Not that I’d tell her that. I hadn’t expected her to fawn over the gift, but I’d thought that she would have appreciated how much I was trying to make her brother a part of our lives.
I didn’t have to do that. I was already paying for his medical treatment, which costs a fortune. I could have made sure that we weren’t involved beyond that.
But I liked Mikey, and family was important. “Here,” I grabbed the box. “I’ll make sure that this gets home with you.”
Mikey nodded again, but this time, there was much less enthusiasm behind it. “Can I say bye to Sasha and Dom?” he asked.
I was fine with it, but I would let Ivy answer. I already felt like I overstepped my boundaries.
Ivy’s mouth was pressed into a thin line, and I knew that she wanted to say no. But one look at her brother's eyes and she caved. “Fine,” she said. “But have the nurse wheel you. I don’t want you trying yourself.”
“I can do it,” he said.
“I know that you can, but I don’t want your wheel getting caught in someone’s dress.” Mikey couldn’t argue with that. Neither could I.
We watched him roll towards the nurse. I walked behind Ivy who was still looking at Mikey with an intensity in her eyes that made me slightly nervous. I put my hands on her shoulders, sliding them down her bare arms. The feel of her silky skin instantly got me hard.
“What’s wrong?” Her shoulders were so tense that I was sure that she would snap.
She shrugged me off. “When do you think we can go home?”