Withstanding Me(49)

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE A FUCKIN BROTHER?”

I groan. Dammit!

“Yeah, we forgot to talk about that.” Pyro chuckles.

“Shut the fuck up,” I growl and stand up, popping my knuckles and neck. “Winter got any junk food in the kitchen?”

They both look at me like I’m crazy. “How the fuck would we know?” Sniper says.

I roll my eyes and jog towards the Club kitchen. She’s gotta have some kind of cookies in here. I rifle around the cabinets and spot some sugar cookies. Okay, they’re not chocolate chip, but my baby will understand.

I jog back over to where I left Storm and Mace. I tap Tatiana on the shoulder and she flies around. I hold out the cookies, and she jerks them from me. “Dad… what’s going on?”

I flinch. Fuck do I flinch. She sounds hurt. I fuckin hate that.

“Sit down baby.” I motion towards the booth.

I go on to tell her about how her mother didn’t tell me I had a son, or that she had a twin brother, and tears roll down her face. She’s so fuckin hurt. I fuckin hate when my baby is hurting. And I can’t stop this hurt because I didn’t fuckin cause it. All I can do is make it easier on her.

“I fucking hate her dad; I fucking hate her so bad.”

I blow out a breath, thanking fuck she’s not mad at me. It’s one thing for a parent to be let down by a child, but for a child to be let down by the parent, not fuckin cool. Never wanna let down my kid. Shit. I mean kids.

Which reminds me.

“Tatiana, need to tell ya somethin baby girl.”

The cookie she was about to eat pauses midway to her mouth.

“Storm was pregnant, but she lost our baby in the car accident.”

Strom squeezes my leg underneath the table booth and a small gasp escapes her lips. I don’t think she was expecting me to tell anyone else.

“Storm…,” Tatiana cries like she doesn’t believe me.

“It’s true.” She replies.

“This is a fucked up world.”

And that’s it. Tatiana doesn’t say sorry because she knows it’s not what Storm wants to hear right now. Another reason why my dumbass is finally trying. My daughter loves Storm.

“So Mace… is your name Mace or is it short for Mason?” Tatiana looks at her brother.

“It’s short for Mason.” He answers her.

Damn. I seriously hate that Mira.

“Me and you. We’ll be good as long as you agree that our birth mother is a cunt.”

I choke on my laughter. Leave it to Tatiana to leave an ultimatum.

“Well, we good then.”

I shake my head. This is fuckin nuts. I have twin kids. Yeah, fuckin nuts.

“Awesome and oh… don’t be hitting on Storm. She’s gonna be our step-mommy soon.”

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Storm starts choking on her drink. I start patting her on the back because I feel the same fuckin way about that sentence.

“Seriously? She’s almost our age.” Mace laughs.

“Tatiana, baby girl, you’re getting ahead of yourself here.”

God damn if Storm isn’t red in the face.

“Babe, your dad and I are dating, and you’re grown, so I’m just gonna say it how it is. We’re fucking. Right now, that’s all this is.” Storm gestures between us.

That pisses me off. We’re fuckin, and that’s all this is? Why the hell does that make me mad? I repeat her words over and over again in my head. Trying to make sense of them. We’re fucking. Right now that’s all this is. What the fuck? I don’t like that shit. It’s weighing on my mind something heavy. Goddammit! I said I would try. I would try at a relationship. Doesn’t that mean more than fucking? I don’t understand.

I excuse myself to look for Piper who’s no longer at our table. She’ll tell me what this means. She’s all wise and shit. I locate her doing a crossword puzzle at the bar. I take a seat on the barstool and rip the puzzle outta her grasp.

“What the fuck ZZ!”

I toss the puzzle down the bar. I need her focus. Like right now. “Storm just said we’re fucking.” And I do that quotation thing with my hands. “Right now, that’s all this is. What the fuck does that mean?”

Piper’s a smart girl. She reaches for a bottle of whiskey, pours me a shot, and slides it to me, setting the bottle on the bar top.

“It means you’re both just fucking. She means you both are just fuckin one another, no one else.”

I still don’t get it. Am I fuckin stupid here?

“Still lost, Piper.” I guzzle down my shot.

She sighs. “Look ZZ. She’s scared to fuckin death if she gets too clingy, you’re gonna run the other way.”