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This gathering at Fiona’s was the unofficial wake for Violet MacLeod. Cousins and uncles and aunts and family friends had come together with drinks and chicken wings to talk about what a good egg she was. Emmett listened to many people raise a toast and slur through how she had always tried her best and raised her boys good. Tobey stood in the background through most of it, holding Kate like a protective barrier.
Emmett was sort of wishing he had left Benny and Kate with Rhonda and away from these hooligans.
There were still a few things to finish up before Tobey was ready to leave Chicago. Another day or two, he told Emmett. After the wake had petered out and Tobey had finished helping Fiona clean up all the trash, they headed back to Tobey and Cosmo’s apartment.
Emmett hadn’t expected it to be even smaller than his house, and he instantly was filled with guilt for assuming there would be room for him and his daughters. “We will, uh, get a hotel room,” he said as they stepped through the door. “Obviously.”
“No way,” Tobey said. “We will make it work. It’s only a couple days. I want you here.”
“You’re not going to make me and Benny share again, are you?” Cosmo groaned. “I was just getting used to being able to stretch out my arms in bed.”
“No, no, Benny can sleep on the couch,” Tobey said, running his hands through his hair and inspecting the spaces. “And I guess Kate...will be with me and Emmett? We’ll worry about it later. I, unfortunately, need to go down to the shop. And then I need to follow up with the insurance guy about my mom’s trailer. And the money she owes. And everything else she left undone.”
“What shop? The motorcycle shop?” Benny asked, excited. “Can we come? I wanna see!”
Tobey looked at Emmett, who shrugged and smiled. “I wanna see?”
When they pulled up to the motorcycle repair shop, Emmett recognized Molly immediately from Tobey’s descriptions of her: tall, muscular, dark complexion and bright personality. Her hair was in a pixie cut and she had a mole near her eye crinkle that made her look effortlessly glamorous. She looked up from the motor she was working on and wiped grease on her coveralls. “You survived,” she said as Tobey got out of passenger seat of the van.
“Barely,” Tobey said.
She wrapped Tobey up in a hug that almost picked him up off the ground. Then she looked past him to Emmett. “Is that your boyfriend?”
“Yes,” Tobey said. “Isn’t he handsome?”
“Not my type, but he’s alright,” Molly said, grinning at Emmett. “Emmett?”
“That’s right,” Emmett said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Same here,” Molly said. She hugged him too and then each of the children.
Benny ran to look at the motorcycles.
“Why weren’t you at Fiona’s?” Cosmo asked Molly.
Molly turned to the teenager who was getting taller but still only came up to her shoulder. “I was busy, hon. Somebody’s gotta hold down the fort while you guys are gallivanting around Ohio and dealing with family stuff.”
“I asked her not to come,” Tobey said. “She would have gotten in a brawl with Timmy, and we don’t need that on Molly’s record.”
Cosmo scowled. “Well. Okay then.”
Tobey leaned on Molly, relaxed in a way he hadn’t remotely been earlier around his family. “I hate to bring up business, Mol, but can we go in the office and look at ledgers for a minute?”
“Sure thing, partner,” Molly said. “There’s coffee in the pot, Emmett. Don’t let Kate fall in the pit.”
“Got it,” Emmett said. He picked up Kate as Molly and Tobey retreated to the office. He found the coffee next to a vending machine but decided to stick with water. He was nervous and jittery enough without caffeine.
Cosmo showed Benny around the shop, acting like he was in charge and knew everything, and Emmett let Kate bang a wrench and roll sockets across the concrete floor. He could see Molly and Tobey through the glass, leaning over a desk together. Even though Emmett couldn’t hear them, he could tell they were comfortable together, that they were each other’s person. It made him miss Megan a little.
Finally they came back out, Molly’s voice startling loud as the office door opened and she strode across the garage.
“I’ll take the kids with me,” Molly was saying, her voice full of authority.
“Wait, what? We can’t—” Emmett began, rising from the seat he had taken.
Molly held up her hand. “I can handle three urchins for a night. We’ll go to the park, grab a pizza, stay up all night watching movies and braiding each other’s hair, and then I’ll drop them off nice and tired for you in the morning. You two need a night without kids.”
“Molly, I cannot thank you enough,” Tobey said.
“I’ll find a way to make you repay me,” Molly said with a grin. She turned to Emmett. “Now I already have permission to pop Cos on the butt if he’s a shithead. What kind of discipline do you prefer for Benny and Kate?”
Emmett gaped like a landed fish.
“We won’t misbehave,” Benny said quickly. “We’ll be good. No need to spank us.”
“Blurble boop!” Kate agreed.
They left Molly the van with the car seat, and before Emmett could say goodbye to Benny, Molly was hustling him out the door and into the truck, and Tobey was showing him the sights of downtown Chicago.
“What about all those phone calls you had to make?” Emmett asked.
“They can wait until tomorrow,” Tobey said. “For now, let’s appreciate our child-free time and pretend like we’re tourists.”
“Um, I am a tourist,” Emmett said.
They grabbed hot dogs from a street cart and held hands as they walked down past the Bean and the fountains and the moving art, and nobody gave them a second look.
During a lapse in conversation, Tobey picked at Emmett’s hoodie sleeve and laughed. “You don’t look like yourself.”
Emmett, feeling bolder than usual, cocked his head so his longer hair fell across his face. “What do you mean by that?”
“This hoodie makes you look younger, gangster. You don’t look like a responsible father and a respectable computer cubicle employee.”
“Yeah, well, you look kinda gangster too. Definitely not like the kind of guy who would date me.”
“Oh, ouch,” Tobey said. “Okay, okay, let’s ditch the stereotypes. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“You should be. This is Chicago, baby. The New York City of the Midwest. Anybody can be anything here,” Emmett said with a sweeping arm toward Wrigley Field.
“I see you read the brochure,” Tobey said with a laugh.
They were both still in a good mood when they got back to the apartment around midnight.
Tobey led Emmett straight into the bedroom, not turning on any lights along the way. He kissed Emmett deeply, running his hands down his chest and stomach and then reaching for Emmett’s pants.
Emmett kissed him back. “Just going for it, then,” he commented. “I’m down with that.”
“I need you,” Tobey said between kisses, fumbling with the button.
“I understand,” Emmett said. He covered Tobey’s hands with one of his. “But stop for a sec.”
Tobey stopped, panting. “What?”
He looked into Tobey’s eyes. “I love you,” Emmett said.
Tobey gave a dopey smile in response then went back to the pants. Emmett helped him with them then started working on Tobey’s shirt. When their last items of clothing fell to the floor, Tobey pushed him back onto the bed.
Tobey’s body wanted to go hard and fast, and Emmett let him, leaning into his movements. A loud groan escaped his lips. No one came to investigate. No babies cried. Tobey rocked the bed harder.
When they were done, Emmett rested his head on Tobey’s furry chest and let Tobey play with his hair.
“I love you,” Emmett said quietly.
“I love you too,” Tobey said, but in a distracted way.
“What’s up?” Emmett asked, trying to twist around to look at Tobey’s face.
“Nothing. Just thinking about my mom. I’m trying to be sad that she’s gone. I don’t know if I am. Or if I feel sorry for her and the life she led. Or if I’m guilty for getting myself a better life and leaving her behind. Or if I’m just mad at her for leaving all this for me to deal with. She was so fucking selfish like that.”
“You’re allowed to feel all those things. You don’t have to pick one,” Emmett said. “When Megan died, I was just as mad as I was sad.”
“You? Mad? At Megan?” Tobey said incredulously.
Emmett shrugged. “At Megan, for leaving me with a baby. At myself, for thinking this pregnancy would be different. At the doctors, for not having the ability to save her.”
“That’s dumb.”
“Grief makes people do dumb things,” Emmett said. “Anyway, if I could be mad at somebody that I loved like that, it’s totally reasonable for you to be mad at somebody you didn’t love.”
“I did love her, though,” Tobey said. “Even after everything. She was my mom, you know?”
“Yeah, I do,” Emmett said.
They were quiet a minute.
Then Tobey said, “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
Emmett propped himself up on his elbow to kiss Tobey, and Tobey rolled him over to reach his lips better. That put Tobey on top, and they were starting again before they even realized it. This time they went slow because they could, and they didn’t want to let go.