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THE HAIRS ON THE BACK of my neck stood up, and my nails dug little scrapes into the thick lacquer varnish. “Oh...I’m going to kill her.”
“Tom, tell me what happened. From the beginning.” Dylan spoke for the first time. And from the tone of his voice, he was making the same sort of homicidal plans as I was.
Tommy sighed, running his free hand back through his hair as the other gripped the sleeping child. “I rented a room in the hotel yesterday, and she and I stayed up the whole night talking. She said that she’d always wanted a baby. That she’d always wanted a baby with me, in fact,” he looked abruptly uncomfortable, “but when she actually had him—she realized she was wrong. He totally screwed up her carefree life and she didn’t want him. She said she was going to give him up for adoption—never even tell me—but she figured that we should hash it out before making any sort of decision.”
Lily’s face had gone a dangerous shade of white. “She wasn’t even going to tell you? She was just going to give him away?”
Tommy nodded, and for a brief moment, his perpetually bright face looked as dark as I’d ever seen it. Not just dark—vicious. It gave me chills.
“Anyway, I thought I’d talked her down a bit. I told her we could take it one day at a time—that I’d be there for whatever she needed and the two of us could make it work.” His voice grew incredibly quiet. “She agreed. Kissed me. And the three of us fell asleep.”
His voice trailed off as his eyes fixed on something on the horizon. Something none of the rest of us could see. I wasn’t even sure he’d realized he’d stopped talking. Then the baby shifted a little, and he snapped back to attention—stroking his chest with the side of his thumb.
“When I woke up—she was gone. All that was left was the note.”
The table went quiet again, each of us lost to our own thoughts.
“She’s not coming back,” he said. “She told me she hated being a mother. One time, she almost shook him but was able to stop herself. She said I needed to take Theo before she hurt him.”
Dylan looked like he was a second away from calling the senior partner in his Manhattan law firm. A man who, in addition to representing the eight presidents and two prime ministers, was also on speed dial. Lily looked like she was a second away from going out and buying a map of Las Vegas and a gun. I was horrified that amidst my drunken revelry, I hadn’t been there guarding the door in case something like this happened. And Tommy...?
Actually, for one of the first times in our lives, I couldn’t get a good read on Tommy.
“What’s his name?” I asked quietly.
His blue eyes shot up to mine.
“Theo.”
A faint smile curved up my lips before I could stop it as I looked at the sleeping child.
“Theo,” I repeated. I liked it.
Theo was, quite simply put, the most adorable child on the planet. He had slept soundly during Tommy’s entire story, but the whole time, he wouldn’t let go of Tommy’s hand. To be fair, I don’t think Tommy would let go either.
“I’m taking him home with me,” he said with sudden decisiveness. “He’s my son.”
I bowed my head to the table, overwhelmed, but not surprised. Of course Tommy would take care of the boy. He was the best man I knew. Little Theo couldn’t ask for any better. In fact, of all the emotions rattling around inside me, there was one that floated to the surface, fiercer and stronger than any other.
Pride.
“Tom,” Dylan tried to gently reason with him, “we don’t know that—”
“He’s my son.”
The brothers locked eyes, and for one of the only times in Murphy family history, it was Dylan who backed down. I think he knew from the start that he didn’t stand a chance. Not with this.
“If he’s your son...then he’s my nephew,” he said quietly.
He looked at the baby, and I squeezed his hand under the table.
“Lily?”
I followed Tommy’s gaze to where Lily was staring at her steak knife, a most peculiar expression twisting her features. She jumped when Tommy said her name and looked up.
“Yeah?”
His eyes softened. “Lil, if you’re trying to calculate the registration time for a grenade launcher or something, then—”
“Thomas Murphy,” she interrupted with sudden conviction, “you’re going to be the world’s greatest father.”
I glanced up with a smile, and Tommy leaned back in his chair—looking profoundly touched.
“Yeah?” he asked hopefully.
Now that we were all officially on board with him, he was allowing himself a moment to take a beat and breathe. The forced calm lifted temporarily, giving us a glimpse at the utter shock, exhaustion, and terror raging on below the surface. His eyes seemed permanently dilated, and every part of his body was caught in what looked like a perpetual tremble. Every part except the hand that was holding onto Theo. That hand seemed infallible.
I took his other hand in mine—holding it steady.
“Yes,” I said firmly, staring him straight in the eyes, “you are.”
He gripped onto my fingers, looking as scared as I’d ever seen him.
“I don’t know if that’s true,” he whispered, gazing down at the top of Theo’s head. “I don’t know a thing about kids. What they eat, how to hold them, whether or not they react well to goats...” His voice shook in sudden panic. “Rose, I only recently figured out how to use my blender. How can I possibly—”
“You’re not going to do it alone,” I said steadily. “You’re going to have help. I’m going to help you. We all are. We’re in this one hundred percent together. And don’t forget you have your parents too.”
A silent tear ran down his face, and without seeming to think about it, he leaned down and kissed the top of his son’s head.
“Do you promise?”
A sudden tear slipped down my neck, and I realized I was crying as well.
“Yeah, Tommy.” I kissed his hand, gripping it tightly in my own. “I promise.”
Across the table, Lily gave him a reassuring wink, and on his other side, Dylan reached out and squeezed him firmly on the shoulder.
Looking a bit overwhelmed, Tommy dropped his eyes to the table and nodded, gathering himself together before trying to diffuse the sudden tender moment.
“So,” he pulled in a shaky breath and looked up with a smile, “what did you guys end up doing last night?”
“You left Rose high and dry last night,” Lily said.
He slapped his forehead. “Oh, the inheritance. You lost it. Because I didn’t marry you. I’m so sorry, Rosie.”
“I didn’t lose it,” I said.
His eyes lit up. “You didn’t? Please don’t tell me you married a random stranger.”
Lily laughed. “Nope, I can tell you Rose didn’t marry a random stranger.”
“I married a familiar stranger,” I said. “Your brother.”
He gasped. “You married Dylan?”
I flashed my ring at him, and he stared at me in confusion.
“I leave you alone for one minute!” he said.
“We’re officially family,” I said. “I’m Mrs. Dylan Murphy, and you’re my new brother-n-law!”