Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny's Lair (21 page)

“Trouble?” Jeremy said hopefully. “I’ll just bet she is!”

Aiden looked up at him and grinned. “What’d you know about being trouble?” he asked fondly. “You were probably the best baby in the world.” He moved so quick and so smooth, Jeremy couldn’t escape him. “Here. Have a feel for what real trouble is.”

Jeremy had a
plan
for this. He’d planned not to hold the baby! The other men seemed to be doing a perfectly good job for him, and there was no reason for anybody to think he’d be a good candidate to—

Oh.

Oh my. She just snugged right into the crook of his arm, didn’t she? Just compact and—and he could feel her
breathing
in her tight wrapping, and she was so
warm
.
He looked into her face automatically—eye contact, his daddy had told him. Eye contact was the key. And it wasn’t like he didn’t
see
the disfigurement, because it was right there, the asymmetrical split of her lip that ruched up the tissue on either side and warped her right nostril and the outside of her nose. It was literally plain as the twisted tiny nose on her face—he had to see it.

But he didn’t
see
see it. He saw that her eyes were open and focusing on his face as he looked back at her. They were baby eyes, neither brown nor blue, but they were wide and clear, and her lower lip was perfectly formed and pouty. She was red and sort of wrinkled and she smelled like hospital and like baby lotion and like baby.

He looked down into that little face and realized that this baby didn’t have any doubts. She knew he would hold her, and she trusted he wouldn’t let her down. Reflexively his arm tightened—not to the point of pain, but to make sure. He wouldn’t let her down.

He’d never seen anything so beautiful. Ever. Just… not ever.

“Jer?” Aiden said from over his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Sh,” Jeremy whispered, because he didn’t want her to blink or to cry or anything. Aiden kissed the side of his head, and Jeremy’s vision blurred. Aiden’s big, work-scarred thumb scraped under Jeremy’s eyes, and he realized that his cheeks were wet.

The singing came low and grumbly at first, because it was Aiden, and Aiden had the sort of powerful voice that did that. But it was sweet too, and he kept it low. And Jeremy knew the words.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night….

They sang the perfect song, the perfect lullaby for their little bird with the broken beak, their beautiful baby girl.

“Hey, Ari?” Craw asked when another wobbly silence had fallen. “What do we call her?”

Ariadne’s laugh sort of choked, like the echo of that song had done something funny to her voice. “Persephone.”

And then Rory started singing, his voice twanging appropriately. “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone….”

“Let’s hear it for Greek mythology,” Ben said dryly. “I’m just as happy to stick with Ben, thank you.”

There was general soft laughter, and at that moment, Stanley arrived. Suddenly the air was full of his suppressed, vibrant energy. He cooed over the baby and clucked over Ariadne, showering them both with presents. Jeremy might have been annoyed at all that flamboyance except that Stanley, with his hair plugs and his trendy clothes and a body that seemed honed by the gym to never look a day over twenty-five, looked at Ariadne and the baby like they were the most gorgeous, amazing things on earth.

And he looked at Jeremy like he was a rock star.

Johnny stood beside Stanley, tall and Italian and solid as rock. He looked tired and thin after his three-month stay in WITSEC during Jeremy’s recovery, but he also looked at peace.

The indulgent smile he turned toward Stanley made what Jeremy had done feel worth it. It made Jeremy feel
worthy
,
and even though he had to give the baby up to Rory, it reminded him he had done good things, had proved himself honest. Maybe, just maybe, he was up to the challenge of not letting the little girl and her mama down.

Ariadne was tired, and they had to leave her after a short time, but Jeremy got to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“You done good,” he said. The words were trite because, well, everyone was saying them, but he couldn’t think of anything more true. “She’s a beauty, Ari—don’t ever doubt it.”

Ari clutched at his hand then and kissed him back. “You look healthy and stronger, sweetie,” she said, smiling a little. “Which is a good thing—I’m gonna need a lot of help.”

Jeremy grinned. “Well, that’s what we’re aiming to give you!”

Rory ushered them out after that, leaving Stanley and Johnny to attend her while he was gone. Stanley hugged Jeremy on his way out, and Johnny too, in a clingy, grateful way he was not entirely comfortable with.

He smiled shyly at them and told them to look after their girls, and then was more than happy to let Aiden drag him away.

When they got into Rory’s SUV to head for the hotel rooms (Ben’s friend had gotten back and needed his apartment for himself now), the four of them breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed.

“Is anyone hungry?” Rory asked out of the blue. “I haven’t eaten since Ari went into labor. I could eat a llama!”

Craw actually laughed, and Aiden growled with him. General consensus was that yeah, everybody could frickin’ eat.

It was only eight o’clock at night, and they ended up in Craw’s favorite steakhouse—Craw’s treat—eating about anything in sight.

Rory was almost done with a twenty-two ounce rib eye when he suddenly leaned back, looked at his nearly empty plate, and said the first actual sentence any of them had uttered since the food got there. “Oh God. Her first surgery is in two months. I barely have gas money to get us home.”

It was so plain, so naked, and so very much what they had all been thinking that without prompting, Jeremy was in the spotlight and doing what he did best.

“Yeah, but we’ve got a plan for that,” he said.

He was never sure after that where the confidence came from. When he’d been grifting, the confidence had come from knowing he’d be out of town before the fallout hit the fan.

All he could think of with this was that the confidence came from holding a baby and getting the crap beat out of him. In a thousand years he never would have thought that would do it, but, well, some people found the path to growing up through school, and some of them found it through hard knocks.

And some found it through prison time, near-death experience, and knitting.

So he laid out the plan to Rory, and when he was done, Rory sat there, blinking.

“Eat the rest of your steak,” Craw ordered. “It’s getting cold.”

Ariadne’s quiet husband took a bite of steak and then another. Then he said, “So you’ve got a line on some of the prizes, but you’re missing a venue?”

Jeremy nodded and dug into his own steak. He’d forgotten how hungry talking made a body.

“Have you tried the Elks lodge or the ski lodges?”

Jeremy’s appetite faded a little. “Yeah,” he muttered. “But they say they’re booked up.”

Rory set his fork down—his steak bone was about naked anyway. “That’s bullshit,” he said plainly, and everyone at the table stared at him. “Let me guess who you talked to—Ray Bamford? Sort of a dignified guy, has his name on all the local billboards for real estate?”

Jeremy nodded. “I never met him face-to-face, but I did have to call his office to talk.”

Rory shook his head in disgust. “Yeah, well, he tried to pull that same crap on Ari and me when we were getting married.”

“Why’d he do that?” Aiden asked. Aiden had ploughed through his T-bone and was now picking Jeremy’s potato off his plate. Well, Aiden was young. He could afford to eat like that.

Rory pulled his napkin off his lap and wiped his mouth, then set it on his plate too. “It was the hair,” he said immediately. “The hair, the nose ring, the Seattle that was written all over both of us.”

“So what was it about Jeremy?” Craw asked, his voice low and cold, and Rory shrugged.

“I don’t know, Craw. He looks okay to us—but you know. He got beaten up by the mob in Granby’s backyard. It could have been the past, it could have been the gay—whatever secrets he had, they’re not secret anymore.”

Jeremy figured he’d done about enough on his steak and dropped his napkin on the plate, pushing it away.

“Well, this isn’t about me,” he said, his voice grim. “This is about you and Ari and your baby, and about neighbors helping neighbors. I’ll just go tell him that as soon as we get back.”

Rory gave him a faint smile. “Well, that’s sweet, Jeremy—and we appreciate it, just like we appreciate this idea. But don’t worry about it. We’ll get the place now the same way we got it before. Her uncle in Seattle is sort of a big shot in the Elks. I can have him call Ray and straighten that asshole right up.”

“Don’t you dare,” Craw growled. “If Jeremy isn’t good enough for this guy, fuck ’em. Jeremy, what’re your other options?”

Jeremy swallowed. He’d thought… well, he’d thought he’d been doing well, but what if the library and the ski lodges were the same way? God. What if
he
was sabotaging this whole thing just by being him?

Ben spoke up before he could offer that depressing line of thought, though, and since it was his idea, he had every right. “I suggested the pub—you know, the one we eat at with the real good barbecue? Those people all like Jeremy, and I don’t think they give a crap about the gay. And besides that, they’ve got—”

“Food,” Jeremy said, suddenly remembering something that made him excited about this plan. “Hey! That’s an idea too!”

“What?” That was the whole table, and everyone looked at him while the waitress took their plates away.

Craw held up a hand and spoke to the waitress. “Five cookie sundaes,” he ordered, and when the pretty young blonde thing nodded and told Craw she’d bring them right away, he nodded to Jeremy to finish.

“You know Jimmy’s Pizza?” he asked, talking about the best place in the middle of Granby. Everyone nodded, because it was a dumb and obvious question to ask four men if they knew one of three pizza places in a small town, and he continued. “Yeah—well, Jimmy’s does fundraiser nights. Where everybody comes in for a couple of hours and they give some of the profits to the soccer team or the swim team or to send the band somewhere—you guys know that, right?”

“Oh my God!” Aiden glowed at him like Jeremy was made of gold. “So we ask the pub if they’ll give some of their profits, and then we sell raffle tickets at the door and have someone emcee—”

“Ben!” Jeremy said—along with Craw and Rory, because it was a no-brainer.

Aiden glared at them. “I was
gonna
say Jeremy since it’s his idea—”

“But Ben’s the sweet one,” Jeremy said. “The one with the charm. If this was a grift, I’d have him onstage in a heartbeat—he’s our face man.”

Aiden gave him a brief appraisal. “I thought you’d be the face man,” he said, and bless the boy, he meant it.

Jeremy’s heart softened, but he kept his mouth firm. “Not with this face anymore,” he said gently. “Sorry, boy. I’m afraid I’m your planner. Can’t promise I’ll be good at it, but I’ll do my best.”

“Your best is real good,” Rory said, his voice shaking. They all turned to him, and he was scrubbing his face with his hands. “Sorry, guys. I’m… I’m ’bout done for the day. I think it’s a great plan. Me and Ari are gonna be here another two weeks making sure the baby’s gonna thrive with the breast-feeding and all.” He looked at his hands, and it was real obvious that the guy was barely holding it together. “I’ll plan that piece, okay? And you guys plan everything else. I’m at my wits’ end for the rest of it. I just—”

Craw patted his back and nodded to the waitress, who had just arrived with the desserts on a tray.

“This here’s a celebration,” he said gruffly, and Rory nodded, taking some strength from the granite that was Craw. Jeremy suddenly saw why Ari would fall in love with Rory and be best friends with Craw—two men who never met two words they thought deserved to be rubbed together. It was the strength in them. It was a match for her own.

“Here’s to that angel of a baby,” Craw said, and everyone, Jeremy included, said, “Hear, hear,” in return. They dug into the sundaes, and for a moment, it was like the worry and the planning got put on snooze, like a clock.

T
HEY
CHECKED
into the hotel shortly after that, and Aiden and Jeremy got their own room. They got ready for bed and lay there in the unfamiliar dark, Jeremy’s head on Aiden’s chest, when Aiden suddenly spoke.

“About your face.”

“What about it?” Jeremy asked. He was still in the touch-Aiden-until-his-skin-was-glutted stage of sleeping.

“It’s a fine face for the public—”

“But—”

“Shut up,” Aiden said without heat. “It’s a good face. It’s like the baby’s face. There’s the gap and it’s not perfect, but we all think she’s beautiful.”

“I’m not sweet and pure like a baby, boy.”

“You are to me, Jer.”

Jeremy smiled, loving Aiden so much in that minute that maybe there wasn’t room for it in his chest. “Well, then, it’s lucky you’re the one who’s elected to look at me day in and day out, isn’t it?”

Aiden chuckled and tangled his hands in Jeremy’s hair. The bed creaked, reminding them that they were in an unfamiliar place, but Aiden pulled his head back anyway.

“Remember all those hotel rooms we shared, hunting for pieces of equipment?” Aiden asked gruffly.

“Yeah,” Jeremy rasped. Especially that last year, before Aiden had made his move. “It ’bout drove me crazy, knowing you were right there. I learned to sleep on my side to hide my hard-on.”

Aiden chuckled, and it was a wicked-evil sound. “You’re lyin’ on me now,” he said, teeth glinting in the light from the lamp outside the curtains. “I can feel your cock just fine.”

Jeremy’s lips parted—he knew it. He licked them, and licked them again, and he still couldn’t keep his eyes off that small-boned, handsome face and those determined eyes, colorless in the darkness. Aiden gave a little tug in his hair, and Jeremy moaned and ground up against his thigh.

“That’s right,” Aiden whispered, lowering his head so he could lick Jeremy’s ear. “Now I wanna hear you make that sound loud enough to be heard upstairs.”