She flung herself into the chair opposite the desk as Royal followed close behind her and firmly shut the door.
“You can’t keep coming to my work and harassing me.”
“So where can I harass you?”
“Very funny.”
“You can’t keep avoiding me, Famke. We need to talk about this.”
“Why? Why do we need to talk about anything?”
“I’m angry.”
“I did nothing to you!”
“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at my brother. I’m angry at my sister-in-law. I’m angry they left me with this mess to clean up.”
“You mean raising your niece?”
“No. I mean sorting through the mess of their marriage and their bullshit. My brother,” he s
“It’s weird,” Bram said as they stood in the entrance to their apartment block waiting for Royal to pick them up Friday morning. “He thinks in a weekend he can convince you to leave Pittsburgh behind to help him raise his niece?”“Yup.”“And you told him I had to come?”“I’m not leaving you alone.”“You do realize I’m eighteen. I don’t have to come. I could stay home alone.”“Five days before Christmas?”“It’s going to be weird.” Bram shifted uncomfortably. “What if you get attached to the kid and they change their mind? Prince did it. Why wouldn’t they?”She was starting to regret telling her brother a version of the truth when he’d turned sixteen and the rest now. Back then he had brought up a m
Famke entered the house and Royal was watching her facial expressions. If she was impressed by his home, her face betrayed nothing of it. She was blankly looking around as if lost. Bram’s expression echoed the one his sister had. These two guarded themselves well and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was him, they didn’t trust or if they were distrustful of everyone in general.He motioned in the direction of the guest rooms, “Bram, I’ve put you on the main floor. Third door on the left. There’s a television in the room and your own private bathroom.” He pointed to a room, “living room is in there and if you can think of a gaming console, it’s in there. Why don’t you drop your bag off and then meet us in the kitchen over there.”“Cool,” he walked off in the direction Royal pointed.“Come on, I’ll show you your room.” He waved his hand up the stairs.“Why am I upstairs and he’s down?”“Because Precious is upstairs, and she has nightmares. I don’t want her waking up Bram.” He watched he
Famke reached the bottom of the stairs and rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans. She was trying not to freak out. She saw Bram poke his head into the space and they connected eyes, and he took a breath and reached his hand out to hers.The sound of Precious squealing at her Uncle Royal to hurry up and give her the surprise made her heart jump. When she’d been near the child the last time, she hadn’t known who she was. Now, walking into the space and knowing she had once housed this child inches from her own heartbeat, was making her pulse race painfully.Her brother’s fingers interlaced with hers as they walked towards the room and he leaned sideways and whispered, “I’ve got you. Breathe.”How at eighteen he had the compassion and insight he had, she didn’t know but she was grateful for him, and his presence as she walked into the kitchen.The first thing she noted was the woman standing beside Royal. She was gorgeous and her smile was so wide the room was brighter for it. Was this th
As Famke finished reading a bedtime story to Precious, she was torn in her feelings. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever anticipated a moment in her life where she would be able to do the things, she had done that night. Helping Imani give Precious her bath and then picking out pajamas and reading a bedtime story were all pipedreams she had never permitted herself to contemplate. She was snuggled up to the child who was tucked in her bed with Royal sitting at the end of the bed watching and it felt intimate and special. For the first time in her life, she felt like a mom. Yet, for all these blessings, she was feeling terror and sorrow and more than a smidge of anger.None of this was real.It didn’t matter how much she had wanted it to be. She could never be Precious’ mother. The role had belonged solely to Mindy and those were not shoes she was capable of filling. The photo of Mindy, Prince and Precious on the bedside table mocked her desperate craving to be more than a friend P
Famke wanted to go straight to bed. Bram had already locked himself in the room almost immediately after Royal’s parents had left. Imani was a vivacious woman, and her husband Cliff was a down-to-earth man with a booming laugh. He was warm and personable. Their combined affections, happy laughter and high energy had exhausted the Noor siblings. She also suspected Bram was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the presence of Precious.Since the time she had confessed to having had a baby as a surrogate, something he had never noticed while he’d been undergoing treatment and recovery, confined mostly to his bed and later a wheelchair with limited vision, he had never fully understood the role she had played. Seeing Precious in person, seeing the way Famke was reacting to the situation, was making it real in his mind and the sacrifices she had made to pay for his surgery were looming large over him suddenly. She had caught him more than once looking at her sadly and while she wanted to reassure
Royal looked to Famke who had voiced the concerns he had been considering himself. He took a breath, “when she mentioned the smoking thing upstairs it struck me,” he shook his head. “Mom had complained to me about two weeks before they passed away, she’d smelled nicotine or cigarette smoke on Mindy. Mindy had explained it away as she’d had lunch with a coworker from her office who smoked. When Mom had picked up Precious from daycare, when she hugged her, she could smell it in her hair. Mom was convinced she was smoking with her in the car. She said if she noticed it again, she would talk to Prince.”“Do you think maybe she told Prince?”“Mom tells me everything. Trust me, there are things I know about family members I wish I didn’t because Mom turned me into her confidante when dad had a health scare about ten years ago and she has only gotten worse. My mom overshares so much, I can tell you if Aunt Jennine’s bowels are causing her problems or if my uncle’s prostate is acting up. If M
She had to have misheard him. “Marry you?”“Yes.”“Like a marriage of convenience? You’ll have a ton of mistresses on the side, and I’ll be Precious’ fake-Aunt?”“No mistresses. I wouldn’t embarrass my family like that. You will be her real aunt.” He reached his knuckles up to stroke her cheek. “I know it’s not the romantic vision you’ve probably dreamed of your entire life. I know it’s not how I ever envisioned proposing to a woman, but I’m convinced with your tenacity and my stubborn ass, we can make it work.”“You mean marriage, marriage?”“Surely you can imagine a real marriage with me. I’m not so ugly.”She blinked multiple times at his comment and the bold way he looked her over, feeling her breath catch in her throat. “You want a real marriage. Like sex?” she was embarrassed as her voice squeaked like Bram’s had at thirteen.“Why not?” he cocked his head to one side and looked her up and down.“Because we don’t know each other!”“Tell me you haven’t had at least one sexual drea
Famke was surprised by the question. Nobody had ever asked her if they could kiss her before. Any man she’d ever dated, not that there had been heaps of them, had simply put their lips to hers and went for it. He started to step back, and she realized he was taking her silence as a rejection.“Yes,” she blurted it out. “Yes. I want you to kiss me.”The smile spreading on his face lit up the kitchen and he leaned in and gently touched his lips to hers.Famke considered she was having one of those end-of-life movie reels playing in her head moments, where every single thing she’d ever done was rolling through her mind. Except in this case, it was every cheesy romantic comedy movie she watched rotating through her mind. Every first kiss between female and male leads were flickering in her mind and nothing close to what she was feeling right now.The moment his lips touched hers, she felt she was on fire. Her skin itched to be closer to him with none of the barriers of their clothing betw