Sleepwalker Wolf

Dads

Travis

Morning sickness has hit Val hard in the last week. She's almost always lying on the bathroom floor and when she isn't, she's lying in bed cradling a bowl to her chest. I try to help as much as I can, but mostly she just wants peace and quiet so she can sleep. The other night she shook me awake because she couldn't sleep and didn't think it was fair I could.

I end up spending most of my time with Trevor. Eli is doing homework for his online classes and Eve is studying for her nurse-midwifery degree, which she's been grinding away at to get in five years instead of six. Seeing her fat textbooks and all the medical terminology makes my brain feel like it's going to melt just by looking at it.

We're watching a movie and I have Dad's laptop propped open on my lap to go over the business accounts for him as practice to take over the business. Trevor's laying on the couch with his legs dangling off the back and his head hanging off the seat cushion. He got one look at all the numbers on the screen, shivered in revulsion, and collapsed next to me with the remote in his hand.

"Dude, it kind of just hit me that you're gonna be a dad. Like, a real dad," Trev mentions off-handedly.

"Well, yeah, that's kind of what Val being pregnant with my babies means."

Trev huffs and crosses his arms. "I know that, but it's still weird. I mean, we used to run around the yard in our underwear and spray Eve with the garden hose. But now we're all adults and you're having babies and Eve's going to be a midwife and it's just weird."

"Trev, I know you're the epitome of a man-child, but we're adults. These are the kinds of things that adults do," I tell him with a deadpan expression.

"Um, rude. Just because I can have fun and don't have a stick shoved so far up my ass I spit woodchips, doesn't mean I'm a child. It just means you're boring. And, excuse you, I'm trying to have an actual conversation with you. The insults are not appreciated."

"You literally just insulted me."

Trev smacks me with a throw pillow. "Only because you did it first. What I'm trying to get at is that Eli's basically a marble statue, Eve's got the next two years of her life planned down to the minute, and you're gonna take over Dad's business and have a bunch of babies. I'm turning into the old, creepy, single uncle you see every time you go over to your grandparents house because he won't move out of the basement."

I sigh, snap the laptop shut, and set it on the coffee table before smacking my idiot twin on the side of the head.

"Ow. What the hell was that for?"

"You're stupid, that's why. Becoming an adult isn't going to suddenly change your personality, Trev. You're a goof, it's who you are. One day, you're going to find someone who needs a little humor in their life and you're going to start having a bunch of goofball babies that get on everyone's nerves but makes them laugh at the same time. So shut up and enjoy the ride, doofus."

Grumbling, Trev rubs the side of his head. "That's easy for you to say, with your pregnant girlfriend in the other room. I've met at least a dozen girls in the past year and a half and not once did we ever click. Mom always said that when it happened, we'd know. That it'd just make sense. Well, nothing makes fucking sense. I'm going to have to move to another state to find someone."

"You can't force this stuff, dude. When it happens, it happens. Just live your life until then. Grumping about it isn't going to change anything."

"What's he grumping about now?" A voice says from behind us.

A bleary-eyed Val is standing at the hallway, bowl cradled in her arms and her hair sticking up on one side. Somehow, her stomach has already grown in the past week and she looks like she should be fourteen weeks pregnant instead of just nine. She shuffles over to us and plops down in my lap while propping her feet up on Trev's stomach. He pulls on her sock covered toes, but otherwise leaves her be. She looks so miserable even he isn't picking on her.

"Nothing. He's always grumping."

I have no problem telling Val, but Trev was more serious than I'd seen him in a long time and sometimes, things were better left between twins.

"My uncle called," she mumbles, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"About your dad?"

"Yeah, he's bringing him out to see me next week. My dad's still incoherent, but he's been stable. I'm just hoping he'll know me."

I sigh and run my fingers through the smaller knots in her hair. "Okay, just don't get your hopes up too high. Your dad's been through a lot, sweetness."

"I know. Do you think your dad would be okay with being there? Just in case things go south?"

"Yeah. He'll act like it isn't a big deal, but on the inside, he'll be doing a reenactment of the Rockette's choreography," Trev pipes in while watching the TV.

For the first time all week, Val gives an airy little laugh. "I just pictured your dad in a glittery leotard."

After giving Trev an "I told you so" face, I rub my hand over Val's stomach and ask, "Do you want to go sit outside for a minute, get some fresh air, and I'll bring you some tea and saltines? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, some fresh air sounds nice."

Trev sighs dramatically and flops his arms across the couch when we stand. "Fine, just leave me here all by myself so I can wallow."

"You can come too, Trev. I need someone to smack your brother if he starts trying to smother me with his overprotectiveness again."

With a grin, my brother hops to his feet. "That I can do."

A/N: Not a long one this time. We only have a few chapters left until this book is officially finished and I can't wait! I already have plans for the next book. I'm sure you can guess whose it is going to be. It won't be long for the next update because we're getting to some good stuff.