The Wrong Brother

Chapter 28

MONTY

Even though I was spending most of my time at Iris’s place before moving in, it was a whole new thing living together, and that being my new home. A few days after we moved Jade into her new place, Des and a few guys from work helped me move my bigger furniture items into storage and we were officially cohabitating. The only downside so far was the distance from my work, but I’d suck it up and deal with it to come home to them each night.

After getting to know my crew a little better, I started to stagger my work times so I could work with everybody as well as cover when needed for days off, vacations, or just days we needed another hand. On days like today, it meant not getting home until well after eight in the evening. It sucked getting off so late, but I made up for the missed evenings by making my girls breakfast in the morning and even dropping Nia off at school.

Iris was still worried about my asshole brother getting involved, but I knew he knew better. Even if there was a small bit of him that decided to reverse his deadbeat dad ways, my parents would squash that notion right away. No way would they let it get out that Maddox ignored a child for almost a decade. It would be social suicide for them. Still, Iris worried about her daughter and I could empathize with that. I hired a lawyer to look over the paperwork when Maddox signed away his rights and he agreed it was legally binding, including the part where he signed over his parental rights. She’d probably never feel completely at ease. Only time will tell.

Even though the table was long cleared, the aroma from dinner lingered in the kitchen as I entered the back door. I kick off my shows and then meet Iris in the middle of the kitchen as she comes in from the living room. “Hey, baby girl. It smells good in here.”

“Hey you,” her lips touch mine for just a quick moment, “I made enchiladas and rice. The leftovers are in the fridge. Want me to warm them up for you?

“Nah, babe, I can do that myself. Where’s Nia.”

“She’s in her room.” Iris sighed and I turned my attention to her, feeling something was off. “I know you’re probably exhausted, but would you mind talking to her?”

“Don’t mind one bit. What’s going on? Is she feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” Iris sighed away. “We met with her softball coach today about next season.”

“If that fucker said she can’t play, I’ll go have a talk with him,” I snapped. After consulting with her doctor and softball coach, Iris decided to have her sit out the rest of the travel softball season. While she was cleared for normal activities, the softball season was intense. Between nightly practices, weekly tournaments, and traveling, it just didn’t seem possible for her to keep up. Her body was still recovering from the trauma to its system. The lingering effect was the exhaustion. Even just a full day of school would sometimes result in a nap before dinner.

Her coach was very understanding but mentioned that she may need to try out again if she wanted to play next season. I still thought it was bullshit. She didn’t miss the remainder of the season because she quit. If she broke her arm would they make her try out again? Doubtful.

“It’s not that, Monty, and you don’t need to go all macho man or anything.”

“You should know by now that I’m going to act that way about my girls. If it isn’t about trying out again, what was it about?”

“Well,” she bit her bottom lip, “They’re having an end-of-season celebration this weekend and he wants Nia to come, even though she hasn’t been going to tournaments. Of course, we said yes, those are some of her best friends. However, he mentioned a Players v Parents softball game.”