“Fuck that.” I finish my beer and wave my hand for another.

“What are you so afraid of?” she asks. “Have you ever been in a long-term relationship?”

I have to think about it for a second. “Nope.”

“What about the sister of that girl on tour?” she asks.

“Her? No way. We were just regular fuck buddies.”

She huffs and sips her wine. “I have faith, Garrett. You’ll stumble into love one day and you won’t even realize what’s happening to you. I predict love will find you at a time and place when you least expect it.” She waves her hand in the air as if she just cast a spell on me or something.

“Whatever.”

She looks down at her phone and swipes through some messages. “Who are you expecting to hear from at this hour? Tristan’s passed out cold right now.” I look at the clock. It’s almost two in the morning, and the lobby bar is still jammed with guests from the wedding reception. The party’s still going strong.

“I’m compulsive about checking for messages from Tabby. She looks like she’s about to give birth any second. She’s bursting at the seams.”

“I’m sure you’ll be the first to know when she does go into labor.” Gross. “Besides, she’s just upstairs, so I think the entire hotel would know if it happened.”

She raises her eyebrow when she sees the expression on my face, which I can only imagine is pure disgust.

“How many children do you want?” she asks.

“Are you kidding me? I just finished telling you I’m never settling down. Why the hell would you think I’d want kids?”

She ignores my response and continues talking. “I wanted five kids. I’ve always wanted so many that my husband and I would be outnumbered. The thought of the chaos excited me. The more kids I could have, the happier I’d be.” The smile melts from her face. “But since I can’t have kids, that dream went right out the window.”

“Bummer,” I say, surprised by her admission.

She raises the wine glass to her lips again. “I wonder if I’ll ever find someone who will love me anyway. Even if he knows I can’t give him children.”

“I don’t think Tristan will care either way,” I say. I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with this entire conversation. My skin is getting itchy, and I think it’s about time I got out of here. I didn’t sign up to be Kirsten’s personal therapist, and I certainly don’t want to know anything about her ability or inability to have kids.

“You’re so sad, Garrett. I just don’t get it. What kind of family do you have that you would have such a rotten outlook on your own future?”

“My mom and stepdad are cool. My bio dad was an asshole and killed himself.”

“Oh?” she looks surprised. “I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. There’s no need to talk about this.

“Whatever. It is what it is.” I drink some more beer and pull cash from my pocket, laying it on the bar to cover the drinks.

“Goodnight.” Kirsten sighs into her wine glass.

“Hey, I don’t mean to bum you out, but you really have the wrong read on me, okay? I’m not the settling down type of guy, and I’m certainly not someone who wants a brood of kids. I like my life just the way it is.”

She smirks at me, and I’m not sure if it’s a drunk smirk or she really thinks she knows something that I don’t know.

I shrug it off and walk through the bar. I scan the room to see if the hot blonde from the wedding is still here, hoping for a warm body to bring upstairs with me. I don’t see her anywhere, and the remaining prospects here aren’t my type. Oh well.

I make it to my room and strip down to my boxers. My pants get stuck around my feet, and I almost tumble to the floor. Is the room wobbly or is it me?

I fall to the bed and feel the plush mattress suck me in. As I’m drifting off to sleep, Kirsten’s words keep ringing in my ears.

Love will find you at a time and place when you least expect it.

Sam

Present

Villanova, Pennsylvania

Age 24

I HEAR THE BACK DOOR SLAM, and I’m startled awake. I’m sprawled out on the large couch in the den, and I crane my neck to see if Kai’s still asleep. He’s out cold in the pack and play in the middle of the floor.

“Sam?” Aunt Peggy says from the kitchen.

I stretch and sit up. What time is it? I find the clock on the wall and see it’s almost five o’clock.

“I’ll be right there,” I say quietly and stand up.

When I get to the kitchen, Aunt Peggy is unloading groceries. “Hi,” she says through a warm smile. “I’m surprised to see you up here. Isn’t it time for Kai’s occupational therapy?” Garrett has a home gym downstairs in the basement that we’ve rearranged to make into Kai’s play area. We moved out all of Garrett’s exercise equipment and filled the room with padded floors and climbing toys. His therapist comes to the house two times a week and today is usually one of those days. We’re working on helping strengthen and tone his arm and leg muscles to counteract the tightening of his back. For many months, his frequent crying and pain caused him to overdevelop the muscles in his neck and back and neglect his arms and legs. Since developmentally, he should start crawling in a month or two, we need to make sure he stays on track.

“No, Nadia had to cancel today. She’s sick.” I help her empty the bags.

“Oh, that’s too bad. The day after OT, Kai tends to have a great day,” she says.

“That’s because Nadia works him out hard,” I chuckle. “He’s physically exhausted after his therapy sessions.”

“Is he asleep?” she asks.

I look over my shoulder to check on him. “Yes, we both passed out about an hour ago.” I massage my lower back and then stretch my arms into the air. “That couch is not comfortable.”

“Neither is that chair upstairs, but you sleep in it more than you do the bed,” she replies and closes the refrigerator.

She looks at her watch. “Darn,” she says and shakes her head.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“It looks like I’m going to miss my hair appointment.”

“Why is that? You still have time, right?”

“I told Garrett I would make him dinner tonight.”

“Really? I haven’t seen you cook for him in a while. He can take care of himself,” I say and slide onto the bar stool.

“Sam, that boy doesn’t cook. You know better than that. I fill his refrigerator and freezer with tons of food for him to heat up. I’ve been doing it for years. Besides, I promised him I would make him something tonight because Heath is coming to work on some band stuff.”

“I’ll do it. You go and get your hair done. You deserve it,” I grin, and she doesn’t waste any time gathering her things. She hugs me quickly and heads toward the front door.

“Thank you! See you tomorrow,” she calls out, and she’s gone without even telling me what she was planning to feed them. Crap.

I look into the den again to make sure Kai is still asleep and begin rummaging through cabinets. I find flour and a couple of jars of sauce. Pizza. I can do that.

Now I need to Google how to make dough. As I’m swiping through my phone, Garrett comes in from the garage door into the kitchen. “Hey,” he says, surprised to see me.

“Hi.” I find the flour recipe and place my phone down on the center island.

“I hope you and Heath like pizza,” I say and grab the olive oil from the cabinet.

“Uh, yeah we like pizza. Why?” he looks puzzled and tosses his keys onto the counter.

“Aunt Peggy said she was supposed to cook for you both tonight and she had to run out, so now I’m cooking for you.”

“You don’t have to cook for me, Sam,” he says and walks toward me.

“What are you guys going to eat then?” I ask.