Forever Too Far

and fall asleep.”
         Her eyes got that pleased glow. “Oh , would you? They feel so stiff after the flight.”
         “Go lay your head on the pillow and I’ll get rid of these shoes , which by the way, are not exactly good walking footwear for a pregnant woman. You should have worn tennis shoes, not heels.”
         Blaire yawned again and settled back on the pillow with a sigh. “I know. I just didn’t want to arrive at LAX looking frumpy.”
         She could never look frumpy. “That would be impossible.”
         She smiled and closed her eyes as I began rubbing her arch. “You just love me.”
         “More than life. But that doesn’t make me blind. You’d be hot in a potato sack.”
         She didn’t say anything back. Her eyes were closed and her smile still lingered. I put my attention to massaging her tired feet and then worked my way up her calves. By the time I was finished she was breathing slowly and evenly. I pulled the blanket over her before leaving to let her rest.
     
          Dean was reclining on the black leather sectional sofa that took up most of the entertainment room. He had their latest album pumping over the speakers and he was playing Halo on his Xbox with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
         “While we’re here please don’t smoke around Blaire,” I said as I walked into the room.
         Dean glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “I won’t. Don’t want to hurt the kid.”
         He pressed pause on his game and threw the remote down on the long sleek red table that sat in front of the sofa then picked up his glass. I didn’t have to ask to know it was straight up whiskey.
         “Our girl taking a nap?” he asked propping his feet back up on the table.
         The fact he called Blaire “our girl” rubbed me the wrong way. She wasn’t anyone’s girl but mine. That was the way my dad talked though. He acted like we were a joint thing. He always had. “My girl is asleep. She was exhausted,” I replied, taking a seat at the other end of the sectional.”
     Dean just laughed and took a drink of his whiskey then took a drag from his cigarette. “You’re a little caveman possessive over her, aren’t you? Didn’t get that from your old man.”
         I didn’t get a lot of things from him but I didn’t say that. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make her happy. But I’ll be the one making her happy. Always. Just me.”
         Dean let out a low whistle and shook his head as he took the cigarette from his lips and flicked his ash into an ashtray. “Tall order to fill. Good luck with that. Women can bitch sometimes, just ‘cause they want to. Ain’t no one can make a woman happy when she’s bitchin’.” 
         This conversation was pointless. He had never had a Blaire in his life. He had no idea what she was like. I was here for a reason and I wanted to address the problem and go home. “Where’s Nan?”
         Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. “Not here right now, thank the fuck. She’s a crazy bitch.”
         “Where’s Kiro?” I asked, deciding to ignore his opinion of Nan.
        “I’m right fucking here! There’s the man! Look at you all fucking grown up and manly. How ’d that happen in a few damn months?” Kiro’s loud voice was unmistakable.
        He walked into the room with some girl who looked about my age draped on his arm. Her cleavage was about to pop out of the tied up shirt thing that looked like a corset. She winked at me. Her lashes were obviously fake. No one’s lashes were that damn long.
         “Came to deal with Nan,” I replied , looking back at my father who was taking another long drag on his cigarette as he let his eyes roam over the female Kiro had brought with him. I knew they shared from time to time. That was not the kind of shit I wanted Blaire to be around.
          “Holy fuck , I owe you my left damn nut. She’s driving me up the fucking wall. Please calm her crazy ass down and help me find a way to talk to her. She always been this insane?”
          I knew Nan had her problems but hearing the man who was the main cause of them talk about her like this pissed me off. I stood up and turned to glare at him. “If she’d had a parent who gave a fucking shit about her maybe she’d have been as normal as Harlow. But she didn’t. You left her alone with my mom. NO kid should be subjected to that. At