𝟏𝟎𝟑.  𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

we hug now ──── sydney rose

✩ 𝐣𝐣'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

"𝖨𝖲 𝖡𝖤𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖱𝖤𝖫𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖬𝖤 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝖡𝖠𝖣?"

After Groff dropped the news that this special lens or whatever was in my mother's grave, we each separated. Kiara wanted to speak with Emory, but Brooke pushed me to go speak with Emory who, I had hoped, would've calmed down by now, but she's up on the deck drinking from a bottle of whiskey that she got from... somewhere, and I think she's crying.

She's leaning back against the sofa, bringing the bottle back to her lips. "It's not you," she replies, staring ahead.

I step forward into the threshold, part of me afraid of how this interaction will turn out. While I know it's due, I have no idea how to approach any of this shit with Emory. Yes, we're friends, but now we're... siblings, only having found out because Groff had to stroll into our house and break the news before I had the chance to explain.

I don't know how to be a brother. I feel as though I need to educate myself on how to be one, not that there's any classes or anything. I want to be the kind of brother that John B is to Brooke. He's there for her, defending her in any type of situation, whether it's big or small. I know he'd do just about anything for Brooke, go to all sorts of lengths just to protect her, and I admire that. I'd never say it to his face, but if I was to be any kind of brother, I'd want to be the brother he is.

I never imagined being a brother, not in the blood sense, that is. Sure, I've always seen Pope and John B as my brothers. I chose them to be my family. With Emory, she's been a friend, but now she's... more. She's not just a friend, she's my older sister. I'm now a brother in the blood sense, if that makes any kind of... sense.

I stand by the sofa, looking down at her, noticing that we're similar in the sense that we drink when things get rough. Now, I always believed I inherited that unfortunate gene from Luke, but now it seems I... didn't, I don't know. Either way, I go to sit down beside Emory, and wordlessly, she passes the bottle off to me, letting me attempt to drink my pain away with her.

If this bottle was full when she came up here, she's drank over half which should concern me, but I know she's going through the motions, so I'm not here to judge. There's a faraway look in her gaze as she looks forward, staring at anything but at me as I drink the liquid, scrunching my face up at the strong taste. She's definitely poured something else in here with the whiskey── vodka maybe, I don't know.

I pass the bottle back to her, watching her grab it by the neck before she takes another long gulp. I lean back against the sofa, my shoulder brushing against hers. The taste of strong whiskey still evident in my mouth as I go to speak. "If it's not me, then what's wrong?"

Seems like a pretty obvious answer, yes, but I still would prefer if she just talked to me rather than passing me the bottle of whiskey and drinking until she passes out. If we're going to get to know one another in this capacity as siblings, I'd prefer her a little more... awake.

This time, she turns her head to the side, dazed tearful eyes meeting mine. "Isn't it obvious?"

I lift my shoulders in a shrug. "No."

Her head falls back to where it was before, her hand lifting the bottle to her lips once again. I just watch, waiting for her to elaborate, though it seems like that time will never come, not with her continuously drinking her weight in whiskey.

I open my mouth, the silence boring me, but Emory finally decides to open her mouth and talk. "I-I missed it all," she begins, picking at the label of the whiskey bottle with her nail. "I missed out on having a brother all because of that dick down there." She gestures to Groff who sits just below us, his head down in his phone. "H-How is that fair? I-I mean, I just..." Her eyes squeeze shut, a heavy breath crawling out of her. "My whole life was a lie from the minute I was born."

Her voice cracks, and I catch another tear slide down her cheek that she quickly brushes away with the lip of the bottle. I release a breath, pulling my eyes off her to stare forward, unsure if she wants more comfort from me of if she wants me to just, I don't know, embrace the silence and drink with her.

Bonding over a bottle of whiskey── sweet, right?

"Did you always want a brother?" I choose to ask, needing to move past the upset and try and focus on something more positive, I guess.

"So bad," she laughs, so much emotion tucked behind that sound. "One Christmas, I wrote a letter to Santa, begging for a sibling── preferably a brother so they wouldn't steal my clothes when I grew up. I thought having a sibling would make things a little less..."

"Lonely?" I finish, hearing her nod in agreement.

"My parents had to sit me down and tell me that getting a sibling doesn't work like that," she continues, wiping her hand against her cheek. "I couldn't just ask Santa for a sibling, so I was just always... lonely at home, I guess."

"Yeah, I get that."

"Did you ever want a sibling?" she inquires.

"No," I reply, being as honest as I possibly can. We've both been lied to enough lately, it's time for the truth even if that truth hurts. "If I had a sibling, that would just be..." I swallow, afraid I'm about to sound cruel. "...a burden to me because, well, I'd have to always watch over them, keep them away from Luke, a-and I never wanted that."

Emory sniffles, peering at me. "I'm sorry you had a shitty dad."

A surprising laugh resonates from within me. "It's whatever," I talk, taking the bottle of whiskey from her. "You had a good dad, right?"

She nudges me with her elbow. "You jealous?"

"Little bit." Hello, I used to wish Luke wasn't my father. I'd go to sleep and literally pray that he wasn't my father, and look what happened, he ended up not being my father all this time, but I don't know if I've ended up with something better. I can't figure Groff out, so I can't make a judgement on if he's better than Luke or not. So far, it's hard to tell.

"My dad was── is great," Emory speaks, taking the bottle from me after I take a short sip. "Yeah, he had his ups and downs, you know, but he took me in and treated me like his daughter from the moment I was born. He never made me think for one second that I wasn't his. I was convinced, even after I found out about being somebody else's kid, that he was still my dad."

"How'd you find out?" I ask, gazing at Emory.

"Dad lost all our money. He had a couple gambling problems, I don't know, and all of a sudden we were moving here to a town I didn't know," she tells, continuing to pick at the label of the bottle, her breathing beginning to deepen. "The day after we arrived, I overheard my parents arguing, and I found out that we were only in this town because my mother was convinced she could get money from my biological father by blackmailing him with... me."

I had no idea the extent of how Emory discovered her dad wasn't her dad. No wonder she was so mad at the world when we were first introduced to her. It seemed she was dealing with a lot, being stuck in a town where she knew her biological father was lurking in some corner.

"I left home the following day, begged the Carrera's for a job, and then I ended up moving in with them," she adds, continuing to stare at the bottle like it's the most interesting thing in the world. "They were always nice to me, and even when you all came back from that island and Kiara came home, they were still there for me. I didn't talk to my parents for eighteen months after that and now..."

"I'm sorry," I interject, knowing her mother is dead and that Emory wasn't around when her mother was going through whatever she was going through. I know she feels guilty, but she can't let that guilt eat at her, not when her parents pushed her away.

"Hey." She tilts the bottle towards me. "You ain't gotta be sorry for anything," she tells, but regardless of what she says to me, I will always feel sorry for her as things could've turned out differently for her── for us.

I nod, taking the bottle from her. "Em──"

"I-I wish I had known," she cries, pushing her hand against her face aggressively, desperate to wash the tears away. "I wish I had known about you, JJ." I believe her. I believe that she wanted to know me all this time but we weren't fortunate in that aspect. "That is why I'm upset. I missed it all, JJ. I missed having a brother. I-I missed it, and I really wanted it. So bad."

"Em, you didn't miss everything," I say, knowing we've now get the rest of our lives to know each other as brother and sister if that's truly what she wants. "W-We can make up for it now."

"You don't want a sibling," she utters, and I mentally curse at myself for saying such a thing earlier, though she doesn't know just how bad it was with Luke. If I ever had a sibling under his roof, I would be stuck protecting them whilst trying to watch over myself. It would've been too much, but I didn't mean be so harsh, especially since Emory has only ever wanted a sibling to have in her corner.

I push my hand into my hair. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like──"

"N-No, it's fine, JJ, I get it. You had a shit dad, and that's s-so not fair, you know, and I'm sorry because if I had any knowledge of having a brother, of having you..." She looks towards me, her eyes red and swollen from crying, and a look of understanding passes in our look. "I would've killed him," she states, surprising me. "If I had seen what he had done to you, I promise I would've killed him."

Emory knows the extent of my relationship with Luke, knowing that he was an abusive asshole who, turns out, wasn't even hitting his own son but another man's son. She's never asked me about it, never really needed to, but now all is being revealed in the dark.

"Em, I-I didn't need saving," I tell her. "I handled Luke, alright, I..." I pause, sitting forward and placing the bottle of whiskey between us. "I don't need protecting, and I-I appreciate it, but... I-I don't need it, you know? I-I'm good."

While I don't sound totally convincing, I swear I've never needed protecting. I like to protect others, shove them out of the way so the bullet hits me rather than them. Thats just who I am. Hearing that somebody would go to such lengths to keep me safe is... strange. I mean, Brooke has always done her best to keep me safe, even saying that she'd kill for me, but I feel something different when I hear it coming from Emory── from my sister, from blood family.

"I wish I had known," she repeats, sounding nothing but sincere.

I look to her, something of a smile on my lips. "I wish I'd known too."

She scoffs. "No, you don't."

"Yeah, I might've not wanted a sibling when I was younger, but hearing that you were my sister was the best news I've heard in the past twenty-four hours, Emory." I narrow my eyes. "I mean that," I say, seeing her face soften at that simple statement.

She wipes her eyes as the corner of her mouth twitches upwards ever so slightly. "Well, right back at ya, Maybank."

Pulling us away from the sappy, heart-to-heart crap for a moment, I breathe out a laugh. "But, seriously, come on. How crazy is this?"

She laughs, the noise breathy. "I know," she exhales, placing a hand over her mouth. "I mean, I'm related to you." She points in my direction, mouth agape. "All this freaking time I was looking at my brother and I had no idea. Like, I did not like you when I first met you."

"I didn't like you either," I counter, grinning. "You were a bitch to Brooke. To me!"

"Yeah, well, you were annoying and so clingy to Brooke, and Kiara was still totally obsessed with B, so I was just..."

"Jealous?"

She rears her head back, offended. "Of her? No."

I shrug, tilting my head away from her. "Sounds like you were jealous," I mutter.

A loud laugh pours out of Emory, her head falling back against the sofa, her entire body vibrating with the most bellowing laugh I've ever heard. The sound leaves her in waves, likely having sat on her chest for hours, and now it's being released. It makes me laugh, that's how funny it is. Sitting here, after we just had part of a heart-to-heart, all we can now do is burst into much-needed laughter.

Her hand hits my back gently, her laughter filtering for a moment. "Hey, bro." Another spurt of laughter trickles out of her. "Oh, my God. JJ Maybank is my brother. What the fuck?"

I shake my head, laughter radiating off me too. "Hey, sis."

She scrunches her face up. "Ooh, no, I hate that."

"Not as much as I hate bro."

"I've called you it before!"

"Yeah, but now it's weird," I complain, only saying this to mess with her. It's not that weird because she quite literally is my sister, so it would make sense for her to call me that.

"You give off major little brother vibes, do you know that?" She snorts out a laugh, earning a strange look from me as I try to understand her. "Like, you're that annoying, little shit of a brother. Seriously, I'm not surprised I'm the oldest."

"By six months," I add.

"Hey." She holds her hands up defensively. "If John B gets to play the big brother card on Brooke when he's literally two minutes older, I get to play the big sister card on you."

I snap my head over to her. "Big sister card? I've known you're my sister for, what, an hour?"

"Two and a half actually," she corrects.

I roll my eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. You didn't finish school so I'm sure you're not the best at telling the time."

"Wow," I whistle, rubbing a hand across my jaw. "Here I thought we were getting along."

Emory literally giggles, sounding the same as Matilda when she laughs wholeheartedly. She falls forward, head falling into her hands, and I just watch her lose herself for a moment. It's freeing almost, to see her just completely let herself go for a moment. If anyone were to step outside, they'd hear her hysterical laughter and probably be so confused.

Oh, who cares. It's been a shit day.

Knowing that, I let myself laugh too, all that previous emotion and upset I unleashed on Brooke earlier being released the moment I let myself just laugh. Emory and I laugh about the situation, about being related, about being thrown into another treasure hunt for a crown. We let all those lies we've been fed our entire lives go, instead embracing something new.

The moment our laughter dies down, we fall back against the sofa, breathing heavily.

"Hey, JJ." I tilt my head to the side, looking at Emory who stares up, mouth agape.

"Yeah?"

"Did you really get kidnapped by mercenaries?"

"Yup," I confirm, moving my head back to where it was before. "Remember those pictures Shoupe showed us of that dead guy?"

"The one with the marks around his neck?"

I nod, humming in confirmation. "Yeah, well..." I drop my voice, aware that Groff is only down below, and while I don't think he can hear us, I'm not taking any chances. "He was one of the mercenaries. We were taken because Groff killed him."

Emory snaps her head to me, her eyes widening in my peripheral. "Seriously?" I nod, and I see her head fall back, letting the news settle. "Shit."

"Do you really think..."

"That he killed my mom?" Emory speaks low too, likely knowing that Groff is only below, perhaps watching us── his two children that he abandoned bonding. Strange, ain't it? I wonder what he thought when he opened the door when we visited Goat Island the first time and he saw us together. "I-I mean, it's just a theory, JJ, I don't..."

"Come on, Em. You do know."

She sniffles, gnawing at her bottom lip as she looks away, her eyes moving over to Groff who sits just outside with his head still buried in his phone. Don't know who he could be contacting right now, but they seem to need his attention.

"Yeah, I do," Emory replies, speaking the truth. "Think about it, JJ, it can't be a coincidence that both our mothers are dead and your grandfather. His entire family is dead except..."

"Us," I finish, also following her line of sight to see Groff. "But if he..." I shake my head, refusing to believe that he could've killed my mother. She drowned, right? Like, she definitely drowned. "He wouldn't..."

Emory looks to me. "He's not gonna hurt you, JJ. He's not gonna hurt either of us." She seems sure of herself, and I choose to believe her. "We'll find out the truth, I promise, j-just know that I-I don't... trust him."

"That's okay," I reply, knowing she won't just accept him, not when she knows next to nothing about him, only viewing him as the man who abandoned her mother and left her with nothing.

If it is true── if Groff really did kill Emory's mother, why would he do such a thing? If he killed my mother and Wes, why would he do that either? It doesn't make much sense to me, but Emory seems sure that there's something off about Groff, that he had something to do with her mother's death.

She deserves the answers just as much as I do.

"Hey, Em." She hums, acknowledging me. "Will you come to... to the grave tomorrow with us?"

Groff and I planned to visit Larissa's grave in the morning, and while I'm nervous to actually visit my mother's grave, I know I'll feel more at ease if I have somebody I know there such as Emory or Brooke. I'd love to have Brooke there, keeping me grounded, but I've got to try and include Emory in this scenario as she's, you know, my sister. Besides, I know she has a bone to pick with Groff and he needs to apologise to her.

"You seriously wanna bond as a "family" at your mother's grave?" I press my lips together, realising how that sounds, but it would mean a lot to have her there.

I tilt my head, sighing. "Yeah?"

She drags her hands through her hair, blowing out an exhausted breath. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. Might as well see your dead mother after I just saw mine."

My face scrunches. "Uh, thanks."

She offers me her famous, shit-eating smile that I'm awfully familiar with. "No problem, bro."

Yeah, maybe being a brother ain't so bad.

──────────────────────────

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖥𝖮𝖱 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖥𝖨𝖱𝖲𝖳 𝖳𝖨𝖬𝖤 𝖨𝖭 𝖠 𝖶𝖧𝖨𝖫𝖤，𝖨'𝖬 𝖣𝖱𝖠𝖶𝖨𝖭𝖦．I'm sketching out the one thing I promised myself I'd draw if I made it off that boat alive, and because I did, I'm celebrating with a much-needed sketch. I'm sitting cross-legged on the sofa, leaning on the armrest with my sketchbook while Matilda drifts in and out of sleep with her head on my lap.

It's been longer than an hour, but she refuses to leave my side, insisting I'll be lonely even though I'm in a house full of people. I think she's a little afraid of Groff who we basically pushed outside, saying he can sleep out there if he chooses to or he can fuck off. I can't say I blame Matilda for feeling frightened of Groff as he does give off an odd impression, but she doesn't need to be scared, not when we're here.

Also, another reason why she's out here is because John B and Sarah are talking in their room, meaning Matilda has no choice but to crash out here with me. I've told her she can sleep in mine and JJ's room, but she claims she likes to switch between us when she sleeps. This time around she'll be sleeping in John B and Sarah's room and then reverting back to me and JJ as she stayed with Emory and Kiara last night when JJ and were... occupied with mercenaries.

Kiara is currently in the bathroom showering while JJ and Emory sit up top on the deck, hopefully bonding.

Yes, I actually pushed JJ to go and bond with his sister, and if I wasn't hearing things, I swear they were laughing earlier. I let myself smile at the thought of them getting to know each other like this── like brother and sister. I hope fucking Groff heard them laughing, seeing that they can have a bond without their father. Hello, Emory and JJ have been friends for longer than they've known Groff, so it's understandable that they can slot right into this new role of being siblings.

I hope they can have a similar relationship to the one I have with John B. I'm so unbelievably lucky to have such an incredible brother, and while that statement would only boost his ego, he's fully aware that he's a great brother. Despite being literally two minutes older than me, he's taken care of me his entire life, protected me with every fibre of his being, and has thrown himself into danger for my sake constantly.

I think, with time, Emory and JJ will get used to being siblings. They'll learn to adapt and understand one another in that way. This is new to both of them so, for a time, it'll definitely be strange and difficult to wrap their heads around. Hell, all of our friends were shocked to learn that, for the past eighteen months, JJ and Emory have been friends without the knowledge of being secretly related. It's crazy. It's unbelievable. It sounds completely made-up. 

Though, in this life, we literally live on the crazy and unbelievable shit that sounds made-up.

Matilda stirs, her eyes blinking open as she peers up at me, my head basically buried in my sketchbook as I attempt to sketch out a portrait. "What you drawing?" she asks, a yawn slipping past her lips.

I look down at her, offering her a tired smile. "JJ," I reply, dragging my pencil down the page, attempting to recapture that smile he held on his face when he heard me utter that one word with three letters.

Matilda hums, lifting her head ever so slightly as she resettles into a new position. "Are you excited to get married?"

"Very," I reply, failing to bite back the red that crawls up my face.

"Have you planned it?" she asks, only speaking so she can stay awake for a little longer, acting like I don't know what time it is.

Regardless of the time, I entertain her questioning as I'd love to forget all the shit about this crown and talk about something real── about something that I will be accomplishing the minute we finish this crown business. "Just the basics," I tell her, continuing to move my pencil across the page carefully. "Like, I'll wear white."

"Duh," Matilda scoffs.

I drag my tongue across my top lip, turning my pencil in a circular movement as I recall JJ's eyes onto the page. "Maybe it'll be in a church or on the beach, I don't know." The location is something that can be figured out later.

"At the treehouse," Matilda suggests.

"Hey, yeah, that's a shout," I laugh, not sure how that would work, but the concept is certainly sweet. "Anyway, John B will walk me down the aisle. Pope will be the officiating. Kiara will be my maid of honour, John B will be the best man. You will be the flower girl," I gush, placing my left hand against her hair.

She giggles, turning her face into my hip. "I can't wait. It's going to be so fun."

"Yeah, I can't wait either. God, I'd marry him literally tomorrow," I admit, knowing I can talk as openly and as freely as I want in front of Matilda as she quite literally holds a conversation as well as an adult does. It's insane.

"Will you get your own house?" she inquires, and it's a bit of an odd question for her to ask, but I offer her a response either way.

"Well, I don't really want to be married and living with my brother, so..." I grimace at the thought of having my husband and brother under the same roof, like, the chaos. Hello, Sarah and John B are a married couple with six roommates, one of those being his sister, like that's gotta suck. Although, the thought of leaving this home is sad so maybe we'll just kick everybody out and claim it for ourselves.

Matilda hums, gnawing at her bottom lip. I look away from my sketchbook, seeing that something is obviously bothering her right now. What, I don't know, but I'm determined to figure it out. "Kid, what's up?"

"I-I ran away," she admits, gazing up into my eyes.

My eyebrows furrow. "You... ran away?"

"Grandma is being moved to a home so the foster people came to collect me and I-I..." She begins twiddling her thumbs, visibly anxious. "I climbed out the bathroom window and ran."

Oh, my God. I've literally kidnapped a child. There's a child in my house that the DCS are looking for, like, that is not good. Then again, what the heck am I supposed to do? I can't possibly hand her off to a bunch of strangers and say goodbye, not when I'm afraid I'll never see her again if she gets taken by foster care. I think, looking at her, she has the same worry.

"You ran away from home?"

"It's not my home," she claims, sitting herself up. "I-I don't like it, not without my mom, so..." She crosses her arms over her chest, frowning. "I like being here. I like you guys."

"We like you too, kid, but I'm basically kidnapping you." I love this kid, more than I thought I ever could, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I'm literally kidnapping her and holding her in my house.

"It's not kidnapping. I'm here willingly." Yes, she technically is, but I don't think the law would see it that way.

I sigh, tapping my pencil against my sketchbook. "Matilda──"

"Please don't let them take me, Brooke," she pleads, giving me those sad eyes that I can never, ever say no to. "I-I don't wanna go. I wanna stay with you." She reaches for my hand, clinging tightly. "I wanna stay with JJ. I wanna stay with all of you."

I open my mouth, words failing to form as I look to her, feeling an immense amount of sadness that I can't do more to help her. I feel entirely useless in this moment, knowing I can't just stop foster care from taking her if she gets found. She's depending on me, hoping that I can be her last hope in this battle between being here and being sent away to God knows where.

Just as I find some kind of words, John B steps into the room, looking so completely freaked. "Hey, B, can I talk to you?"

I look strangely at my brother, knowing when he's going through something, and right now, he is going through some sort of emotion── what, I don't know, but I imagine he's going to tell me. "Uh, sure." I refocus back on Matilda. "You wanna go sit with Sarah? Is that..."

"Yeah, yeah." John B swallows, rubbing his hands against his shirt. "S-Sarah's in, uh..." He points behind him, gesturing to his room. "...there."

Matilda scrunches her face up, also seeing that John B is acting strange. "Okay." She sounds sad which hits me square in the chest, and all I want to do is wrap her in my arms and say I'll figure out a way to get DCS away from her, though I just remain entirely still, watching she gets off the sofa and walk by John B to go into his and Sarah's bedroom.

The second the door shuts, John B sits himself down across from me on the coffee table, his head falling into his hands. "What the hell is going on?" I close my sketchbook, getting the feeling that he needs to talk.

His head lifts, his breathing heavier than before, and our eyes clash── the same colour meeting.

"Sarah's pregnant."

Well, shit.

Pregnant? Sarah is pregnant? Sarah is pregnant with a child?

I swear, I don't speak for at least five minutes, instead getting up off the sofa to begin pacing back and forth, this news far too big to keep me sitting down. John B watches me walk up and down the length of the room, my hands on my hips as I process the words about a thousand times, hearing them ringing in my ears like fucking alarm bells.

I then come to a stop right in the middle of the room and, unexpectedly, a burst of laughter falls past my lips followed by another and another and another as I begin to understand just what he told me. My head falls into one hand, beginning to shake as I laugh loudly and freely, sounding completely and utterly insane.

"Are you laughing right now?"

I turn to face my brother who is now standing straight, obviously not as amused as I am. "I'm sorry," I snort, feeling my chest tighten the harder I laugh.

John B shakes his head. "Seriously?" He moves away from me, about to walk past.

"Hey, hey. Wait." While some laughter is still resonating off me, I grab his arm, forcing him to stay right here. "I-I'm sorry, okay, I'm..." I inhale sharply, exhale carefully. I do that process a couple times before I finally feel the laughter begin to dissipate. "I'm sorry."

"You laughed."

"Yeah, well, you are gonna be a dad." My lips twitch, going to smile. "I mean, the guy who used to lick rain water off of tables is going to be a dad!" I can't help it, I laugh again, my head falling against his arm as he just stands there, beginning to accept that this is my reaction. Telling me, he'll realise, might've been a colossal mistake.

He groans, sounding frustrated. "Brooke."

"The guy who was attacked by a rouge swan is going to be a dad," I recall, the laughter only increasing in volume. "Oh, my God."

"B, seriously──"

"Wait. Wait, I'm not done." He clamps his mouth shut, glaring down at me as I bring my head back from his arm, instead placing a hand on his shoulder. "The guy who used to think babies came from trees is going to be a freaking dad."

"People call their babies the 'fruit of their loins', like what is that shit?"

I chuckle, squeezing his shoulder. "Yes, but your child is not a piece of fruit, and not all fruit comes from trees."

"Well, Dad was the one who told us that."

"Yes, and you believed it." I jab a finger against his chest, taking serious pleasure in all this. God, I had no idea just how much I needed to laugh until right now.

"Okay. I'm done." He tries to step back, but I grab him again, forcing him to actually hear me this time around.

"Hey, wait. No. I'm sorry." I repeat the breathing method to slow down my hysterical laughter. "Hey. Look at me." Sighing, his jaw ticked, John B meets my gaze. "On a serious note──"

"Really? A serious note with you?"

"Yes," I hiss. "On a serious note, that baby is gonna be so lucky."

I feel him instantly relax, no longer tense over the fact that I just spent a good five minutes laughing over the fact that he is going to be a dad. "Really?"

"Yeah, because they're gonna have me as an aunt."

That smile that was previously on his face? Yeah, it's gone now, completely wiped away along with any kind of humour he could have if he just embraced this predicament and let himself be a little less... tense. "Okay, I'm done. I'm done with you." He frees his arm from my grip, beginning to move away this time.

I follow after him. "John B, come on, I'm just kidding."

He then spins around quickly, refacing me. I nearly crash into him with how fast he turns around. "This isn't funny, B, okay? I'm gonna be a dad. Do you hear me? A dad."

My nose scrunches. "Yeah, I know."

"Then can you please, for once in your life, take this seriously?" My head falls, all that previous humour disappearing the moment he smacks me in the face with that comment. "I need my sister, alright, because I'm freaked out, Brooke."

I lift my head, meeting his gaze, feeling guilt hit me hard the minute I realise just how affected he appears to be. He must be furious, so annoyed that I was just laughing over something this big. Maybe he's right. Maybe I don't take things seriously, but I always thought that when something like this happened── to either of us── we'd just laugh it off, hug one another and move on. I don't know.

Honestly, I never expected to be having such a conversation with him at nineteen-years-old. I never expected to have a niece or a nephew for a good few years, but it seems the time is just around the corner now.

"I'm sorry." I step back, going to take my seat back on the sofa. He follows, not even needing to be asked as he can hear in my voice how apologetic I am. He just joins me, sitting across from me on the coffee table.

He rubs his hands together. "Sorry I snapped. I..."

"No, it's fine. It's understandable. You're gonna be a dad." Saying it out loud without the layer of humour has the reality settling in that my brother is going to be a father. He's going to be a father to a baby. He and Sarah are going to be parents in, like, nine months. "You're gonna be a dad," I repeat, pushing my hands into my hair.

He nods, swallowing harshly. "Yeah."

"Wow." In nine months, John B and Sarah will be parents to my niece or nephew. I'm going to be an aunt── the coolest one around. "You and Sarah are gonna be parents." I look to him, seeing that he looks... scared in a way, I don't know, and I feel the need to remind him that he has nothing to be afraid of. "Hey, you're gonna be the greatest dad."

His eyes widen, seeming to be shocked by such a genuine statement when I was just laughing over the fact. "What?"

"That kid is so lucky, and they don't even know it yet," I speak, placing a hand on my knee as I feel it threatening to jitter anxiously. "You and Sarah are gonna be incredible parents. You are gonna be a wonderful dad, John B."

"You think?"

"I know." I offer him a smile, feeling my throat constrict as I discuss something this big with my brother. While part of me wants to execute this discussion with humour, I know he needs to hear kinder, more genuine words at the moment, so I help him out as that's my job as his sister. "I mean, you were always a better parent to me than Dad was even if you're only two── Wait, could you have Sarah have twins?"

He sighs loudly again. "Come on, B, you were on a roll."

"I'm serious," I snap. "Could you have twins?"

"Yes, but we probably won't," he replies.

"I need to check." I lift myself up off the sofa, going to retrieve my phone from the kitchen.

"You need to know now? Why does it──"

"Shit. My phone is dead." I walk back to him with my phone in hand. "Why didn't any of you charge my phone?"

"You're an adult, Brooke, you can charge your own phone."

"Uh, I was a little busy being kidnapped by mercenaries, but thanks." I throw myself back down onto the sofa, disregarding my phone as I don't even know where the charger is. There's probably one in my room, but walking all the way there just to charge my phone is exhausting.

"Can we get back to──"

"Wait. Do you have your phone?"

"No."

I narrow my eyes. "You do, you just don't wanna give it to me."

"So you can check how likely it is for a twin to have twins?"

"Uh, yeah. I might have to warn Sarah."

He doesn't look amused, not that I can blame him. I've fallen into a tangent, going once again insane, but at least I'm not laughing this time around, right?

"B, concentrate."

"What if the chances are higher for me to have twins?" I realise, staring ahead with wide eyes, now freaking myself out even though I'm not pregnant nor will I be for some time. Hello, JJ and I are actually careful unlike some. Well, we're kind of careful. Honestly, the risk is part of the fun. I mean, while the hyperbaric chamber was the strangest place to ever have sex, it was fun and risky. Anyway, risk or not, guess who's not pregnant? Me. Ha!

John B claps his hands in front of my face, forcing me to refocus. "You can't freak out. I'm freaking out."

"Well, when one twin freaks, the other one freaks." That's not a scientific fact, that's just a Routledge fact.

His head falls into his hands. "God. I'm gonna be a dad. I'm so young."

"You're not that young," I reply, knowing people have kids much younger than this. Besides, it's not like he'll still be a teenager when the baby is born. He and Sarah will be twenty which... I don't know, makes it better? Okay, I'm no help to myself or to him. I don't know why he told me. I'm entirely lost on how to respond and help. "Did Sarah just tell you?"

"Yeah." He brings his hands back from his face, rubbing them together.

"And you immediately thought to tell me?"

"Well... yeah." My head drops, a smile brightening my face as he didn't even hesitate, he just came out here and told me. It makes me wonder if I would tell him as fast as he just told me. I imagine he'd react a lot harsher than me though. "Then you laughed and I instantly regretted it."

I meet his gaze, wincing at my poorly-timed reaction earlier. "I said I was sorry. You had to have known that I'd laugh."

"No," he scoffs. "I at least thought you'd wait to laugh until I was gone."

"I'm sorry, but you knew I'd laugh in front of you. Hello, I just found out you're going to be a dad. I mean, you're such a hypocrite, telling me that I need to be careful and that I shouldn't get pregnant, and look what you did." I smack my hand against his knee gently. "You got a girl pregnant, you fool!"

His head tilts. "I can't tell if you're happy or pissed."

I smile widely, clarifying how I feel before I explicitly say it. "Oh, I'm happy. I'm really happy. I can't wait to meet this kid."

His brow raises. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm gonna love the hell out of this kid... or kids." I grin, probably only scaring him further. I probably shouldn't mention the possibility of twins to Sarah, but surely it's crossed her mind. I mean, that would be the first thought on my mind if I found out. "Sorry. We'll just have to wait."

"It'll just be one kid."

"Yeah, because I'll probably be the one who has, like, three sets of twins." I shiver at the thought of having that many kids. Honestly, I'm down for, like, two. Maybe three. Anymore than that and I'm afraid JJ will have to find somebody else, though I will slaughter JJ if his dick goes near another woman.

"You better not. Yours and JJ's kids are gonna be..." He shakes his head, likely imagining it. "God, I'm afraid of what they'll be like."

"Wow." I hit my hand against his knee again. I think mine and JJ's kids will be the perfect combination of chaos and good manners. They're gonna be crazy cute too, I can already see it. "You know, I was trying to be nice to you but you just had to go and say that."

He smiles, patting a hand over mine affectionately. "Sorry."

"Seriously, you don't have to be freaked. I mean, yes, it's scary, but you and Sarah are gonna be incredible parents," I say again, hoping it really begins to click in his head. "And if you ever need help, you've got all of us. That kid is gonna have a freaky amount of aunts and uncles looking after them, I promise you. You're gonna be okay."

"You really think so?"

"I know so," I correct, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "You're already a great brother and a great friend, so I trust that you're gonna be a great dad. Besides, I know you the best so you've gotta believe me."

His head falls, something of a laugh finally leaving him. "Right. Yeah. I believe you."

"Also, you and Sarah are pretty great with Matilda, and she's a kid."

"Yeah, B, but they don't come out that big."

"Yeah, I know that, smartass," I bite out, grinning. "I'm just saying, you're great with her, and she really likes you, so──"

"What's the deal with Matilda?"

I rear my head back, confused by the sudden interruption of his question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why is she here?" I remain puzzled as John B continues explaining. "She has a house, Brooke. She has a grandmother who might be worried about her and she's here. She's been here for the past two days. Why?"

"She, uh..." I wet my lips, my throat feeling dry as I wasn't quite expecting such a question. "Well, I don't know why she's here. I-I was literally kidnapped so..."

"Brooke."

I look to John B, knowing I can't just sit here and lie to him about why she's here and what she's doing. "She ran away," I tell, and John B doesn't seem the slightest bit surprised, knowing snippets of her life. "DCS were going to take her because her grandma is being transferred to a care home, so she ran and now she's... here. She doesn't want me to let her get taken, and I just──"

John B squeezes both hands tightly. "Brooke."

I swallow my previous words. "Yeah?"

"She's not your kid."

I bring my eyes off John B, knowing that much, but hearing it out loud is... strange. Yes, I know she's not my kid, but I look at her and I just feel like, in another life, she absolutely could've been. That's insane, I know, but I see so much of myself in that little girl. It's why it's so easy to talk to her, why it's so easy to just spend time with her and forget all our problems.

"I know that," I voice, speaking softly.

"Do you?"

"Okay, w-what is this?" I bring my eyes back to John B, tugging my hands free from his. "I thought we were talking about you, not me."

"We've talked about me, Brooke. We're talking about you now."

"There's nothing to talk about," I argue, preferring if we could go back to discussing the fact that he is going to be a father in nine months.

"Brooke, DCS are looking for this kid. She can't just stay with us. She's not ours."

"John B, I can't just let her get taken, not when she didn't ask for any of this," I fight, trying not to let my emotions and attachment to Matilda eat at me. "She's just a kid. She's scared. She's alone. Her mother just died and now they wanna just put her in foster care. I-I mean, what if nobody wants her and she's stuck in the system forever? What if I never see her again? What if she's alone for the rest of her life? What if──"

"She's not your kid."

"Yeah, I know," I repeat, feeling my skin itch. "But I care about her, John B. I'm sorry that I do, but I can't help it. I look at her, and I just see a girl who needs somebody on her side, just like I did when I was a kid."

"What are you talking about? I was there for you."

"Yes, you were, but I was that kid who preferred to hide in her room and bury my feelings," I state, though part of him already knows that much. "You had Dad, and that was great, but until we met JJ, I didn't have any other friends apart from you, much like Matilda didn't have any friends until she met us."

"I get that, Brooke, but she has a whole life ahead of her. She can make friends." It's not always easy. Kids are mean. "I mean, she has to go to school, Brooke. She has to get away from this── away from us because it's not safe here. It's really not a safe place for a six-year-old."

"What? And it's a safe space for a baby?"

"My baby isn't born yet, Brooke, but I promise you that when he or she is, this treasure hunting shit will be over." He says that like he knows for certain that all this bullshit will be done with when we've been dealing with it for years. "We'll all move on with our lives. We'll all do what we wanna do. You and JJ will get married, B. Sarah and I will have a kid. Pope will go to school. Kie will go and save turtles, I don't know, but we're gonna be safe one day, Brooke, okay?"

"But Matilda won't be if I just give up on her, John B." He opens his mouth, preparing to argue with me but I talk first. "I know she's not my kid, and it's definitely not my place to decide what's best for her, but I've gotta try. I can't just give up on her, not when she trusts that I can do something. I-I mean, come on, I want her at my wedding, you know? She's looking forward to it. How am I supposed to tell her that she can't be there because I'll have to give her to DCS?"

John B exhales, taking my hand again. "I don't know how you can try, Brooke."

"I-I don't know either, but I can't just give up on her, okay?" I look away from him, feeling my throat ache. "She's a really great kid, and I've just really loved having her around. She came into my life at a time when I felt so low, so just... let me figure it out."

John B nods, hearing me. "Okay."

"Besides, you can't talk, you're literally have a child," I mutter, a hint of amusement in my voice as I want to push past the hair-pulling discussion we just had.

John B laughs, the noise so freeing, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something── like I've managed to calm him down. "Auntie B." I smile at him, loving the sound of that. "I really can't wait for you two to meet."

"I'm gonna love the hell out of that kid."

"Oh, I know."

He stands up, bringing me up off the sofa with him so he can embrace me in a much-needed hug. I wrap my arms around him, knowing that one day his child is going to receive the warmest hugs known to mankind. That kid, my niece of nephew, has no idea just how lucky they are to have Sarah and John B Routledge as their parents.

I bury my face against his chest, feeling the back of my eyes burn. "I'm really happy for you and Sarah."

"Thank you," he whispers, pressing a kiss against the top of my head. "I'm happy for you and JJ, just so you know."

I shake my head. "No, you're not."

"Brooke, of course I am. I knew he was going to propose."

I bring my head back, peering up at him. "What?"

"I mean, I didn't know exactly when, but he asked me."

My eyebrows knit together. "He asked you?"

"He said, and I quote, "How do you feel about me marrying your sister one day", and I told him how I felt." I feel tears threatening to escape, finding it so right that JJ asked my brother about marrying me. "I told him how it would be cool and totally fine by me if you got married. But I also told him that he had to keep an eye on you and keep you safe for the rest of his life or I'd kill him."

I breathe out an emotional laugh. "Shut up."

"Wanna know when he asked?"

"When?"

"On the way back from South America."

My mouth gapes, an unsurprising tear slipping down my cheek. "South America? That was──"

"Eighteen months ago," he interrupts. "Yeah."

JJ knew all that time that he wanted to marry me? Really? He never said a damn word. I thought the proposal was more spontaneous than anything, but he actually gave it thought for the past eighteen months. Sure, I don't think he expected to propose in the middle of shattering windows but he knew he wanted to ask. Wow.

"Dad had just died," I voice.

"Yeah, so he had to ask me, but I told him that Dad would approve, that Dad just wanted you happy even if he didn't always like he did," he says, squeezing my shoulder tightly as another tear slips. "I want you happy, Brooke, okay? I've always wanted the best for you."

"Thank you," I whisper, leaning back into another hug, beyond grateful that this is the guy I've grown up with for the past nineteen years. "Thanks for being my brother."

He hugs me back, chin resting on my head. "Thanks for being my sister."

Yeah, being his sister really ain't so bad.

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❀ soph speaks

auntie b!!

wholesome chapter i think

i just love john b and brooke and i feel like i haven't wrote about them much lately so i literally wrote solely about them

jj and emory will have more chapters together, they're just getting used to the idea of being siblings

anyway,, you can all look forward to a brooke & jj chapter next and this spice is definitely the filthiest and sweetest spice i've wrote

thankyou so much for reading!!