I Hate, I Bake, and I Don’t Date! by Alina Jacobs
7
Beck
The girls were running around Greg’s condo, screaming loudly and off-key to the lyrics to “New York, New York.” They were hyped-up on cookies, the coffee they had stolen, and the fact that they were in a new place.
“They’re intense,” Mike said to me. He still seemed a little shell-shocked. I felt the same. After years of praying and worrying and hoping, my sisters were here. Well, most of them.
I had ordered a catered dinner, and the delivery people were setting the food on the long kitchen island in Greg’s barely used kitchen. One of the toddlers was climbing up the bookcase.
My older brother pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Enola,” I said to the eldest girl, “could you please try and calm them down? Maybe put on a movie or something?”
She nodded and went after them.
Beside me, I could feel Greg’s displeasure.
“It can’t be that bad, right? They’re girls,” I said. “Hunter manages with three times this many boys at the estate house in Harrogate.”
“Hmm.” Greg made a noncommittal noise.
I wondered how he would do with all the girls. Hunter was in charge of all the boys who my father would send to Harrogate when he deemed them too old or too obnoxious. Hunter ruled them with an iron fist. He didn’t let anything slide.
“Greg is being awfully calm about the whole situation,” Walker whispered to me.
Greg was being uncharacteristically calm. It was unnerving. Maybe he was in shock from the arrival of the girls and the insane amount of energy they had brought with them.
I couldn’t help but think that Hunter wouldn’t let the girls act like hoodlums. But then what did I care? I was glad they were finally rescued, but I was also glad I wasn’t going to be the one responsible for them.
“Girls, are you all hungry? You want dinner?”
They ignored me.
“Girls,” Greg barked.
They stopped shrieking, and Enola herded them to the buffet line.
“Get some salad,” I told them as they jostled around the serving platters.
“More salad than that, Kiki,” Enola told one of the little girls. “And don’t use your hands to pick up the food. Use a utensil.”
We all sat down at the long table Greg had in his condo. Kiki sat next to me.
“Help her cut up her meat,” Greg told me.
“I have it!” the little girl said happily as she stabbed the slice of ham with her fork and took a big bite.
“Kiki, no!” Enola jumped up, raced around the table, and started taking care of her little sister. It was cute.
I took a bite of my green beans.
“This is nice,” Mike said. “This is the most together time we’ve had in a while. We should do this more often.”
“I brought cake, too, for dessert from the Grey Dove Bistro,” Liam said.
“Cake!” Annie, one of my sisters, said in excitement.
“Eat your dinner first,” Greg ordered.
We left allthe girls with Greg after dessert. They were amped-up with the sugar and chocolate from the seven-layer chocolate cake Liam had brought.
They were herded around Greg, begging for more cake when I said good night and left.
“Glad they’re not staying with me,” Mike remarked as we took the elevator down. The building had been one of the first Svensson Investment real estate projects. Formerly an old factory building with thick brick walls and heavy timber beams and columns, each floor only held one or two spacious units. However, it was starting to show its age. Since Greg was moving us all into Belle’s tower, maybe we could use the opportunity to renovate this building.
“We should probably babysit once in a while,” I told my brother then waved when he stepped off the elevator at his floor. I got off at my floor and swiped the key card for my unit. It was quiet and clean, and everything was in its place.
After working out, I reviewed several spreadsheets, answered emails, then went to bed. I hadn’t even been asleep for three hours when my phone rang.
“Get up here now,” Greg said when I answered it.
I yawned then winced as the girls yelled loudly in the background.
My other brothers were in the elevator when I stepped on to ride upstairs.
“Why is he calling us in the middle of the night?” Walker complained.
“Ever since Belle dumped his ass then scorched and salted the earth he walks on, he’s been beyond unbearable,” Mike said.
One of the little girls opened the door of Greg’s condo when we knocked.
“Did you bring cake?” she demanded.
“You’ve had enough cake,” Greg said.
“Holy shit!” Liam said as we stepped into the condo.
“No profanity,” Greg snapped.
I bit down my own curse.
Greg’s formerly pristine and orderly condo had been trashed. There was cake everywhere, smashed furniture, and one of the bookcases had toppled over.
“Is everyone all right?”
“They’re fine,” Greg said in annoyance, “but this situation is not.”
“You’re sending us away?” Enola cried.
Her sisters started wailing.
“Enola,” I said, “can you please help calm them down?”
“No!” Greg barked. He turned on me and said, “Enola is a child—not a mom, not an adult. She is a little girl. You, however, Beck, are a full-grown adult male. These are your little sisters. So you do something about it.”
“It’s okay,” Enola said uncertainly. “I’m used to taking care of them.”
“And that ends tonight,” Greg said simply, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Enola looked around apprehensively. I picked up the wailing little girl at my feet and gingerly cradled her against my shoulder while she cried.
Greg picked up a list from the cake-smeared counter and turned to me and my brothers, pinning us with a steely-eyed gaze.
“From now on, each of you will be doing your part. This is not Harrogate where you get to foist off your responsibilities on other people. Everyone will be helping take care of our sisters.”
Liam raised a hand. “So are we going to take babysitting shifts?”
“No, I will be parceling out the girls to each of you.”
“I can’t take care of children,” Liam complained. “You always said I was a fuckup.”
“You are a grown man,” Greg snapped. “You will take care of one, if not two, of these children.”
“Two?” I said, frowning. “That seems excessive.”
“Yes, Beck, two,” Greg snarled. “And excessive would be your overinflated sense of self-importance that you display at meetings.” He glared at us. “Your assignments are as follows: Beck, you have Enola and Annie. Mike, you have Kiki. I will take Coco and June—”
“No, I want Coco,” Liam complained. “I want to take her to the park and pick up women. Chicks love a guy with an adorable baby.”
“I’ll swap you Kiki,” Mike offered.
“No horse-trading,” Greg thundered. “When I call out your name, you can go help the girls gather their things then get out of my condo.”
I followed Enola and Annie down the hall to where their belongings were stored. They didn’t have much. I had a brief flashback from when my brothers and I had all fled the compound in Wyoming after my father had kicked us out. I remembered how cold and lonely and scary it was.
“We’ll buy you new stuff,” I promised my sisters as Enola silently handed Annie a plastic grocery bag filled with her meager belongings. “You want to go shopping, don’t you? You can decorate your room however you want.”
“Will I ever see my sisters again?” Annie asked me, eyes big.
“Of course! We all live in this building,” I said, hoping I sounded reassuring.
“Greg said we were moving,” Enola told me as I ushered them past my other shell-shocked brothers, who were following our little sisters down the hall.
“We’re just moving a few blocks away. We’ll still be together. In fact, there will be so much togetherness you’re going to be begging for a vacation.”
After herding them downstairs, I settled Annie and Enola down in one of the guest bedrooms. Then I leaned against the wall in my study. It was early in the morning and almost time for me to wake up, so I decided to start working.
I sat at my desk and ran a hand through my hair.
There was no way I could take the girls to the Quantum Cyber office. I needed a babysitter.
I began to compose a text to Cressida, but then I hesitated. I didn’t want to give her my address. The last thing I needed was to have her showing up here.
Beck:Please send the new temp to Svensson Investment. And make sure she is good with children.
