Kat Lucas (hell_kat) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-06-26 09:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, aaron, aaron x kat, kat |
Who: Kat and Aaron
When: lunchtime!, Wednesday, June 13th
Where: out and about, the beach
Status: Complete
Aaron loved summer. It was the season he felt the most alive in, and he’d often thought that he’d been born into the wrong climate. Winter could be beautiful, sure, but Aaron had so many good memories of bumming around on the beach with his friends, or taking girls out during summer evenings, or generally romping around the town and the woods while it was warm. Nothing compared, in his opinion. Maybe he needed to move Mila and the baby to Florida eventually or something.
In any case, the weather was beautiful and perfect, he had the day off, and he was restless stuck inside, so he’d called Kat to see if she wanted to do something with him. They hadn’t hung out just the two of them in a while, and there seemed to be a lot to catch up on. So Aaron had volunteered to buy lunch for them and pick her up to take her to the beach. The water wasn’t great for more than wading around in, but it would be nice to sit on the sand and munch and feel the breeze in their hair. Kat was agreeable, so Aaron got dressed, tossed a blanket in his truck, and headed to the sub shop to get their food. Soon enough he was pulling up to his sister’s house, excited just to be out of the house and the bar. He shot her a quick text saying he was there, then went back to drumming along on his steering wheel to the music.
It had taken a few months, but Kat had finally managed to settle back into life in Point Pleasant. She’d expected it to be difficult, that there would be all kinds of road blocks in her way, but instead it felt like doors magically opened when she needed them to. The Point Pleasant Gazette was in need of a photographer for local events, someone who was also willing to work with or around law enforcement when new and exciting stories came up. It wasn’t the kind of photography Kat was used to, preferring engagement photos over crime scene photos, or even fucking Overlook galas, but she could make it work. It kept her busy and it paid decently enough to get her back on her feet. She’d rented a modest little house, packed it full of her meager belongings, and started to rebuild. Free furniture seemed to show up from friends and acquaintances. Everything was mismatched, some of it better for a lawn than a living room, but at least it wasn’t empty. It made her feel like she was finally in the right place, even though it was the last place she’d wanted to be.
She hadn’t had near enough time to spend with Aaron lately and eagerly agreed to a day at the beach with him. She’d felt out of the loop lately, the only Lucas who didn’t work at the bar, and it wasn’t like any of them picked up the phone to fill her in on what was going on. Even when she called, it was mostly her doing the talking. In person was always better, with any of them, but Aaron was the sibling she most enjoyed her time with. When he pulled up in front of the house, she grabbed her bag and her camera and ran out to meet him, hopping in his truck with a smile. “Hey! I’m so looking forward to this. Thanks for picking up lunch.”
Aaron smiled brightly at his sister as he reached to turn down the stereo when Kat climbed in. He was vaguely aware of his role as the bridge between Kat and their older brothers, since neither of them liked talking to anyone very much. Lately Aaron had been pretty caught up in his own life, and he was looking forward to filling Kat in on it all, glad that at least someone in the family had good news to share. “Hey hey,” he greeted cheerfully. Aaron leaned over to plant a quick, noisy smooch on Kat’s cheek, then put the truck in gear to head away from her house. “No problem, always a better option than tryin’ to get me to make something myself.” He grinned crookedly. “How’s it going?”
"If you ever consider cooking, let me know and I'll handle lunch," Kat grinned over at Aaron. She was sure he could handle sandwiches and probably a lot more, but it was fun to tease him. "It's good. Slow day today, which is kinda nice. My weekends tend to be a lot more booked up, but that's how it's always been. Parties are on the weekends, weddings on the weekends, events, whatever. The deadlines are a little different, I'm not crazy about working for someone else, but it's fun. What about you? How's Mila? How's the baby?" She could talk about work, but that felt a bit impersonal and kinda boring. She’d rather hear about what was going on with him.
He was definitely going to have to learn to handle sandwiches, since Aaron intended to be a useful parent, an actual partner with Mila in raising their daughter. He might suck at it, but he was going to try his best. For the moment though, he couldn’t handle much but a microwave and a grill. Kat’s tease made him laugh, and he nodded through her short update about work while he drove them toward the beach. He was glad she was keeping busy, even if having to work on the weekends kind of sucked. They all did it though, and he was happy he and Kat had found a free day to spend together. “Mila’s great! Doing really well, healthy and everything,” he said, getting the bright doofy smile on his face that always popped up when he talked about her these days. “The baby’s also great, we had our appointment to find out what it is ... besides a baby, I mean.” Aaron bit his tongue on blurting it right out, shooting Kat an amused glance instead. “You wanna guess?”
“I’d pretty much assumed she wasn’t having a puppy,” Kat laughed at her brother, then grinned right back at him. “Is she carrying high or low? Craving salty or sweet? How’s her morning sickness? I need to know these things in order to make an educated guess.” It was all rubbish as far as she could tell, but she’d heard all kinds of ways to predict when she’d done maternity photos. If one old wives’ tale didn’t match, she was sure there’d be another one to back it up. What mattered most was a healthy baby and a healthy mother, so the news that Aaron had started with settled her mind. They’d gone through so much already that she really wanted things to be easy for them going forward. They deserved it.
“Oh man,” Aaron laughed at all the questions. He’d heard vague things like that throughout his life about pregnancy, homespun beliefs about how to tell the gender, but he’d never paid much attention to them, so he had no idea what meant what. “I don’t even know high or low, and she seems to crave a lot of stuff ... the morning sickness is getting better though!” he said, pleased that he knew the answer to at least one of those criteria. It made Aaron feel like a bad partner for a second, but his happiness brushed that aside pretty quickly. “I’ll just go ahead and tell you then -- it’s a girl!”
"A girl!" Kat squealed, bouncing a little in her seat. "Thank God! There's not enough of us. Though I'd have been happy for you either way." She thought little girls would be fun to dress up, but she thought boys would probably be easier, especially for a dad. Then again, she knew this baby would be a daddy's girl already. Aaron would figure it out. He could be kind of dense, but that wouldn't stop him from loving on his baby girl, which mattered more than any kind of knowledge. No matter what anyone else in the family said, she knew he would be a fantastic father. "So, do you have any names picked out yet?"
Kat’s excitement made Aaron giggle like he was a little girl himself. That was the good shit, the kind of reaction he wanted from everyone in his family. Unfortunately it only seemed to come from the women -- Kat and Amelia and his mother. All of whom had their shit together much more than the males did, aside from the years of damage Joseph had inflicted on Bridget. The happiness made him feel gleeful though, and that feeling was so rare, he had to hold onto it. “Not really yet, we’re kicking around some ideas,” he said, glancing over at his sister with a grin. “Isabella’s in the running ... we considered Adriana to like, honor Adrian, but I dunno since he’s around more now. I just told her I don’t want it to be the name of any girls I’ve dated.” Which definitely cut the list of possibilities down, but it just seemed like it would be weird to Aaron. “I’m open to ideas, if you’ve got any.”
“Katalina’s always an option,” Kat laughed, not at all serious. “Isabella’s pretty. Just keep in mind that people are gonna shorten it, so make sure you like that too. I think Bella means beautiful in some language. Italian, maybe?” That had the right ring to it, but Kat felt like she could only speak English properly. All those romance languages blended together, sounding beautiful but making very little sense. The best she could do was curse in Canadian French. “I think it’s totally understandable that you wouldn’t want your daughter named after one of your exes. And that should still leave at least a dozen names to choose from.”
Aaron laughed and cringed playfully -- he had dated a lot of women, so there were a lot of names he’d vetoed off of the list. He thought Mila had gotten a little exasperated with him, but she was forgiving of his former man-whore ways. “I kinda like Izzy,” he said, grinning happily. “Like as a nickname for Isabella. Bella’s all right, but I always think of those dumb vampire movies.” He snickered softly. “But yeah, we’ll find a good one. I keep feeling like I’ll know it when I hear it, so we end up just reading names to each other all the time now.” It was sort of delightful and exciting, and who didn’t need more of those feelings in their life? Especially around here. “I thought I would want a boy, but I’m just so fuckin’ stoked. If she turns out anything like Mila or you, she’ll be perfect.”
“Izzy would be cute,” Kat smiled. “And if she turns out to be a Bella, she can reinvent the name. No one is gonna remember those books in a few years anyways.” There were only a few names Kat would steer clear from based on books or movies: Damien and… she couldn’t even think of another. She just couldn’t name a baby after the spawn of Satan. It seemed like a bad omen. “I’m sure something will stick. Or you won’t decide until she’s suddenly here and then you’ll see her and just know.” She’d heard of that happening as well. Everyone seemed to have a baby name story. Kat grinned at the idea of her niece being anything like her. “So you want a firecracker?” she teased. “With you and Mila as her parents, she’ll be perfect. You’re both wonderful role models. And you love each other, which I hear is the most important part.” She wasn’t going to bring up their own childhood, because they both knew how much it had sucked. They might have turned out okay, but that was more their brothers’ doing than their parents.
Kat was right -- his little girl was going to be whoever she wanted to be, regardless of her name. Any name they gave her, she would make it her own. “Damn right I want a firecracker,” Aaron answered with a laugh. “She’ll need to be, in this world.” He’d already had a couple of bad dreams about what might happen to his daughter, living in this town. It was impossible to completely forget about when they’d been through so much, but he was sure that any kid that came out of Mila would be strong as hell, just like her. The rest of what Kat said made him feel all emotional in the chest and Aaron beamed over at her even as his eyes watered a little. It was so different than how his brothers saw him, he almost wasn’t sure how to handle that kind of support and encouragement. Aaron reached for her hand to squeeze it. “I’m so happy you’re back for this,” he told her warmly. “Gav and Caden think I’m just gonna fuck it all up.”
“Because Gavin and Caden are such perfect people themselves,” Kat said, rolling her eyes. “Caden doesn’t know shit about raising kids. And Gavin’s not exactly a role model. The actual skills can be learned. Like changing a diaper, and making a bottle. I’m pretty sure love and patience will make up for it. You might have to step up a little in terms of responsibility, but you’re not doing this alone. You’ve got Mila. And you’ve got me. And them, if you want ‘em. Nobody wants to see you fail.” Even the ones he thought he would. Their family had issues and probably always would, but they tended to stick together. If Aaron needed them, Kat was sure they’d step up, not turn their back on him and say ‘I told you so’. And if they didn’t, Kat fully intended to kick her brother’s ass and get them in line.
Aaron felt so happy he was almost vibrating. He definitely had a lot of love and patience, he was pretty sure, and he couldn’t wait to start showing his daughter the world. He was even looking forward to changing diapers and getting up in the middle of the night and everything, though he was sure he had a rosy view of it all now. He’d get tired and frustrated just like every other parent. But he wasn’t going to be one of those dads who shucked all the responsibility off on the mom, he was determined. Knowing that there was a good support network around him made a lot of difference, whether Gavin and Caden participated or not. “We’ve got Adrian now too, he’s excited too,” he said as he made the turn into the parking lot that overlooked the beach. “And Mila’s parents, and Roxy will want to help ... and Mom, I have a feeling she’ll be around more now. Our little girl will have a lot of love around at least, and that’s good, that’s what I want for her. Not like we grew up.”
“No one should grow up like we grew up,” Kat muttered, though she didn’t think that would be a problem at all. Aaron and Mila were nothing like their parents. The last thing Kat wanted Aaron to worry about was his support network. His brothers might not be on board, but Aaron and Mila had a lot of family around to help them with whatever they might need. “I keep forgetting that Adrian’s back,” Kat said with a little smile. “How’s that going?” Kat wasn’t sure she fully understood what had happened with Adrian, but she was okay with that. She’d come to accept that there were things that happened in Point Pleasant that she was never going to understand. Adrian returning from the dead had almost nothing on Amelia aging ten years in ten days, especially since there’d never been a body in the first place. Kat was relieved to know that zombies weren’t a thing… yet. Sometimes it felt like it was just a matter of time.
“It’s going pretty well,” Aaron said cheerfully. “He’s slowly working on like, getting his life back, you know? Their parents were totally floored, of course, but they’re so happy. I dunno if he’s really happy yet, but it’s a lot better than him living out of his car and just scrounging around to live.” Aaron knew he hadn’t given a very thorough explanation of Mila’s brother’s return to his family, but honestly there were parts of it he didn’t get either. And he didn’t want any of them worrying about him sharing a house with a semi-wendigo. It was all just hard to explain. He found a spot to park while he kept talking. “It’s cool though, me and him are getting closer, especially now that Mila’s pregnant. It’s like a mutual ‘protect her’ kind of thing, I guess.” Aaron chuckled and cut the engine. “He’s a good guy though, once he relaxes. You’d like him, I think.”
"It's gotta be a better living situation. He's got a shower, an actual bed. I don't know how he did it for so long," Kat said with a shake of her head. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to completely cut herself off from her family. Moving away was one thing, but they'd thought Adrian was dead. That in itself had to have made things difficult and it made her wonder what he'd done to get by in the meantime. Those were uncomfortable questions though, ones that seemed rude in light of who he was to people she cared about. "I think I'd like anyone who wants to protect Mila," she smiled. "She's gone through so much shit, she needs people like you and Adrian."
“Amen to that,” Aaron agreed, giving a chuckle that wasn’t terribly amused. They’d all been through a lot, but Mila most of all. She’d been through so much she hadn’t even been able to tell him about most of it. There were things Aaron still wondered about a lot, but his instinct told him not to ask. She would tell him when she was ready, if that ever happened. “Really though, he’s a good guy who’s just been through a lot himself. Sometimes I think their family’s as cursed as ours, fuck.” He still managed to sound fairly chipper in spite of the subject matter -- it was a beautiful day and things were good right now. “Pretty good lookin’ too. And lonely. If you wanna be my sister twice over.” Aaron flashed Kat a grin before he popped his door open and climbed out.
It was common knowledge, in Kat’s opinion, that if you stuck around Point Pleasant long enough, something horrible would happen to you. It wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when. Almost everyone she knew was touched in some way, either directly or by proxy, the Lucas and Moretti family included. It sometimes made Kat feel guilty how she’d gotten by mostly unscathed, most of her demons brought on by her father rather than the town itself, but she also realized it was because she’d run at the first chance she got. And now she was back, surrounded by survivors, determined to prove herself strong enough to stick around. “You tryin’ to set me up?” she grinned over at her brother, amused. “How would Mila feel about that?”
“Honestly, she’d probably be stoked he was out doing something normal,” Aaron said with a laugh. He reached into the small back seat of the truck to grab the beach picnic supplies, tossing the big blanket over his shoulder and picking up the food bags. “She likes you! You’re my only sibling she does like, but y’know ... that makes sense.” He chuckled a bit and shut the truck door, then circled around the vehicle to start walking down to the beach with his sister. “You guys would be cute together, honestly. Even if it’s a just-for-fun kind of thing.” Aaron was of the opinion that regular affection and sex were good for people, and both of them needed more of it -- not that he was super familiar with Kat’s sex life, but he knew she hadn’t been dating anyone since she’d come home. Adrian definitely needed an outlet, so why not put them both in a jar and shake them up and see what happened? So to speak. It made sense to Aaron.
“Just stop,” Kat laughed, since she didn’t need her brother defining what a just-for-fun relationship would look like for her. She hadn’t even so much as hooked up with someone since her return home, but she considered that normal under her circumstances. She’d been putting her life back together, trying to build back her business and settle into her apartment, and there hadn’t been many opportunities to meet someone new. And it didn’t help that one of the two bars in town was owned by her family. Dragonfly wasn’t really her style, but it was hard to pick up guys when her brothers were working the bar. Maybe meeting Adrian would be fun. Or at least a pleasant distraction. “I’ll meet him,” she said, falling into step with him as they walked down towards the beach. “I can’t promise anything else. And only if Mila’s okay with it.” As one of her oldest friends, maintaining that relationship mattered more than any boy ever would.
“Of course! No promises, no pressure ... just keep an open mind,” Aaron agreed lightly, grinning at her some more. He hadn’t really given a ton of thought to playing matchmaker for Kat and Adrian, but now that the idea had popped into his head, he thought it was a good one. Maybe Mila would too. “We should all have dinner or somethin’ ... maybe this weekend? Just like a casual thing, then we can go hang out on the pier.” He was just full of good ideas today, wasn’t he? Even if Kat and Adrian didn’t hit it off like that, Aaron felt sure they’d all get along and have a nice night hanging out. It was still the start of summer, and he wanted to take advantage of the summer events that always went on, before Mila got too pregnant to want to wander around in a crowd.
It was probably a horrible idea, but Kat didn’t have anything better to do and it made her brother happy, so why the hell not? If nothing came of it, oh well, at least she gave it a shot. It was more than she was doing now, that was for sure. She had no desire to be single forever, but picking up guys in her hometown could be a pain at times. She knew almost everyone and, worse, everyone knew her or her family. It made things difficult, yet she was reluctant to trust an outsider as well. At least Adrian would know what he was getting into. She just hoped he was actually hot. “There’s a thing Saturday night at the pier. Live music and shit. I’m supposed to take a few pictures, but that takes, like, ten minutes tops. It could be fun, so long as it’s casual,” she emphasized. “Don’t go telling him I’m interested or something when I haven’t even met him yet.”
Aaron had known about the festivities, but he’d forgotten that Kat might take pictures for her job, so that just made it perfect, right? He took it as a sign that he’d had a good idea, and that was a satisfaction he didn’t get very often, so it made him even happier. Kat’s warning made him laugh, and he waved a hand at her. “Nah, no way, I swear I won’t,” he assured her. “We’ll just be a happy couple havin’ a good time with their favorite siblings.” Aaron beamed at her and slung his free arm around Kat’s shoulders to give her a quick squeeze. They’d reached the beach, and it didn’t take too long to find a good spot to spread out the blanket. Aaron kicked his shoes off and dug his toes into the sand while he pulled food out of the bags. “Speaking of couples and siblings and shit though ... I hear Roxy’s gonna leave Caden soon. Maybe this week, Mila said.”
Kat really didn’t expect anything to come out of it all, but it sounded like it might be fun and that was good enough for her at the moment. She still worried sometimes about what she’d given up in leaving Brian, but the longer she went without him, the more she realized how unhappy she’d been. Being alone was difficult, but not anywhere as bad as turning out like her mother. She smiled and leaned into the hug, determined to be happy with her situation in life, and began helping Aaron unpack the food when she paused, looking up at him in surprise. “Oh shit,” she frowned. “Did something happen? Or is she just finally sick of his ass?” Caden had always been difficult, so it wasn’t a total shock, but Kat had thought they were closer to getting married than breaking up.
Aaron’s mouth twisted a bit as he shrugged. He felt kind of caught in the middle of it all, even though he hadn’t been directly involved in any drama yet. Roxy was Mila’s best friend, so of course Mila was on her side, and he loved Mila ... but at the same time, Caden was his brother. Aaron knew he was a raging asshole a lot of the time of course, it was impossible to miss, and even though Aaron had never gotten very close to Roxy, he knew she deserved better than how Caden treated her a lot of the time. But he didn’t want anybody he loved to be unhappy, and he loved Caden in spite of it all. Aaron also happened to know that Caden was going through some Heavy Shit, even by Point Pleasant standards, and not taking it well. “Just finally sick of his ass, I guess,” he said. “I’m gonna help them move her stuff out. Mila told me not to tell him anything, but ... I dunno, I feel guilty keeping my mouth shut. He’s gonna be pissed.”
“Aaron, you cannot say anything,” Kat said, her eyes wide. “Roxy didn’t tell you, she told Mila, and it’ll get Mila in trouble with Roxy if Caden knows before she can do it herself. I know it’s tempting, but don’t get in the middle of it. It’ll only make things worse.” Aaron had a good heart, the best probably, but it wouldn’t be good for anyone if he told Caden about Roxy’s plans before she did. Caden would probably be mad that anyone knew before he did, besides being pissed about the situation in general. Kat wasn’t very close to her two older brothers, but she knew Caden well enough to know this was going to hurt him. He probably wouldn’t talk about it, none of them talked about anything serious it seemed, but it was certain to make his usual bad mood even worse. “Does anyone else know? Where’s she gonna stay?”
Aaron sighed a little, but he knew Kat was probably right. When it came to other people’s relationships like that, it was best to stay out of it. He’d been doing that for years with Caden and Roxy, really, ignoring Roxy’s random bruises, busted lips, and the occasional volume of their fights. Minding his own business. Maybe he shouldn’t have, but apparently it was going to be over, and maybe that would just be a relief to everyone. If Caden got pissed at him for keeping quiet this time, Aaron could deal with him. “She’s gonna stay with us for a little while,” he answered as he started to unwrap a sandwich. “So Adrian knows, but ... who’s he gonna tell. She’s gonna quit the bar, but she hasn’t told Gavin yet. So that’s it, just us. I’m gonna be there, just to ... y’know, make sure he stays in line. You know how he gets.”
Kat had missed out on a lot while living out of town, making her unaware of just how bad Caden and Roxy’s relationship really was. If she’d been around for the bruises and the screaming, she might have thought differently about the whole thing. She sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to keep her mouth shut. But she still would have thought Roxy deserved the right to leave on her own terms. The fact that she was planning it, rather than making the decision mid-fight, said a lot in her mind. It wasn’t a snap decision, which probably meant it was a long time in coming. “That’s good,” she said quietly, glad that Aaron would be there in case things blew up, but also sad that any woman might need back up against one of her brothers. “If you need an extra set of hands at the bar, let me know. I can help out.” She couldn’t do it full time, but she could fill the spot until they found someone more permanent. “You’re gonna have a full house for a while.”
He wasn’t looking forward to it by any means. Caden was volatile, and Aaron knew he’d beaten Roxy up before pretty good. Aaron didn’t want to have to fight his own brother, but he wasn’t going to stand back and let that happen again either. He’d kept his hands off of women for almost his entire life, and his brothers needed to learn to do the same. Aaron knew they’d had it more rough than he and Kat had, growing up, but that wasn’t an excuse anymore. Her mention of working at the bar made him smile again, and Aaron nodded. “I’ll let you know, yeah,” he said. “It could be fun for a little while, and we’ll probably need the help. We’ve got a couple of good waitresses now, but we could always use more hands on the busy days. And yeah, Roxy said it wouldn’t be long though, so ... who knows.” Aaron chuckled a bit and popped a chip into his mouth to crunch on. “Welcome home to all the drama, bet you missed it, huh?”
“I didn’t miss the drama,” Kat said with a roll of her eyes. “But I missed… I missed being a part of things. I know I wasn’t far, but it’s different when you’re over an hour away. I don’t feel like I was there for you and Mila the way I wanted to be. Or for Roxy, even. It’s hard to be close to people you never see. You can talk on the phone, but it’s not the same as talking face to face.” And with the way her family operated, she needed to see things to understand them. Her brothers weren’t always going to outright say when there was a problem and it was almost impossible to understand silence over the phone. In person, things became clearer. And maybe she could find a way to fit back into their lives. It was odd being home again after she’d worked so hard to leave, but she wanted to make it work. This felt like where she was meant to be.
“Aw,” Aaron murmured. He leaned over to put an arm around her and press his head into her shoulder in a brief awkward hug, then sat up again. “You were always part of things to me,” he said. “I was glad for you, that you got away. So much bad stuff happens in this place, you know? I always hoped for better for you.” Aaron paused, then gave her a crooked smile. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t want her around, because that wasn’t true at all. Kat was his closest sibling, and he loved her to bits. “I’m happy that you’re back though. I missed you. We can all be there for each other now. And my daughter will grow up knowing her kick ass Aunt Kat, and that’ll be awesome.” Aaron smiled brighter.
“Well… bad stuff happens other places, too,” Kat said, her smile slightly bitter. “I think I forgot that for a while. That most of our shit could’ve happened anywhere. And that we bring our baggage with us when we leave.” She could run all she wanted, but it really didn’t solve anything when she was part of the problem. Kat knew being home would bring its own host of issues, but at least she’d be surrounded by her family. She hadn’t realized how much Brian had cut her off from them until she had them back. “I’m glad to be back,” she told him. “And I plan to be around that little girl as much as you and Mila can stand. You think Mila would let me host a shower for her? I want to start spoiling her before she even gets here.”
Aaron gave her a wan smile back at the first part. They sure did have a lot of baggage in their family, he couldn’t argue with that. Some of them carried it better than the others ... or maybe some of it was just heavier. Not that baggage excused the bad decisions they’d made all on their own, but maybe it was good to understand where it came from at least. Aaron left that subject alone, focusing instead on Kat’s suggestion about a baby shower, because that was just delightful. “I think she’d love that, hell yeah,” Aaron told her with enthusiasm. “Maybe after the wedding sometime? I know she’s pretty busy with planning right now, and all. I think Roxy’s supposed to be planning the bachelorette party.”
“Oooooo,” Kat grinned. “I’ll have to get with Roxy and see what she has planned. That ought to be fun.” Though, she wondered if Roxy was feeling as up to it, now that she was leaving Caden. Kat knew it was hard to watch her friends get married and have kids when she didn’t even have prospects on her end, but it would be even harder in the middle of a break-up. And then there was the fact that the bride couldn’t drink… Well, hopefully that wouldn’t stop the rest of them, though she wasn’t about to get sloshed with her new sister-in-law until they could do it together. That might still be a long ways off, but she was already looking forward to a child free girl’s night in the distant future. “Speaking of the wedding, do you think Mila would consider me as a photographer? If she hasn’t already contacted someone else, I mean.” It would be great for her business, plus it could be her wedding gift to them and save them a good bit of money.
He almost apologized for knocking Mila up so she couldn’t have a wild bachelorette party, but he wasn’t sorry about any part of the pregnancy, if he was being honest. Mila wasn’t a wild party girl anyway, though Aaron already planned to give her nights to herself when the baby came, so she could have fun with her friends when she needed to. He was going to be a good dad and partner, goddammit. Aaron’s face brightened again at Kat’s question and he nodded eagerly. “That would be amazing,” he said, his tone a bit relieved as well as pleased. “Like, I know it’s a big job, so I wasn’t sure how to ask you, but we thought about you already. I don’t want you to like, do it for free or anything, but fuck, if we could get like a family discount ... that would help a lot. Photographers are expensive, holy shit.” He laughed a bit, realizing he was talking to one at that second, but he’d never thought about his sister’s pricing before trying to plan a wedding.
Kat grinned and laughed softly, well aware how expensive wedding photographers could be, seeing as she was one herself. But she also knew that the majority of the cost was time spent, not the actual product. “I can totally do it for free,” she told him. “All you and Mila would have to pay for are the prints and the album itself. And tell everyone that asks that I’m the one that took them. It takes word of mouth to build a business, so it’s good for me too.” She knew she could depend on Aaron and Mila to give her free advertising even if they were paying her, but she wanted to do this for them. “I also call dibs on baby photos. Those are always fun.” And a lot less stressful, even if she was working with a newborn.
Aaron squinted at her suspiciously at her insistence she would do it for free -- he would definitely end up making it up to her somehow. The mention of baby photos got him grinning all over again, like every other reminder of his impending daughter. God, had he earned this level of happiness from all the shit they’d been through? Or was it all going to come crashing down at any time? Aaron tried not to think about the second option. “You’ll be the one, for sure,” he told Kat. “And I’ll talk you up to everybody with ears, don’t worry about that.” Aaron set his food down to impulsively lean over and grab Kat in a tight hug. “You’re my favorite sister,” he told her in a rumble. “Thank you. Gav and Caden just ... don’t really care, you know? It’s fun to be excited with somebody.”
“Well, don’t tell them, but you’re my favorite brother,” Kat told him with a conspiratorial little smile. It wasn’t nice to pick favorites and she loved all her brothers, but she’d always been closest to Aaron. Some of it was their closeness in age, but honestly, Gavin and Caden made it difficult where Aaron made it easy. “They’re just bitter and jaded. I don’t blame them, they are who they are, but I hope they can get past whatever it is that’s holding them back and see how exciting this is for you and Mila. If you’re happy about it, then I feel like we should be too.” She didn’t really understand what her brothers had against it, other than thinking Aaron too irresponsible to raise a child. They were right on some level, he wasn’t the most put together person in the world, but Kat didn’t think they were giving him enough credit either. She had faith in him. He could do this.
He already knew that Kat was closer to him than either of their other brothers, but Aaron never minded hearing it. Nor would he ever rub it in Gavin and Caden’s faces or anything. They had taken a bunch of shit that Aaron and Kat hadn’t had to endure, so Aaron tried to cut them some slack. It did suck that all of them weren’t close, though. They all just loved one another differently, that was all. “Well I’m glad you are,” he said with a smile. “And you can only shoot our wedding if you promise to put the camera down enough to enjoy yourself too,” he added. “‘Cause I want everybody to have fun.” Aaron wanted their reception to be a great party, most of all. He knew he planned to drink and celebrate. He only planned to get married once in his life, he wanted to enjoy every minute of it.
“I promise,” Kat smiled. “It’s not often I get to attend as a guest. I intend to enjoy myself.” She’d need to figure out how to get the shots that she needed to be in, but she’d figure something out. Maybe she could talk a friend into taking those photos, so long as it was someone she trusted with a camera. It was a problem to be solved later. “I’m excited for you. For both of you.” Things seemed to be looking up for once, and God knew they deserved it. After all that they’d been through, the whole family in fact, they all needed something to celebrate and Kat couldn’t think of anything better than a wedding and a baby.