.

“I got kicked out of a store for it. Would you believe that?”

“That’s wrong on so many levels. I thought they weren’t even allowed to do that to people anymore.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he assured. “Um. A couple of days ago, I was somewhere I technically shouldn’t have been, don’t worry about why. But I was uh…with someone who didn’t take too kindly to finding out I’m not a ‘real’ boy,” He used airquotes around ‘real’. “But I’m okay now. And I also have a boyfriend. Not the guy who beat me up, obviously. But he took care of me when I did.” It had been because he’d been at exposure wanting a hookup, and said boyfriend had been a previous hookup, but Hannah didn’t need to know that.

“This doesn’t seem very fine to me, Darcy.” She was concerned for her brother’s well-being, all she wanted to do was protect him. “Where the hell were you? What have you been doing? You should know better than to tell me not to worry, Darcy. Worrying is second nature to me. I want a  name, now. Make it two names, actually. I’m gonna have a nice little chat with whoever thought it was acceptable to lay a hand on you. Who is this boyfriend of yours?”

Walden groaned when he noticed she hadn’t been wearing panties. “You’re dirty, and I love you,” he smiled before pulling her up so that she was sitting on his face. He loved this, being so intimately close to her. He ran his tongue up her folds, his hands on her hips.

“The next time someone complains to me about breastfeeding my daughter, I’m going to hand them my screaming, hungry child and demand they feed her if they think they can do a better job.”

“I won’t hesitate to confront them myself. Breastfeeding is natural and the fact that people still find it acceptable to complain about it is baffling.”

‘ oh he’ll love that, i know he’s been super stressed because of school and work, plus darcy and i are being pains in his ass. ’

“i’ll be sure to give him a day free of any stress. now, why would the two of you go off and do that to him?”

‘ my broke ass appreciates it! ’ she teased. ‘ how’ve you been? wally says you’ve been busy. ’

“i don’t mind taking you out for lunch, you’re like a little sister to me. i’ve been very busy, but that’s about to change. i’m actually taking some paid time off of work. wally doesn’t know yet, i’m gonna tell him tonight. i’ll be focusing more on getting to be a pediatrician, so i won’t be working all these long hours anymore.”

‘ sure, of course. i’d be happy to! ’ the girl nodded. 

“So…I have a lot to tell you…” he said as he stood in the doorway of the apartment his sister shared with her boyfriend. He had a couple cuts on his face that were still healing, and bruises on his neck that he was doing his best to hide, but there were some stragglers that he couldn’t figure out how to cover.

@bishophannah

“Yeah I’m trying,” he said with a shrug, carefully leaving out the last part because he was essentially pumping himself with testosterone which made him something of a gross teenage boy.

“It always takes time to make friends, but I don’t doubt that you will for a second. Your job is probably a good place to start.”

Marie smiled and nodded. “That sounds like a good idea to me. You’re going to do wonderfully, Hannah. I’m so happy for you.”

“I certainly hope so, I’m really nervous about all of this, though. I can’t help but wonder if I’m actually good enough for it.”

Walden closed his eyes and groaned when she left a mark on his collarbone. “That’s it,” he said softly, loving the feeling. When she pulled away and said what she wanted, Walden looked up at her and nodded. “Please do, love. I wanna taste you, make you feel so good.”

“What do you say we go out to lunch and do some shopping today? I feel like I haven’t had a nice little day out in forever.”

‘ i’m his sister, i’m allowed to call him an idiot, and all boys are. ’ she rolled her eyes. ‘ thanks, i might but i’ll see if my mami doesn’t mind. ’

“i guess i don’t understand because i’ve never called any of my siblings idiots. -- if she says no, bring the dog to our place. you can come by every day, spend some nights. it obviously wouldn’t be the same, but it’s a start. then maybe i could try talking to her after telling her how amazing you are.”

‘ wally said no but he’s an idiot. ’

“I wasn’t too bad. I mostly just wanted to get out of my town so I kept my head down until college. Then I became a bit of a mess. Nothing too bad, just making some bad fashion and piercing choices.”

“We all make bad decisions, that’s what helps us learn and grow as people. You know? Life’s all about learning and experiences. The fashion choices, as long as there aren’t any pictures, they’ll remain a thing of the past. Piercings, those will heal. You’ve made it relatively unscathed.”

Darcy chuckled. “No, everything’s super boring all the time. I’m just glad I get free coffee from club house. Either I’m there or here.”

“Maybe you should go out, meet some new people... Make friends. Just... no sex. You’re too young for that lifestyle.”

“There truly aren’t, she said, feeling a slight twinge of pain in her chest as she thought about her late husband. “You have time to figure all of that out. There’s no rush to start a family. Enjoy this time, when you don’t have the responsibility.”

She didn’t want to spend too much time discussing her love life, she didn’t want to give the girl the impression that she was boasting or anything. “I think I want both of us to be in our dream jobs before we have children. You know? Walden, he’s got his dreams, and me, I wanna be a pediatrician. A child can wait a little bit longer, I’d want our child to be well provided for.”