“And one,” I giggled, stretching Fern’s arms above her head as she smiled, her little tongue sticking out, “And two!”

I kept doing this as Fern laughed, her chubby cheeks shaking. We had been home from the hospital for five months, and I was finally adjusted to being a father. She was my best friend, always asleep on my chest in a baby wrap if Dara wasn’t wearing her to give me time to rest. I had been worried that her crying in the middle of the night would be enough for Clara and Rian to ask me to leave, but with their bedroom on the third floor of the house and the floor itself being soundproof, they never noticed her. Dara often took care of her at night so I could sleep, and we traded off around four in the morning so he could rest until ten.

“I thought I heard giggles,” Dara smiled, leaning against my door frame.

“We just woke up from a nap, and she’s really happy,” I smiled back, “How was your first day back at the shop?”

“Pretty good,” he came over and squatted next to the bed, giving Fern one of his hands as she always tried to eat his fingers, “I made a lot in tips, and my regulars came back. Kipling was damn happy to see me.”

“He was here for dinner last night,” I snorted.

“It’s different when I’m at the shop than coming to our parents,” he scoffed, “You need a haircut.”

“I know,” Sighing, I left Fern on the bed since Dara was squatting next to it, and looked at myself in the mirror. My stomach was still a bit squishy from being pregnant, and the shaved sides of my hair had grown far too long.

“I have my spare clippers in the bathroom. We can put Fern in her swing on the deck, and I can cut it for you out there. No big deal, Renny.”

“Well… Okay,” I nodded, “She’s pretty chill, so now's the best time.”

“Let’s go then,” he scooped Fern up carefully, and I followed him to our bathroom to get his supplies before we went to the backyard.

Dara set Fern in her swing, and I took a seat after pulling off my sweater, dropping it on the table. Dara put a spare apron on me and slowly combed out my curls, humming gently as he did. Kipling and Dara were the only people on Earth I trusted to cut my hair, and they both loved this, taking extra care every time.

“It’s so long,” Dara whispered, playing with my curls.

“I hate it. Cut it.”

“I know, I know,” he smacked the top of my head gently with the comb, “I’ve been cutting it for five years, I know exactly what you like.”

“That you do.”

We both went quiet, the only sounds coming from the clippers and Fern, who was babbling quietly to herself, the swing constantly moving as Dara had bolted it to the underside of my balcony and run a string from the front that allowed us to pull it if we were sitting at the table.

“So,” Dara muttered, “I have plans tonight.”

“Really? That’s great,” I cleared my throat, “Hot date?”

“Not really.”

“So yes, but you aren’t interested.”

“I suppose not. But I can’t just… sit here, ya know?”

“I do. I’ve been telling you for years to meet someone. I honestly hope it goes well tonight. Maybe they’ll surprise you.”

“Maybe,” he whispered, never slowing his hands as he finished my hair, “There. It looks so much better.”

“Thanks,” I tilted my head back, and Dara nodded, avoiding my gaze, “Day… What is going on with you?”

“I have no idea what you mean. I’m not acting weird.”

“Sure. Okay.”

Dara packed up and headed into the house, and I sat there quietly, moving Fern’s swing whenever it started to slow. Since Fern had been home, Dara had been acting strangely. He was his normal, caring, overprotective self, but I would often catch him staring at me, a strange look on his face that I didn’t understand. I tried asking Clara and Rian, but neither of them knew, and Kipling refused to tell me what was happening with Dara. I assumed he had a girlfriend he had yet to tell me about, something I couldn’t understand, as we had never kept secrets before.

“Ferny,” I smiled, picking her up, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

Fern kicked her legs, and I laughed, taking her inside to get ready. I changed my clothes, putting on black jeans and a purple cardigan over a white shirt, Fern matching me in purple overalls, and I set her in the stroller, checking that I had everything to leave. I had a small amount of money from Edward’s passing; he had left any of his assets to me, and I relied on this, as well as support from Clara and Rian, to take care of Fern until I could finish cosmetology school.

“Oh,” Clara smiled as she came down the stairs, “Heading out with Dara?”

“No?” I tilted my head.

“Huh. He’s upstairs getting ready for something.”

“I think he has a date he refuses to tell me about,” I shrugged, “I just wanted to take Fern for a walk to the park before it gets too late. We’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“Okay. Be safe.”

“Always am. Love ya, Mum!”

“Love ya too, babe!”

I left the house with a hum, Fern looking up at me as I walked. We lived a few minutes from a playground and while Fern couldn’t do anything there yet, I still enjoyed taking her to walk the length of the park, using it to keep my weight low and stretch my legs as well as get her outside in the sunshine.

“Oh,” a familiar voice came from in front of me, and I looked up to find Kipling, “Hey, kiddo.”

“I'm six years younger than you, ass. Stop calling me kiddo.”

“Sorry,” he laughed, his eyes red and voice a bit hoarse, “Old habit.”

“What happened?”

“A-Are you mad at me or something?”

“No? Is that why you're crying? You think I'm mad? We had plenty of fun at dinner last night. I haven't laughed that hard in a year.”

“I don't understand then,” he whispered, “You texted me last night. Told me to leave you alone, that the chair I was saving for you when you finished school was stupid and I needed to rent it to someone else since you wanted nothing to do with me or my tiny, crappy little shop. It threw me for a fucking loop, you've never been that cruel. I've been racking my brain all day to figure out what I did wrong, and I tried to call, but you blocked me. As soon as I saw you walking with Fern, it broke through. Ren, what did I do?”

“I-I have no idea what you're talking about,” my voice trailed off as I stared up at Kipling, my heart low, “Kip, I would never say anything like that to you. You've been in my life for 16 years. You mean the world to me. We might not be as close as I am with Dara, but I always attributed that to age. Now that we're older, you go out of your way to spend time with me. You know my dream is to work with you. I would never go back on that. I restart cosmetology school in two months, and Clara will take Fern when I have classes. I'm doing all that to return to where we were before I lost Eddie. Why would I ever cut you out like that? You know how much I care about you.”

“But it came from your phone!” He shouted, “Why are you lying right to my face, Ren?”

“I-I’m not,” My voice trembled, “I don't lie to you, Kip. I never have.”

Kipling deflated, and I gently took his hand, giving it a squeeze, “It wasn't you.”

“No, Kip. It wasn't me.”

“Who has access to your phone when you sleep?”

“Uh, your parents, but they don't know the…” My voice died, and I felt my eyes grow warm, “It was Dara.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. He's been making weird comments since Fern was born. Mostly about you. Something about how you gave up?”

“Oh,” Kipling nodded, running a hand through his hair, the blonde waves fluttering gently in the breeze, “Yeah, that… that makes sense. He tries to keep us apart.”

“Why?”

“I can't tell you. But I need to deal with this. I'm not about to let Dara do stupid shit if it's going to hurt you. He's way too protective of you. Every time I try to come to the house, he stops me. It's my damn parents house too but he acts like he owns it. Now he's out with Emily, looking at apartments and hiding it from our parents. He plans to leave you hanging.”

“Who… is Emily?” I tilted my head, and Kipling groaned, looking up at the sky.

"Emily is his girlfriend of 3 years. He never told you?”

“Clearly. So h-he’s moving out after trying to destroy the friendship we have?”

“I think so.”

“I don't know what to do… he'll never admit to it.”

“I mean… I own a place. You've been there plenty of times. I have room for you and Fern. If you don't feel comfortable staying around Dara, you can come stay with me. I'll help with Fern. I've been trying, but Dara always gets in the way. I need to talk to him in front of our parents, though. Dad won't put up with his bullshit.”

“Show me the texts first.”

Kipling quickly handed me his phone, and I unlocked it, looking for my name in his messages. I couldn’t find it, and he sighed, clicking on a contact called Sunshine. I blinked a few times, staring at Kipling, and he shrugged. Slowly, I looked through the messages that were sent from my phone last night. Every single one was cruel, telling Kipling that I didn’t want him around Fern, to stay away, that I would never work for him, and that it was for the best he didn’t interact with me anymore. The last text read: “I know how you feel, but I will never love you. You’re disgusting.”

“Kip,” I sniffled, handing his phone back to him, “Kipling, I never…”

“I know,” he whispered, flashing a sad smile, “I’m well aware. I feel better now knowing this wasn’t you. You don’t have a mean bone in your body. Hi, doll,” he reached into the stroller and Fern smiled, squeezing his hand, “I missed you too, pretty girl. I don’t get to see you enough.”

“You could have come over to see us whenever. It’s your parents' house.”

“Dara would tell me you were busy or asleep every time I tried, and since I don’t want to disturb you, I’d leave. But it never sat right with me, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“We’ll figure it out. You made the same promise that Dara did, but it always meant more to me coming from you.”

“Why?” Kipling smiled, his golden waves fluttering in the warm autumn breeze.

“Because you’re the only one who knew Eddie and I were getting ready to break up. You were already planning to let me move in when Eddie died and Dara swooped in, making me think the best place was with Clara and Rian. I think I needed them at first, but I don’t know. I love your parents; they’ve always treated me like one of their own, but I need to move forward. Fern needs me to move forward, and we need to handle this and understand why Dara is acting this way. I would guess he was in love with me, but he’s very much straight, so that can’t be it.”

“I don’t know. Do you want to finish your walk? I’d like to do it with you if that’s okay.”

“You never had to ask.”

Kipling fell in step next to me as I pushed Fern, smiling as we walked. It was nice to have this time with him, something I hadn’t had since I was a teenager. We were close before I dated Edward, and Kipling came to take me to and from school when Eliza was too drunk or couldn’t be bothered. Eventually, he took me every single day until I graduated and moved in with Edward. Dara never joined us, wanting to walk, but I missed the quiet moments Kipling and I could enjoy. He knew me better than anyone, sometimes better than I knew myself, and I never worried about him being 6 years older than me. I had known him since we were little, and adored Kipling for who he was then and who he had become.

“Kip?” I looked up, and he nodded, meeting my gaze, “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Just… always taking care of me.”

“Easiest thing in the world.”