“Dude, we’re your brothers,” Brandon said. “We can add some objectivity to the situation.”
He had a point. They both did, as much as Cameron hated to admit it. In fact, it seemed fitting that they were there with him, considering that bits of their sacred brotherhood pact were crumbling to dust by the minute.
Against his better judgment, he opened the book. His brothers pulled their chairs up close to look at the photo on the first page. It was of Jake, taken in the hospital within an hour after he was born.
“He looks like a grizzled old man,” Brandon said.
“No, he doesn’t,” Cameron argued.
Adam sat back. “Babies always look like that. You’ve got to consider where they just came from.”
“Oh, man,” Brandon said, flinching. “That’s just rude.”
Cameron chuckled as he turned the page and gazed at a number of early photos of Jake, some with Julia holding him. He wondered who had been operating the camera. He was dismayed to realize that it should’ve been him. But he’d completely ignored Julia. It grated on him more and more as he turned the pages and saw his good-looking little boy growing bigger and bigger.
“Oh, man, he’s in heaven,” Brandon said, as they stared at the shot of Jake enjoying his first barbecued chicken. Julia wrote next to the picture that the chicken had been pureed for Jake and he’d eaten it quickly, but then he’d taken his time enjoying the sauce. Cameron had to laugh. Jake’s little face and hair were smeared with red sauce and he flashed the camera a big, toothless grin.
“Looks just like Cameron when he eats barbecue,” Adam said, and even Cameron had to laugh at that one.
He turned to another set of pictures. Julia had titled them Jake’s First Immunizations and described how the nurse’s assistant had taken the pictures while Julia held and comforted the baby.
“Uh-oh, this is gonna hurt,” Brandon said, wincing. Cameron did the same. The first photo showed the nice doctor holding a small syringe. Several more shots documented Jake’s expressive face as it scrunched up in preparation for something bad to happen. The last picture showed the dam bursting. Jake’s face was purple with rage, his eyes were shut tight and his mouth was wide open. He was obviously screaming in terror and pain.
Cameron could almost hear the screams.
“Man, that’s just cruel,” Adam said, averting his eyes from the book.
“I completely feel his pain,” Brandon agreed, rubbing his arm where the needle would’ve gone in.
The next page showed the look of happy shock on the baby’s face as his mother took him into the ocean for the first time. He stared at Julia frolicking in a brief bikini, looking so lush and sexy he had to stifle the urge to stroke the page.
With a start, he realized his brothers could see her as well, and immediately turned the page.
“Hey, wait, not so fast,” Adam complained.
“Yeah, slow down,” Brandon said. “That photographer is really talented. I want to see more of the ocean.”
“Yeah, right,” Cameron said, shaking his head. He knew what his brothers wanted to see more of and he wasn’t about to give them what they wanted. Nobody was going to look at Julia in a bikini but him. His brothers would have to learn to live with disappointment.
“Come on, Cam, go back to that last shot,” Adam said, then added in a reasonable tone, “We really should get to know Jake’s mom better.”
“You’ve both seen enough,” Cameron said, and closed the book.
“Fine,” Brandon said, and sat back in his chair. “But I still wonder why you didn’t get in contact with her when you got her messages.”
Cameron turned and glared at him. “All I saw in that first message was a woman demanding that I call her. Who needs that? So I deleted the ones she sent after that.”
“Seems a little harsh,” Brandon replied.
“Oh, come on. You’ve dealt with obsessed women. What would you have done? “
Brandon frowned but said nothing.
“He has a point,” Adam said reluctantly.
Cameron expelled a long, slow breath. “I did what I had to do at the time.”
“Yeah, been there,” Brandon said with a sigh. He’d spent ten years in the NFL and knew what it was like to be stalked by an obsessed woman or two. Or three. “I guess I can’t blame you. But she looks so normal.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Cameron said. “I liked her a lot. But then the messages started. That first day, she sent four emails. Four. Seriously, she showed all the signs of a desperate woman who’d talked herself into something that wasn’t there. Like, we had sex and suddenly she was in love or something, demanding that I call her. She even sent me a letter, but I threw it away unopened. I wasn’t willing to buy into any of it.”
“I guess I see your point,” Adam admitted.
“Thought you might,” Cameron said. “Then all of a sudden, the emails stopped coming and I figured she got the message.”
“Guess she gave up on you,” Brandon said with a shrug.
That didn’t sit well with Cameron, but he said nothing.
Adam gazed at him. “So where do you go from here?”
“I’m working it out.”
“Yeah?” Brandon chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
Cameron’s jaw tightened and he shot his brother a scornful look. “I’m in complete control of the situation.”
“Ah, the famous Cameron control,” Adam said, nodding sagely. “So now she’s living here with you for the next ten days or so. I have a feeling your legendary control is going to be tested to the max.”
The way Adam chuckled, Cameron imagined he’d had his own share of control issues. And knowing Trish now, he was pretty sure his brother had already lost that battle. Strangely enough, Adam didn’t look like he minded one bit.
Cameron was glad his brother had found happiness, but marriage and a family weren’t on Cameron’s agenda.
Adam stood and slipped his binder into his briefcase. “Trish is going to want to see the baby.”
“Hey, me, too,” Brandon said. “I want to meet my nephew.”
“How about if we swing by tonight?”
“Tonight’s not good,” Cameron said quickly. He needed to prepare Julia for the family onslaught. “I’ll set something up for tomorrow night.”
Ten minutes after his brothers took off, the babysitter returned with Jake. Cameron watched her carefully as she changed the baby’s diaper
