Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
It’d all worked out in the end.
“And so when college came around you did that together too.” Bates hadn’t actually asked a question, but I nodded.
“Yeah, however, a big part of that was because we both got scholarships here.” I was pretty sure our essays had something to do with it, but I wasn’t going to apologize for telling the truth. “It made sense to go together even if Gareth hadn’t been adamant that we weren’t going to be separated.”
Trying to sound a bit less weird, I kept going. “We had a therapist our freshman year who was worried we were codependent, but she’d mostly decided we were just weird.” She’d dressed it up nicer but that was what it’d boiled down to. “Gareth couldn’t figure out why she was so worried, and eventually I just stopped making him go.”
I wasn’t sure it was the right decision but she’d been trying to give him issues where he didn’t have any, and missing the ones I thought he had.
“You made him go to begin with, didn’t you?” Bates didn’t seem surprised when I nodded, giving me a slightly bemused smile. “Why?”
“Um, well, I’d started taking a psychology class and realized how fucked up we could’ve been.” Even after a few years, I couldn’t decide if it’d been the right decision or not. “People always say to get therapy for your shit and ours seemed like it was piled up around us, but she just confused Gareth, and I didn’t like that she wanted to push us apart.”
As his eyes widened, I nodded. “We might be codependent on each other but I’m not bad for him.”
That sentence sounded weird, but it had Bates shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that describes your relationship at all.”
Settling into a thinking expression, he sighed and looked like he wanted to keep the headshaking going. “You’re family. Yes, you kept him sane and happy and probably fed, but you didn’t stop him from living his life. You supported him when he was dating stupid people, and nothing I’ve seen says you’ve been controlling his life.”
Yeah, I’d even supported his football passion in high school and hadn’t made him quit even when I’d realized how dangerous it was.
“Well, I control the groceries or he comes home with weird stuff, but when he wanted to be a history professor, I didn’t try to stop him.” I still wasn’t sure it was a completely logical goal, but with my finance degree, I knew I could support us if it came down to that.
Thankfully, when my mother had been in her doting on the babies phase, she’d made both families set up college funds. It’d been trendy or something in their women’s group, which I was very grateful for because Gareth and I were both pretty well set even if he wanted to get his master’s.
Bates chuckled, finally giving me a happy smile again. “I think between that and the mythology minor, it explains a lot.”
I was pretty sure Gareth just saw the world a little differently, but as crappy as his parents were, I thought he had a lot of fun to make up for.
“We’re probably odd but it doesn’t seem to hurt anything and he’s happy.” And I was a lot less stressed lately, so I was happy too. “But sometimes I worry that I should’ve pushed him to stay in therapy.”
I felt better when Bates snorted. “No. She doesn’t sound like she understood either of you at all. I would tell you if I thought he needed therapy or if I thought he wasn’t capable of making decisions. He is. He just knows when you do it better.”
Bates grinned when I rolled my eyes. “Like keeping the family budget in order and picking out dinner. Every family member has different strengths.”
And Gareth felt loved when I did things for him.
“He can go grocery shopping on his own for the most part or with Brady’s mom, and he helps me set up the budget and we pick out recipes together. He’s a functional adult. Just not a dominant one.” Or always a logical one.
Bates must’ve been thinking the same thing by the way he grinned, but he nodded and didn’t get distracted by whatever randomness floated through his head. “I agree…and you’ve had to take care of Brady.”
“Yeah, that felt like a project sometimes.” I shrugged as Bates started snickering. “As cranky as Jude is, I was really glad when Brady fell in love with a functional Daddy who could handle him and his family. Jude’s nuts, but he’s the right kind of nuts for Brady.”
I just wished he was a bit less intense when it came to me and Gareth.
“Jude is a…he’s a natural worrier.” Bates’s understatement had me trying not to laugh. “But he’ll get used to the changes sooner or later. We’ve got the seal of approval from the big boss, so I’m not worried.”