Uniting the Souls (Souls of Chicago #6)(35)

“Are you ready to go?” I asked.

“Yes, I just need to grab my purse,” Aysha said, moving towards the front door where her purse hung on a rack by the door.

“This is my treat and I don’t want any arguments, got it?” I told her sternly.

She spun around to face me with narrowed eyes. We’d had this argument many times, but I liked doing fun things for her and Nicholas that they wouldn’t normally be able to do for themselves. It made me happy to be able to give a little back to her after everything she’d done for me growing up. Aysha surprised me when instead of fighting me on it she smiled and I immediately went on alert. I knew my sister well and I could tell when she was up to something.

“Fine, you can treat on one condition,” she said, a devious grin forming on her face.

“What’s that?” I narrowed my eyes, but smirked down at her.

“I want to hear all about last night,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me. My heart stuttered as visions of my night with Matt and Isaac flashed through my mind. My sister certainly didn’t need to know about that.

“What?” I choked.

“Hey, if you’re going to party with the rich and famous then I at least want to hear the details,” she informed me and my heart rate started to slow back down.

“Okay, I’ll tell you all about the party over lunch, but we need to get a move on because I made reservations,” I responded playfully, hoping she hadn’t noticed my shock from before.

“Reservations? Like at an actual restaurant?” she squealed excitedly, following me out onto the front porch.

I waited as she locked the door and then I carried Nicholas to the car, stopping to grab his booster seat from her car and putting it in my own before strapping him in. Aysha climbed in beside me and looked at me expectantly. I took my time buckling up and starting the car, pretending to ignore her. We may have been close, but we were still siblings and we enjoyed torturing each other from time to time.

“You better start talking right now, mister.” I looked over and my eyes widened when I saw her stern mom face on full display. Nicholas had better watch his P’s and Q’s because I had a feeling nothing was going to get past his mother.

“Fine. I’m taking you to that new French restaurant that you said you wanted to go to.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I held my hand up, stopping her. “I already called and they have several items on the menu that Nicholas will like, so you can relax.”

I watched as she sank back into her seat, giving me a tender look. “You’re a really good man and brother, you know that?” I rolled my eyes at her praise, but she continued. “I mean it, Hudson. I don’t know any other man that would do the things you’ve done for me and Nicholas. We might not have survived the last couple of years if it hadn’t been for you,” she ended with a whisper. I could see the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes and I rushed to stop them. I hated to see my sister cry, for any reason.

“You would’ve survived because you’re the strongest woman I know, just like Nonna was,” I told her, reaching across the armrest to squeeze her hand. “And there are a lot of great men out there. Just because you got a toad the first time doesn’t mean your prince isn’t still out there.”

Aysha laughed as I’d hoped and wiped the moisture from her eyes. “I don’t need a prince. I’d settle for a man who can hold down a job and keep his eyes from wandering outside the home.”

She said it with a laugh, but I knew how badly it still hurt her that the man who had promised to love her forever had ended up cheating on her. Not only had her ex betrayed their vows and left her to raise their son alone, but he’d stolen her trust as well and I wished I could do something, anything, to make it so she’d never had to go through that.

The restaurant was just as fancy as I’d heard, and Aysha’s eyes lit up when she saw the candles and cloth napkins on our table. She helped get Nicholas situated in his chair and then turned to me with a happy grin.

“Thank you so much, Hudson. This place is unbelievable,” she gushed.

I looked around at the crystal chandeliers and the intricate wall sconces and I had to agree. The place was really quite impressive. We looked over the menus and then gave our orders to the waiter who did a double take when he noticed my sister. He eyed the three of us and then left to get our drinks. Aysha pulled a small notebook and some crayons out of her purse and laid them in front of Nicholas, who got right to work drawing pictures. She caught my grin and tilted her head at me.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked.

“It makes me happy seeing you with Nicholas. You’re a terrific mom, you know,” I told her. Aysha’s eyes softened as she stared at me.

“Thank you. Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing alright by him, giving him enough love and attention.” She shrugged her shoulders then reached over to run her hand over Nicholas’s head.

“Look at him, Aysha. He goes to bed every night feeling happy and loved. Don’t worry, you’re doing everything right. Besides, you practically raised me and I turned out alright, didn’t I?” I winked at her and she laughed, the worry gone from her eyes.

“Yes, I’d have to say that you turned out rather remarkable,” she admitted.

“Oh my gosh! Did anyone else hear that?” I joked, looking around the room.