His little brother was having a kid.
Over Jax’s shoulder, étienne looked up at him, and J.C. shook his head as though clearing it, then plastered a smile on his face, nodding at his brother with approval.
“Félicitations,” he said, and étienne reached for him, pulling him into the hug he was already sharing with Jax.
When Mad finally released her sister-in-law, J.C. hugged Kate gently, kissing her cheeks and wishing her congratulations, but inside he was reeling. This wasn’t just Ten and Kate getting married or Jax and Mad finding serious boyfriends. This was a kid. A person. A new generation of Rousseaus. He was going to be someone’s uncle. And it made his chest constrict with an uncomfortable, unfamiliar emotion that felt way too big for him to hold inside.
“Champagne!” exclaimed Mad, hurrying to the kitchen while Jax followed her to share the good news with Gard, leaving J.C. with the soon-to-be parents.
“I’m glad we have you alone for a second,” said étienne, sitting back down on the couch beside Kate and taking her hand in his. “There’s something we wanted to ask you.”
J.C. lowered himself to the coffee table before them. “Anything you need.”
“We need a godfather for Noelle,” said Kate, her sweet lips smiling at him. “And we want it to be you.”
“Who’s Noelle?” he asked, staring back and forth between them, trying like fuck to process what was happening, what they were asking of him.
étienne chuckled. “We didn’t get to share that part yet. Kate’s sixteen weeks along. We’re having a girl.”
J.C. gasped with surprised. “You already know?”
Kate nodded, placing her free hand over her belly. “We found out this morning.”
“So Noelle is…”
“Our daughter,” said étienne, resting his hand gently over Kate’s before looking back up at his brother. “Your niece.”
“My…” niece. He couldn’t even say it. It felt too strange. Too huge. One little word that expanded his heart, adding a little room next to étienne’s in his heart. “Wait. You’re asking me to be your daughter’s godfather? But…”
His heart started racing as he stared at them, their words, their request, taking shape in his mind. Not only his niece but his goddaughter. A little someone who would look up to him, look to him for protection and comfort, for guidance and direction, a little girl who would— He flinched, sitting back from them.
No. Wait.
He thought about his track record with women, his penchant for screwing and leaving, his determination never to commit to anyone. What kind of a role model was he?
He looked up at his little brother gravely, panic making his lungs constrict. There was no way on God’s green earth that he was the right man for the job.
“Attends! écoute étienne...”
“Non.” étienne reached out, putting his hand on his older brother’s knee and locking eyes with him. “Toi Jean-Christian, seulement toi, mon frère.”
You. Only you. My brother.
étienne’s eyes were severe—dark and strong and full of faith that Jean-Christian didn’t feel he deserved.
“Pourquoi? Pourquoi moi?” asked J.C., thinking that there wasn’t a worse person on earth to be the guardian of a little girl than him.
“Because you took care of me.” étienne sighed softly, still holding his older brother’s eyes. “Because I never had to see what you saw. Because you always went with him into the city so he wouldn’t take one of us instead, so we wouldn’t have to see, so we wouldn’t have to be the excuse he used.”
J.C. inhaled sharply, sitting back from his brother, shock making goose bumps rise on his skin. “You knew?”
“I suspected,” said étienne sadly. “Now I know for sure.”
J.C. dropped his younger brother’s eyes, ashamed of the things he’d seen—the women his father would kiss and maul in the elevator of the Morris House Hotel as the electric doors closed—ashamed of the way his mother would search his face for answers he couldn’t give.
“Hey,” said étienne softly. “You protected me. You’ll protect Noelle too.”
“Oui,” said J.C., looking up at his brother with gratitude and conviction. “Oui. Avec ma vie.” With my life.
étienne sat back on the couch, putting his arm around Kate and pulling her close. “So yes? You’ll be her godfather?”
“It’s an honor,” said J.C., nodding at Kate. “Merci, Kate. I won’t let you down. I won’t let her down.”
“You’re not out of the woods yet,” said Kate, a minxy smile tipping up her lips as Jax and Mad returned with champagne and glasses. “Lib is going to be her godmother.”
Fuck. Of course she was.
Prickly, skinny, angry Libitz who hated him.
Smart-mouthed, foul-mouthed Libitz who kissed like a Siren and wanted nothing to do with him.
He would be bound to her for life now, watching over a child who belonged to both of them equally.