Free Worth the Fight (Accidentally on Purpose) by LD Davis

wasn’t expecting me, but when I stepped into the kitchen she didn’t look surprised to see me. Immediately she pulled another mug out of the cabinet.
    “I’m glad you stopped by,” she said as she poured hot cocoa into the mug.
    “Me, too,” I said and gladly took the steaming mug from her.
    “Do you want some cookies?”
    I looked at her with suspicion. “I came here to get some things off of my mind, but bringing out the cookies means you have something of your own to say.”
    She grinned as she produced a container of cookies. “I can’t offer my little brother a fresh, homemade cookie?”
    “Now I’m just plain scared,” I frowned, but eagerly removed the plastic lid and took a few cookies.
    Lena sat down across from me and didn’t waste any time making me earn my chocolate chip cookies.
    “You’re an asshole,” she said conversationally. “Do you know what an epic asshole you are?”
    I said nothing, because I knew she was about to tell me what an epic asshole I was.
    “You invite that woman and her baby into your home – to make it their own home, but it’s not a home. It’s a tomb. With baby stuff. I know you were angry and hurt about what Emmy did, Luke, but you have to move past it or let Emmy take Lucas and move out.”
    “Am I supposed to just forget what she did, Lena? Is that what you’re suggesting?” I asked quietly, trying not to snap at her.
    “Actually, yes. That is exactly what I am saying, Luke. You are treating her like shit.”
    “I am not treating her like shit,” I argued.
    “Yes, you are! You completely ignore her, as if she isn’t even worth the breath your words would use.”
    “Maybe she’s not,” I muttered, knowing how cruel I sounded.
    “See? Epic. Asshole.” She took a bite of a cookie and sipped her hot chocolate.
    “What do you want me to do, Lena? Treat her like a fucking queen?”
    She pointed at me as she swallowed her cookie. “That’s exactly what you should be doing. Emmy is the mother of your son – you don’t even pretend to talk to her even when you’re surrounded by your family. The only time you talk to her is if you guys need to talk about Lucas, and even then, you rather talk at her and not to her.”
    “Should I sit down with her every night over a cup of fucking hot chocolate and ask her how her day was?” I growled.
    “It wouldn’t kill you,” Lena said seriously. “Can you not see that she is suffering?”
    I shifted uncomfortably. I tried not to see it, but of course I did.
    “Luke, I think Emmy is very depressed.”
    “Oh, so now you’re a doctor of psychiatry,” I snapped.
    “No, you asshole,” she snapped back. “I have a pair of eyes that work just fine, as do you. You can’t miss the misery that woman is carrying around with her, but you choose to ignore it.”
    “I’m not the one that damaged her,” I reminded Lena. “It was the other way around.”
    “Everything is all about you, isn’t it?”
    I knew Lena was getting angry when she pushed away her mug and threw down her cookie. I also knew that I was g oing to be in a fair amount of trouble and at risk of getting my ass kicked if her hot chocolate was no longer hot when she got back to it.
    “I understand that you are still angry, but she’s beating herself up enough, Luke. She probably thinks she deserves the way you’re treating her, but she doesn’t. Emmy is an excellent mother to Lucas and she’s right here with the rest of us helping to take care of Mom, and need I remind you of your clean apartment and hot dinners every night? She does not deserve to be treated as terribly as you’re treating her. Stop punishing her, Luke. It’s not like you to be cruel, but you are going above and beyond to be cruel to Emmy.”
    I sighed as I focused on picking at my cookie. “I’m not sure I can just stop being hurt by what she did.”
    “You may never stop being hurt by what she did,” Lena said. “But you won’t even try. You need to really look at