“Because you almost set the building on fire that one time you tried to boil water.” Ryan swooped down and picked up his child before taking the diaper bag away from a protesting Hope.
“Yeah. Well…your hair is thinning,” Dylan finished weakly.
“No it’s not.” Hope laughed. “And if it were, it’d just be a sign of high testosterone. So there.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“So you’re saying your boyfriend doesn’t have enough testosterone for you?” Dylan squinted.
“What I really want to say, I can’t because there are tiny ears present.” She pressed a quick kiss to the top of her daughter’s head. “But check your texts later. Bye, Dylan.” She gave him a hug on her way out of the door.
“Bye, Fliss.” I waved exaggeratedly at their baby. “Bye, guys. Thanks for coming. I had a blast.”
“It was delicious.” Hope smiled before heading for me to wrap her arms around me. Then she whispered in my ear, “The glam squad is coming Sunday morning. Be ready.”
I rolled my eyes, but the sense of love I felt at that moment left me breathless for a second.
The door had closed behind them before I got my breathing back on track.
“Everything okay?” Dylan asked with a frown. “What was that whole thing with Hope? You guys looked intense for a minute.”
I felt my cheeks heat and sighed. “She wants to send a glam squad over for me before Fliss’ party this weekend.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “I wasn’t aware it was a dress up thing. No one said anything.”
I looked away. “Feels more like she wants to make me her little project or something.”
“Ah shit,” Dylan muttered, rubbing his jaw. “I’ll talk to her. Or I can talk to Ryan to talk to her. That might go easier.”
“You know what? It’s fine. It might be fun.” I smiled weakly.
“Are you sure? I don’t want my family putting you in an uncomfortable position. That’s not what we’re about.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’ve just never had that kind of a relationship with girlfriends. Or family. Or anyone really.”
“Okay. But let me know if they get out of hand. My family can be a lot. Boundaries aren’t really a thing with us.”
“It’s nice.” I crossed the room and sat on the sofa, bringing my knees to my chest so I had something to hold onto. “I’ve never had that—anything like that.”
Dylan walked over and sat on the other end of the narrow sofa. “We’ve always been that way as long as I can remember. Aunt Wendy always knew exactly what we were up to. And so did Austin. I think he felt like he had to be more father than older brother most times. And definitely more father than our sperm donor ever tried to be.”
A dark cloud descended over the mood as his words reminded me of my own dysfunctional relationship with my father. He’d been there so lovingly for a few months before slowly tapering off, missing dinners and movie marathons we’d enjoyed only weeks before. Then not coming home for days at a time.
And then not coming home at all.
“Anyhow.” He cleared his throat roughly. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about. I was going to do it before my brother came over, but then we got caught up with dinner prep, and I forgot.”
“You’re cute.” I laughed. “You say that like you actually helped.”
“Hey, someone had to set the table. And get the condiments out of the fridge.”
I shook my head. “You’re just lucky there are so many takeout options in this town.”
“Don’t I know it.” He rolled his eyes. “But anyhow, I uh, heard back from your college.”
My heart froze, and a feeling of dread swept over me. This was it. This was when he told me I’d screwed up everything I’d worked for. But I could get through it. I’d gotten through worse.
“…I’d given them my number instead of yours since you didn’t have a phone at the time,” Dylan babbled, clearly putting off the bad news.
“Just say it.”
