“I try.”
“Whatever,” McKenzie said in her digital voice. “We both know I’m the funny one.”
“Dad jokes aren’t all that funny.”
“Hey,” I protested. “My jokes are pretty darn funny.”
Reed rolled his eyes and pulled up theSure, Janmeme, which made Sky double over laughing.
I threw up my hands and Sky raised a shoulder, entirely unconcerned. “Dude’s funny. But now I want to hear McKenzie’s joke.”
“Thank you,” she said, primly I assumed. “Here’s the joke: What’s the last thing that goes through a fly’s mind when it hits the windshield?”
Because I’m a dad, I knew the answer to this, so I kept my mouth shut. Skylar scratched his head. “I don’t know.”
“Its butt.”
Skylar clutched his chest and threw his head back, laughing. “Oh my God, that is the most autistic joke, ever.”
“Thank you.”
There was a knock on the door, and I shouted, “Come on in!”
Brandy peeked her head through the doorway, quickly followed by Cynthia, both of them puzzled. “We heard laughing.”
“We’re allowed to laugh in this house,” I said, wrapping my arm around Skylar’s waist.
Cynthia saw the move and gave a little fist pump. “I suppose,” she responded, sending me a warm smile.
“I think your ex-wife likes us,” Skylar whispered.
“I think so too,” I said, then turned to Cyn and Brandy. “Y’all want some breakfast tacos? I can add a few more eggs to the mix.”
Brandy rubbed her hands together. “Sounds great.”
“You got it. By the way, this is my boyfriend, Skylar.”
Skylar’s face went a pretty red, and he turned to me, tapping his chest.
“Boyfriend?” Brandy asked, looking at our mutual best friend. “I seem to have missed a few stops along the way.”
“Well then, let me fill you in,” Skylar said, welcoming them into the kitchen. “Who drinks coffee around here?”
Grinning, I added a few more eggs to the mixing bowl, watching the different parts of my family coalesce around Skylar’s light. They were laughing, joking with each other already, setting a warm glow to my kitchen. My knee throbbed, reminding me of my upcoming procedure, but I didn’t mind somuch. I had all the right people in my life, and taking care of myself seemed like a small price to pay for that kind of miracle.
24
SKYLAR
When I showedup early this morning to pick Kit up for his surgery, he gave me a distinctly disgruntled look.
“What? Did you think I’d forget about today?”
“No.” He fussed with his hat. “I may have hoped, though.”
Honestly, the hardest part was that he hadn’t eaten, and I hadn’t realized what a bitchy little queen he could be when his blood sugar was low. It was kind of cute, really.
Brandy had come with us to help me afterward. Cynthia was supposed to make the drive, but Reed was so anxious about his father’s surgery that we all decided it’d be better for her to stay and for Brandy to come instead.
