Spiro’s phone rang in his hand with a Swimming With the Sharks song on low volume.
Of course, I startled like an idiot and shot backwards. Spiro caught me in his upper tentacle and righted me without missing a beat.
“My family’s group chat is blowing up.” Spiro scrolled and chuckled. “Look.” He showed me the screen with a snap of my post paused at the moment the camera was on him. “Just soyou’d know who is who is who,” he pointed at the names in the chat, “you’ll recognize Rick from the band and my eldest brother Ner. Marin is the middle child, and Kert is his boyfriend. My dad is not very talkative, but he sends good memes, and Mom is the driving force behind the group chat.”
Below the pic in my post came the comments:
Mom: Spirodon, is that you?
Ner: He’s finally putting his cooking skills to good use. Getting laid.
Marin: Nah, he’s too busy baking a dessert.
Rick: You guys are assholes. Sorry, Scylla.
Mom: You’re right, Ricky. What is happening, Spiro? The boys say that you’re trendy.
Ner: Trending.
Marin: It’s trending!
Kert: You don’t owe them anything, Spiro! Run! Hide!
Marin: Traitor!
“Let me explain it all to them, or Mom will start calling me.” Spiro repositioned me on his lap and started typing.
Spiro: That cute guy I told you about is posting about my cooking. This was the first time he showed me on video.
Kert: You got your face online for a second and became famous right away. Way to go! I’m gonna follow your man. If he got you wrapped up around his tail, I need to know more. Bake him the cake that you made for my birthday once! That was delicious!
Spiro: I’m trying new recipes now, but we’ll see. I’m still waiting for pics from Marin’s latest exhibition. I’m counting on you, Kert.
Kert: will send soon.
Spiro locked the phone and tossed it aside on the couch.
“You know your brothers’ partners well.” I covered my lap with his tentacles, creating a soft—albeit heavy—blanket.
Spiro nodded. “Kert a bit more, because he used to share a dorm room with Marin when he went to study in Berlin. I visited them there years ago, but they remained friends, so it was easy to reconnect with him. Rick and Ner travel a lot when they’re touring, but when they take a break, they spend a few weeks in our hometown, so we hang out often.”
“It’s so nice that you’re all so close.” I couldn’t remember when I had spent quality time with my family. And whenever we met, I was reminded of the failure I was as a person and an incompetent shifter. But Spiro didn’t need to know that.
“That’s not the case with your siblings?”
“Nah. They’re all much older than me and moved out when I was little, so we never grew close. And now everyone has their own lives.” I shrugged, even though my stomach churned. Family bonds. What a silly thing to be so extremely jealous of. And yet, here I was.
“There’s only a tiny age difference between us, so we were always together—a three-pack of trouble. Now, it feels like they’re rubbing their happy relationships in my face, but I know that’s not true. In any case, I’m married to my kitchen at this point.” His smile fell as he looked into the fireplace, then kissed my shoulder. “Around Christmas time, the extended family chat becomes more active as we’re all preparing to meet. I’m not going this year, but you’ll see the craziness through the texting.”
Spiro was talking about the future as if we had any, but I knew what he meant.
The timer on the oven sounded, and Spiro stood up with me in his tentacles, then deposited me gently on the countertop in the kitchen.
He checked on the pavlova but left it in the oven. “It will taste best if I eat it off you.”
“I’ll be on the table, then.”
“It needs to cool down, and will be best by tomorrow.” “Now I’d rather devour you here. Can you be ready in fifteen minutes, wearing only the rainbow socks?”
