From the tension around Andi’s shoulders, George could tell that he was fighting on two fronts, dealing with whatever input he was getting from the arthropods, which had to be like an avalanche, and at the same time facing off with George’s mother. This whole birthday brunch had been a terrible idea. George should have met his family somewhere else, listened to his mother’s rants, nodded, and sent them back home. This was Andi’s home, his safe space, and his mother was tearing it apart. George straightened his shoulders, ready to confront his family—he wasn’t sure with who Griff and his father would side, only Daniel seemed to be a safe bet at the moment—and maybe cause a rift between them. It was a strange feeling being ready to reject the people who had his back his entire life, who he loved, even if said love was sometimes complicated, but then again, which love wasn’t? At the same time, he also felt elevated. He had made his choice, and his choice was Andi. Always Andi because he had opened George’s world so wide, there was no way he would ever willingly go back to the confines of what he knew before.
As if his lover knew what he was about to do—he probably did—Andi put a hand on George’s chest, slightly shaking his head. George decided to follow Andi’s lead for the moment but stayed vigilante at his side, showing silently where his allegiance lay. The narrowing of his mother’s eyes told him she knew and didn’t like it in the least.
“I see how it is.” She trained her gaze on Andi. “I don’t like this.” The gesture she made with her hand said clearly what ‘this’ encompassed. “I don’t think you’re good enough for my son. I’m almost sure you’re going to cause him harm, be it professionally or emotionally. I have looked into you, and besides your admittedly phenomenal solving rates, there is absolutely nothing that speaks for you. I honestly don’t know what my son might see in you because all I can see is heartbreak and misery and the ruin of his career.”
The silence following her words rang like a bell in George’s ears. He had known how displeased his mother was with the situation and his choice of partner though he hadn’t realized how deep said displeasure ran. This wasn’t just disapproval. This was rejection, plain and simple. He opened his mouth to say something, but again, Andi beat him to it.
“Are you done?” He looked at Miranda with no reaction to the words she just spoke. Only the dark circles under his eyes betrayed how stressful this was to him.
“Excuse me?” Miranda clearly hadn’t expected this response.
“I was asking if you’re done. Or is there something else you want to get off your chest?” Andi’s tone was still somewhat polite, for him anyway, but he was fast approaching full-on hedgehog mode. George couldn’t fault him for this. His mother had crossed the line here.
“How dare you?” She clearly wanted to continue, but again, Andi lifted his hand.
“Mrs. Donovan, absolutely nothing you say will change anything between George and me. And I’m well aware that absolutely nothing I can say will change your mind. I don’t know about you, but for me this argument is a waste of time, breath and energy better spent on having brunch, seeing as it is your son’s birthday. Unless you want to disinherit him right now, robbing yourself of the delightful possibility to tell him ‘I told you so’ in the future.”
For a moment, absolute silence reigned again. George’s feelings were oscillating rapidly between amusement, awe, and terror, unsure of what to settle on. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he saw his mother’s mask slip as she stared in pure astonishment at Andi.
And then she started to laugh. Not her polite society chuckle that was about as real as the Joker’s promise to Batman to behave himself, but a full-on belly laugh that had tears streaming down her face. It took her a few moments to gather herself. Then she dabbed her eyes with a tissue before looking at Andi.
“You’re right. Let’s stop wasting time and replenish our energy with brunch.” She gestured at the veranda behind the living room and the brunch table George had set there. “You can tell me where you got that lovely garden furniture. It’s gorgeous.”
Andi took a step aside and invited her into the living room. She followed him out onto the porch after she had put on a pair of hot pink Crocs George managed to shove in her direction with his foot.
“Choose your seat. It’s from my grandfather on my mother’s side. When she moved to the States, she took it with her. He was a blacksmith.”
“Quite a gifted one, I might say.” Miranda sat down and looked back at them, where they were still standing in the door to the living room. “Are you coming?”
Her husband was the first to join her, while George, Daniel, and Griff still stood stunned.
“What just happened?” Daniel’s eyes were wide.
“I don’t know, but it was epic.” Griff followed their parents to the table.
George wasn’t sure if epic was the word he would choose. He leaned more toward concerning. Sighing, he followed Daniel to the table. There wasn’t much he could do either way.
CHAPTER 26
THAT WENT ABOUT AS WELL AS COULD BE EXPECTED
Andi leaned back in his chair and listened to Griff tell a story about some shenanigans the three Donovan brothers had been up to as kids. It was surprisingly nice to hear about his lover’s past now that the air between Andi and Miranda had been cleared. Not that they were in the clear yet. Her electric fields were still buzzing like crazy. She seemed to have decided on a tactical retreat for the time being. Andi had felt her shock through the pheromones she emitted when George had made it clear that he wouldn’t budge when it came to his relationship with Andi. Miranda had come with her fists up, expecting to stir the pot enough to get her will, and when she realized it wouldn’t go her way, she was quick to relent. It meant her bond to her son was more important to her than getting her will, which was a plus point as far as Andi was concerned. He was under no illusion that she wouldn’t stop trying for the foreseeable future, but that was a worry for another day.
Upset, crying, angry, stomp, stomp, stomp, he knew that blob, knew the shape and the heartbeat and the cadence of the strides, young, agitated, shouldn’t be here, Tyler tromping through the neighborhood, alone, not good, coming their way, faster, faster, whump, whump, whump, his heartbeat so familiar, angry, he was angry?—
Andi got up. When George looked at him, he shrugged. “I’m just getting…something from the kitchen.”
George’s electric fields immediately sparked because by now he knew Andi so well. His lover got up too. “Uh, I’m going to help you. Guys, we’ll be back in a minute. Does anybody want cinnamon buns? I could put them in the oven.”
Daniel groaned, rubbed his belly and then said, “Why not? I could go for something sweet.” He sat up. “Come to think of it, let me help you. You’re the birthday boy after all.”
With his entourage in tow, Andi went to the kitchen, tracking Tyler’s progress through the neighborhood at the same time. In only a few minutes, an agitated teenager would crash George’s birthday brunch.
“Hey, everything all right?” Daniel went straight for the fridge, looking for gods knew what. “I’m sorry Mom was so intense. I really thought she’d show more restraint.”
While Daniel was rooting around the fridge, George threw Andi a questioning look. “Tyler is on his way.”
“Oh.”
