Dom mouths, “Food night?”
I mouth back, “Later.”
“I have a secret weapon,” I say, giving Dom a wink. And he rolls his eyes.
Finn shifts his weight, suddenly weird. “So, uh, how are you? This looks like an intimate little meal you’ve got going… for the both of you… together…”
There it is.
I arch a brow. “Did Spencer put you up to this?”
“Pfft! Wha—what are you talking about?” Finn says, voice going higher. “Can’t a guy check on his best friend? I’m just making sure he treats you right, or… or he has to answer to me,” Finn says with as much machismo as he can muster.
Dom is on his feet in about half a second.
A startled yelp rings out, but it’s muffled, like it’s coming from behind Finn’s door.
Finn talks directly into his shirt. “Honey, I told you making him mad was a bad idea.”
“Maybe if you hadn’t gone off script.” This time, the soundscoming from the door are echoing through an earpiece hanging around his neck.
“Ahhh, hello? Guys,” I say, trying to get their attention. “Is that a microphone? Wait, hold up? Is that Mazie’s spy set?”
Finn sighs into his sleeve. “I said this was a bad idea. Now it looks like we stole our kid’s toys.”
The door to his apartment swings open, and Spencer emerges, then stands sheepishly behind Finn. “I told you he’s really just a teddy bear,” he says, avoiding eye contact with everybody.
“Then why are you standing behind me? And didn’t you see the look on Olly’s face the other night? I thought he was gonna shit a brick. Look at him; he’s a big dude.” They turn to look at Dom, who has his eyes trained elsewhere.
“Uh, guys?” he says, pointing. “Runaway baby.”
We all spin.
Mazie is standing in the doorway, one tiny hand gripping the frame, the other on the knob. Vertical. Steady.
“Oh my God, Finn,” he gasps. “She’s standing!” he squeaks out in excitement. “I told you she was close. Yay! Mazie. Good job, sweethear—” The rest of his sentence is cut off by the sound of a slamming door.
Spencer runs to the door, grabs the knob, and shakes it. “Shit! I thought you were gonna fix the lock,” he says, in full panic, to Finn.
“I did! Well, I thought I did.”
“Sweetie, can you unlock the door for Daddy?” Spencer pleads.
Finn’s earpiece crackles. A tiny, diabolical baby giggle echoes through it.
Dom and I make eye contact over Spencer’s panicked flailing. Yeah, this kid is going to run the whole town by kindergarten.
“You just have to press the button and turn the handle, Mazie,” Spencer coaxes. “Or… or go get Gallifrey?”
Taking that as my signal, I snort and duck inside for the extra key on the hook in my apartment. I would like to say it’s the first time this has happened, but no.
I hand the key over to Finn, who mouths a “thank you.”
“Spencer, sweetheart, calm down,” he says gently.
“Don’t tell me to calm down.”
Finn holds up the key.
