Of course she’s here. She’s family too. She and Simon have a solid friendship, with regular exasperation on her part that she tells me is less since he started dating me, and I adore her more every time we hang out. She’s rapidly becoming a sister of my heart.
“Remember when Mom got Dad those dinosaur slippers that roared?” Hudson says to Griff.
“Those were fucking awesome,” Griff replies.
“He said the fuck word, Mum,” Charlie says.
“He’s a grown man who lives in locker rooms, so we’ll have to overlook his terrible language,” Lana replies.
“I actually learned it from Eddie,” Griff says. “No one curses in locker rooms anymore.”
Eddie gasps.
Charlie snickers.
My brothers are less uncle and more brothers to the boys.
It’s pretty awesome.
And when it comes to the boys, I’m more doting aunt than stepmother-ish.
Simon refuses to ask for help with doctor appointments and school pickups and homework assistance, but I do go see the school plays when Eddie’s running the soundboard, and I go to the middle school art exhibits andoohandahhover Charlie’s artwork, which we all agree is brilliant on a level that none of us completely understand.
In short, I get the fun part of being a parent figure without the responsibilities.
I get to enjoy them for who they are, with a little bit of being a role model and disciplinarian thrown in when necessary.
“Boys, are you so for real right now?” Lana says as she tears the wrapping paper off her gift.
She cracks up.
Simon snickers.
I clap a hand over my mouth to keep from gasp-laughing.
“That’s terrifying,” Hudson says.
Lana points the talking Eddie doll at Simon. “Itoldyou,no more than a hundred dollars.”
“I am highly offended that you think I would break our bargain,” Simon says with a sniff. “The boys made those as art projects at school.”
He’s lying through his teeth and we all know it.
“I love my mum the best!” the Charlie doll announces.
It’s creepy and weird and terrifying, and also hilarious.
The dolls are each about eighteen inches tall, with cloth bodies hiding the sound boxes and porcelain heads that have been perfectly sculpted to capture the boys’ faces as they are exactly right now.
I’ve heard about them—though the conversations I’ve overheard have mostly been giggles from all three of the Luckwood gentlemen—but this is the first time I’ve seen them too.
“I got your back, Lana,” Griff says. “Unlike some people in this room, I was taught to live like a pauper during profitable times so that I can retire like a king at thirty. And I got this wicked cool endorsement deal for a fried chicken chain too, sokingmight be underestimating how rich I’ll be. The sky’s the limit with whatever you want to do to get them back.”
“Thank you, but I think I’ll enjoy vengeance best when I do it solo,” she replies.
Simon scoots closer to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Bea is innocent, so please do bear that in mind whenever you decide to do something you cannot take back.”
“Bea won’t suffer.”
