Mom smiles at her. “We both know you’re going to live forever.”
Carol preens at that.
Mei yawns and shoots me the look. I don’t know if she even knows she does it. It’s the “take care of me” look and, since I’m her doting husband, I obey.
“Mei’s about to crash over here,” I say to the group. “It’s almost first nap time.”
Jin cocks her head to the side and frowns. “How many naps do you take a day?”
“Three,” I say at the same time Mei says, “Just a couple.”
Mei yawns again and everyone laughs.
We say our goodbyes, and my girl is asleep before we even leave the neighborhood. Once home, I help my sleepy wife out of the car and into our bed. When I step out of my bedroom, my oldest son is waiting for me.
“What’s up, Rhett?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily. “I don’t want to unload on you. Today is a good day for you and Mei.”
“Come on,” I say to him, motioning for him to follow me to the kitchen.
I make us each a sandwich and then sit at the bar with him. We’re quiet for several minutes as I wait for him to get it off his chest.
“She’s the wrong sister,” he says once his plate is empty. Then, he curses, shoving the plate away from him. “I fucked up, Dad.”
I turn in my chair to face my son. He’s always been at the top of his game. School, sports, social life. The only time I’d ever seen him rocked off balance before was when he was in love with Savvy, the girl we fostered for about a year.
“I’m the king of fuckups,” I remind him. “Especially when it comes to women. I only recently got my head on straight.”
Rhett drums his fingers on the bar surface several times. “I slept with Angela’s sister.”
My chest tightens. “Okay.”
Angela is his girlfriend. She’s a star student, athletic like him, and a pageant winner multiple times over. As an outsider looking in, she’s perfect. But, then again, so was Leah. Look how that turned out.
“I can feel you judging me,” Rhett grumbles.
I shake my head. “Not judging you. Does she know?”
“That I slept with the black stain on their entire family?” His eyes are bloodshot and wide with horror. “No, Dad. She does not know. And I can’t tell her. It was a fucking mistake.”
I reach over to grip his shoulder. “Mistakes happen. What do you want to do, Son?
“Forget it ever happened,” he grumbles. “I was drunk. It was stupid. Plus…” He swallows hard and then retrieves something from his pocket. “I was going to propose to Angela.”
I take the ring box from him and inspect the engagement ring inside. It’s massive. I’m not sure how he managed to procure such a ring. But, when your girlfriend’s dad owns a chain of successful jewelry stores, you can’t exactly skimp in that department.
“Did David help with this?” I ask as I inspect the stunning ring.
“Yeah,” he says with a sigh. “I’ll be paying on that thing until the day I die, I think.”
Mei’s ring was sensible and chosen with her daintiness in mind. She loves it. I’d been able to effortlessly purchase it from my savings. The ring my son bought for Angela is easily the cost of Carol’s house.
“Do you love Angela?” I lift a brow. “Like how I love Mei?”
Rhett frowns and then nods slowly. “Yeah. Of course.”
The flicker of doubt in his eyes makes my heart hurt for him. Some mistakes you have to learn on your own and I’m afraid this is one of them.
