“What’s Gillian’s husband’s name?” Martin asked.
Seb glanced at him and smirked. “Julian.”
“Gillian andJulian?”
Seb let his smirk turn more evil. “The heart wants what the heart wants. And Gillian’s heart wanted Julian. Gillie and I don’t have a lot to say to each other, but don’t think I didn’t bring that up as much as I could through my teenage years.”
Martin chuckled, almost a real laugh. Seb wanted to praise him for it, like one of Parker’s golden retrievers. How much he enjoyed seeing those little unguarded moments of Martin’s happiness surprised him.
“What about your mom?” Martin said. Seb’s urge to rub his tummy popped like a bubble.
“My mom has done everything my dad has ever wanted. She’s not a robot, but doing everything my dad’s way was the agreement from the beginning, I think. If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice there’s six years between Gillian and Parker, and then there’s all three of us afterwards in six years together.”
“I’m a historian,” Martin said, “but even I can do that math, yes.”
“Well then do this math. My parents got married in May, and Gillian was born in November the same year.”
“Oh.”
“Yup. My parents were poor undergrads who, let’s assume, got carried away in the throes of young love. One and one makes three, as it were. So they got married and my dad probably promised my mom that if she stuck with his plan, they’d live a big happy life with a house full of kids someday.”
“Sounds like it worked out, though.”
Three out of four functional children was close enough?
“The point is, my mom got on board and never looked back. My dad calls the shots and she delivers.”
“So she never stood up to your dad for you?”
Seb scratched at his ear. It was complicated. “She probably did. I mean, she did. When he’d lecture me about getting my grades up, she’d stand by him because what mother doesn’t want her son to do well in school? When he told me I was throwing my life away if I left college, she said she just wanted me to be happy. But her idea of happy was a degree and a steady job and a houseful of kids. Security. So it’s not like she chose my dad over me at some point. She just...”
“She didn’t get it,” Martin said. It was close enough to the truth. “My mom’s a little like that.”
Seb raised an eyebrow. “But you’re the poster boy for success. She must be so proud of you.”
Martin’s gazed dripped with dark humor. “I’m sleeping on my brother’s couch and putting my PhD to use in a used bookstore.”
Seb waved him off. “That’s just temporary. Baby steps, remember?”
“My mom never went to college. She married my dad when she was twenty and divorced him before my second birthday. She’s worked minimum wage jobs her whole life. When I went to college, she was proud of me. When I stayed in college to study dead Germans...” He smiled his secret smile. Seb really wanted to pull over and kiss him. “She’s proud of me, but she doesn’t understand why I do it.”
Seb consoled himself by pressing Martin’s knuckles to his lips.
“Maybe we can switch. If you like them, my family is yours.”
