To which he’d repliedIs everything okay?
And got the response, Don’t know, you tell us.
He wasn’t going to go there, and he wasn’t feeling greatthat they were wondering, but he’d thought he’d ended it (for now) with,Later.We’ll do a family dinner or something.
When Hound didn’t text back, he was left with counting downthe hours until Georgie came to him, of which he was giving her two, and he wasbarely at the end of the first one.
“It’sgonnabe a long night,” hetold Murtagh.
Murtagh’s responding “murr” wasinterrupted by a banging on his front door.
The cat sunk his claws in, and Dutch had to hand it to thelittle bugger, he wasSundancingthis shit, notleaving Dutch and looking at the door with an angry “Mwryow!”
“Open up!”Hound shouted.
Murtagh stood up, somehow gaining twenty pounds—in eachfoot—and shouted, “Mwrrryow!” back.
“Right, Sundance, Butch isgonnago open the door,” Dutch said, picking up the cat, getting an angry noise,putting the cat down on the couch after he angled off it, and hearing the thudof him jumping to the floor and following Dutch to the front door.
He opened it.
And he had no choice but to step aside when his entirefamily stormed in.
“Mwryow,mrrmrr,myow,myow,mrr,” Murtaghdemanded to know why they’d interrupted his quiet night.
“What the fuck?”Jagger asked, staring down at the cat.
“Oh my God, that cat is the cutest thing I ever saw,” hismom declared.
“MWYOW!” Murtagh shrieked.
“What’s the matter with it?”Hound asked.
Dutch bent down, picked up the cat, and because big brothershit never died, he fell in love with it even more when he stretched out a paw,claws extended, scratching toward Jagger like he wanted to eviscerate him.
Dutch started laughing at the same time encouraging, “Attaboy.”
“What’d I do?”Jagger asked.
“Give him to me,” his ma said, and didn’t let Dutch move.She came to him, entirely unafraid of Murtagh’s murderous intent toward hermiddle son, and she took the cat.“Look at you,” she cooed, cuddling Murtaghclose.“My first grandbaby.”
Murtagh immediately started purring and butting his mother’sjaw with his head.
“Jesus Christ,” Hound grunted then scowled at Dutch.“Youknow now I’mgonnahave to get her a fuckin’ cat.”
“What are you all doing here?”Dutch asked.
“When did you get a cat?”Jagger asked in return.
“What are you doing here?”Dutch repeated.Then he looked tohis mother.“And where’s Wilder?”
“Wedoknow how to get a babysitter for your littlebrother, Dutch,” she replied.“Bev and Tad are with him.It’s getting late.Close to his bedtime.And anyway, his presence during this visit isunnecessary.”
His five-year-old brother’s presence wasn’t necessary duringthis visit?
“Okay, then someone answer my first question,” Dutchdemanded.
They all looked at each other.
