“Tessa wassix and was going through a hairdresser phase,” Tuck starts while Tessa snickers.
“Oh, I know where this is going,” she says with a wink to Daphne.
Daphne hangs on my brother’s every word with yet another embarrassing Tristan-as-a-kid story. As much as I love my siblings, why couldn’t I have been an only child? I’d have no witnesses to my awkward years.
“Tristan volunteered himself, thinking Tessa was going to use her Barbie scissors on him. The fake ones that don’t cut,” Tuck starts.
Tessa cackles manically like she had when she was six and knew exactly what she was doing.
“He had chunks missing from the back of his head.”Tuck lifts sections of his hair all over the place, which makes Daphne chime in with Tessa’s laughter.
Great. Now they’re all laughing at me.
“Dad had to shave his head,” Tuck says with a shit-eating grin. If he’s not careful, I’m stuffing the lobster tail shell down his throat.
“He looked like a bowling ball,” Tessa cackles as she scoops up more mac and cheese. “Tuck took a sharpie and drew three dots on his head while he was asleep. Dad must not have noticed because he sent Tristan to school looking like that.”
“It wasn’t funny,” I grumble. “They called me pinhead for a month.”
“It was great,” Tuck says as he reaches for his Pepsi.
“I’m sure it was. For you,” I say, “It was the only time in your life where you were the attractive twin.”
Tuck throws a piece of carrot at my head, but I dodge it. Hawkeye darts over and scoops up the surprise treat before he sits and waits for another. His big eyes shine up at me and it’s so hard to say no to a face like that. But a good parent disciplines their child, and I’m not feeding Hawkeye at the dining room table.
I’ll sneak some leftover carrots into his bowl later.
Daphne’s still snickering as she digs into the pocket of her jeans and retrieves her phone.
“Oh, it’s Daphne,” Tessa points excitedly at the phone.
“Huh?” Daphne raises an eyebrow at her.
“You were the first to look at your phone,” Tuck says with a grin. “That means you’re buying the next family dinner.”
“Usually, Tuck’s the guilty one,” I tell her.
“Hey, I still have patients, even if I’m not on shift.” He whines as he defends himself, and yeah, he’s got an importantjob and all, but Dad raised us not to answer the phone at the table. Granted, when we were teenagers, it was never life or death. We implemented that rule a few years ago, mostly since Tessa and I knew Tuck would be the one who’d have to pick up dinner most of the time.
It’s not like we can’t afford it. Tessa could hack her way into pretty much anything she wants and scoop out millions without being detected.
But it’s fun annoying the hell out of Tuck.
“That’s alright,” Daphne says as she shoves her phone away. “What should I get?”
“It’s dealer’s choice,” I say. Whatever the cost, I’ve got her covered. I may have slipped another five grand in her bank account this morning for the hell of it.
Tuck’s phone rings, the theme forHousechirping from his pocket.Seriously, why doesn’t he use a generic sound like the rest of us plebians?We get it. He’s a doctor.
“Sorry, it’s the hospital.” He pushes his chair back and takes the call, stepping out of the dining room and off into the kitchen.
“So, Daph, what do you think of Tristan’s hobbies?” Tessa asks as she rests her elbows on the counter and leans in. God, Mom would have thrown a fit over that.
So, I rest my elbows on the counter and ask innocently, “What hobbies? Like collecting Pokémon cards? I think it’s cute.”
Tristan blushes, and Tessa lets out a gunshot of a cackle. “Oh my God, he doesn’t, does he?” Tessa gasps as she whips her head over to her brother. “Do you?”
“Why did you have to tell her that?” Tristan groans at me.
