“I’m the actual uncle.” Decker follows Easton, hugging Callie respectfully. “Don’t worry, there are good genes on our side. Foster just didn’t get a lot of them.”
I huff, knowing the beef between us needs to be squashed. I don’t want my kid asking one day why I don’t talk to Uncle Decker.
“Congrats, Uncle Decker. At least my kid will have one great uncle.” Callie eyes Hayes, and he looks away.
Easton raises his hand. “I’m an uncle too.”
“You are.” Callie laughs and lets her head rest on my shoulder. Relief softens her whole body, as though the secret being out has allowed her to breathe again.
Hayes clocks Callie’s body language, and a disgusted expression crosses his face. Winning him over won’t be easy. It’s clear Callie and I share a familiarity and intimacy, and he’ll take it to mean we’ve kept a deeper secret.
An awkward silence descends over the room, until I decide to break it.
“Hey, man, can we talk?” I ask, willing to take the chance that Hayes is gonna come at me. Hell, I’ll take him jumping over the table and smashing my head into the pinball machine rather than this silence.
Leighton nudges him.
“Come on, Carlisle, don’t be like that,” Easton encourages.
Decker doesn’t come to my defense, but I broke the rules, and he’s Mr. Rule Follower now. Guess he forgets the days when he wasn’t.
Hayes downs his beer. “Sit.”
Chairs shift, and everyone gets up to leave us alone.
“Why don’t we go outside?” I don’t want to do this anywhere near Callie. Depending on what happens… what’s said… I don’t want her even more upset.
Again Hayes acts as if I’ve suggested the worst thing, but Leighton nudges him again, and he sighs, reluctantly standing like Lake does when Leighton asks her to watch Monroe. As though talking to me is the last thing he wants to do.
“You’ve got five minutes.” He starts to make his way across the room.
Callie steps in front of him, placing her hand on his chest. He glances down at it and then meets her eyes.
“I just want it to be clear this was both of us, okay? We both did this,” she says.
He says nothing, and Callie steps aside, allowing him to leave the room.
I look at her. “If I don’t come back…”
“I’ll call 9-1-1 and then start searching.” Callie smiles wide as though she has all the confidence in the world that I can fix this. Then she hugs me. “Just in case. So I can tell the baby what Daddy smelled like.”
“Funny.” I wrap my arms around her, and when I look over her shoulder, Decker’s eyebrows are raised. I flip him off.
“I thought so.” She puts her hands on my cheeks. “Just one last look to memorize this face in case any permanent damage is done.”
I shake my head, and she laughs.
“Glad you find this funny. I’m about to get my ass handed to me.”
She pats my cheek. “You asked for it, remember?”
And I’d do it again and again.
“Don’t forget, duck and weave.” Easton pretends he’s in the boxing ring.
“You’ve always had a weak right hook, go with the uppercut,” Decker says.
“Fuck both of you.”
