“Yeah, I know. It’s not about us, or the friendship I hope to one day have with you. It’s about your resilience and strength. Kate and I want our son to know you don’t give up when the going gets tough. Who better to look to for example than hisuncle?”
Why his explanation bothered me I couldn’t say, but I lashed out accordingly. “Um… I can think of a lot of better people to look up to than me. What exactly do you plan on telling him about his uncle’sresilience? Are you going to leave out the part where I stabbed a guy todeath?”
Mitch jolted at my graphic reply. See, I wasn’t the best role model, now was I? Maybe he should rethink the kid’s name. I mean it’s not like I asked for the responsibility of being a moral compass for his son. God knows I had no fucking clue what I was going to tell my own kids someday when the topic would inevitably come up, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to portray myself as some resilientprotagonist.
Unfortunately, my sudden outburst altered our easygoing conversation, and now Mitch looked justifiably uncomfortable. Dammit, how much more socially awkward could I get? That’s why I needed Casey. She balanced me out and covered for me when my behavior lacked therequiredtact.
“Sorry. That was…” I shook my head, unable to come up with a fitting excuse. “Justsorry.”
Appearing genuinely concerned, Mitch waved off my apology while zeroing in on me and asking, “Everything okaywithyou?”
“Yeah. I’m just off today. I didn’t mean to lash out at you. It’s cool you named him after me, it’s just… I think you might be confusing my resilience withdumbluck.”
“Or maybe you’re confusing dumb luck with resilience. You know what they say about luck,right?”
I shook my head, not realizing it had its own saying in the firstplace.
“Luck is not about getting what you want, but surviving what youdon’twant.”
I had no response to his words. I’d never thought of it in those terms before. If that were the case, I was the luckiest guyalive.
“Anyway…” Mitch shifted uncomfortably. We’d never had the type of relationship where heart-to-heart conversations were the norm. “Enough about that. I don’t want to upset you before your wedding. I remember being in your shoes. God, I was sonervous.”
“That’s me. All day, I’ve felt dangerously close to losingmyshit.”
“In that case, if I were you, I’d keep my distance from Dad. The night before my wedding, he told me some horrifying storyabout…”
“The honeybee?” I shouted out, slapping my hand againstthewall.
“Yes. He told you thatonetoo?”
“Like an hour ago. I think I’m scarred for life, and that’s sayingsomething.”
“Yeah, well, I barely slept that night because I was having nightmares of my nards exploding every time I closedmyeyes.”
We both laughed, bonding over our sharedtrauma.
“Someone needs to keep him on a leash during weddings,” I said. “Or at least warn theothers.”
“Nah, I think we should keep that information to ourselves. Why should the rest of them get afreepass?”
How could I arguewiththat?
“Anyway, I’ve got to head to bed. Now that I have a kid, I can barely keep my eyes open past eleven o’clock.” He gripped my shoulder. “Try not to get too nervous. Go into tomorrow feeling confident, knowing that what you and Casey have together is somethingspecial.”
“Thanks, Mitch. That’s the best advice I’ve heardallday.”
* * *
The party ended shortly after,and I was escorted to my room by no fewer than a dozen superheroes. With capes flying and ridiculous kung fu moves by out-of-shape pretenders, no one was able to see past all the masked crusaders into the center of the crowd where I was conveniently ducking to keep from being seen. It seemed for now at least that Operation Pretzel was still a closely guarded secret. I’d had doubts earlier in the evening as I worried the bachelor party would be my undoing. The last thing I needed was to be photographed in a drunken stupor the night before the ceremony. Casey and I and a team of specialists had worked tirelessly to keep the specific date and location of our wedding a secret from the press. After extensive searches in the Los Angeles area, an exasperated and overwhelmed Casey off-handedly suggested having the wedding back where it all began, sort of like a retracing of the steps that led us to eachother.
I’d jumped all over the idea, not only because I had a soft spot for Arizona, but also because it would force Casey to radically trim the guest list, something I’d been pushing for all along. I didn’t want or need a big star-studded event. Marrying in a quaint little church with just Casey, me, and a small group of our family and friends was the way I’d always pictured our wedding daytobe.
The Avengers left me at my room with a promise to be dressed exactly the same for my wedding. Yeah, not only would that not fly with Casey but Boris would surely drop dead onthespot.
Keith stayed back after everyone had gone. I grabbed his hand and gave him a quick back-slap hug as a gesture ofthanks.
“Did I do good?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. “Were you sufficientlyunderwhelmed?”
