“Hmmm. I don’t know.”
“Mom…” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “He came here today to learn how to take care of Lincoln. I don’t think he’ll do anything dumb with him.”
“You don’t know for sure, though.”
“What doesn’t Phoebe know?” It appears Gavin is already over his previous discomfort, no doubt due to his need for food. He’s made his way back to the kitchen and is already rummaging around in the fridge. My brother is a bottomless pit, and I can’t help but smile. No wonder he keeps building muscle. With the amount he eats, and how much he works out, he almost has to.
Mom lifts her head to look at him. “She doesn’t know that Archer won’t do anything dumb with Lincoln. Like abandon him at a carnival.”
Gavin stands up straight, balancing a pile of fruit and a container of yogurt in his arms. “I don’t know. He’s an idiot for not waiting for the burp cloth, but I don’t think he’d do anything to hurt Lincoln. From what I’ve seen, he’s an okay guy.” He drops his fruit and yogurt on the counter before pulling the blender out of the cupboard. “He only left that one stupid message for Phoebe, but besides that, he’s been cool about it all. And really, that message wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t even swear at her.” He walks to the pantry and grabs his giant tub of protein powder. “What was it he said, Fee? Oh, that’s right. He called her a “not-very-nice-lady”. That’s literally the worst thing he said.”
I look at him, shocked. Out of everyone, Gavin is the last person I would expect to defend Archer. He was pretty pissed when Archer first showed up at the house, after all.
But also… “You heard the message?” I thought Charlie was the only one who listened to it.
“Oh, yeah. Charlie sent it to herself and then let me listen to it. It was pretty hilarious.”
I huff. “Not that funny.”
Gavin chops fruit and drops it into the blender. “Oh, it really was.”
“What was funny about it?” Warren asks.
“Well, when he said Phoebe found an innocent Santa and got him pregnant, that part was pretty funny.”
I chuckle. “I guess it was kind of funny when he said how cute Lincoln was and explained that all babies look like weird little old men or something like that.”
“See,” Gavin points to me with his knife before going back to chopping. “Honestly, he sounded a little overwhelmed. And a lot drunk.”
“Oh, yeah. Hearing someone in the background telling him to shut up was hilarious, too.”
Warren laughs and puts his arm around Mom. “It sounds like he should have listened to the friend.”
“Definitely,” I agree. “I’m sure it was a shock to hear from me after all this time. And really, he wasmostlyrespectful in the message. As Gavin said, he didn’t swear once.”
Mom shakes her head and purses her lips. “I’m still not sure. So, when will we get to see him again? I think he needs some intense questioning from Detective Mom before I’ll be comfortable.”
I love my mom, really I do. But sometimes she acts like I’m still a teenager like Gavin, instead of a woman in my thirties who’s been on my own for over ten years. If I’ve done my due diligence and I’m comfortable with Archer spending time with Lincoln, that should be enough for her. But if it will help her feel better, I suppose I could let her grill him a little.
“Sure, Mom. He’s coming to Christmas Eve dinner, but he’ll be bringing his girlfriend, and I don’t want you to embarrass me in front of her. You can grill him then. As long as you get him alone first.”
“Oh, honey. He has a girlfriend?” Mom frowns and hands Lincoln to Warren, who’s more than happy to take over entertaining duties. “Are you sure? The electricity between you two when we came in was off the charts. And I don’t think it was only because he was shirtless. Although, again, hubba hubba.” She fans herself with her hand.
I laugh. “Yeah. I’m sure. She was with him the night I found him and gave him the letter. And believe me, I can’t compete with her. She’s gorgeous. I’m pretty sure I heard angels sing when she walked in.”
“There’s no way she’s that pretty,” Gavin says, pressing the button on the blender and filling the kitchen with noise.
“She was beautiful, Gav,” I say after the blending stops. “Easily in the top ten most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Hell, maybe even top ten most beautiful in the world.”
“Oh, I doubt that very much. I’m sure you’re just as pretty as she is.” Leave it to a mom to think her kid is on par with the most beautiful women on earth. Mom takes the blender from Gavin after he pours the thick liquid into a cup and begins washing it in the sink. She can’t resist taking care of us. “And that doesn’t matter. I’m serious about the electricity I felt. You can’t fake that.”
I roll my eyes. “I was staring at an attractive shirtless man in my kitchen. That wasn’t electricity you felt. It was the heat from me spontaneously combusting.”
“Mark my words, Phoebe. There’s something there.”
“Sure, Mom. Whatever you say.”
In the background, the front door slams shut and Charlie stage-whispers, “Shit. Sorry.”
