He winced, then he looked up at me, “I deserve that.”
I growled, “Yeah, you did. Stealing food from a girl. Who the fuck does that?”
“Shit,” I heard Grey murmur.
He winced, “I’m so sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?”
I smiled, “Gimmie your number.”
I reached for my phone as I straightened and put his number into my phone.
Then I looked down at him, “Dinner next Tuesday. I’ll text you the time and address. Don’t be late.” I warned.
He nodded.
I stood there as I watched him race back to the sidelines, then he spoke, then I got eyes on me, then they each shoulder bumped him.
I grinned.
Then I looked up at Grey, who smiled at me, then asked, “So? Care to elaborate?”
“They called my name for my order at Palmero’s earlier this year. That little shit saw it, and shouted he was in a hurry, ran up and stole it.”
Grey winced then nodded, “Okay, yes. Major malfunction definitely runs in the family.”
I threw my head back and laughed.
Shit definitely happened for a reason.
***
It was the next Tuesday night, and Warren was at our house with his wife, Melissa, and their son, Alexander.
Grey’s eyes teared up when he saw the little boy and learned his name.
It was Alexander. The same as Grey’s middle name.
It took about nine minutes for Melissa to look between Warren and Grey.
Then it took two minutes for Warren to catch on.
His jaw dropped.
Then, when Grey told him about the gifts he had left for him over the years on his birthdays... Warren teared up.
I kept Melissa and Alexander busy while Grey took Warren out on the back deck to talk to him.
And two hours later, when they came back, Grey asked, “That album, baby. Where is it?”
He was asking about the album I had made for him on his birthday last month.
See, over the years, when they were younger, they had bounced around from foster home to foster home. That didn’t make a lot of memories.
So, I talked to Merlin, and with a smile on his face, he helped me.
And together we were able to take the only photos we had of them as kids, upload them to this site, and we got pictures of them through the years.
Grey had teared up when I handed it to him.
