She nodded, sniffling. He handed her the bourbon, and she took a sip. Then he squatted down a little, to her eye level, and said, “But you should have told me. That was wrong.”
She nodded again. “I know. It was hard. I wanted to. But then the babies were born and… I don’t know, Robbie. Our whole family is so mishmashed anyway that I kind of started to feel like it didn’t matter. You are my best friend, and, like, the most important person in the world to me, and who cares if you’re actually my…”
She trailed off.
“Cousin isn’t, like, a pejorative term, Amelia,” Robbie said.
“Stop it!” she said, pointing at him. “I said don’t call me your cousin!”
He put his hands up, and she handed him the bourbon.
Then he turned back to his aunt and his mother, who were now switched, but maybe not in his mind. “Now what?”
“Well,” Olivia chimed in from the rocking chair where she was still sitting. “For starters, you could take off that ridiculous cape.”
Robbie looked down and laughed the tiniest bit. “Oh. I guess I was kind of upset.” He paused and looked at Elizabeth and Tilley. “To be clear, I’m still very upset. With both of you. Amelia doesn’t get to cry and wash away your sins. Okay?”
They both nodded. “We did what we did because we love you so much,” Tilley said.
Robbie rolled his eyes, but Tilley could sense him softening. He finally ripped off the cape and said, “Do Mason and Parker know?”
“I never told Parker,” Amelia said, “which makes me feel awful because I have this huge secret from my husband, so thanks to all of you for that.”
“Mason kind of knows,” Olivia chimed in. “But not factually. He suspects.”
Robbie shook his head and sighed. “I have to go find Trina.”
“Do you forgive us?” Elizabeth asked.
Robbie scoffed. “Are you serious? I found this out twenty minutes ago, and you want me to forgive you already?”
Elizabeth and Tilley nodded in unison, looking so much alike that Robbie wondered if it even mattered which one was his mother and which was his aunt. They were a totally codependent unit. And, even in his anger and confusion, he had to admit that Tilley would never have been capable of mothering him. And Elizabeth had been the absolutebestmother. But he should make them suffer a little. Although, he guessed they had probably suffered quite a lot already… Being a devoted son was hard. Having the softest spot for all these women that you loved more than life itself was complicated.
“I am angry with all of you,” he said. “This conversation is not over. But I need to go sort out my feelings.” He looked at his watch. “And the Marlins have a game in half an hour, and I can’t miss that for…” He waved his hand. “Whatever the hell this is.”
“Robbie, language,” Tilley and Elizabeth said simultaneously.
He sighed, exasperated. “You two lied to me my entire life, and I can’t say ‘hell’? For heaven’s sake.”
“Go be mad,” Amelia said. “We have to change for the game.”
She hugged him. “I love you. It’s all going to be okay.”
With that, Robbie walked away, Elizabeth calling after him, “Hey! Why does she get a hug and not me?”
“Or me!” Tilley said.
Without even turning, Robbie yelled, “Because she’s just another victim caught in your web of manipulation!”
Tilley and Elizabeth smiled. “He’s going to forgive us,” Elizabeth said.
Olivia sighed. “Tilley, you’re driving to the game. I, for one, need a drink.”
“Same,” Amelia said.
“I’ll go make us all a roadie,” Elizabeth said.
As the women around her got up and started moving about, Tilley exhaled deeply, a breath she had been holding for decades. She felt in her heart that it was going to be okay. It had to be. They were family, after all. Nothing could change that.
