Page 153 of Reel Love

~ The Vow

We’re heading toward the door when my mom shouts out, “Next time, I’ll have Stevens’ baby books out for you, Alana.”

“Okay!” I shout back. “We’re going now.”

Alana stops mid-stride. “I’d love to see Stevens’ baby pics next time. And you know what I’d love even more?”

My mom steps out onto the porch. “What’s that, dear?”

“I’d love to know his first name. We called him Ren as a boy. What is that short for?”

Dustin steps out next to our mom and says, “Ooh! Ooh! I know!”

I put my hand on the small of Alana’s back. “Okay see you later. Love you, family. Bye.”

Dustin calls out, “Clarence! Like the angel inIt’s AWonderful Life!”

I playfully cup my hands over Alana’s ears so she won’t hear him, but she already heard.

“Clarence?” Alana’s laughing.

I look back at the porch. My mom has her hand over Dustin’s mouth and he’s acting like he can’t wriggle free.

“You think that’s funny, huh?” I ask Alana as I open the gate and lead her onto the sidewalk.

“It’s hilarious! I love your family.”

“They’re a handful. You’ve got the paparazzi. I’ve got these crazies.”

“I like your crazies.” She smiles up at me.

“I’ll keep them.” I smile down at her. “I’m pretty sure they’re in love with you already. And not Alana Graves. Just you.”

“So soon?”

“Yeah. They’re like that. My mom basically adopted Ben when she found out his family lives all the way in the Midwest.”

“Wow. My mom might not even claim me after this fiasco.” A note of wistfulness creeps into Alana’s tone.

“I’m guessing she’ll get over it in time,” I assure her. “Once she sees I’m not going anywhere.”

She doesn’t answer that. I hope I’m right. Family needs to stick together. I understand her family functions differently than mine, but they’re still family.

“You can borrow my family while you’re waiting for your parents to come around.”

“I think I’d like that.” Alana laughs. “So, Ben is basically your adopted brother.”

“Tell me about it. I already had Dustin. Now I have Ben too. You’d think Mom could have adopted someone more chill like Kai.”

“So … Clarence.” She smiles up at me.

“Yeah. Ren comes from Clarence. It’s a family name. Lucky me. I couldn’t have been born into a family where the hand-me-down name was something like Alex or Conan.”

“Conan? Like the barbarian?” Alana giggles.

“You don’t think it fits?”

“Conan the merman. It has a certain ring.”

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