Page 59 of Myla: The Hawthornes

“A little soap,” Aoife said, wiggling her head at him. “You’re kinda stinky.”

“I not!”

“You are,” she replied, her lips twitching. “Almost as bad as Uncle.”

“Uncle Cian or Uncle Ronan?” Sean asked suspiciously.

“Cian.” Aoife wrinkled her nose.

“Okay, I shower,” Sean said with a sigh.

“Seriously?” Cian asked, lifting his arm to sniff his armpit. “I smell good.”

“You stinky,” Sean replied, raising his tiny eyebrows as he waved his hand in front of his nose.

A little bubble of laughter burst past my lips, and Cian turned to me with a look of betrayal.

“The kid calls it like he smells it,” my dad said easily, clearly enjoying the interaction.

Aoife leaned to the side and lifted her coffee to her lips, gulping the entire thing down in one go.

“You’re lucky I added milk, you lunatic,” Cian said, his eyes wide with horror. “That coffee is hot.”

“No time,” Aoife replied with a shrug. She got to her feet, still holding Sean. “We need to shower.”

We all watched as she walked to her room and disappeared inside.

“Your ma used to bring you guys in the shower with her,” my dad said quietly, smiling. “One time Rumi slipped and flipped ass over tea kettle. She came running out carrying him, both of ’em stark ass naked and cryin’.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Once we realized he was more shocked than hurt, it was fuckin’ hilarious.” Dad shrugged. “Good memories.”

“I doubt Mom would agree with you.”

He shrugged again. “Welp!” He clapped his hands together. “Now that Cian’s up, it’s time for me to go find my wife.”

“Thanks for doin’ that,” Cian said quietly.

“No problem,” my dad replied with a nod. “Myla, you comin’ with me?”

“Uh—” I looked back and forth between him and Cian. “Sure.”

“Ashley, it was good to see you,” Dad said with a smile. “Aisling, always a pleasure—even if you look like a zombie.”

“Jesus Christ, Dad!” I hissed in embarrassment.

Aisling laughed. “You look worse than me, old man.”

Dad winked at her.

“You’re a fucking menace,” I spat, waving him toward the front door.

I waved at Aisling and Ashley, too mortified to even say goodbye as I hurried after him. I’d grown up with my parents saying whatever the hell they wanted whenever the hell they wanted, and I’d thought that I’d grown past the point of being embarrassed by them—but that clearly wasn’t the case because my face was burning.

“Hey,” Cian said, catching me by the waist as I leaned down to grab my purse and Aunt Rose’s helmet off the floor behind the couch.

“I cannot believe he said that,” I mumbled, glaring at Cian. “Oh my god.”

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