Page 68 of Shield and Savior

Joey shakes his head and huffs out a knowing laugh. “Um, yeah, that was never going to work. First of all, Thiago? Really? And Uri’s a no-go.”

Dad reaches for a carafe of brandy and pours it into a crystal glass, two items spared from his tirade. “This was before we found out Uri’s gay.”

Donnie snorts, “Wait, you JUST figured that out? We all knew back when we were teenagers.”

Joey sighs. “And I thought Waverly wasn’t supposed to be wrapped up in this.”

“And Thiago has been with his wife for like ten years,” I remind them. The absurdity of this plan unravels at my dad’s feet. Mom shakes her head in her patented “I told you so” manner.

“Eight, but yeah. Like I said, it won’t work.” Dad takes a long sip before putting his drink back on the desk, looking over at Mom, and moving it to a coaster. His gaze fogs over. “There’s nothing holding the families together.” He shakes his head. “But that’s a problem for down the road. We still have Nonna and my generation, so we’ve got a few good years left in us.”

“If the families fall apart, it’s my fault?” I whisper.

A pillow smacks me in the head. “Didn’t you hear what your dad said? Their stupid plan was never going to work. It has nothing to do with you.” Joey still holds his fluffy weapon of choice. “We all fucked up these plans, not you.”

Donnie gets off the couch and starts to pick up the books scattered around the room. “Listen, if Thiago married you, we wouldn’t have Maria. And THAT kid is the best return on investment we’ve ever gotten. Not only is she damn near the cutest kid on the planet, but she’s best friends with an Olympian and Alana’s goddaughter.”

“I wouldn’t bank on lifelong friends with the Olympians. Kids switch friends faster than they change their underwear,” I say, crossing my arms. But still, the fact that she links both Alana and the richest family on earth does give her more street cred at the age of five than anything I have at twenty-seven. I call bullshit.

Dad gives me a halfhearted smile. “Drew’s gonna be a teenager soon.”

Well that’s a horrifying idea. I hate it, and I need to invent a time machine so that it doesn’t happen.How hard could that possibly be?

But Dad shakes his head like he knows what I’m thinking. “That’s when you’ll need us the most. It takes a village. Or a herd or…something.” He swirls his brandy around. “You know the secret about parenting? No one knows what the hell they’re doing. But you get through it together. I mean, at least I didn’t send you to Russia to freeze homosexuality out of you.” He points at me with the glass in his hand. “For the record, we all told Uri’s dad that was a terrible idea.” Dad sighs like he’s confessing to a priest. “None of us are parents of the year, but we’re trying.”

Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I pull myself off Mom’s shoulder, one question lingering. “If you’re not sending me away, why did you call me here?”

Joey rubs his neck, shifting from side to side. “I didn’t want to fire you over text.” He pauses and adds, “Oh, and Nonna sent baked ziti because she was worried you wouldn’t have any food at the apartment when you returned from the safe house.” He jabs his thumb over his shoulder. “It’s in the fridge in the garage.”

Mom clasps her hands together. “And I’ve got a sweater I want you to try on. If you don’t want it, I’ll give it to Waverly.”

Dad sits on the edge of his desk, his anger a distant memory now that Donnie is picking up the wreckage. “We won’t be at Family Day at the school. We’ve got some cleaning up to do.”

Donnie starts stacking books on the shelf, one by one. “So we need you to show Mom how to use the camera.”

Mom crosses her arms and pushes herself deeper in the couch, grousing, “It’s two buttons, I know what I’m doing.”

Joey shakes his head and chuckles. “Auntie, every picture you’ve taken is blurry, or has your thumb in it. And the faces all cut off at the nose, lots of pictures of off-centered shoes too” He leans over to me and pseudo-whispers, “Give yourself half an hour. She doesn’t get it by then, take the pictures yourself.”

“Glad you’re sticking around, sis,” Donnie says with a wink.

Food, sweaters, tech tips, and unemployment. That’s why I’m here. “You know this was way more traumatic than it needed to be.” I grab the pillow off my lap and stand. “I’m going to take a nap.”

ChapterThirty-Four

Lance

I woke up with the jeebies. Two hours later and the feeling hasn’t stopped. I have another hour before I need to be at the kids’ school, and another ten days of work suspension. All the other guys are getting pissed, and I don’t blame them. They all have to pick up the slack I left behind. I hate this.

I need a palette cleanser.

Midge is curled up next to me since Alana left for work already. Last night she went over the kids’ schedules. She needs to pop over for Olivia’s and Maria’s play, which is supposed to go on before Drew’s wax museum.

I grab my phone and shoot Izzy a text.

Me: How’s Drew holding up?

Izzy: He’s nervous and kinda cranky.

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