Page 70 of Waiting Game

Me: Nah.

“It is to me.” She smoothes her hands over her arms. “I wish I’d come from a big family. I’m an only child.”

Me: I wish I were

“Liar.”

Me: :P Siblings are pains in the ass.

“Somehow, I feel like you’re more of a pain in their asses than the other way around.”

Me: You wound me!

Her smile is the one I’ve come to crave seeing—genuine. “I’m sure.”

Me: You do!

“Uh-huh.”

Me: Anyway, you have a family of cats.

“That’s true.”

I’ve met a couple of them by this point—they tend to hijack her shows when she least expects it.

Honestly, it’s pretty fucking hilarious when they do, even if they are cockblockers.

She kneels on the bed, her feet scooting under her butt. It’s a move made for comfort, not to entice. “So, what made your mom move to North America?”

Me: Couple reasons. My grandma never made it over here but she always dreamed of visiting… She fell for a soldier during the war.

Me: So when my mother was younger and she was a veterinarian, she crossed the pond for work. That’s how she met my father.

Man, it’s hard being vague while also trying to share with her. She’s so reticent that only a fair exchange of information gets her to open up to me.

“At work?”

Sort of.

Me: Uh-huh.

“Is she still a vet?”

Me: No, she moved fully into research. She spends most of her time in Brazil.

Her eyes widen. “Brazil?! Why there?”

Me: Her research took her to the Amazon rainforest.

“Wow!”

Me: We don’t get to see her as often as we like.

“I’ll bet. My folks… My dad co-owned, I mean, co-owns a diner. They…” She hesitates. “They work together.”

So, that’s what her parents did.

I don’t mind the half-truth. I’m still a stranger on the internet, after all.

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