Page 68 of We Can Stay
“I mean, it was huge.” Mom shakes her head, gesturing with both hands while Mushroom adjusts his position around her neck. “I had no idea. I said to Ron, ‘I’ve never seen a penis thatbig. Have you ever seen a penis that big?’ And on a mini horse, at that! No wonder all the girls like him.”
I cover my eyes with my hand. Okay. I spoke too soon.
Spreading my fingers, I peek at Flick. Her shoulders are shaking slightly, and she’s biting her lower lip. She’s grinning from ear to ear, and it looks like she’s trying not to laugh.
“You enjoying this?” I whisper.
“Your mom is fun,” she whispers back, her eyes dancing with mirth.
“That’s one way to put it,” I grumble, though I’m secretly relieved. I’m glad Flick doesn’t seem freaked out in the slightest. It hasn’t always been that way when I introduce people to my mom. Jessica found her overwhelming. My high school girlfriend literally hid in the car after Mom offered to read her aura and proclaimed it “muddy with teenage angst.”
“Oh. There they are.” Mom waves at the rest of our family, headed our way.
My grip starts to tighten on Flick’s hand, but I force myself to relax. There’s no reason to freak out. Flick is handling Mom well. She’ll be just as good with Dad.
I watch them approach—Dad in his ancient overalls that Mom has patched with fabric in every color of the rainbow, Ben looking like a younger, slightly cleaner version of him, and Steph with her perpetual smile and dirt-smudged cheeks.
“Hey.” Ben grabs my hand and pulls me in for a hug, leaving some of the mud that coats his overalls behind on my shirt. Not that I mind. It’s pretty much par for the course. He smells like hay and honest work, and for a second, I’m hit with nostalgia for all the summers we spent here together.
“Hi. I’m Steph.” My sister-in-law, covered only in a little less mud, blows her blonde curls out of her face. There’s a piece of straw stuck behind her ear, and her wedding ring is caked with dirt.
“Flick.” Flick shakes everyone’s hands without hesitation, even Dad’s mud-caked one. “Thanks for having me.”
Dad—who still hasn’t said anything—is staring at her with a frown. His bushy eyebrows are drawn together, and he’s got that look he gets when he’s about to share one of his theories. My stomach slowly drops.
Oh God. What’s coming next?
“How do you vote?” he finally asks.
“Oh. Uh. At the polls.” Flick chuckles. “Preferably, early.”
“Are you?—”
“So, you were working on the cow pen?” I blurt out, loudly and with force. We need to change the topic right now.
My dad beams, crisis averted. “Sure were. Did your mom tell you about the mini horses? Lord, that Davie, he has a schlong out to here.” He holds his hands out arm’s length.
“Right.” Ben snorts. “Sure, Dad.”
The tour continues, with my parents leading the charge like tour guides who’ve had too much coffee. They point out every new addition, every funny story. Mom demonstrates how the pygmy goats have learned to open gates, while Dad explains his theory about how the chickens have developed their own governmental system.
Ben and Steph step back to talk with Flick and me, creating a buffer zone of normalcy.
“It’s really nice to meet you.” Ben leans around me to look at Flick. “This guy never brings anyone around anymore.”
“You too,” she says, watching as Mom tries to convince a small child that petting Mushroom will bring good luck. “This place is beautiful.”
“Sorry about Dad.”
“And Mom,” I add.
But Flick doesn’t so much as blink. She’s watching my parents with something that looks like fondness. “They’re entertaining. I like them.”
“And here are the rabbits!” Mom stops in front of the hutch and gasps dramatically, as if it’s a group of kindergarteners she’s showing around rather than adults. “Oh, they’re having cuddle time!”
Indeed, about six rabbits are piled together in a furry heap, their noses twitching in sleep. The hutch smells like fresh hay and that particular warm smell that comes from content animals.
“This little buddy is my favorite.” Steph reaches in carefully, extracting a white rabbit with black spots that immediately settles into her arms. “Want to hold him?”
