Page 46 of Nanny for the Mercenaries

Archer shook his head and turned to me. “You didn’t upset me. I simply did not want to discuss it by text anymore.”

“Discuss what?” Jordy asked.

“I mentioned that I was reading Twilight, and he said that Bella could have solved all of her problems if she got into a polyamorous relationship with Edward and Jacob.”

Jordy whipped his head around. “You know all the Twilight character names?”

“I do not!” he said defensively.

“He didn’t name them, but he did suggest polyamory as a solution. Which I shot down.”

“Oh.” Jordy grimaced. “He probably got all sensitive because of his family.”

I glanced at Archer. “Your family?”

He finished shuffling his cards and carefully placed the deck on the table, rotating it a millimeter so that it was flush with the grain of wood. “My parents are polyamorous.”

“They’re old school hippies,” Jordy added.

“They’re a perfectly normal, if unconventional, family unit,” Archer replied testily. “They’re all still together, which is more than you can say foryourparents.”

Jordy put up his palms and said, “See? He’s sensitive about it.”

I thought back to what I had said in my text message. “I didn’t mean to insult your family! Tell me a little more about them?”

“We do not need to discuss it,” Archer replied.

“Aww, come on. Tell me. I want to know. Like I said earlier today, I’ve never known anyone who isactuallypolyamorous. I’m ignorant on the whole concept. How many parents do you have?”

Archer took a long gulp from his glass of water before answering. “Seven.”

I tried, and failed, to hide my shock. “Seven?”

Jordy grabbed a nearby notebook and pen and began writing something down.

“I have two biological parents, of course,” Archer explained. “My father, Pierce, and my mum, Cornelia. The two of them have a triad with Camilla.”

“Triad?”

“That means the three of them are all romantically involved with each other. My mum is bisexual.”

“But I thought you said you hadsevenparents.”

Jordy chuckled to himself while scribbling on his paper.

Archer nodded. “That’s sort of the core three. They were all together when I was born. When I was very young, Pierce began dating a bisexual couple: Priscilla and Kate. Those are my two other mums. They’re married to each other.”

“Okay, hold on,” I interrupted. “Those two women are married. And they also date your father Pierce?”

“This is correct.”

“But why are they only involved with Pierce? Why not your mum, Cornelia, too, if she’s bisexual?”

He gave me a funny look. “Because my mum doesn’t fancy them.”

“But Pierce does.”

“Yes.”

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