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He nodded. “Like Mom and Dad are?”
“Exactly.” It was endearing that he called Penny “Mom.” In a flash, I imagined Annie and Jack calling me “Dad.”
Jesus, how did I get there? That could never happen. One thing was certain: I’d never want them to forget Jim and Nora. And I was only temporarily in the picture as a father figure. Thinking that bothered me in ways I hadn’t expected.
“So now you’ll have someone who’ll come with you every time?”
I smiled. “Yeah, and you know who else? Two little kids.”
“What? There will be more kids? But wait, don’t they have to be small first? How small are they?”
“They’re a bit younger than you.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
As we reached the group, I said, “I’ll find a way to explain it to you, buddy. I promise.”
The staff had brought the baskets while we were gone. They’d served an assortment of finger foods. While everyone was filling their plates, Maddox and Gabe came up to me, and I realized by their expressions that they wanted to continue talking about my announcement. I nodded toward the forest so we could step away from the family.
“Dude, sorry about earlier. You just caught us by surprise. Obviously, you’ll always have our support,” Maddox said. “But you could get yourself, not to mention Allison, into a shitload of trouble if people found out what it really was.”
“Yeah, you have to convince a lot of people. And just so we’re clear,” Gabe added, “we think it’s a batshit-crazy idea. But you have our support.”
I nodded. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“So, how are you to going to do this? You’re still going to live at the penthouse, right? She’ll move there with the kids?”
“I’ll move into her house.”
“The one with two bedrooms?” Maddox asked. He didn’t look concerned anymore. In fact, he was giving me a mocking smile that soon turned into a shit-eating grin. “Dude, you’re so toast.”
I scoffed. “I’m a grown-ass man. Allison is a grown-ass woman. We’ll make do. I’ll sleep on a pull-out couch if I have to.”
Gabe started to laugh. “Yeah, that’s going to happen. You’re going to live in that small house with a smoking-hot woman, but you’ll sleep on the pull-out couch.”
“It’s none of your business,” I warned.
“No, it’s not. You’re right. It’s just fun to meddle. I’m starting to understand why Gran likes it so much,” Maddox said.
“So, your plan is to just stay completely celibate for however long this takes?” Gabe asked.
“That’s between Allison and me,” I said, though the question had been on my minda lot.
“Then we wish you luck,” Gabe said. “And by the way, we have some news about Dad.”
I groaned. “He’s up to trouble again?”
“He’s trying to open a restaurant business in Sydney... and using the Whitley name to do it,” Maddox explained.
“What the hell? People will think it’s part of the company.”
“We think that’s exactly what he wants. Then again, it is his name.” Gabe sounded conflicted.
I decided to be honest with them. “You know what? I have enough on my plate. I can’t worry about Dad too.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him. Let’s return to the group,” Maddox suggested, and I nodded.
Everyone must have been talking about me while we were gone, because the whispering stopped as soon as we reached the table. That made me laugh.