Page 65 of Mimosa

“Well, I am, Mom. I’d like to see you more, but it’s up to you now.”

She nodded and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you, son. I will.”

Nadia walked them out to Murphy’s SUV, and all the while, she grinned. “I cannot believe it. I was waiting for bedpans to be thrown.”

“Me too. I figured he’d use his last breath to call me a fag and toss me out on my ass again.”

Nadia cupped his cheek and smiled sweetly. “You’re so strong. I never knew my little brother was so strong.”

“I’m not, but…I have help.”

“Bullshit,” Cosmo argued. “You had me leave the room. You were in there alone, standing on your own. Don’t push this off, Mims. Like it or not, you’ve grown up.”

Mims whined, “Damn. Now all that’s left is to grow old.”

Chapter Eighteen

Backatthepub,they celebrated quietly with a drink for Mims’s father, and another, louder one for Mims.

Cosmo bragged endlessly, telling the story over and over again, and Sonny held him on the sofa in the common area of the second floor, remarking several times over the orange and green of the retro décor.

Goldie was working the pub, but as soon as the pub cleared, he closed the doors and joined them, so Cosmo got to brag one more time.

“He really just…that’s incredible, Mims.”

“He pretty much said that a lot of men fool around with other men, but they’re still supposed to marry women.”

Mick wasn’t there, he was already in bed, so Murphy kept his voice low when he said, “Dad doesn’t think like that. I doubt he ever knew of any of his friends fooling around with men. I’m sure there were plenty, but none would have let him know.”

“Yeah,” Abs said, his eyes widening as something seemed to dawn on him. “What if your dad…you know, was one of them?”

Mims laughed but no one else did. As he stared around the room, he said, “Come on, guys. Not my dad!”

“Why not? How would he know, if he weren’t one of them?” Sonny asked him. “I mean, you will likely never know, but it’s a thought.”

“Wow. I can’t even picture my dad with my mom, let alone sucking dick.”

A rounding, “Ew,” went up in the room.

As he giggled, Sonny kissed his cheek. “I gotta go.”

“No! I thought you’d spend the night.”

“Gotta take care of some things. I’ll call you tomorrow, and I’m coming Saturday and I’ll make sure I stay all night.”

“Fine. Want me to walk you out?”

“No. Stay here with your family.”

They kissed and the guys all whistled and clapped.

“Go fuck yourselves, all of you,” Sonny said while laughing and waving. “See you all later.”

“Speaking of which, I need to call Taran. I’m out.”

As he was leaving, Abs said, “I’m about tired of you guys and your boyfriends. Makes the rest of us look bad.”

“Why?” Mims asked him.

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