Page 61 of Kiss My Glass
Finally, Frankie steps in. “Did Mom call?” she asks Shelby.
Shelby nods, several times, over-quickly.
Frankie winces, and says, “Guessing she wasn’t happy.”
Shelby shakes her head the same frantic way, and then emits a gulping sob and claps her hands over her face.
Nate puts down his fork. “Shel,” he says, wearily, as if this has been going on for a while. “Stop. You can’t afford to be this upset. It’s not good for you orthe baby.”
“She was so mad at me,” gulps Shelby. “Mom’s never been mad at me in her life!”
Frankie purses her lips. My guess is that statement does not apply to allthe Armstrong kids.
“Shel, Nate’s right, you need to chill,” says Frankie. “Mom will forgive you. She probably already has. She’s probably already made a mixtape of whale music for the birth.”
Frankie sees Nate’s face. “I’m not kidding. Prepare yourself for the song of the humpback.”
Now, Nate looks like he might cry. “She’s not going to insist we have a water birth, is she?”
This day has not been fun for him. I won’t mention how much funI’vebeen having. That would be cruel.
“Luckily, Mom isn’t entirely averse to modern medicine,” Frankie tells him. “She had pre-eclampsia when she was pregnant with me. Modern medicine saved her life and mine.”
“I didn’t know that,” I say, surprised.
Frankie gives me a quick, tight smile. “Lots about me still to discover.”
She’s creating distance between us. Rational me knows it’s because the subject of her mom sucks up all her bandwidth. Emotional me is hurt. I know she got more vulnerable today than she ever has, but I’d hoped she wouldn’t retreat to safety quite so rapidly.
But then, I hate feeling rejected and I react to it more strongly than I should do. So, I give emotional Danny the mental equivalent of a pacifier and hand control back to rational Danny. We talked about Frankie coming back to mine again after dinner, but now I think it’d be better if she stayed here with Shelby. Nate looks worn out, and it’s in his nature to keep pushing until he collapses. Frankie can provide a buffer, and another shoulder for her sister to lean on.
“What episode ofGilmore Girlsare you up to?” I say and am ridiculously pleased to see Frankie flash me a grateful smile.
“The one where Rory gets two birthday parties,” she says. “Shel? You up for another binge?”
Shelby is still sniffling, but amazingly, seems to rally at the offer. “Can we make popcorn this time?” she says.
I see Nate sag with relief, poor bastard. Maybe he and I should head into town for some brother bonding over a beer?
“Bro,” I say. “Want to kill an hour at The Silver Saddle?”
Nate’s not much of a drinker, and I can see his initial instinct is to say no. But it’s been a long day for him, hard on the heels of a broken night, and he could do with a change of scene.
“Sure,” he says. “Why not?”
“Go on.” Frankie makes a scoot gesture with her fingers. “I’ll take care of the dishes.”
“Thanks.” Nate sounds slightly bewildered. He’s not used to people taking charge and doing stuff for him.
I collect the plates and pile them next to the sink. Then I drop a quick kiss on Frankie’s cheek and she smiles up at me.
“Don’t get into a fight with Brendan,” she says. “He’ll ban us all. Again.”
“We’ll be good,” I reply, with a grin. “Mostly.” And I steer my brother out the door.
ChapterThirty-Three
FRANKIE
