Page 124 of Fly Boy
Chapter Forty-Three
May
“Where is the old man?” Teddy shouts. He holds a case of beer on his shoulder, his free arm held high as he heads into my kitchen. “There he is. Happy birthday, brother.”
“Thanks, man.”
He gives me a one-armed hug, slapping me on the back before frowning as he stares at something on the top of my head.
“Jesus, Wy, I think you’re getting more grays than dad.” He flicks the side of my hair, laughing and jumping out of the way when I try to shove at him. “Careful, dude, I’m carrying precious cargo.”
“I thought yoursonwas precious cargo?” Ana asks, leaning against the doorjamb and smirking at my idiot brother.
His eyes widen quickly before he punches my shoulder. “What the fuck? You could have told me she was there.”
“You called me old and pointed out my gray hairs. I have no loyalty to you,” I say, taking the box from him and opening it to put a couple of beers in the fridge. Pulling out a cold one, I hand it to Ana. “Speaking of my nephew, where is he?”
“Where do you think?” She chuckles, nodding toward the living room. “As soon as we arrived, Nanna and Granddad took him.”
“Dude, where’s my beer?” Teddy gripes from behind me, huffing to himself when I ignore him.
“How do you put up with two children?” I ask as I kiss my sister-in-law on the cheek. “Thanks for coming.”
“At least he’s potty trained.” Ana rolls her eyes, smiling fondly as she glances at her husband. “Thank you for having us, Wyatt.” She looks around the room. “So…is the girlfriend here?”
“She was flying back from Lake Placid, like, an hour ago,” I say, checking my watch. “She’ll be here soon.”
“I cannot wait to meet her,” she gushes before turning on Teddy. “You and Bowie better behave.”
Teddy, with a carrot stick poking out of his mouth, looks up as he dips another into some hummus. “What? I always behave.”
“Sure, you do,” she says. “Never mind that all your family does is rib each other with dirty innuendos and make new people uncomfortable.”
He looks like he’s tasted something nasty as he recoils at her. “We do not. Hold on…” Cupping his hand around his mouth, he yells, “Mason?”
Bowie’s boyfriend walks into the kitchen with a rightly placed look of skepticism. “Why do I feel like I’m being ambushed?”
Teddy waves him off. “I wasn’t there, so I can’t answer. The first time you met this loser...” He gestures to me with his half-eaten carrot. “Did he and Bowie make you feel uncomfortable?”
I try to hide my smirk as I watch Mason think about it. “Well, I mean, I met Wyatt for the first time at a bar with my sister, who doesn’t know the meaning of personal boundaries, so not really. But the first time I met Sadie and Miles…Bowie and Wyatt started talking about blowjobs, and then your dad joined in, so yeah. I’d say I was more embarrassed than uncomfortable.”
“See?” Teddy says triumphantly, walking to Ana and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Dad’s the problem, and he’s not even in the room.”
“You’re lucky you're cute,” she says, making him preen.
Mason snorts and helps himself to a handful of chips. “Teddy, I don’t think that was a compliment.”
Leaving them to chat, I walk into the living room, finding Sadie on the sofa snuggled up with Porter, the baby looking at her with wide eyes as she coos at him. I lean over, looking at my nephew, reaching out to stroke the back of his tiny hand.
“Isn’t he just the cutest?” I nod, taking a seat beside her. Dragging her gaze away from her grandson, Sadie turns to look at me, asking, “When does Pippa arrive?”
Right on cue, the front door opens, and Pippa rushes in, fighting with the two bags slung over her shoulders as she tries to close the door behind her. I get to my feet, joining her in the hallway.
“Shit, sorry, I’m late, baby. Daisy insisted on drawing you a birthday card, and then we missed our slot, so we had to wait and then…” She stops, her eyes going wide when she glances over my shoulder. I don’t need to turn around to know every single one of my family is crowding the doorway, desperate to get a look at her. She stares back at me, lowering her voice. “I didn’t realize everyone was going to be here already.”
“They don’t really have a concept of time,” I say as I thumb toward the group. “Bowie and Mason turned up for breakfast.”
“Only because our bagel place was shut, and we had already left,” Bowie says. Squeezing through the bodies, he holds out his hand. “Nice to finally meet you...sober”
