Page 22 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
“Good,” she nodded. “Sometimes it’s nice to be humbled in ways we don’t expect.”
I frowned. I wouldn’t get anywhere with Carmen on this, and I definitely wouldn’t with Ash’s dad. It felt like somehow Collin and I were busted, but for what? Jesus, we were two fucking doctors who didn’t work nine-to-five jobs. Ash and Laney understood that, and in the past couple of weeks, we’d been putting forth a lot more effort.
So why did this all feel like it was a setup?
Ring! Ring!
“Collin, hang on a sec,” I answered my phone. “I’ve gotta take this, Carm,” I leaned toward Carm, kissing her on the cheek. “Have fun with the kids. I’ve hired a company to have the beach house fully decorated for Christmas once we get home.”
“You’ve thought of it all,” she patted my cheek. “Go enjoy your beautiful wife. We have some exciting plans for the kids. I promise they won’t miss you while you’re gone.”
“They never do when they’re with you guys,” I chuckled. “Tell Mark I’m sorry I missed him.”
“I will,” she smiled, then her phone rang to interrupt our farewells. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I headed out.
“Sorry, dude. You there?” I said, getting in Ash’s Range Rover and allowing the Bluetooth to pick up the call with Collin.
“Yeah, and if you always keep Ash waiting like you just did me, I understand why you’re joining me on this love renewal trip.”
I could hear the agitation in Collin’s voice, and it wasn’t because I made him wait. I had an inkling he felt the same way I did.
“What’s your problem? You should be as excited as I am to get out of here for a while.”
“That’s the thing,” Collin said. “You just dropped the kids off at Ash’s parents, right?”
“Yep,” I said, pulling out of the neighborhood and down the street that would lead me to the freeway. “I was saying goodbye to Carm?—”
“I just dropped our kids off, too,” Collin said.
“Okay?”
“And Miguel seems way too fucking excited to know we’re going on this littlesex tripwith our wives,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes. “Carmen was the same way,” I answered. “I don’t want to think there’s more to this, but shit, man. From the way we’re forever fucking with everyone, I think they just want to see us sweat. Seriously, what the fuck can go wrong?”
“True. We are going to the Maldives,” he answered.
“And yes, Iwasconcerned after Jim and Avery acted weird about it, too. I was starting to believe that the fucking jet was going to leave us in Dubai during the layover or some shit, but?—”
“Yeah, Laney is packed with swimsuits and clothes for the tropics. I thought the same thing about ditching us, but I was leaning more toward them landing our asses in Iceland or some shit.”
“You know they’d love to see our faces when we got back, and they asked if Santa Claus was at the North Pole, coaching us onhow to love and appreciate our wives like he does Mrs. Claus,” I said.
“Well, fuck. What if that’s what’s going on? This could all be one big ass prank to get us back. I could see your little son heading that up since you pranked him about Santa not coming last year.”
My lips twisted. John had a vengeful streak when the mood struck, and if his uncles were all asking for ideas, my son would spearhead the project.
“Nah. Although highly believable,” I answered Collin. “John knew exactly why Santa put a lump of coal under the tree. After he took back his threat of telling his sister that Santa wasn’t real, we showed him where the gifts were hidden. So, the Santa beef should be squashed.”
“You think we’re just being paranoid?”
“We’re not paranoid. We’re just not gullible and stupid,” I said.
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Well, if these jokesters dare to fuck with us, we’ll spend the entire trip planning and plotting how to get them back. Jim’s not that dumb. He grew up with me and knows I won’t just roll over. I’ll dish it right back.”
“Then why does something feel off?” Collin asked.
