Chapter 17 #2
“Can I do it again?”
“Babysit Magic?” The little beastie jumped onto Dennis’s hand, then scrambled up his arm into his shirt pocket. “Sure.”
“I’m saving up for something.” She seemed suddenly nervous. “So, like, how much can I babysit him?”
“How much are you trying to earn?”
“Another thirty-five dollars.”
He pretended that was a lot of money. Bending down, he got very serious, hand on her shoulder. Magic peeked out from his pocket.
“How about tomorrow night? Can you babysit him for, say, four or five hours?”
Magic decided that was too long to wait, leaping from Dennis’s pocket to Harriet’s head. Like a pro, she lifted her hand, the sugar glider folding himself between her fingers.
“See? I know how to take care of him!” she crowed.
Behind him, footsteps announced the arrival of his dad and brother.
“Whatcha doing tomorrow night?” Dean asked, leaning in to give Deanna a kiss.
“I have plans.”
“A date?” his mom immediately asked. The sound of his sister’s jaw loudly crunching more popcorn made him sigh.
“Plans.”
“It’s Ana, isn’t it?” Deanna pursued. Dennis ignored everyone, grabbing a travel thermos and filling it with coffee.
“Equipment loaded?” he asked Dean, who nodded.
“We need water,” Kell said, looking at Dennis with a grin. “Can you manage that, Scoundrel?”
Not wanting to give over any more of his money to the swear box, he let loose in his head but bit his tongue.
Then he decided to take control.
“Look. Everyone. I came back home for good. That doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind.” His mom made a sound so high, it was like a deer whistle. Only he could hear it, but it was the sound of panic.
“I’m used to way more personal privacy than I get here. And the situation with Ana is complicated.”
“She’s pregnant with another man’s child?” Kell asked in that way he had, where the question came from curiosity and not judgment.
“Yes.”
“And you still want to date her?”
“Yes.”
“When is she due?”
“In three and a half months.”
“So if this lasts, you’ll be dating a woman with a newborn.”
“Assuming I’m that lucky, yes.”
“Dennis,” his mom interrupted, nodding her head for the gang to go outside. Bright sunshine made him squint a little, the fresh air deepening his resolve. He knew what he wanted.
And when he knew that, he always went for it. All in. One hundred percent.
No reservations, no second thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“You have that look.”
“What look?”
Harriet set Magic down and played with him, their sweet interaction making him smile. He hadn’t been here for her babyhood. Missed half her childhood already. What would it be like to be around a child from the day they were born?
Or… to help raise that child? Parent that child?
Be a father?
“The biological father isn’t in the picture at all?”
“He shouldn’t be. It’s been taken care of.”
“Sounds ominous,” Luke said, his law enforcement background showing.
“That’s Ana’s story to tell. Not mine,” Dennis said gruffly, protectiveness swelling in him.
“So there would be room for you to be this baby’s father?” his mom asked, probing gently.
All eyes were on him now, except for Harriet, who was distracted by Magic. His parents, Luke, Kell, and Colleen all watched as he struggled to explain how he knew.
Just… knew.
Describing the indescribable was a form of madness.
How do you explain an instinct?
You don’t.
“I don’t expect any of you to understand this. I do expect you to respect my choices,” he began.
It was Colleen who interrupted him, setting the popcorn bowl on a metal table and touching his arm.
“Dennis. Stop. You don’t owe anyone a single word of explanation.”
“I know that.”
“What just happened on the common was a colossal mess. Huge gossip. Greta’s must be buzzing right now, and Nadine is showing people only half the story.
Be prepared for a lot of anger. People now think you intentionally knocked up Lucinda Armistead’s grandniece and angered her so much that she slapped you in public.
That is one compelling story, and it’ll take a lot of work to set the story straight. ”
“I know. Which makes tomorrow night even harder.”
“You mean your date?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s easy,” Colleen said. “Just take her out of town.”
“It's more complicated than that.”
“Like… how?”
“She loves the town. Loves it. Has dreamed of having a romantic date in Love You, Maine ever since she was a teenager.” He intentionally said the words Love You, Maine in a mocking tone, which he knew would piss off his mother.
“That is adorable! I like her more than I like you right now, Mr. Scoundrel,” his mom replied, making him laugh.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what people in town think of me. Ana and I talked it all through and we’re going out on a date. The rest is just static.”
“You’ve always been good at that, son.” Dean came out of the kitchen carrying water bottles. “Finding what you want and tuning out the world.”
“Served me well for more than twenty years.”
“I think it’s serving you even better now,” his dad replied, adding a wink.
“I’m still stuck on the whole pregnant thing,” Luke said as he took a sip of coffee, looking over at his cottage as if expecting Kylie to come out.
She was off in Indiana, visiting her mother and attending a friend’s wedding.
Luke and Harriet couldn’t go because of a problem with taking time off and a conflict with a Girl Scouts’ camping trip.
Deanna had delivered her to the Manchester airport very early this morning, and now the rest of them had to deal with Brooding Luke for five days.
“What you are or are not stuck on doesn’t matter to me,” Dennis said, giving his dad an impatient nod.
“It really doesn’t bother you?” Luke pushed.
“Should it?”
“It would bother most people,” Kell said softly.
Dennis stopped mid-step, turning on his heel.
“If you met Rachel under the same circumstances, or Kylie,” he said, giving Luke a pointed stare, “what would you do?”
“Aw, man,” Kell said, swiping his hand through his dark hair. “That’s not fair.”
“Point taken,” Luke replied in a clipped voice.
“Except,” Kell noted, “we knew Rachel and Kylie before we reconnected with them.”
“I knew Ana before today.”
“For one night.”
“That’s all I needed.”
“Really?” Dean, Deanna, Luke, and Kell all asked, loud enough to tear Harriet’s attention away from her lovefest with Magic.
“Yeah. Really.”
“Then it’s settled,” Dean said emphatically, giving Luke and Kell the glares they so richly deserved. Thanks to his dad, Dennis didn’t have to do it. “Dennis lives his life however he wants, and we butt out of his life.”
“A grandbaby!” Deanna said under her breath, making Dennis grit his teeth and practically bite his tongue not to respond.
It was easier just to head over to the big Luview Tree Service truck and climb in the driver’s seat, hand reaching up to be thrown the keys.
“Hey!” Kell shouted, jogging behind him. “Who said you get to drive?”
“Me.”
“I hate riding in the back.”
“Then we can ride three in the front.”
“That’s even worse!”
“Kellan. Quit whining. You sound like the same age you were when I joined the Army.”
“It’s still not fair.”
“You two!” Dean boomed. “I’ll settle this.” Opening the rear side door, he climbed into the back and stretched out in an exaggerated way. “I get the whole backseat to myself. Anyone have ear plugs?”
“For the chainsaws?”
“So I don't have to hear you two bicker. It’s like going to a Love Committee meeting with Anne Petrinelli on a tear about the Love You India sign.”
Dennis and Kell groaned.
“We’re not that bad,” Kell replied, but he got in and shut the door, which was all Dennis wanted.
“You’re worse,” their dad said, then sat up and buckled in.
“We have two decades of bitching to get out of our systems with him,” Kell pointed out. “There’s a lot of pent-up need.”
“If anyone has a lot of pent-up need, it’s me,” Dennis said, regretting the joke instantly.
“Not touching that with a ten-foot pole,” Dean muttered, covering his face with a baseball cap and resting his head on the back of the seat.
Cranking up the radio, Dennis blasted WLUV, which they barely got out here. The signal would fade completely in ten minutes or so, but before that happened, they burned their ears listening to Rick Astley.
“You seriously rickrolled us, Dennis,” Kell said in disgust, flipping off the switch before plugging in a USB port and his phone.
The B-69s came on.
“What in the hell is this?” Dean sat up straight. “This can’t be the B-52s!”
“Better,” Kell said with a grin. “A band that does covers of other bands in the B-52s style.”
“This is so cool!”
“Dad thinks you’re cool, Kellan.”
“Shut up, Dennis.”
Yeah.
He was home, all right.
Right back in the thick of things.