Chapter 5 #2
“The girls at work look out for the women that come in even better than they look out for each other, and that’s saying something.
She’d seen you with Fallon and knew Fallon was a friend of mine.
Once she realized how plowed you were and saw the body language between you and Captain Assmunch, she knew something was wrong. ”
“I owe her more than I can ever repay,” I said sadly. “That’s not the first time I’ve drunk that much. Luckily, nothing too horrible has happened. I have a feeling that night would have been the worst.”
“I’m glad it all worked out okay.”
“Your note really hit home, too, especially after I watched the video.”
“It seemed to fit.”
“How did you know . . . I mean, the father part just . . .” I was stammering like my sister always did when she was nervous or flustered, but I didn’t know how to put what I was thinking into words.
“This is gonna sound shitty, but I work in a building full of women with daddy issues, so I’ve learned to spot that a mile away.”
I burst out laughing and said, “My sisters and I definitely fit that bill. He wasn’t abusive, just dismissive and absent.”
“I believe that’s also a form of abuse.”
“That’s what my new therapist said!”
“Your new one? Did you find them online? Was there free shipping? I hope they’re not from Temu.”
I laughed again before I explained, “She’s my friend Reina’s aunt . . . or cousin.”
“Reina Vance. That means your therapist is Emerald. She’s my cousin too.”
“Reina’s your cousin?” Crow squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head while his mouth moved as he silently talked to himself. I asked, “Are you not sure?”
“It took a second to walk through the connections, but I’m pretty sure that Reina and I . . . No, I’m positive that Reina and I are not related.”
He still seemed hesitant, so I asked, “Are you sure?”
“When your family tree has so many branches and leaves, it’s just easier to say that we’re family.”
“I’ve got two sisters, a cousin, and her three daughters - one of whom is your friend Fallon. I have no idea how the first cousin twice removed hokey pokey dance goes, so we’ll just leave it at that.”
“On which side of your family?”
“My mom’s.”
“And your dad’s?”
“That’s all I’ve got. My mom was an only child, and so was my father.”
“Because of the family I came from, I can’t even begin to grasp that concept,” Crow said before he smiled and shook his head. “That’s just completely foreign to me.”
“Large family?” I asked sarcastically.
“Beyond. My mom has six brothers and sisters, and my dad has three brothers and one sister, all of whom have so many kids that the census bureau has an entire department dedicated to maintaining the spreadsheets and websites they use to keep track of them.” I was still laughing when he added, “My parents have seven children. Me, two brothers, and four sisters.”
“Whoa. That must be —”
“Deafening, and very expensive at Christmas.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
“You’re new in town, right?”
“How did you know?”
“The fact that you’re not related to me would be my first clue,” Crow replied without even hesitating. He smiled before he said, “And I saw you and your sisters moving in.”
“You live near me?” I thought about it for a second and then smacked my forehead. “Of course you do! You live with Brighten.”
“I live next door to Brighten and my brother.”
“Why don’t you live in the same house?” I asked without thinking. I instantly regretted my overstep and said, “I’m so sorry. That’s none of my business.”
“Why would I live with . . . Oh! The duncle thing. You got the wrong idea after hearing Griffin’s extensive oral history of his parenting situation.”
“So, you’re not in a throuple with Brighten and your brother?”
Crow barked out a laugh before he said, “Absolutely not! I think of Brighten like a sister, and she’s my brother’s girl, so I wouldn’t touch her if we were the last people on earth.”
“That’s . . . reassuring.”
Crow was still chuckling when he asked, “The throuple thing threw you for a loop?”
“Not really. It just kind of gave me the ick when I thought about sleeping with two brothers at the same time. I’m a pretty open-minded gal, but that’s a little too much shared DNA for me.”
“That’s good to know.”
The timer buzzed, and I was surprised to find that Crow and I had been standing there talking long enough for it to be time to start the process of feeding the puppies all over again.
I wondered how I was going to manage this by myself, but Crow’s muttered question made it clear he wasn’t planning to leave them with me.
“How am I going to do this night and day . . . and for how long?”
“My guess is that they’re already a few days old. Maybe even a week. Their eyes will open when they’re about two weeks old, so we’ll know for sure then. Once we get them hydrated, we’ll be able to stretch their feedings out to two or three hours.”
“Thank God! I imagined weeks of this shit.”
“I’d say a day or two of this should get them through.”
“That’s still gonna suck.”
“I’ll help,” I volunteered without thinking. “I mean, I can take a shift or something.”
“We live across the street from each other, so the commute shouldn’t be a problem,” Crow joked.
“I’ll take them home now so you can get to work.
When you get off later, come over to my place and I’ll order some pizza.
We can hang out while we feed what I assume are about to become the newest members of my already very large family. ”
The idea of spending even more time with him made me almost giddy, so it was easy to agree. “I’ll be over as soon as I shower off the day and put on some comfy clothes.”
“It’s a date.”