“Jonathan,” his husband hissed. “What does it matter?”
“Uh, I’m curious. I looked up the magazine this week. I didn’t see a hint of balls or anything in those pictures, and it doesn’t seem possible from the angles the pictures are taken at. I don’t care how tight anybody’s ball sacks are, it isn’t physically possible for there not to be a tiny sign of nuts somewhere. Get what I’m saying?”
They were talking about the photo shoot for the Anatomy issue, and of course it would be Jojo asking that.
“Maybe I need to get that magazine when it comes out—” my mom started to say before Ruby and Jojo almost wailed, “Stop!” and “Nobody wants to hear that!”
“You two are so sensitive,” my mom muttered, but didn’t continue with her sentence. “I have eyes. You have eyes. The human body is a wonderful thing, isn’t it, Ivan?”
There was no hesitation from Ivan when he responded with, “It is.”
“I’m sure Grumpy looked beautiful.”
But there was a pause before Ivan asked, “Who is Grumpy? Jasmine?”
“Yes.”
No one said anything for a second before Jojo butted in. “She hated Snow White when she was a wittle baby.”
“Why?”
It was my mom who answered. “Because she… what did she used to call her? A lazy fart that took advantage of men?”
Jojo burst out laughing in that way that made me smile. “She used to get so mad watching it. Remember? She would sit there in front of the television talking smack to herself. She hated it, but she’d still watch it over and over again anyway.”
Then it was Ruby that started laughing. “She would walk around saying that Snow White wasn’t that pretty, and even if she was, she needed to have a little respect for herself. She didn’t even know what that meant, but she heard you, Mom, say that once and it stuck.”
Then my mom started laughing. “That’s why we started calling her Grumpy, because she said he was the only smart one of all the dwarves because he knew he had a reason to be in a bad mood. Work in the mine all day and then have to take care of some girl that didn’t do anything.” Her laugh went higher. “Oh, that girl. You can all blame yourselves for how she came out. She picked it up from you all. Ivan, it’s their fault.”
There was another moment and then, “She’s my idol” from Ruby, which earned a husky laugh from what had to be Aaron.
“That’s my girl,” my mom echoed.
My nose itched, and my eyes might have begun stinging a little.
Okay, more than a little.
I had to blink and listen to them laugh while I got my shit together and felt that nice, warm feeling in my chest growing, growing, growing. It made me feel… better. Better than I’d felt the night before after Ivan had been so kind.
After a couple more swallows and blinks that made sure I was back to normal, I headed into the kitchen and found everyone except my mom’s husband around the island. Ben was busy stirring what I knew was a giant pot of his awesome chili on the stove, with his back to the group. There was one seat empty between Ivan and my sister, and another seat open between Aaron and Jonathan.
I went for the one next to Ivan.
And for some reason I wasn’t going to overthink, I snuck my hand from my side over to the thigh closest to mine and gave it a squeeze. Not a mean squeeze, just a normal one that wasn’t too hard or too loose. Friends did that, didn’t they?
“Jas,” Ruby started to say as she leaned forward over the island and shot me a careful smile that made me wary. “I know you’re really busy—”
Why did my stomach flip?
“—but remember we talked about you watching the kids for us a few weeks ago? Do you think you still can?” She smiled. “It’s okay if you can’t.”
My stomach clenched. It was too soon. It was way too soon. But I could handle it. I would. I could be better.
“I didn’t forget,” I told her, trying to ignore the tension right around the center of my body. “I can watch them.”
“Are you sure? Because—”
I tried to give her a smile. I tried to tell her that I loved her and that yeah, I loved her kids too. I’d do anything for them. But instead, I said as softly as I was capable of, “Yes. I’m positive. I can watch them.”
“We can watch them too,” Jojo piped up.
I shot him a look. “No. I can babysit them. Find your own niece and nephew.”
Jojo rolled his eyes and turned back to Squirt. “I can watch them anytime you want, Rubes. They don’t need Rosemary’s Baby over there rubbing off on them.”
“Do you really want Shrek Junior over here to be what Benny wakes up to?” I asked my sister, shooting my brother a look.
“I’m average height,” Jojo claimed.
“Sure you are, boo-boo,” I returned, smiling at him for real. “Either way, you didn’t say you don’t look like Shrek, so….”
Jonathan decided to scratch at his forehead. With his middle finger.
“Would you two stop?” Mom finally sighed.
“You don’t really look like Shrek, Jojo,” Ruby added. “More like Donkey, I think.”
Jonathan just blinked over at her before sliding his eyes to me and saying, “You’re the worst influence.”
“Your mama.”
My brother looked right at Ivan beside me, his middle finger going back up to his forehead—for me of course—and said, “Ivan, if you accidentally trip and fall doing a lift with her, none of us would blame you. Really.”
The side of a thigh touched my knee, and a second later, so did the palm of a hand I knew very well. “I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe during an exhibition after worlds,” my partner offered.
And I couldn’t even be mad or butt-hurt.
Chapter 13
“You don’t have to come with me,” I told Ivan as we got out of his car, subconsciously rubbing at the weird tingle in my throat that had been bothering me all day. I blamed it on leaving my water bottle in the car and not having a chance to run back out to grab it, or else face the wrath of Nancy Lee.
He huffed, and I swore to God he rolled his eyes. “I already said I would.”
“I know that, smart-ass, but you can still back out. My sister or her husband can give me a ride later, if you want to leave,” I suggested, waiting for him on the path up to my sister’s house since the passenger side was closer to the curb.
Ivan shrugged and shook that black head of hair. “I’m not backing out. It’s just… how long did you say it would be? Three hours?”
“Four hours,” I corrected him.
He seemed to think about it as he came up beside me before tipping his head to the side, coming to whatever conclusion he had gotten to. “I’ve put up with you for four hours, this is just two kids, it can’t be that hard.”
Obviously this man had never babysat before if he thought it wasn’t that hard, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I was kind of looking forward to seeing him deal with a toddler and a baby. “All right, don’t say I didn’t give you an out.”
Ivan scrunched up that perfect, symmetrical face as we stopped in front of the door. “Give me some credit, we’re only babysitting. It isn’t rocket science.”
I nudged him with my elbow right before reaching up and knocking on the door.
He elbowed me right back.
How the hell had we gotten to this point?
My damn car hadn’t started. Again. And my uncle hadn’t answered his phone when I’d called, and I couldn’t exactly afford to call a tow truck driver. There were plane tickets and hotel rooms I was trying to save up for, and groceries, insurance, an electric bill I paid as part of my “rent” and other random expenses I had every month. Right around the same time that I was debating who to call to come pick me up, came the obnoxious toooooooot that lasted maybe ten seconds and made me jump when it had first rang through the air, coming from a classy black car. Following the toot was a driver side window being rolled down and a very familiar face peering out from over the edge of the glass.
“Car trouble again?” Ivan asked from his spot behind the wheel with his sunglasses covering his eyes.
I sighed, then I nodded.
“You need a new one.”
I just looked at him. “Okay, I’ll get on that.”