“How charming.”
Ari couldn’t believe it. Was this actually going to work? Maybe he should’ve told Jax to bring the baby along.
Jax grinned. “I started stocking Fig Newtons in the cupboard as a bribe, though they seem to be disappearing when I’m not looking.” He shot Ari a look filled with humor. “Don’t tell Hobbes I spilled about his secret passion.”
Ari could not imagine the grumpy man eating Fig Newtons. Then again… maybe he could picture him sneaking them.
“Hobbes?” His mother looked baffled.
“Oh, my roommate. He’s a pediatrician. Maybe that’s where he got a love of Fig Newtons from.”
“Ah, I see.” Her lashes fluttered, and Ari’s stomach tightened. Was she going to get after him for having a roommate? Lots of people had roommates.
Of course, lots of people weren’t dating Ari—
But then she smiled. “It’s clear you love your niece very much. Do you just have the one?”
“Oh yeah, just the one nibling.” Jax sipped his chai, not quite a slurp but enough that Ari twitched internally. Fortunately his mother let this pass. “I only have the one sibling, an older sister.”
“Just like Ari,” his father said cheerfully from the stove. “Are you and your sister as close as our two?”
“Well, I’m not sure we’d survive tour cohabitation, but we’re pretty close. I really missed her the past year. She was in Muskoka and I was stuck here.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” Ari’s mother said compassionately. “We were so blessed that Ari and Afra managed to get home and were near us. I can’t imagine being so far from family during such a time.”
Jax gave a somewhat wobbly smile, and Ari reached out to gently touch his waist. Jax swayed into the touch.
“Happily, Jax’s sister has recently moved to town, so Jax gets to see her and his niece regularly.” Ari portioned another bit of cheese onto a cracker and slid it toward Jax.
“Oh, how lovely! Did she or her husband find work here?”
Jax hummed around his bite and nodded. “Yes, she did, actually. His company switched to remote working, so when she was looking for somewhere new, she picked London to be closer.” His smile turned almost bashful.
His mother’s expression was open as she asked after Sam’s job and whether she liked London. Ari was starting to feel almost good about the meeting, which was probably why he thought nothing of saying, “Sam seemed very happy about her new employment.”
“Oh?” His father had drifted over to grab some of the appetizer. “Have you met her already, then?”
“Just last week,” Ari said carefully, but his doctor parents could do that math all too well, and they were not pleased.
“How nice that you have met Jax’s family,” his mother said with a quiet edge of steel to her voice.
Ari swallowed against the guilt.
“Well, he hasn’t met my mother yet,” Jax said brightly.
Ari shot him a look, trying to saythank youwith his eyes.
“Is your mother not in London, then?”
“No, she’s in Kingston. She teaches at Queen’s.” Jax wiped his hands on a napkin and shifted his weight.
“Oh.” Maman’s eyes softened. “And what does she teach?” Both of Ari’s parents had clearly warmed to this topic—a mother with a PhD could only mean good things.
“Applied mathematics.” Jax smiled as he gave the layman’s explanation of his mother’s work.
“She sounds quite accomplished!” His mother smiled. “She must be a very busy woman. What about your father?”
Jax shifted his stance again. Ari wondered if he was biting back a retort about heteronormative assumptions. “No dad. Just Mom, Sam, and me. And George and Alice, now.”
