“Nice,” I said while I sloshed dirty glasses in a sink filled with hot water and soap. “What do you plan to do with all that time on your hands?”
“Travel maybe. The little woman says she wants to see the Grand Canyon. Go see the kids. Fish. Raise geese?”
I glanced up at that comment and sighed. “They’re not hatched yet,” I reminded him. “But if we get more than two, I’ll give you two goslings.”
“No shit.” He seemed truly stunned. “I figured you would sooner give up one of your balls before parting with them geese.”
“Well, you figured wrong.” I placed the last mug on a dry towel before wiping my hands on my apron.
“Thank you. I’ll take good care of them.”
“I know. You’re the only person I would trust with them. Most folks don’t like geese unless it’s roasted for Christmas dinner.”
“I’ll get a pen set up for them at my place. You’re just full of surprises today. Tuna salad and goslings. What else are you planning to hit me with?”
I almost blurted out the news but bit it back. It was too delicate, too fresh, to share. Plus, we’d not told my family yet.If anyone found out before my sister and mother, then locusts would eat all my pretty yellow marigolds, frogs would tumble from the sky, and…and…shit.
“Hey, sugar bottom, what were the plagues that your guy Moses dropped down on Pharoah?” I shouted across the bar. Kenan glanced up from piling empty baskets atop one another. Lyle stared at me as if I’d gone off the deep end.
“There were ten. Which one are you looking to cite?” he shouted over the jukebox.
“Just one, but not one about locusts or frogs.”
“Boils?”
“That’ll do, thank you.” I blew him a kiss. Right. Boils would pop up on my sphincter if my mother and sister were not numbers one and two on the big announcement list. Also, and this was a biggie, we really had no clue how to proceed right now in terms of property and who would sell what. We’d work it out. So yeah, that was private for now.
“Where does your mind go?” Lyle earnestly asked.
“It goes to wondrous places, my friend.” He shook his head. The phone in my back pocket vibrated, making me giggle. No. Not giggle. Titter. Ticklish butt cheeks and all that. I wiped my hands on my Whiteham Alehouse apron, then tugged it free. The fact it was a call was a minor alarm. Only my parents called. When I saw it was my mother, the minor alarm became a medium tocsin. I shot Kenan a worried look as I accepted the incoming call. He dropped the wet cloth to the table and then hustled over.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” I asked, turning from the bar to push into the kitchen and away from the noise of patrons and the jukebox. The doors didn’t even have time to swing shut behind me before my boyfriend entered right behind me.
“It’s Nora, her water broke.”
The medium tocsin suddenly became an air raid siren. “Shit.” I glanced at the mess that was my kitchen as my anxiety climbed sky high. “Is that bad?”
“Well, it’s not great, but she is just a week shy of full term and the baby is quite big, so we’re hoping things will be fine. Antoine and I are getting her ready to leave. She wants you here.”
“Brann, get your ass up here!” I heard Nora shout in the background.
“Tell her I’m on my way. Tell her not to have the baby until I get there, but if she has to, then tell her to breathe.” I had no fucking clue what the duties of a birthing brother were, but they always told women to breathe on TV shows. Mom passed along my requests. Nora said some mighty vulgar things in reply. “Wow, that’s spicy.” I’d give her a pass, though, since she was probably scared and in pain. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell her I love her and to keep her legs crossed until I arrive.”
“I will, honey. Drive carefully.”
“I will.” With that, I ended the call. Kenan was leaning on the sink, concern tightening his forehead. “She’s gone into labor. It’ll be fine. The baby is big. Strong. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“It will be,” he assured me. “Go get your bag and get rolling.”
“I’m sorry to leave like this.” I waved a hand at the dishes piled in the sink even as I was already untying my apron. “Shit! The goslings. What if they come while I’m gone?!”
We’d not been able to see anything this morning. Wilma was not leaving the nest at all now, which told me she knew the fluff butts would be hatching soon.
“If they come then Fred and Wilma will tend to them. We have the special waterfowl starter all ready for them. I’ll handle it all, I promise.”
I captured his head between my hands and kissed him with all the love I felt. He melted into the kiss, hugging me close, histongue dancing with mine. When the kiss ended, I was a little breathless and clung to him.
“I love you so much,” I whispered into his ear. “Send pictures of our babies if you can get some.”
