“Nah, I mean it with irritation.” Shane tilted his head at Theo. “We’ve been here, done that. Mimsy did her show for the kids. Ready to go get horizontal?”
Theo’s gray eyes darkened and he nodded. “Yeah. Might as well. Relax, I mean.”
“You’re not fooling us, kids,” James called after them as they headed to the door, before turning to me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay.” James was one of the few who knew that I still got the occasional headache or dizzy spell, mostly set off by stress. “Last night was stressful. This is fun. Is Colin here?”
“With Widget, yeah. And the kids. Which is why I have about six seconds to say Merry Christmas and great party, before I have to get back to them.”
“Those three still a handful?”
“We’re out of the ‘behave like angels so we can stay’ phase, and into the ‘test the foster parents to see if they really mean it’ phase.”
“Bless you and may God have mercy on your soul,” I intoned, meaning the first bit with all my heart.
“Thanks.” James gave me a quick, rough hug and strode off into the crowd.
Cheyenne, coming up beside me, eyed him as he went. “He’s tall. Taller even than Brooklyn. I bet that makes the foster kids feel safe.”
I wrapped an arm around her. “I bet it does.” Cheyenne didn’t mention Harvey much, and she was working with her therapist, but when she’d turned eighteen, the topic of moving out into the shelter apartment never came up. The idea of living alone, with no one but Sadie for company and protection, didn’t seem to appeal to her. And honestly? Brooklyn would’ve worried himself sick. Me too, probably.
I had a young guy up there now, living rent-free in exchange for nighttime shelter duties, while he worked on a plumbing apprenticeship. Wouldn’t hurt to have a plumber who owed me a favor in a couple of years, and he was a good kid. When he couldn’t find a place that would’ve let him have his dog, he’d slept on the street with her, till Shane spotted him.
Speaking of good guys… “Where’s Brooklyn?” I asked Cheyenne. But then my eyes were caught by a familiar dimpled smile. “Oh. There.”
My man loved parties. He was so great with people. Last night, while I gritted my teeth and tried to work the room, he’d shone as master of ceremonies at the auction. Brooklyn amazed me. With his family history, he’d have had every reason to be guarded, but he put himself out there and made friends everywhere he went.
Right now, he was swooping a familiar giggling toddler through the air, the boy secure in Brooklyn’s hold. James’s brother Danny looked on with a smile, while his fiancé knelt and reassured their shy five-year-old daughter. Little Thomas seemed thrilled with his Brooklyn-ride, chubby brown arms waving as he babbled, “Trubby. Trubby!”
Or maybe he was psychic, because at that moment their husky, aptly named Trouble, pulled her leash out of Danny’s fingers and bolted across the floor. A couple of people swayed, their knees hit with fifty pounds of fluff-covered muscle. A couple of others grabbed and missed.
I turned to see where she was going, and there, coming in the second door of the front foyer, was Mama, flanked by two of the goddesses of James’s tribe, his sister Gracie and her girlfriend Jezebel.
I flinched, expecting disaster as the half-trained husky was about to collide with the older Black woman with a heart condition. But before any of us could intercept, Gracie bellowed, “Trouble! Sit!”
We could almost see that husky’s eyes get big, and then her butt hit the floor, three feet from Mama.
Mama laughed, that rich, warm chuckle that had saved me from feeling so alone a time or two, even as it made me long for family of my own. “Good dog,” she said, then looked around as Gracie snatched up Trouble’s leash. “Where’s that Arthur? There you are! You’ve been far too much of a stranger lately. I haven’t seen you for months.”
And something sweet as honey rolled through me, with Brooklyn ten feet away turning to meet my eyes, and Cheyenne under my arm. Here was my own family, the people I loved, mine to introduce to one more person who would love them too. Mama’s heart was big enough to include even hangers-on like me. In a way, she and James and Shane and all the friends I’d made here had taught me to be open to being loved.
That had always been the hard part for me—not taking care of others or caring about them, but letting them do that for me. Accepting that they wanted to.
I called, “Brooklyn. Let me introduce you.”
“And bring that grandbaby of mine with you.” She waved. “Hey, Thomas!”
The toddler stretched his arms toward her, and Brooklyn came over, holding the boy easily on his hip. I was reminded he had grown up with younger siblings. I guided Cheyenne forward too. “Mama, this is my boyfriend Brooklyn, and his sister Cheyenne, who’s living with us.”
“I heard about that.” Mama met Cheyenne’s gaze. “You did well, girl, getting away from people who wanted to own you. Nobody gets to own us. And if they ever give you trouble again, I’ve got some big strong boys who’ll back you up. If that’s not enough, I’ll give those parents of yours a piece of my mind myself.”
“Ooh.” Danny eased Thomas out of Brooklyn’s hold and passed the baby to Mama. “Pulling out the big threats.”
“You bet,” Mama retorted to me. “Smart folks know who to listen to.”
“Yes, Mama,” I agreed meekly.
She chuckled and then asked Brooklyn and Cheyenne a few easy questions, nothing fraught about home and history, just how they were settling in. But when she was done, she eyed me over the toddler’s black curls. “So, Arthur, your man here seems to be good with babies. I always wanted to see you with some little ones of your own.”
