“Okay.” The relief in his tone was evident.
As soon as we rounded the corner, Jenn noticed us.
“There you guys are!” She smiled brightly and came to us. She hugged me and then leaned down to Tony. “Can I hug you too?”
At his nod, she carefully gave him a patented mom hug that made me smile.
When she straightened back up, she gestured around. “So, my daughter Demi is over there at the grill. There’s all sorts of goodies she’s grilling for us.” She gestured at a woman with Mike’s coloring that clicked her tongs at us in greeting.
“Is there chicken?” Tony asked hopefully.
“Yes, there’s different kinds of chicken, too. You can go ask Demi if you want,” she replied just loud enough for Demi to hear and smile at Tony encouragingly.
Tony glanced at me. “Can I?”
“Of course. As long as you can see me, you can do whatever you want.” I knew he was responsible as fuck, to a point that almost felt too much sometimes. I sure had been much wilder at his age.
He took a deep breath, then let go of my hand and jogged to Demi.
“He’ll be fine,” Jenn said quietly. “Demi knows kids. That’s her fiancé and their daughter over there.” She pointed out a man with a toddler in what felt if not a sea, then a lake of people.
“I’m not worried. He’s just different from most kids and hasn’t had the best experiences.”
“I’m sad to hear that, but we pride ourselves in being accepting, and everyone here knows that, including the staff and their families.” She then continued to point out different people until I must’ve looked wide-eyed. “Too much?”
I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. “Too many, maybe.”
She let out a peal of laughter that made Mike lift his head from a conversation he was having with—I was going to say Emery, their son who was a doctor.
“That is very understandable. Luckily it won’t be this many people at once very often. We’re all pretty spread out on the property.”
Someone called out her name, and she excused herself after telling me that if I needed anything, just ask anyone. Yeah… that seemed like a lot, too.
I walked to the table where some snacks had been laid out for the kids and picked a juice box Tony would like. Then I went to get myself a Coke from a cooler nearby.
When I got to the grilling area, Demi was smiling at Tony who was explaining to her about the temperatures in which different kinds of meats needed to be cooked.
“Uh-huh,” she said seriously. “That’s really good to know.”
“Here you go, buddy.” I handed him the juice.
He took it with a happy, “Thanks, Daddy!” sounding a bit breathless. He’d been talking a lot.
Demi smiled again. “Nice to meet you, I’m Demi.”
“Mal. And you’ve met Tony.” I put my hand on his shoulder as he sucked on his straw and surveyed the yard.
“I have. He has a lot of information to share.” Her tone was kind and even, as if it was completely normal for a four-year-old to be like my son.
“There was a period a couple of months ago with a lot of cooking shows,” I explained as I opened my Coke can.
“Ah, that explains it.” She flipped a couple of things on the grill, then moved something else onto a platter. “Emery!”
The man who had been talking to Mike got to his feet, finishing his conversation with their dad as he moved.
“He’s my twin,” Demi said apropos of nothing. “He’s very obedient.”
Ah. Sibling things. I chuckled politely. I had seen it before in others. “I’m an only child.”
