I took a deep breath and pondered my response.
CJ's welcome-home party was well underway. Though it was two days after Christmas, the house was filled with guests. Susan arrived with her wife, Adaeze, and their daughter, Daisy, in tow. Dev and Manjula came, and to my surprise, he got along really well with RJ, who had invited his research partner.
RJ must have said something funny because Claudia laughed and touched his arm. He didn't flinch. I looked to where Kimberly stood with Adam, talking to his brother, Nate, and his wife, Abby. Kimmy was holding Adam's niece, Aviva, who was a few months younger than CJ. I caught my sister's eye to see if she had noticed Claudia's gesture, too. She did, and we grinned at each other.
Lisa was engaged in conversation with Sasha, Micaela, and two other friends of hers, one I recognized from the night she’d had too much to drink. I think his name was Max.
Bryce Cameron and his wife were talking to Dad. He was holding Cameron’s bicep and laughing, which made me wonder if my boss was still trying to convince him to rejoin the firm.
Aunt Patrice and my cousin Erika were dancing with CJ, taking turns picking him up and spinning him. He managed to pull a gold cuff off of one Erika's locs, and Aunt Patrice swiped it out of his hand before he had a chance to put it in his mouth. Lisa saw the entire exchange, caught my eye, and grinned at me, shaking her head.
"Cole?" My mom's voice called to me again, and I realized as I leaned on the doorway of her office watching the party, I hadn't answered her question.
I pushed myself off of the doorframe and turned to face her before taking a seat opposite her.
“Susan offered me a job working with her in family law.” I shrugged.
“And…”
"A month ago, I would've jumped at the chance, but now, with the inheritance, it would feel weird every day to get up and go to work. I could do so much good with that money."
Mom laughed.
“What’s so funny?” I asked. She pulled a notepad out of her desk drawer and scribbled on it before tearing off the page and handing it to me.
It was a dollar sign followed by eight figures. My jaw dropped. Mom snatched the paper from me and shredded it.
“Close your mouth, sweetie.” She smiled slyly. “And you never saw that. Your father would kill me.”
“Is that your net worth?” I asked. Mom shook her head.
“That’s what your father and I made last year.”
“Last year?” I spluttered. Mom nodded her head demurely.
I knew we were wealthy, but holy shit. "Have you and Dad always had this much money?"
“No, not always, you know that. But we’ve been very fortunate. We’ve worked hard over the years and invested wisely.”
"Okay, but when we were kids, I saved my allowance for six months to buy a bike for my birthday. Then my bike got stolen, and you and Dad wouldn't buy me a new one, and I had to save up for another six months to get a new bike."
“Is there a question in there?” she asked with a laugh.
“Why didn’t you buy me a new bike?”
“And what would you have learned from that?”
“I didn’t learn anything.”
“Did the second bike get stolen?” she asked.
“No, I bought three locks for that thing. I only took it out once a week. I still have that bike.”
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows; her point having been made.
"So, every time you asked us if we had McDonald's money, you and Dad could've bought a whole McDonald's?" I raised an eyebrow, and Mom threw her head back, laughing, and clapped her hands together.
“So, when we flew to Italy that year when you and Dad flew first class and Kimmy, RJ, and I sat in coach—”
