"With what?"
"I don't know. Stuff from the cabinet." He drops onto the armchair across from us. The frame groans. "Jess said I need to learn to cook before the baby comes. She said, and I quote, 'Our child will not survive on protein bars and gas station burritos.'"
I press my lips together. Lily catches my eye.
"Finn," Lily says. "You put cumin on scrambled eggs."
"Is that bad?"
"Well, it's not great."
Finn scrubs a hand over his face. "I grilled a steak last week and she said the smoke detector doesn't count as a timer."
Lily picks up a fork and takes a bite and chews. Her expression stays flat, which is generous of her. "It's fine."
"Yeah?"
"No. But I'll eat it because you tried." She takes another bite. "You should ask Sarah to teach you. She can actually cook."
Finn points at her. "You're a lot like your dad, you know that?"
Lily doesn't look up. "People keep saying that."
Finn leans back. "It's not a compliment."
"It is when I say it," I tell him.
Lily eats the grey eggs. I drink my coffee. For ten minutes nobody talks about the attack or the security rotation or the spray paint on the house. Lily asks Finn if the baby is a boy or a girl and he says they don't know yet and she tells him he should find out because it's better to plan. He says Jess wants it to be a surprise. Lily says Jess is wrong. Finn laughs hard enough that Rex sticks his head around the corner to check.
Rex looks at the plate on the table and then at Finn. "Did you cook?"
"Why does everyone say it like that?"
Rex leaves without comment.
"Does your dad ever embarrass you?" Finn asks.
Lily keeps eating. "He sings in the car."
"What does he sing?"
"Fleetwood Mac. The whole album. He does the harmonies."
Finn stares at her. I press my coffee cup against my mouth because if I open it I'm going to lose it.
"The harmonies," Finn says.
"The Stevie Nicks parts." Lily takes another bite. "He's not bad. He just thinks nobody can hear him."
"I'm bringing this up at the next cookout."
"He'll kill you."
"Worth it."
Lily's eyes cut toward the hallway. The door is still closed. She looks back at her plate and stabs a piece of egg with her fork.
Colt comes out twenty minutes later. He doesn't sit. He stands in the hallway with his arms crossed and his reading glasses pushed up on his head and talks to Finn about the patrol rotation like I'm not in the room.
