“Grandpa, what are you doing? You can’t shoot Little Brother Carlito,” a tiny voice squealed.
“Why is BroKen tied up in the playroom?” a slightly older female voice said.
One of the dads swore. “Nora, Tommy, I thought you were out with your dad and Uncle Colin at the park.”
“We’re back,” the little boy announced. “Is Little Brother a present for me? He’s tied up like a present. But why do you have a gun? Guns are bad.”
I opened my eyes, pretty sure that Finn wasn’t going to end me in front of children. Also, I wanted to see how he got himself out of this.
“What is going on here?” A preteen girl with braces, red hair, pigtails and glasses, stood there with her hands on her hips and an expression that reminded me of Fiona.
Meanwhile a little boy with copper curls pummeled Finn’s legwith tiny fists. “Let Little Brother go!”
With a sigh, Finn put the gun away. “I wasn’t going to hurt him. We were just playing a game,” he bullshitted.
I wanted to chuckle, because it was so fucking funny. Instead, I clamped my lips shut and swallowed the laugh down.
In a way, we were playing a game–an intimidation game. I was guessing he never planned on actually hurting me, just scaring me shitless until I repented.
The little boy stared at me. “YouareLittle Brother, right? You’re just playing a game with my grandpa?”
“Hi, friend, I am Little Brother. You’re Tommy?” I asked him.
“Yes.” Tommy grinned, he was missing a tooth.
The preteen girl, Nora, eyed me, then looked at her grandfather. “I call bullshit on playing a game.”
“I call bullshit on you using the word bullshit,” Finn replied.
“I’m with your Auntie Fiona, that’s why I’m here,” I blurted.
Tommy sucked in a breath, eyes dancing in delight. “Little Brother’s going to be my Tio Carlito?” He shot his grandfather a look. “Tio means uncle in Spanish.”
“Muy bien. My nieces and nephews call me Tio Lalo, and you can call me that, too,” I added.
Finn growled in protest.
“You’re getting a Tio Dusty and a Tio Hale-i-o-burrito, too.” I flashed a grin at Finn who was turning red.
Tommy laughed. “That’s a silly name.”
“Hale is delightfully silly,” I replied. Hale was going to be a fantastic uncle. Where was he? Tied up, too?
“Carlos, why are you tied to a chair?” Dusty came in through another doorway.
“Are you dating Aunt Fiona as well?” Nora asked him.
“No, I’m with your Auntie Saoirse,” he replied.
“He’ll still be your Tio Dusty if you want,” I added.
Dusty nodded. “Absolutely.”
Finn growled. “How did you untie yourself?”
“Grandpa, did you really expect me to leave BroKen tied up in the playroom? That's just not hospitable,” Nora replied. “Also, he made a video with me. My classmates will besojealous.”
Finn looked about ready to tear out his hair.
