Page 236 of Romeo

Mama had commandments.

Me: About everything.

Ma Belle: I like her already

The idea of Fiona meeting my mother made me pause with the beer halfway to my mouth.

Mama would probably know before I finished introducing them.

La Croix women had an irritating gift for seeing things a man would rather explain in his own time. Wade liked to claim they could smell the curse from across a room. I’d always thought he was full of shit.

Now I wasn’t so sure.

If Fiona ever stood in front of my mother, I’d be lucky if Mama waited until Fiona was out of earshot before asking when I planned to make things permanent.

Me: Christmas is loud in my family.

Ma Belle: How loud?

Me: Too many people. Too much food. Somebody arguing. Somebody crying. Kids everywhere. At least three people threatening to leave and nobody actually leaving.

Ma Belle: That sounds kind of perfect

I leaned back in the chair.

There were some texts I could hear in her voice. That was one of them. Soft. A little wistful.

Me: What does yours look like?

Ma Belle: Granny cooks.

Me: Of course.

Ma Belle: Frank and Claudia come over with the kids. Georgie and Josie too. Everyone brings too much food even though Granny tells them not to.

Me: Sounds familiar.

Ma Belle: Kids everywhere.

Me: Better.

Ma Belle: Charlie usually crashes before dessert because he refuses to nap

I smiled at the name.

Charlie had become part of our conversations so naturally that I knew more about the kid than some of my actual relatives. Dinosaurs. Chocolate milk. An ongoing refusal to wear matching socks. Apparently, he’d recently decided forks were unnecessary for macaroni and cheese because fingers worked perfectly well.

Fiona talked about all the kids in her family with affection, but Charlie was different. Something always softened in the way she spoke about him.

I’d noticed months ago.

I’d never asked why.

There were still pieces of Fiona she kept tucked close, and I’d learned that pulling at them only made her hold on tighter. Whatever she wanted me to know would come when she was ready to hand it over.

Me: Smart man.

Ma Belle: He gets mean when he’s tired.