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“Who would of thought,” Theo said.
“I know, right,” I said.
“Is he still a playboy?” he asked. “I remember the way he used to run through girls. It used to drive me crazy because I wanted to be him so bad! He took my crush to the homecoming dance junior year and I thought I’d never forgive him. What was that girl’s name? Dani, I think.”
I shook my head. “Believe it or not, he’s married now.”
Theo and Rick both gaped and swore at the same time.
“What Wonder-Woman made the infamous Anderson Lawrence settle down? And where the hell is she? We wanna meet her!” Rick said.
“Joanna,” I said, already knowing how floored they were going to be by that revelation.
There was a long pause. Theo’s face twisted in confusion. “Hold up,” he said. “Joanna? Isn’t that your sister’s name?
I nodded.
“So he married a chick with your sister’s name?”
“No, he married my sister.”
He and Rick both swore again.
Rick shook his head and leaned forward in disbelief, staring me in the eyes. “Let me get this straight, he married your sister and you’ve let him live?”
I shrugged my shoulders and reached for my
beer. “I had a problem with it at first, but then I realized there was nothing I could really do about it. As long as he’s treating her right, who am I to complain? They’re adults. My sister is grown. She can make her own decisions. Besides, Anderson has turned out to be perfect for her. Unlike the previous losers she dated. One of those guys would have gotten me behind bars.”
“Man,” Theo said in disbelief. He held up his glass of Scotch, gesturing for a toast. “Well, congratulations to them.”
I toasted him with my beer. “They’ve even had a baby,” I said. “That’s why he’s not here with me now, actually. He wanted to come, but he’s a sleep-deprived new father. Sometimes he doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.”
Rick’s face twisted in confusion. He laughed and shook his head. “I’m trying to imagine Anderson as a father. Man, times have changed! We must be getting old, fellas.”
I smirked and pulled out my cell phone, tapping around on the screen for pictures of my niece. “Addison Kelly Lawrence,” I said, holding the phone out to them so that they could see the infant. Addison had inherited the same dark hair as me and Joanna, but she had Anderson’s eyes. She was a beauty, to say the least. And she was one of the happiest babies I had ever seen, always smiling and laughing. In the photo, her eyes sparkled as she gave a wide and toothless grin, wearing a onesie that declared hers as a princess.
“Oh man, she’s beautiful,” Theo said.
I nodded. “Yeah, she is.”
“She’s going to make Anderson crazy when she’s older,” Rick said. “He’ll be losing his mind, beating the boys off with a stick, especially since she looks so much like your sister! No offense, Toby, but your sister has always been pretty fine.”
Hell no one had called me Toby since high school.
“Hey, cut it out,” I said.
Rick laughed and threw his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger!”
Theo laughed. “Man, don’t mess with the proud uncle and protective big brother. It won’t end well for you.”
“Damn straight it won’t,” I said, laughing and returning my phone to my pocket.
“So, how are you doing in that department?” Theo asked. “No littles ones of your own yet? Any special girlfriend, fiancée… wife?”
I shook my head. “No, not yet. It’s hard with how much I work, especially now that I’m often putting in double to take care of Anderson’s share while he’s busy catering to Addison and Joanna.”
Theo cocked his head to the side. “Can’t say that I’m much of a Facebooker or a Twitter user, but it seems like I remember you being with some chick, or at least seeing a few photos a while ago. Thought you two looked happy together…”
