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Vivian squinted at me as we climbed back into the car. “No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not,” I agreed.
“They’ll be fine,” she assured. “Ava works at this school, for goodness’ sake. They can always turn to their aunt in case anything happens.”
“True, but you know how I get sometimes.”
Vivian hummed. “They’re in good hands, Jesse. Don’t worry about a thing.”
I turned the engine back on and drove to our next stop. I hit a streak of green lights, so we were making good time.
“They’re growing up so fast,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “Next thing you know, I’ll be fending off Amelia’s boyfriends with a bat at my doorstep and giving Adam the talk. It was bad enough when I had to sit Wally down to talk about the birds and the bees. Now I have to do it all over again.”
“Well, think of the first time as a learning experience. Whatever you did to make things awkward for Wally,don’tdo it for the twins.”
I smiled. “The fending off boyfriends thing, or the talk?”
“Yes,” was my wife’s dry answer.
“Their birthday’s coming up soon,” I said. “Do you think they’ll want two different themes? Or do you think we can get away with a combo party like last year?”
“Amelia’s been saying how much she wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese, but Adam’s scared of that mouse mascot.”
I snorted. “Can you blame him? That thing’s fucking freaky.”
Vivian laughed. “Very true. We can talk to them about it later. I’m sure we can find a middle ground they’ll both enjoy.”
“Maybe a trip?” I suggested. “The twins keep asking about visiting Wally in Paris.”
“Maybe. Don’t you think that’s a bit much for a birthday, though?”
“They want to see their brother. I hardly think that’s spoiling them. It’s just some quality family time.”
“You have a point. How’s his restaurant doing, by the way? I totally forgot to ask yesterday when he called.”
“He’s doing great,” I said. “Just opened his third restaurant down the road from the Champs Elysée. It’s the talk of the town, or so I’ve heard.”
“I’m so proud of him,” Vivian said. “I knew he could do it. Okay, we’ll definitely talk about it when I get back from work. We can congratulate him on the opening in person.”
I pulled up to the curb in front of a massive modern office building. At the very top, the sign read Jones-White & Burke. Sometimes it was almost surreal to see my wife’s name up there, synonymous these days with accountability, wealth, and progress. She’d come a long way and I couldn’t be prouder.
“You’d better get going,” I said. “Do you think you’ll have to stay the whole day?”
Vivian shook her head. “I’m the boss, babe. I can go home whenever I want.”
I smirked. “Cocky.”
“You like it.” She leaned over the center console and kissed me deeply. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Don’t work too hard, okay?”
“I was going to tell you the exact same thing.”
“Don’t worry,” she said with a wink. “Whatever work I don’t get done, I’ll just give to Molly.”
“Tell her I said hi.”
