AllFreeNovel
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“You’re in a whole different decade than us, grandaddy.”
Both of us crack up and Alden grins, shaking his head.
It’s quiet for a moment before A.J. looks at Milo and tells him in a dead serious voice. “I saw tits on TV.”
To Milo’s credit, he manages not to laugh. “Did you now?”
“Alden Junior! They’re breasts. Women have breasts,” I correct.
His head tilts as he thinks about it, and damn if his father doesn’t shine in his face in moments like these. “But that’s what dad called them. He told me to turn my head because there were tits and I’m not supposed to watch rated R shows.”
Milo takes a drink of his beer. “If you turned your head, how did you see them?”
An impish grin creeps across his face as he shrugs. “In the mirror behind the couch.”
“A.J.” I say, shaking my head.
He looks toward Milo for support. “Dad told me to turn my head. He didn’t say I had to close my eyes.”
Milo points his beer at me. “He’s got you there.”
Kyle Franklin, A.J.’s friend from down the street, runs up and saves us from any further tit talk when A.J. takes off with him.
Paul joins us, grabbing a beer and standing beside Tori. “The boys are over at Rosa’s with Emily.”
“I’m sure they’ll end up over here,” Tori says. “Finn is lucky he isn’t grounded. I’ve been called to the school twice this month for his fighting.”
“They’re almost teenagers. It’s the hormones,” Paul says. “We should try to get him into some kind of physical sport. Let him get his aggression out. I was the same way.”
Eli and Finn Porter are as night and day as Oliver and Alden were. Maybe that’s the way it usually goes with twins, even when they aren’t identical.
“How did your sibling shoot go today?” Tori asks, while Paul wanders over to hang out with Alden.
“It was a challenge, but wait until you see the shots,” I gush, pulling out my phone to show her the pictures of three adorable little girls.
Getting my studio back to where it was took a lot of patience and work but it’s been worth it. It doesn’t bring in the money that Stokes Custom Cycles does, but I love my work and my business is successful. The infusion of cash from the streaming deal paid off our house and funded a college account for the kids. With no house payment and thriving businesses, we live very comfortably. It was pointed out we could easily afford to move to one of the higher income neighborhoods. The ones with access to community pools or parks. But this is where we belong. Where our kids belong.
It's the dream we had when we bought my childhood home from my parents, and it’s turned out better than we ever hoped. Emily, Rosa, and Tori’s boys are inseparable, the same way we all were. Paul and Alden rebuilt the treehouse and there are plenty of other neighborhood kids that get to enjoy it.
More of the neighbors show up and the party is in full swing a couple of hours later. The younger kids run around, chasing each other, but I haven’t seen Emily or the twins.
“They’d better not be in the woods,” I remark, sitting next to Alden beside the fire.
Tori shakes her head. “They know they aren’t allowed at night.”
Alden snorts and looks at her. “Like we weren’t allowed?”
Tori curses and everyone laughs.
A.J. races up to us. “Eli and Finn are fighting!”
Paul gets up, swearing under his breath. “Where are they?”
“In the front yard!” A.J. tries to follow as Paul heads to break up his boys, but I grab his wrist. “Oh no you don’t. What happened? Why were they fighting?”
“Eli hit Finn in the eye because he kissed Emily.”
“Oh boy,” Milo mutters, glancing at Alden.
