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“Sure,” he replies, letting go of my hand and raking his fingers through his hair. He walks over to his desk, and I follow, taking a seat next to him.
As I’m pulling my notebook out of my bag, I hear footsteps pound up the stairs and turn my attention to the stairwell. Phoenix appears on the landing and halts, tilting his head to the side and examining us both with curiosity. “What are you doing?” he asks.
Mason gives him a pointed look. “We are doing homework, Nix.”
“Can I hang out with you guys?”
“No.”
“Why? Is she yourgirlfriend?”Nix drawls out teasingly.
“No, she is not, and we are busy. Now leave!”
“What are you busy doing? … Kissing?” Nix taunts, pursing his lips and smacking them together. “You know girls have cooties, right?”
“Get out of here!” Mason barks at him.
“Nope!” he shouts, running straight over to Mason’s bed and diving onto it. “Mason and Ava sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” he sings, jumping up and down.
Mason growls and stands up, marching over as Nix jumps and sings. I bite my lip, holding back my amusement.
“Enough!” Mason snaps. “Get out of my room.”
“No way!” He laughs, darting out of the way as Mason tries to grab him. Rounding the bend, Mason reaches out to try and catch him again, but he dashes to the other side, letting out a screech, “Ew, don’t touch me. You have cooties now.”
Mason dives onto the bed, reaching for his arm, and Nix screams, leaping off the bed and letting out a massive fart midflight.
Jolting back, Mason’s face reflexively contorts with disgust as he waves his hand in front of him and backs away from the stench. “Fuck! That is disgusting. What the hell did you eat?”
Nix roars with laughter, and I throw my head back, joining in. Nix flashes me a wide grin before turning his attention back to his brother.
“You said a bad word!” Nix chastises him. “The cooties have affected your brain, and I’m telling Mom.”
Footsteps ascend the stairs, and Grace appears, holding a tray of milk and cookies. “What are you doing in here?” She looks at Nix. “You know not to disturb Mason when he is doing homework.”
“Mason said fuck,” Nix announces, and her eyes widen, looking back and forth between them.
Letting out a sigh, she walks over, placing the milk and cookies down on the desk in front of me, then turns her attention back to Nix. “Okay, Nix. It’s time for you to leave Mason and Ava alone and go find something to do. Don’t you have homework to finish?”
“But Mom!” he whines. “He said fuck! Aren’t you going to tell him off?”
“You just said fuck twice,” Mason fires back at him
“Well, you said fuck first.”
“And you just said fuck again!”
“Okay, everybody, stop saying fuck!” Grace yells, holding up her hands in a cease-fire.
The room is silent for a moment, then Nix barks out a laugh and points his finger at her. “Mom just said fuck.”
“Nix!” she snaps. “Enough! No, please do as I ask. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Nix stops laughing and pops his lip out in a pout. “Fine,” he relents, then quickly darts over to the desk and snatches a cookie before making a mad dash down the stairs.
“I apologize, Ava,” Grace says, shaking her head. “Phoenix is a bit of a free spirit. He turned eight last month and has a habit of just saying whatever pops into his mind. We love him for it, but he certainly makes things very interesting around here.”
“It’s fine.” I giggle.
