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Tom: Just a heads-up. I might ask you to babysit.
Zoey: I was going to offer anyway.
After I put my phone in my pocket, Gabe asked, "Well, where's Colton?"
I looked through the enormous window that peeked into the living room. "He's at the table, and he's got his work frown on."
"Is anything wrong?"
"He's a bit on edge," I said. And then the words tumbled out of me without my permission. "I think his mentor made him feel like he wasn't advancing the next breakthrough quick enough."
Gabe jerked his head back. "What?"
"He said that compared to previous projects, this was moving slower."
"That's because my brother has killed himself for years, basically working around the clock," Gabe exclaimed.
"I know. Colton says he's not paying any attention to Browning, but I don't know. He seems more stressed than usual."
"Do you think he's trying to revert to his grump self?"
"I'm not going to allow that."
"Good for you," Gabe said, clearly completely unhappy with Browning.
Ben began to fuss. I wondered if he could feel my turmoil.
"Hey, I can try holding him," Gabe said. It was really cute how eager the brothers were to take him.
"Sure, let's try," I said.
I transferred him to Gabe, and this time he seemed content to stay in his uncle's arms. I felt a little pang of jealousy. How was that even possible?
"I'm going to get another slice of pizza," I said. I’d had a few, but I wanted to eat one more. Besides, Meredith, Natalie, and Penny were at the pizza table, too, and I wanted to chat with them.
"Hey, we were wondering if you want another slice," Penny said. "It's just these four left. We should have ordered more."
"No, everyone is full," Meredith assured her. "If we get hungry, we can always order some more later. And by the way," she said, glancing at Natalie, who just nodded at her, "we just wanted to give you a heads-up. Jeannie has been mentioning the wordweddinga lot. Don't be surprised if she mentions it to you as well."
My jaw dropped.
"I told you we were going to shock her," Natalie said.
"Yep, you were right," Meredith agreed. "We should have eased her into it."
"Wedding? But Colton and I..."
"We know. And she knows, but Jeannie has a logic of her own. We just didn't want you to get blindsided by her," Natalie said.
"You did well," I said. "It's always better to be blindsided by...you."
Penny laughed. "I like that you take everything in stride."
I liked them too. They were easygoing and clearly loved their men a hell of a lot. I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn't see Colton anymore.
"Where did Colton go?" I asked.
"He asked me earlier if he could use Spencer's office. I think his lead scientist wrote to him. You can go up. It’s on the second floor, next to the nursery.”
