I look over to the stairs where he’s talking with Byron and Phantom’s fiancée while mom takes all the leftover stuff from the appetizer table to the kitchen to wrap them up and refrigerate them.
Dad’s looking around the house as if he's mentally staking out the place. And I don’t think he’s lingering to honor mom’s fervent need not to ever let food go to waste. I have a bad feeling he’s waiting for the chance to talk some sense into me as soon as he can get me alone.
Really not looking forward to that conversation. So I turn back to the one I’m having with Amber and Lena. I drop my volume to tell them, “The only thing more surprising than seeing you guys at the bottom of those stairs was who Phantom’s fiancée turned out to be.”
Amber throws her hands up like were in church. “I know, right?”
And Lena shakes her head. “I know Keane and I are as opposite as can be, but I never would've put those two together. I mean, how did they even meet?”
“Is he still hovering around her?” Amber asks. “If not, I'm going to go over there and make sure this isn’t some kind of hostage and or blackmail situation. I mean, that’s the only explanation. I think we can all agree on that, right?”
“Oh, totally,” I answer with an emphatic nod. “The only thing left to do is figure out how to extract her from it.”
“Do you think he’s still out there?” Lena surreptitiously glances back toward the foyer. Earlier, Phantom was hovering there like a monitor drone. Just close enough to be in striking range if one of us tried to talk to his future wife.
“I think we’re clear to stage an intervention,” I say. “I saw him go upstairs with Victor and Luca earlier for some reason.”
“I'm assuming it's about some kind of deal,” Amber says. “I don't know about the Chinese, but every party’s a business meeting opportunity as far as the Italians are concerned. And Luca’s been monitoring your relationship like you’re on 90 Day Fiancé. He keeps asking me if you two are officially back together because he wants the go-ahead to partner with Victor.”
Amber tilts her head thoughtfully after telling me that. “So what should I tell him?”
Lena also regards me with a curious look now.
I tell them the truth. “I don't know. I mean, obviously, we're getting along.”
“And you're finally talking and communicating, which is foundational to healing,” Lena adds. “Just like I said.”
I roll my eyes. Lena is one of those therapists who totally doesn't mind pointing out when she's right. Especially with adults who aren’t one of her usual kid clients.
“Yes, we’re finally talking,” I agree, nonetheless. “But mostly about the past. And, you know, right now. This is all so new and nice. I think I’m too scared to risk it by talking about the future.”
“Well, you’re going to have to start making some decisions soon,” Amber replies in that utterly to-the-point way of hers. “The baby will be here before you know it.”
“I know. And I think I know what I want. But after the way things ended the last two times, it's hard to trust my gut. Especially since it’s hidden underneath a baby right now.”
“Well, just make sure whatever you decide, it's not from a place of fear,” Lena advises. She glances over to the other side of the living room, where Keane and Max are watching a hockey game on the big screen. “If you’re looking for lived experience, I wish I’d told Keane from the start, instead of doubling down on the life my dad had planned.”
I glance toward my own dad, still waiting for just the right moment to stage an intervention at the stairs. I know Victor invited him for me. But his presence isn’t helping with all these I-don’t-know feelings swirling around inside of me.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” an amplified voice says from behind us, interrupting my conflicted thoughts. “Can I have your attention? Turn off that TV, will you, Keane. And Dawn’s mom. Come out of the kitchen, please!”
“That’s Luca,” Amber says, straightening on the couch beside me. “What's he doing?”
“I don't know exactly,” I answer, just as confused as she is, even though I’m not visually impaired. “He’s got a microphone for some reason. And he’s dressed in this flannel shirt and baggy tee combo with skinny jeans. Kind of like a b-boy, I guess.”
Luca waits until all eyes are on him before announcing, “We've got a very special guest performing for you tonight. I'm told he's one of Dawn's favorite artists of all time. Presenting Justin Bieber!”
“What the…” Amber starts to say.
But she’s interrupted by me, Lena, and Max much losing our collective shit.
That is until Luca makes a quiet down motion.