“This is my brother, Brant, and my niece, Mackenzie,” she says, gesturing to us since we’re the first people waiting as they come down the hall.
Carl steps forward and offers me his hand, a congenial smile on his face. “This is him, huh? Great to meet you, Brant. I’ve heard so much about you. All good things,” he adds, grinning bigger.
I shake his hand and resist the urge to tell him to give it a little time.
Bri lingers by his side, anxiously clutching her flowers. Looking over at the little boy he brought with him, she says, “This is Carl’s son, Eton.”
I offer him a nod of acknowledgment, meeting his shy gaze. “Hello, Eton.”
“Hi,” he says quietly, sticking close to his dad.
“Cookie,” Mackenzie announces, holding out her treat.
Eton’s attention drifts to her and he smiles. “I like cookies.”
“Do you want one?” Bri asks, her discomfort making her overly attentive. Then, looking to Carl, she asks, “Is he allowed to have a cookie?”
“I guess one cookie won’t hurt,” Carl tells her with a grin.
Bri moves in front of him, placing a hand on Eton’s shoulder and leading him toward the kitchen. As she passes me, she casts me one last wordless plea to be nice to her new boyfriend.
Mackenzie starts wiggling, looking back at the kitchen. “Daddy, down,” she says.
I let her down and start to fix her skirt, but before I can, she toddles after the quiet boy she must want as a new playmate.
Now that it’s just us, I stand and turn my attention back to Carl. I’m sure Bri has already warned him about me being overprotective, so I don’t feel the need to relay the message myself. I just want to get a feel for what kind of man he is. He’s happy enough to indulge me in conversation, so we linger in the hallway and shoot the shit for a bit.
From what Bri has told Alyssa, he’s a very good father, which is at the top of her checklist now that Bri’s a single mother looking for a serious relationship. His priorities are in order—family first—and he takes care of his responsibilities.
Even though he really liked her, it took him a while to introduce Bri to his son, which tells me a whole lot about him. He cares about his son’s stability; he’s not some careless asshole who’s with a different woman every week. Carl is a man who can focus his attention and keep his eyes where they belong—or I hope he is.
I know I’m testing him a little, but when we walk into the room, the first thing we both see is Amber with her back to us. She’s wearing an excessively short cranberry-colored dress that hugs her every curve. Like her sister, she has damned good legs, and they go on for miles. She’s wearing high heels, and her long blonde hair is carefully curled and styled. Alyssa must’ve prepped her and told her I needed to borrow her to test a man out, because while Carl is a fine-looking man, I guess, when Amber turns around, she positively lights up at him.
“Hi,” she says, rushing forward and offering her hand.
I look over at him, and while he’s surprised by the enthusiasm of her attention, he resists the temptation to let his gaze drop to her plunging neckline, and he keeps his attention respectful. “Hey, how are you doing?” he returns.
“Good,” she says, clasping his hand as she shakes it, then turning around and gesturing to my wife. “I’m Alyssa’s sister, Brant’s sister-in-law.”
Sulking on the other side of the counter as he watches Amber perform for me, Greg calls out, “And I’m her boyfriend. I’m Greg.”
Poor Greg. I’m gonna have to buy that man a bottle of whiskey.
Amber looks at me for permission to go back to what she was doing. I give her a little nod.
Much more briskly, she tells Carl, “I’m Amber, by the way. Great to meet you.” Then she goes over to retrieve her neglected boyfriend and hauls him to the living room to give him some attention.
Now that Carl has passed my test, I’m feeling much more relaxed. He hangs out in the kitchen with me and the girls while Mackenzie grabs Eton by the hand and hauls him to the living room to watch a movie.
“No football?” Carl asks, looking over at me.
I shake my head grimly. “No football.”
I love the hell out of my family, but after spending the entire day with the whole lot of them, I am running on empty and so relieved when it’s time to head out.
We were over at Bri’s pretty late, so Mackenzie passed out in the back seat on the way home. I take her out of her car seat and lay her head against my shoulder so I can haul her into the house.