“Mom,” Ana gasped, her jaw dropping. But she laughed and there was noticeable relief in Natasha’s eyes, having made her daughter smile. “Ignore her.”
“I mean, if he’s going to stay, maybe you’d need a third for cards tonight,” my mom chimed in.
“Hey now,” my dad interjected.
I just groaned and dropped into an empty chair close to Ana.
“We’d love to have you, Allison. You can always come too, Anabelle.”
“I’m good, Mom,” Ana said with a laugh. “Thanks for the offer. Even though you know I’ll stay all night if you need me to.”
“No, you have school tomorrow, and I don’t want you to miss it.” She waved away Ana’s offer and changed the subject. “Now how is everyone? Kevin, I haven’t seen you in so long and I feel like you’ve grown. Again.”
“I’m good, Mrs. Montgomery. Just trying to make it through my final semester of college. Thankfully Ana came back just in time to help me in calculus.”
Ana scoffed. “Oh, please. You’re doing just fine without any help from me.”
“It’s a heck of lot better than his first year. We weren’t sure he was going to make it through the year, let alone graduate,” my dad muttered.
“What?” Ana asked, shocked. “Kevin was always so great in school.” She turned to me. “What happened? Intro to music too hard for you?”
I tried to laugh at her joke, but remembering how depressed I was after losing her made it impossible. It ended up coming out more as a grimace and when she saw me struggling, her laughter faded, and we just stared at each other. I didn’t want her to feel any guilt thinking it was her fault I’d been so depressed. It was all me and my mistakes. But watching her lips pinch, I knew she was piecing the puzzle together and laying blame at her feet.
“I hope not. We came to the conclusion that he just missed his mother so much, he couldn’t focus,” Mom teased. “I did always keep him on schedule and going off to college allows a lot of freedom.”
“You babied him,” Dad complained.
“Well, he’s my baby. It’s allowed.”
“I concur, Allison. I love to baby my baby too,” Natasha chimed in, resting her hand on Ana’s.
Ana cleared her throat and stuttered through a joke, trying to break our intense stare-down. “That’s cute that Kevin is such a little mama’s boy.”
“Damn right I am. She’s going to regret it when I ask her to pack my lunches every day when I go to work.”
Dad groaned and we all laughed.
“Oh Ana, how we missed the way you give him crap all the time,” Mom said. “We’re glad to see you again, despite the circumstances.”
“I’ve missed my second family too. And I’ll always be here to put Kevin in his place.”
“How’s retirement, Liam?” Ana’s mom asked Dad. “I feel like you guys are always gone since you finally stopped working.”
“Good. Good. Allison is still dragging me all around. Said she devoted so much of her life to supporting me that I need to take her on dates and adventures now.”
“Good. She deserves the best.”
“I do. I made him buy me a house in Florida. Right on the beach. We’re actually going there for spring break this year with Kevin before he starts working.”
Natasha sighed. “A beach sounds amazing right about now.”
“Why don’t you come? It’s big enough for all of us, and maybe it would do you good to get some fresh, salty air for a couple of days. We won’t stay long enough to keep you away from anything important,” Mom said.
“Oh, I don’t want to intrude on your last family vacation, and I don’t know if Ana had any plans for us.”
“Well, you would both come,” my dad answered.
I looked up and saw Ana’s hesitance. “I don’t know. It seems like a long distance away from your doctors and everything.” She bit her lip, looking at her mom.
“You should come, Ana. It would be fun,” I said, already imagining her in a bikini.
“I don’t know,” she said, hedging.
“Knock, knock.” A doctor stood in the doorway. “I need to do a quick exam on Mrs. Montgomery. You can all come back in in a minute.”
“Can I stay?” Ana asked.
“As long as it’s okay with your mom.”
Ana’s mom nodded and my parents and I went to wait outside in the hall.
“You have to convince her to come, Kevin. It would be so much fun, and I think it would be great for Natasha,” my mom pleaded, holding my hands between us.
“I’ll do what I can, Mom. But I can’t exactly kidnap her.”
“Sure you can,” she joked.
After a short wait, the door opened and we walked back in to a smiling Natasha. “We’re going to Florida,” she announced.
Ana’s pinched lips couldn’t hide her smile. Whether it was because we were going to Florida or seeing her mom so excited talking plans with my mom, I didn’t know, but it was good to see her smile after today.