"I didn't hear. How'd you get that?"
Jameson carried in the platter with the roast. "Get what?"
"Ro says he had a concussion."
"Oh that." Jameson set down the food. "Rio, dinner!" His yell echoed off the dining room walls.
Indi sighed in annoyance. "You yell for her as if we live in a giant castle." She set down the bowl of roasted vegetables. "How is your head? The stitches heal up all right?" Indi asked.
Colin put down his beer. "Stitches too?" He dropped his shoulders in comprehension. "All right, who was she? Who did you piss off this time?"
I shook my head. "That's ancient history, and the story isn't that exciting."
Colin shrugged. "All right. Hey, did any of you get caught in that storm this afternoon? The wind took the awning right off our office building."
Jameson served himself some meat and handed off the plate. "Rio!" he yelled again.
Indi stared at him. "Seriously?"
"Well, she obviously didn't hear me the first time," Jameson explained.
I laughed. "Bro, the neighbors heard you. She's just a teenager. Remember, selective hearing and all that?"
"I don't have selective hearing. I was trying to calm the masses down. We were on a group chat, and there are a lot of disappointed teammates this evening. So, I hope you're happy," Rio said, scowling at her dad.
Jameson carved himself a big piece of meat and lifted it to his mouth. "Perfectly happy, thanks." He shoved it in.
"How much meat do you want?" Indi asked Rio.
"No dead cow for me, thanks. I'll have some vegetables. We've all made a pact to go vegetarian." She piled potatoes on her plate and then doused them with gravy.
Colin laughed. "Ah yes, the infamous vegetarian gravy."
"I'm easing into it," Rio said. She stared at the platter of roast beef and groaned. "Oh, what the heck. I'll start tomorrow." She stabbed a slice of beef and put it on her plate. She looked up and realized she had an audience. "Jeez, what a bunch of judgy buttheads."
We laughed and dug into the meal. The delicious food and great company made up for not having a beer.
Colin left to the Gold Rush. Rio and I cleaned the kitchen, then she went off to her room to finish her homework. Jameson sat down on the couch with a beer and fell fast asleep. Indi managed to grab the bottle from his limp fingers before it slipped to the floor.
It woke him. "Hey, my beer."
"Go to bed. You're exhausted," Indi said. She finished the last sips of beer.
Jameson sat forward, scrubbed his face and growled. "Shit, when did I get to the fall-asleep-right-after-dinner age? I'm like Dad."
"You and Zander have been working hard," Indi said. "No harm in going to bed early. Doesn't mean you're old, although …" She paused and rolled in her lips.
Jameson looked up at her through a bleary gaze. "Although?"
"Well, don't freak out, but this morning, while you were brushing your teeth, I spotted a few gray hairs in the back."
Jameson's hand flew back there as if somehow grabbing his hair would let him feel the gray hairs or better, cause them to vanish. "You're fucking kidding?"
"Well, you do have a teenager," I reminded him. "And I was sure I saw you shuffle a few steps when you were leaving the dining room." Indi and I chuckled.
"Fuck you both. I'm glad my fast decline into old age amuses you. I'm going to bed. Keep down the commotion." He stopped and shook his head. "That's what old people say. I'm fucking gray and old," he muttered as he headed toward the bedroom.
Indi looked at me with an impish grin. "There were no gray hairs, but I'd bet a week's salary that in the morning I find him with a handheld mirror turned away from the bathroom mirror trying to get a look at the back of his head."