“Have you met your brother?” Dad asks with a chuckle.
“Maybe that’s why you’re single right now, Chels.” Kathy arches a brow. “You need to let some forgiveness into that stone-cold heart of yours.”
Chelsea lets her fork fall with a clank against her plate. “No, the reason I’m single is because Darren is a lying fucking piece of shit.”
Dad and Kathy exchange knowing glances.
I clink my glass against Chelsea’s. “You keep giving him shit, CC. If he truly loves you, he’s going to stick around and keep fighting for you until you give in.”
“A little groveling never hurt anybody.” Mom grins at my father. “Isn’t that right, dear?”
He shoots her a wink. “I’ll get on my knees any day of the week for you.”
Chelsea makes a gagging noise, and Kathy laughs.
With three of our sisters scattered around the country with their spouses and kids, Kathy, Chelsea, and I make it a point to see our parents for dinner once a week as the remainingsiblings. Kathy is the oldest, married and living one town over; Chelsea is the second youngest, born a year before me, and still in medical school to become an anesthesiologist so she lives in the basement here at our parents’ house.
All the siblings are close, each of us sharing different relationships with each other, but Kathy has always been my favorite. She’s patient and kind with an even-keeled temperament. I know I can go to her with anything, and she’ll give me advice with my best interest at heart.
“I want to know how things are going with Chance.” Kathy arches a brow at me. “He still an asshole?”
“Yup.” I laugh. “Honestly, I don’t know how any of this is going to work. He’s still in the closet; we’ve been fighting for years. And Presley has convinced herself that she can’t have the relationship we once did. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants here.”
“Invite them over for dinner,” Mom suggests. “I’d love to meet them.”
“It’s still new, Mom.” Chelsea shakes her head. “Give them some time before you start crocheting a baby blanket.”
Her mouth drops open. “When are you going to let that go?”
Chelsea’s eyes widen. “You made baby blankets for all six of your children before any of them had babies! How do you not see how crazy that is?”
Dad grimaces. “Don’t say the C-word. That never goes over well.”
“That reminds me,” Kathy says, wearing a smirk that tells me she’s only going to add fuel to the flame. “What did you do with my baby blanket? Since I’m not having kids, did you throw it away?”
“Of course I didn’t throw it away.”
“So, then where is it? Are you planning on giving it to someone else’s baby instead?”
Mom hikes a shoulder. “What do you care? You’re not giving me grandchildren. What does it matter to you if I gave it away?”
Kathy’s eyes bulge. “Oh my god, you totally gave it to someone else.”
Chelsea tosses her head back and laughs. “Eww, Mom. You regifted a baby blanket? That’s so creepy.”
“How is it creepy?” Mom’s shoulders straighten. “I made it for a baby, and now a baby has it. What’s the big deal?”
Kathy scrunches her nose. “You created it to the thought of my unborn child.”
I shiver. “It sounds so dirty when you say it like that.”
“Oh, to hell with you all!” Mom tosses her napkin down on the table. “I will not be shamed for wanting my grandchildren to be wrapped in the comfort and warmth of a blanket made by their grandmother.”
Dad slowly rises from his chair, taking his empty dinner plate with him.
But Mom catches on. “Are you just going to run away and not stick up for your wife?”
Dad lifts his right hand in the air. “I gotta be honest...it was a little presumptuous, sweetheart.”