Page 28 of Too Sweet
EIGHT
Nico
SATURDAY.
Five.
Holy shit.
It feels like I’m counting down to something.An event of epic proportions. A paradigm shift of sorts, but the truth is I’m countingup.
Up from the last time I saw Mia.
Five days.
In desperate need of a distraction, I send a quick text to the Hayes group chat.
Me: Who’s free tonight?
Shawn: Birthday afterparty? I wish, but Jack is flying to Chicago in an hour, and Josh has green goo pouring out of his nose.
Theo: Too much information, Shawn. And not tonight, Nico. Thalia’s been sick all afternoon. I think she threw up half her insides. Morning sickness my ass. It’s not just mornings!
Shawn: Too much information, Theo.
Me: You all should be glad people don’t need a license to have kids.
In all fairness, Shawn and Logan are great dads, and I know Theo will be, too, but life would be boring if we stopped riling each other up at every turn.
The license thing, though... it’s fucked up if you think about it. You need a license to drive a car, but you don’t need one to raise a human being?
Someone should introduce that.
Logan: You sure wouldn’t pass the test, bro.
See? Fun.
Cody: We’re in Vegas.
Logan: Cass is out. I’m holding down the fort. No green goo or puke here. We’re due code brown soon, though. You’re welcome to stop by. I’ll teach you how to change a diaper.
And underneath his text, a picture of him and little Noah in matching jerseys. Soon enough, they’ll be wearing matching caps, I’m sure.
Conor: Dude! I’m eating! Stop with the disgusting bodily fluids.
Logan: You’re always eating!
Cody: You need us, Nico? We can face-time.
Conor stuffing his face with whatever he’s in the mood for, mumbling every sentence, Colt with his piss-poor moody attitude, and the one I’m tryingnotto stab in the back.
Not what I need right now.
Me: No. I’ll call Toby and Adrian.
Less than an hour later, the three of us enterTortugoper Toby’s request. Adrian’s always game, and while I should be dealing with the power outage that happened earlier inQ,I left it to the general manager. Something I should do more often, considering it’s his job.
Too bad he’s cluelessly running every tiny detail by me at all hours. I should hire a professional to find the reason for the outage, but I let myself off the hook so I can screw my head back in place.
