Annie ventures carefully, “Maybe Mylo can decide for himself what he wants to do…”
“Of course he can,” Mom says, too cheerily. “And Mylo wants our help doing just that. Don’t you, sweetie?”
Annie takes a breath to say more, but I flash her a placating look. She closes her mouth and exhales.
Once I’ve swallowed my potatoes, I say, “Yeah, Mom. I appreciate it.”
“See? Dad, why don’t you drop him off tomorrow when you head to work? He can go introduce himself to the manager.”
Annie frowns. “Mom, I don’t think that’s how?—”
I kick her under the table.
Annie flashes a confused look at me, then recovers. “…how would be most efficient. Why don’t I take Mylo? I’ve been meaning to go to the library, and it’s right next door.”
Mom looks up from her plate with a bright smile. “Even better. It’s so lovely to have the family back together again.”
When the food is gone, Annie stands and gathers our plates.
“I’ll take care of the dishes. Mylo, mind giving me a hand?”
“Sure.”
Mom and Dad head to the sitting room for coffee as Annie and I take all the plates to the kitchen.
Annie scrapes the dishes and hands them to me to wash, just like when we were kids. Mom still hasn’t gotten a dishwasher.
Annie’s lips are pressed into a thin line as she hands me a plate. “I thought you wanted things to be like old times. Not… whatever this is.”
“What? This is like old times.”
Annie scoffs. “Mom being totally on your case every five seconds?!”
“Yeah.”
She pauses for a moment, then keeps scraping. “Oh. I guess I never noticed…”
“She wasn’talwayssuch a helicopter. And… she has her reasons. I guess I… understand them now.”
Water suddenly splashes my face, and I jump back, nearly dropping the slippery plate in my hand. Annie glares at me, hand still next to the stream of water.
“Hey!”
She splashes me again.
“What the fuck?!” I set the plate down, grab the sink sprayer, and point it straight at her.
Annie sputters with shock, then bursts out laughing and grabs the sprayer out of my hand, nailing me in the chest.
I join her laughter, and we lean back against the counter.
“Alright.” I toss her a towel and start drying myself off. “You gonna tell me why I deserve that?”
“Listen… you and Mom are like… polar opposites. She’s spent her whole life hiding, and you… you wereout there, doing things, not letting being an omega slow you down.”
I sigh. “I was running on borrowed time. And that loan… ran out. It never really worked.”
She grabs my arms. “But itdidwork! Just look—look at how much you did! You were—” She lowers her voice, wary of our parents in the next room. I told Annie about half of what happened, and them… about a tenth of that. “—you basically starred in a big-time movie! If Mom and Dad had their heads screwed on straight, they’d be… they’d be super fucking proud of you. I’m proud, Mylo. I’m really fucking proud of you.”
