

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter to me.”
“I know,” I say with a sigh, “but you’re saying that before you’ve experienced the craziness that is my parents and their life choices.”
He lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles. “I’ve experienced you and your crazy. That’s all the information I need.”
“Hey!” I try to sound indignant, but my laugh gives me away.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Okay. I’m suitably warned. But I still say you’re worrying over nothing. They created you. And I love you, so I’m gonna love them. Besides, you met my family, and that went okay.”
“Your mom and dad are like Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver. Just with more money.”
“They’re just Mom and Dad to me.”
“You’re the apple of their eye.”
He shrugs. “I’m their only son. I can’t help that they got it right the first time and didn’t want to risk having a devil child second time around.”
“Can you stop being so goddamn perfect?” I ask.
Now it’s his turn to laugh. “Never. Now tell me where to turn, because I’m starting to think you’re taking me somewhere to dispose of my body.”
“Not quite, but close.”
“Fucking fantastic,” he mutters, and I hold my breath when a few moments later, my parents’ “commune” comes into view.
”Ah… baby, something you wanna tell me?” he asks, pulling his truck to a stop outside the middle house. To anyone else—okay, everyone else—the three connected houses in front of us may seem a bit strange. Maybe houses is a bit of a stretch. Picture three large trailers in an H-like formation with two covered paths connecting them all to each other.
I undo my seatbelt and turn to face him. “Right. The house on the left is where Malcolm sleeps. The middle is for Mom and Dad, and the one on the right is for Justice. Mom lives part-time with him and part-time with Dad, and Dad is the same with Malcolm.”
His forehead bunches as if he’s trying to get his head around the complicated sleeping arrangements of the four adults in my life. “Do they have a schedule?”
“No, just a three-on, three-off roster.”
He jerks back. “You’re joking, right?”
I giggle and shake my head. “Nope.”
“Damn. I hope you don’t expect me to share you with anyone else. I’m not sure I could keep to any roster.”



