“Welcome to the crazy house.” Gareth shakes his head at both boys before looking at me.

I smile up at him. “I grew up with four sisters, so this was my normal until I moved out to go to college.”

“You have four sisters?” Max asks, peering at me from around his father’s side.

“I do.”

“Are they all as pretty as you are?” he asks, and I notice a hint of pink hit his cheeks.

Okay, I think I just fell in love.

“Prettier,” I say quietly, and he eyes me doubtfully.

“I always wanted a sister,” Mitchell pipes in, and I glance at Gareth, noticing he’s frowning at his oldest. “Well… I did.” Mitchell shrugs his already broad shoulders, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry, kid. That’s not gonna happen,” Gareth says, and my insides twist, reminding me that I didn’t get what I need to get from the drug store today, which means the seventy-two hours I have are quickly ticking away.

“Pizza’s here!” Max shouts, making me jump, then I watch him rush to the door and pull it open before the doorbell even rings.

“Finally,” Mitchell says, sounding a lot like his dad as he walks past me toward the door to help his brother.

“Baby.” Gareth’s fingers capture my chin, gaining my attention, and I focus on the man standing above me. “What’s in your head?” he asks quietly.

Oh nothing, except I’m not on birth control, the condom broke last night and I haven’t gone to get the morning after pill which means there is a chance Mitchell could get his wish. “Nothing’s in my head,” I lie, and his eyes search mine then move over my face narrowing slightly.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“Dinner is served!” Max shouts, and I pull in a relieved breath when Gareth releases the hold he has on me.

“We’ll talk later,” he states, and I nod even though the thought of what we need to talk about makes me uneasy. Giving me a contemplative look, he takes my hand and we go to the open kitchen, where both Max and Mitchell are placing pieces of pizza onto their plates along with wings slathered in BBQ sauce.

“Do you really like these things?” Max asks, holding up a tin of sardines, and I laugh.

“Yes.” I take the tin from him and pull back the tab.

He eyes the tiny fish then mutters, “Gross.”

“You can’t say they’re gross unless you’ve tried one,” I tell him, accepting a plate with two slices of pizza from Gareth.

“What do they taste like?” Mitchell asks.

“Salty?” I shrug.

“I’ll try it.” He holds out his plate, takes a small piece of fish, and places it on the end of his slice.

“I’ll try it too.” Max pushes his plate toward me, and I hear Gareth laugh as I place another small piece on the end of his slice.

“On three,” Mitchell says, and after they count, I watch both boys take a bite, and the two of them have completely different facial expressions as they chew. Mitchell looks like he is trying to figure out if he enjoys the new taste, while Max just looks like he wants to be sick.

“I can’t.” Max gags, running to the sink, and I start to laugh.

“It’s actually not bad.” Mitchell shrugs, taking another slice of fish from the tin and placing it on his pizza.

“Do you want to try?” I look up at Gareth, who’s grinning and shaking his head.

“You have to try it, Dad,” Max urges while washing out his mouth.

“I think I’ll stick to what I know,” he tells his son then asks, “What are we watching tonight?”

“Not some girl movie,” Max says then looks at me sheepishly. “No offense.”

“None taken.” I smile. “I don’t really like girl movies either.”

“What’s your favorite movie?” Mitchell asks.

I don’t even have to think about the answer. “The Goonies. It was one of my mom’s favorites, so we used to watch it a lot when I was a kid. Anytime it’s on TV now, I have to stop to watch it, even if it’s almost ending.”

“I’ve never seen it. What’s it about?” Max asks.

“It’s funny. It’s about a group of friends who go in search of pirate treasure so they can save their families’ homes, only they end up running into some bad guys and they have to outsmart them.” When I notice both boys are looking at me like I’ve grown a third head, I shrug. “It’s hard to explain. You have to watch it.”

“I haven’t seen that movie in years.” Gareth rests his hand against my back then looks at the boys. “Change of plans. I’m renting The Goonies tonight; you guys can pick the movie next weekend.”

“Cool,” they both agree without a fight.

“Get drinks,” Gareth orders them then looks down at me. “What do you want? We’ve got Coke, tea, and water.”

“Coke please.”

“Grab two Cokes,” he says toward the fridge, where Max is standing with the door open.

“Got it, Dad.”

“Come on.” Gareth urges me toward the living room, where we settle on the couch side by side. Once we are seated, the boys come in and Max hands me and his dad each a Coke before taking a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table, while Mitchell lounges at the end of the couch opposite us. Gareth starts up the movie, and I dig into my pizza, listening to the boys laugh at one of my favorite scenes.

Hearing that and replaying the last half hour, I know Gareth was right. I just hope we can handle some of the hoops we might have to jump through.

Nine

Gareth

“SO, WHAT DID you two think?” December asks as soon as The Goonies comes to an end, and both boys, who are now lounging on the opposite end of the couch from where I have December tucked against my side, turn to look at her.

“It was awesome.” Max smiles. “And the Baby Ruth guy was totally cool.”

“The kid with all the gadgets was my favorite.” Mitchell grins. “But my favorite part was when they sent that girl’s jacket up to those jerks.”

“I like that part too,” December agrees. “But I love when Chunk gets caught by the Fratellis and they interrogate him, and he tells them about puking at the movies.”

“Yeah, that was funny,” Max says, and Mitchell and I both laugh. “Do you know any other old movies like that one?”

“Have you seen Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead?” she asks, and the boys shake their heads. “What about Adventures in Babysitting?” They shake their heads again. “Okay, what about Back to the Future, The Gremlins, or Beetlejuice?”

“We might be here all night if you keep naming movies, babe,” I say, and she turns to frown at me, making me want to kiss the adorable annoyed look off her face.

“Those are some of the best movies of all time. How have they not seen them?”

My lips twitch. “The best movies of all time?”

“Uh… yeah. Back to the Future is iconic.”

“Can we watch that one now?” Max asks, and I look at the clock then him.