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I rolled my eyes and thought about throwing something at him. I was holding a cup of good Scotch, and I debated whether I wanted to drink it or nail him with it.

I was crowding Ro from behind as she faced him and listened like he was the most interesting guy in the world. She didn’t even seem to be aware that I was there.

If they started talking about church, I was going to shank him and let him bleed out in the water.

I was already looking around for something sharp.

My back was to the side of the pool, and I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

I turned and smiled with delight at my two favorite little hooligans.

They were staring intently at me like they shared a brain, and I just knew they were about to do or say something hilarious and delightful.

The two little boy cousins didn’t look much alike. Dair’s boy, Cameron, was the spitting image of him, dark hair, serious eyes that were way too intelligent for someone so young or anyone in general.

Heath’s boy, Gerard, was, in contrast, the spitting image of him: a stocky blond pit bull of a child. He looked like he could have been the other boy’s bodyguard, or a child assassin.

No, they couldn’t have passed for twins, but they operated like they had shared a womb.

The little boy prodigy was staring at me intently, studying me like I was some sort of specimen. The little pit bull had his arms folded like he was acting as backup.

“My mom says you’re a wastrel,” Cameron told me, “I wanted to see what she meant.”

I aimed my glare across the yard at the gloating blond bombshell who was his mother. She tipped a glass at me, smiling. It was probably water since she was pregnant and just starting to show in her bikini, still absolutely stunning with it.

I tipped mine back.

I looked at the kid and pointed at Iris. “Did your mother put you up to this? Did she tell you to say that?”

The prodigy giggled and ran off. The pit bull stared me down a bit then followed suit.

“You’re a menace!” I called out to Iris.

She giggled, the same joyful light in her eyes as her son had.

Adorable but a bonafide menace.

Dair was moving by us in the pool now, dragging a squealing Violet around on a float.

“Give it to me straight,” I told him. “How deeply is your meddling wife plotting against me?”

He just laughed and shook his head.

Without meaning to I hooked an arm around Ro’s waist and pulled her back into my chest.

I felt her stiffen and I let her go instantly. We’d had a very practical, reasonable conversation on the way here where we’d agreed not to tell anyone our business, about keeping it to ourselves and keeping our distance from each other around everyone else. I’d just forgotten for a second.

I looked around to see who had noticed. Iris was smiling at me rather smugly, but no one else seemed to have taken note, when I’d have preferred for literally anyone else to have seen it.

Cameron and Gerard were crowded around her, when she bent down and whispered into both of their ears.

They ran up to me grinning. They both had her infectious smile. “Mom says you’re being reprogrammed. What does that mean?” Cameron asked.

“What does comeuppance mean?” Gerard asked at the same time.

“I knew I wasn’t just paranoid!” I shouted at her.

She shrugged, unfazed. “I was never hiding it. I warned you. I’m doing God’s work.”