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Nate fingered his jaw, wincing as he eyed his parents. His father was sitting in his armchair, his mum perched on the arm.
“I don’t understand, May.”
“It’s a girl, Adam,” she said. “They were fighting over a girl. It was bound to happen at some point.”
“You tell me,” his father instructed.
“He thought I’d slept with her.” Nate stretched his mouth, trying to ease the ache in his jaw.
“And did you?” he demanded and then held up his hand. “Sorry, Son, that’s none of my business. Just make sure you stay safe.”
“Adam! Are you even listening?” his mother cried out.
“Of course, I am, woman,” he snapped. “But you’re not making any sense. What’s it to Matt what Nate does with another girl? Oh! Is he gay? Is Matt gay, and he’s developed a crush on you, Nate?”
“No, Dad, no.” Nate grimaced; he loved Matt, but not like that.
“Well, it wouldn’t matter if he was. Or you for that matter. But if you like each other, there could be—”
“Dad.” Nate put his hand on his shoulder and perched on the other arm. “Thanks, Dad. But you don’t need to. I’m not gay, Matt’s not gay, and we don’t like each other like that.”
His dad frowned. “What’s the problem then?”
“Oh, my god.” His mother rubbed her forehead. “Honestly, you’re a brilliant man, but sometimes you’re so brilliant you’re stupid.”
His father snorted. “I’m not sure how to take that. Just as well I love you.”
His mother stroked her fingers down the back of his head. “And I love you. But the problem here, Adam, is they are all dating Lily.”
“They’re all—” He blinked at Nate. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
“Does Matt know you are all dating her as well?”
“Yeah. We agreed to it.”
“You’ve got a polyamorous relationship going with her. How long?”
“Pretty much since we met her. It wasn’t like—I don’t know. She—well, she’s amazing. We all think it, we all like her, but she likes us all too. Said she couldn’t choose between us. So we suggested she didn’t—choose that is” He waited for the anger, so when his dad laughed, he stared at him.
“Adam!”
“What? Come on, May, you know me. I spent my formative years in a commune; there’s little I haven’t seen or know about.”
“But it isn’t right.”
“Why not?” he demanded, staring at her.
Nate watched his mother struggle to articulate a reason. “Well, one man, one woman.”
“For you, for me, yes. But Nate isn’t us, and neither are his cousins. Maybe they’re one women men and she’s the one woman for all of them. Maybe this is just youthful exploration and it’ll all fizzle out in a few months.” He turned to Nate. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I will tell you one thing. Love can come and go, but blood never will. You four have been joined at the hip since your playpen days. Don’t throw that away unless you are one hundred and ten percent sure you can’t breathe without her. If it turns out she is the one for you all then do whatever it takes to keep it together.”
“He’s going to get his heart broken. You can’t tell him that.”
Adam tugged her onto his lap, and Nate moved to give them room.
“It’s his life to lead. You took a chance on me despite your father’s distrust of a long haired, unwashed seventeen-year-old layabout, and we’re still here twenty odd years later. What’s to say that this girl isn’t his chance?”
“You were never a layabout. Unwashed, maybe.” She pecked him on his nose and wiggled out of his lap to stand up. “I just worry about you, Ignatius. It’s my right as your mother, and because I love you. But, well, maybe your father is right.”
“Of course, I am. How could there be any doubt?” he said. He sent Nate a wink, dug a journal out from beside him and opened it. “We’re both here for you if you need us, Son.” He patted his pocket absently.
A rush of love for them swept through Nate, bringing a misting to his eyes that annoyed him.
“Here, where you left them.” His mother passed his glasses to him.
He took them with a slow wink at her and tugged her back onto his lap.
“Adam, I need to get on.”
“Later. Let me read to you about the new microorganism that may strengthen antibiotics.”
“Good grief, how could I resist that?” May laughed, settling on his lap.
“You can’t. You never could.”
Nate shook his head as his father closed the journal with no intentions of reading to her. He couldn’t help but smile. He’d never appreciated how liberal and laid back his father was, but he was thankful for it now.
“Thanks.” He caught their attention, and they smiled at him.
“You’re welcome, Son.” Adam slid his glasses onto his nose and looked at him over the top of them. “What you do with the girl is up to you. But I do suggest you sort it with Matt quickly. It’ll fester otherwise.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Nate sighed heavily and headed to the door. He would talk to him, he just hoped he’d be able to control his anger long enough to make Matt see that he would never rape Lily, or anyone for that matter. Because that’s what he’d implied.
“We’re Cohens, Son. Being right is in the blood,” called his father as he went out.
Nate laughed and shut the door behind him.
