find him and athk if he’ll give me a ride, like the dolphinth we thaw on TV.”
Tara grinned at the sound of her son. Those front two teeth would grow in soon and she was going to miss the little lisp to his words. “Zack, I want you to put on a clean shirt, honey. We’ve been invited to Mr. and Mrs. Bennett’s house.” Or is it Mr. and Mr. and Mrs.? Tara felt a twinge of guilt thinking that about the nice couple, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was more than simply brotherly friendship between Jessica and her brother-in-law.
“Really! Cool!” Zack bounded back into his room.
She took her clothes into the bathroom and got changed into them. Zack hollered a few more questions from his room. I need to tell him to stop yelling, or we’re going to get a complaint from the other guests here.
She was coming out of the bathroom when she heard another knock at her door. As it was the same as before she assumed it was Jessica again and opened the door wide this time. Sure enough, Jessica stood in the hallway, but her demeanor was much different than it was before. Both Jelani and Marcario stood with her. Both of them smiled gently at her, but Jessica looked very distressed.
“Hi, Tara. You remember my husband, Jelani, and his brother, Marcario.”
“Yes, of course. Jessica, is everything okay? I mean if you have to cancel dinner then I understand.” Tara’s brain went into overdrive trying to think of all the conceivable situations that might crop up and what she could do to solve them. She would go back to the original plan of taking Zack to the bus down the street. Hopefully they were still open…
“Oh, no, I want you to come for dinner, but I need to explain something first.”
Zack ran out of his room at that moment. “Yeah, we’re going out now right! Hi, Mthith Bennett, did you know I have my own TV and I can thee the lake from my window? Do you know a monther liveth in there?”
“Hey, buddy.” Jelani smiled down at Zack. “I don’t think you met my brother Marcario earlier.”
Her son smiled widely, hero worship shining on his face. “Nice to meet you, Mthr Bennett.”
Marcario leaned down to shake Zack’s hand. “Do you know the creature in the lake’s named Blavet?”
“Really…”
Jessica touched Tara’s arm, drawing her attention from watching her son interact with the two men. “Tara, can I have a word with you?”
“Yes, of course.” She felt a twinge in her chest as Jessica led her a few feet into her room. Jelani and Marcario stayed in the doorway. Both of them had squatted down to Zack’s height and were listening to his animated discussion on Transformers and lake creatures.
“I forgot to mention something earlier. I don’t think it’s a big deal or you’re that kind of person, but my guys mentioned just because I’m used to it doesn’t mean everyone will be.”
Tara was trying to follow what Jessica was saying as well and think up answers to every question that plagued her. “Jessica, what is it?”
“I’m Mated to both Jelani and Marcario.”
“Mated?”
“Married, committed, forever and ever, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, that’s it?” Tara couldn’t help but chuckle at the relief on Jessica’s face. “I don’t care about that. Both of them seem like very sweet men and I’d never want anyone to feel uncomfortable around me. I’m a single mom and that has gained me a certain reputation with certain narrow-minded people, too.”
“Oh, forget about them.” Jessica gave her a quick hug. “You’ve found yourself right where you need to be. Ecstasy is the most accepting place in the world.”
“That’s nice to hear, but we’re only here until I find out about the car and then I have to keep going. I have a job in Manitoba waiting for me.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Jessica waved her hand. “Sometimes you think you need to be in one place and you end up somewhere else you never imagined or were too scared to