I stared at my son, who looked angry and worried.

This meant I sighed, which was a choice I made because the other one was losing my mind that Peg and Trent made my kid angry and worried.

The good part was Merry being there, being close, having a hold on me, and shifting me around so we could walk connected to my house.

The bad part was my kid was in my house and I had to explain to him his dad and Peggy weren’t acting crazy, because, at least for Peg, she just was.

We made it into the house and Merry had barely closed the front door behind us when Ethan launched in.

“You don’t have to tell me what went down.” He lifted his chin. “You told me to go to my room. You didn’t tell me not to open my window so I couldn’t watch and listen.”

He was right. I didn’t.

I made a mental note should something like this happen again to do just that as I replied, “Then I’m not sure what there is to add, little man.”

“You started whispering,” he accused. “I didn’t hear that part.”

“And that’s ’cause you shouldn’t, buddy,” Merry said carefully.

Ethan glared at Merry for a moment but only for a moment.

Then he declared, “Right,” stomped to the phone, and jerked it out of its base.

I wasn’t sure that was good.

“Ethan,” I said warningly.

He turned his angry face to me, then he looked down and punched buttons.

“Ethan,” I said again, moving his way.

He put the phone to his ear.

“Baby,” I whispered, getting close. “Maybe you need to think about this. Don’t act in anger. That can lead to bad things, things you might regret, and I don’t want that for you, kid.”

He looked up at me, his eyes sliding to the side as I felt Merry stop there behind me. Then Ethan opened his mouth.

“Yeah, Peg? It’s Ethan,” he stated. He waited. Then he said, “Dad’s drivin’? Okay, I’ll tell you. I wanna see you again never. You got that? I never wanna see you again. Not you. Not Dad. But especially not you. I heard what you said to my mom and that isn’t right. Dad knows it isn’t. He knows. Don’t know why you don’t. He left us all alone, he can’t come back and be all stupid. And you can’t do nothin’ because you’re nothin’ to me.”

He drew in a deep breath and I drew in one with him.

Then he kept giving it to her.

“I gotta tell you, this sucks ’cause I’m gonna miss Mary and Tobias. But it doesn’t suck because I’m not gonna miss you. You bother my mom again, I’ll tell you to your face. You push it, I’ll say it to a judge. I’m never goin’ with you. Not ever. You find a way to make me, I’ll run away. I gotta look after my mom and you made me hafta do that by making it this way. So, later. You got it in you to be halfway decent, give Mary and Tobias a hug from me. Maybe when all of us are grown up, we can get together and talk about how crazy you are. But that’ll have to wait until we’re all grown up.”

With that, he punched a button and tossed the phone to the couch.

He looked back to me. “Okay. Done. Now we got, like, no time to eat pizza. We’ll have to snarf it down before I gotta meet Teddy at the game, which sucks, and I’m blamin’ that on Peggy too.” He looked to Merry. “I gotta get my bag, then we can go.”

On that, he tramped from the room, Merry and me turning to watch him go.

“Just to say,” Merry started softly, and my thoughts on my kid, worried, my eyes drifted up to him, “not sure how much better I gotta get to know your boy.”

I felt my lips part, but he wasn’t done.

He looked down at me. “Think I just fell in love, brown eyes.”

I couldn’t stop it, no way.

I swayed toward him.

He caught me in both arms.

And he still wasn’t done.

“He’s a good man, takin’ care of his mom.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

Merry smiled at me, soft and sweet.

Ethan stormed into the room, looked at us, and stopped.

“Okay, maybe I was wrong about the gooey, ’cause…gross,” he declared.

Merry didn’t let me go.

Ethan threw out an annoyed hand. “We gonna get pizza or what?”

“We’re gonna get pizza, bud,” Merry said, dropping one arm but keeping his other around me to guide me Ethan’s way.

“You okay?” I asked him as we moved.

“Uh…no,” Ethan answered. “Peggy’s totally crazy and Dad just stood there and let her mouth off at you. All he cared about was that Merry’s a cop. What’s that all about?”

“Well…” I let that trail off, not sure I felt like sharing Trent’s rap sheet and drug history and thus his natural aversion to law enforcement with Ethan at this juncture.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ethan lifted his chin again, eyes on me. “He’s weak. I’m not weak. I’m like you. I can take care of myself. I can take care of you. And I’m like Merry, who’s all, get in your vehicle and go, real angry-like but still patient when you just gotta take one look at him and see he so totally wanted to whale on Dad.” Ethan looked to Merry. “I kinda wish you did, though Mom says hitting people is wrong. Dad needs some sense knocked into him.”

Merry let out a sharp, startled bark of laughter.

I swallowed mine back and, once I managed this, said, “Ethan, honey, you need to calm down.” He looked to me. “You need a shot of tequila?” I offered.

“Yes,” he answered instantly.

“Well, you’re gonna have to make do with the buzz of a two-liter glass of Coke at Reggie’s,” I returned.

He stared at me and suddenly the emotion that was controlling him shifted and I saw his jaw set, but he couldn’t fight it.

His chin wobbled.

My heart skipped and the pain of it nearly took me to my knees.

“They’re not gonna get me, are they, Mom?”

“No, baby,” I answered quickly, firmly, but softly, holding back, wanting to rush to him and put my arms around him, but not wanting to mother him when he was going through a lot, holding it together, and doing it in front of Merry.

He looked into my eyes, nodded, and said, “Sorry, Mom, but he knows.” He looked up to Merry. “You’re police. You know the law. Are they gonna take me away from my mom?”

“Absolutely not, Ethan,” Merry stated quickly, firmly, and not softly.

Ethan swallowed.

Then he nodded at Merry.

“Maybe we should cancel things with Teddy,” I suggested, and Ethan’s attention came back to me. “After pizza, we can all hang for a while.”

“Only if Merry stays for waffles in the morning,” Ethan decreed.

I tensed.

Merry didn’t.

He said, “If it’s cool with your mom, I’m here.”

I drew in a deep breath and nodded.

Merry slid his arm around my shoulders again and stated, “Your mom and me’ll go to the game with you and you can hang with your bud. Then we’ll bring you home and we can all hang here.”

The worry slipped away as Ethan’s face lit when he realized he had me, Merry, pizza, the game, time with his friend, and together time at home. “Awesome! I hate to miss the ’dogs when they’re playing at home.”

“Then we got plans,” Merry muttered.

“I’ll take my bag back and call Teddy,” Ethan announced, grabbed his bag and took off.

I turned to Merry.

“So, we fucked around for a week and a half getting to the zone where we’d start, then I catapulted you straight to hyperdrive with my kid, my life, and my problems. Does your hair feel like it’s on fire?”

Merry smiled at me. “Nope.”

“Well, that’s good,” I mumbled, looking at his shirt.

“Cher.”

I lifted my eyes to his.

“That thinkin’ I did was not about knowin’ I wanted back in your pants,” he stated. “I already knew that. It was about me knowin’ I wanted to be a part of your life. I wanted this to happen, honey. It happens now, two days from now, two weeks from now, I wanted it. I got it early. I’m down with that. So stop worrying.”

I glared at him. “You can stop being perfect. I’m getting a complex.”