After his phone call with Victoria, he’d gone to the kitchen for a glass of water only to hear Becca giggling with her friends on an early morning skype session. He’d stood on the other side of her door, listening to them talk about boys until it grew too unbearable. Connor or Kaden or whoever the fuck had gorgeous dimples. For a feminist collective, their debates certainly didn’t pass the Bechdel Test.

“I can’t go to sleep,” Becca whined.

“Honey, you understand cause and effect, right?” his sister asked. “School is never going to start later so you need to adjust yourself to get better results. Go to bed earlier or you’re going to be a mess like your uncle.”

John glanced up. “What happened to a united front, Jess?”

“What time did you go to bed last night?”

His face warmed from her accusation. His sister or niece had no idea what he engaged in last night, but even he had to blush from the brazenness of it all. John had never gotten a woman off over the phone and discovered he was actually pretty good at it. He cleared his throat. “I’m not the one on trial here.”

“Children pattern their behavior after the adults in their lives,” Jessi said in a tone John had always hated.

“Becca has a mind of her own,” he said as he stuffed random papers into a folder and shoved it in his drawer. The system he’d created was falling apart the more he talked to Jessi and now he wanted to toss all of his mess into a drawer. “It’s not like she’s going to pick up my coke habit.”

“Ha, ha...”

“Mom, how long until you get back?” Becca asked, ignoring the bickering siblings.

“I’ll come home in about eight weeks, sweetie. Just in time for the holidays.”

“You’re sure?” Becca pressed. “Because you’re missing Halloween and we always celebrate Halloween together.”

Jessi forced a smile. “I know, honey. Mama’s just got to finish up a project here and I’ll be back before you know it. Uncle Johnny will take you trick-or-treating.”

“I will,” John said, rubbing her arm.

“He won’t dress up,” she said.

Jessi directed her gaze at her brother. “He won’t?”

“I’m putting ‘find a costume’ at the top of my list,” he assured them both.

His sister flashed a brighter smile. “Well there you go.”

Becca rolled her eyes, a constant habit of hers. “I guess...”

“Becca, could you be a dear and let me talk to your uncle for a minute? I’ll call you again before I go to bed.”

“Sure.” She backed away from the computer and slowly left his office.

“Do your homework at the checkout desk where Martha can see you,” John called after her.

“Do I have to?”

“Don’t sass, Becca!” Jessi shouted from the computer.