“And then you’ll adopt another one, and the whole process will start all over again,” I joked, making Bram jerk his head up to look at me.

“Ani’s been talking to you?” he asked. “About the adoption shit?”

“Not in a while,” I replied, watching his expression. “You guys get that figured out yet?”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, looking back at Arie. “It’s just a lot, you know? I love Arie, but it’s a lot of work.”

“It won’t always be so hard,” I murmured, thinking of my older nieces and nephews. “If scatterbrained Kate can do it, you’ve got it handled.”

Bram laughed. “You make a good point.”

“Don’t take it for granted, man,” I said, meeting his eyes. “You’re a lucky motherfucker.”

“I don’t,” he replied seriously. He picked up a cardboard book and threw it at my head. “And watch your mouth around my kid.”

“Hey,” I said, dodging the book. “You’re just as bad!”

“I’m the parent—I get a pass,” he said flatly.

I scoffed. “Hey, you, uh, feel like going into town with me today?”

“Oh hell no,” Bram said immediately.

“Come on,” I wheedled. “I need to get Sarai a ring, and I don’t want to go to the jewelry store by myself. I’ll end up buying something I can’t afford and Sarai will never wear, and you know they don’t take returns on that shit.”

“Ask Trev to go with you. He’ll do it.”

“I don’t want Trev,” I replied. “I want my brother there.”

Bram laughed. “You already asked him, didn’t you?”

“He turned me down flat,” I confessed. “He said that Etta slipped in dog poop outside and got it everywhere and he couldn’t leave the house until all the evidence was cleaned up.”

Bram laughed.

“And not to tell Morgan,” I said, laughing with him. “Because she asked him to clean the shit up the day before yesterday, and he didn’t do it.”

“Animals are a pain in the ass,” Bram said.

“I’d still like a dog, if I wasn’t gone all day every day,” I replied.

“Yeah, me too.” He stood up. “Maybe once this one’s a little older and wiping her own ass. I can only clean up so much shit in a day.”

“You just threw a book at my head for cursing,” I accused, putting my feet up on the coffee table. “My niece is going to have a filthy vocabulary if you and Ani don’t start filtering yourselves.”

“Fuck off,” he replied, knocking my feet off the table. “I’m gonna get dressed so we can go.”

“Missed you,” I said, smiling up at his scowl.

“Missed you, too, asshole.”

*  *  *