“I just…I don’t think you want to get in the middle of all this.” Alyssa places her hands on her belly and leans back in the chair. “I mean, this kid…look at him.” They both turn to where Ross is sitting on the barstool, his lips closed over the straw in his chocolate milk, feet dangling over the edge, staring intently at Marv, who has his head turned away from Ross at an unnatural angle, one arm curving around his beer.

“Because he’s basically exactly what my and Dallas’s son would have looked like?”

“No,” says Alyssa. “I mean, he’s just a baby.”

“I’m not trying to make anything weird happen, Lyss. I promise. I just want Dallas to see him.”

“Does Nicki know about this?”

Finn laughs, taking a drink of her beer. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re playing a very dangerous game.” Alyssa readjusts herself in her seat, reaching around to pull her T-shirt down over the small of her back. The first time Finn met her, on the third day of high school, she was all blond hair and braces and attitude, standing against the wall in gym class, as opposed to the idea of physical fitness as a school subject as Finn was. She was the first real friend of her own that Finn ever had, not someone who just tolerated her because they were friends with Nicki, or because they wanted to be friends with Nicki. Back then, Finn was the one who got Alyssa through math tests and history essays and science projects. Finn had been good at navigating school, but as it turns out, Alyssa is better at navigating life. It has taken Finn a long time to understand there is a difference.

Finn puts down her glass. “I won’t even tell Ross who he is,” she says, not mentioning that Ross already knows that they’re on their way to see his father. It doesn’t matter – to Ross, his father could be anyone. He probably assumes Marv is his father, Finn realizes with a shudder, watching Ross watch Marv. “Come on, Lyss. Where can I find him?”

Alyssa sighs. “He’s back working at Desi’s.”

Finn almost laughs. “Seriously?”