Naomi stared off after her mom and her aunt as they walked through the patio door onto the lawn. "What's Zia Val so sad about?" she asked.
Tosh shrugged. "Maybe it's about Nonno."
Harpreet wished the two of them a thousand miles away, but in order to be alone with Logan, Emma would also have to go, and so would Ajit. So many eyes on them, making sure they were being good.
After a few minutes, Naomi's uncle came down the stairs, looking frantically around, and when he saw Naomi's mom and her aunt on the lawn, he went out there, and the uncle and aunt began talking heatedly, with Naomi's mom in between them, a hand on the arm of each, as if breaking up a fight.
"This is getting awkward," Harpreet said. "Does anyone want to move out of sight of this?"
"But then we'd have to go upstairs," Naomi said, "and it's all adults up there."
"There are the bedrooms down the hall. We can watch videos on your devices, Naomi," she said hopefully. One step at a time.
"But I have to go upstairs and get them," Naomi whined.
"I'll go with you," Emma said, getting up. Would Tosh and Ajit go too?
"Could you get mine?" Tosh asked. "I give you permission to go into my room this one time only."
Naomi looked at Tosh, then at Harpreet and Logan, and smiled mischievously. "Sure," she said. "You and Ajit keep an eye on these two."
Harpreet watched Naomi and Emma leave with dismay. She hadn't missed the hug Logan had given Naomi at the cemetery, nor the triumphant look Naomi had given her. She was sure Logan had just been doing the right thing, offering comfort, and Naomi had turned it into romance. Now Naomi was as good as declaring to the others that something was going on between Logan and Harpreet. Not that Ajit needed telling. He'd been teasing Harpreet relentlessly like the little turd he was ever since he'd found out on Saturday.
To Harpreet's surprise, Tosh said, "You two? Really?"
Logan shrugged. The adults were still arguing outside, and Harpreet got up and walked down the hall, uncomfortable watching it.
To her relief, Logan followed, but so did Tosh and Ajit.
"I don't suppose you two want to go into one room and let us have a little privacy in the other?" Harpreet asked.
"I don't think Mom and Dad would be happy with me if I did," Ajit said.
Harpreet crossed her arms. "We just want to talk."
"I'm sure you two talk over text all the time."
They all stood there, in the hallway, in tense silence until Naomi and Emma returned with the devices.
"Can I speak with Logan and Harpreet in privacy, please?" Naomi asked.
Ajit and Tosh looked at the three of them, assessing what kind of hijinks they could get up to if all three of them were in one room rather than just two.
"Are you okay, Naomi?" Emma asked.
"I'm fine. Could you just hang out with Tosh and Ajit for a few minutes? I won't be long."
"Okay. Then we can watch our favourite video together?"
Naomi smiled. "Sure thing."
Harpreet felt a cold stone in her belly as she followed the other two into one room, Naomi closing the door behind her.
Then Naomi said something that surprised her.
"I found out on Sunday that my mom and dad cheat on each other, and they're okay about it."
"Hw-what?!" Harpreet sputtered.
Naomi nodded. "My dad with Joanie, and my mom with Auntie Rachel."
"Rachel?" Logan asked with a gasp. "Wait, who told you?"
"Well, first, my mom told me about Joanie. Then I confronted my dad about it, and he told me about Rachel. They were both trying to deflect blame from themselves, and it was gross. I had to ask Auntie Rachel to confirm it, and she was good about it. She explained it so much better than they did."
They all took a moment, Harpreet with a little bit of shock, a little bit of revulsion, and a little bit of academic interest in how they maintained the balancing act.
"Rachel's into chicks?" Logan asked, and something in his face made Harpreet grimace.
"Is there anything wrong with that?" Naomi asked, crossing her arms.
"On the contrary," Logan said. "I suspected Al wouldn't be enough for her, and I was right."
"Ew," Harpreet said. "Are you crushing on your mom?"
"She's not my mom," Logan said forcefully. "And I wouldn't call it a crush. She's way too old for me."
"You know," Harpreet said, "the more you talk, the less I think I have a crush on you. You do better over text."
"So, I can have him, then?" Naomi asked, smirking.
"Wait, hold on," Logan said, blushing and raising his hands. "I just meant... I don't know, I really admire her. You know she saved my life, right?"
"Yeah, I went to the hospital to see her after she broke her ribs stopping a gunshot with her bullet-proof vest," Naomi said. "Auntie Rachel's a bad-ass."
"How do you feel about your mom and Auntie Rachel?" Harpreet asked.
Naomi shrugged. "I don't like to think about the two of them... you know. But on the other hand, I love Auntie Rachel almost as much as my mom, so it seems almost natural to me that they love each other that much. As long as Dad isn't threatened by it, Auntie Rachel could almost be like a third parent to me. Does that make sense?"
"Actually, it does," Logan said. "I mean, I see your dad as a third parent too."
"That doesn't make us almost siblings," Naomi protested.
Logan sighed. "Look, Naomi, I like you, I really do."
"Oh, yeah?" Harpreet said.
Logan continued as if he hadn't heard her. "You know your dad would kill me, right? And I want to stay in his good graces."
"My dad would probably kill any boy who came to take me out. I'm sure Harpreet's would too."
"I can't do this," Logan said. "I don't want to hurt either of you, and maybe it's for the best if none of us do anything, because of the age difference thing."
"My mom actually used the words statutory rape," Naomi said with a smirk.
Logan grunted, looking gut-punched. "You see?"
"Can't we just like each other and not have it be any more complicated than that?" Harpreet said. "It's not as if I'm even ready to... you know... do anything."
"I might like to see what kissing is like," Naomi said. "That's about as far as I'll go."
Logan put his hands over his face.
"Neither of us are going to be able to go out on a real date with you until we're older," Harpreet said, "Not if we don't want my parents coming along."
"Jesus," Logan hissed. "We need to stop talking about this."
"I propose we all go out together," Naomi said. "We can take the others along if it will keep us all good. If my parents can make two partners work, why can't we?"
Harpreet had no interest in sharing, but she also knew there was no way to date Logan alone without making it into a production. "What do you envision happening?" she asked. "A movie theatre, Logan in between us, each of us holding his hand?"
"Or if it's dark enough, and nobody notices..." Naomi looked to the closed door, then, before anybody could react, she zoomed in and kissed Logan quickly on the lips.
Logan blushed, and Naomi put a hand over her mouth, looking both sheepish and pleased at the same time.
Harpreet, not one to be outdone, took Logan's face with her hand and drew him in for a longer kiss, closed mouth (she wasn't sure how to French kiss yet,) but she felt his breath on her cheek, and his lips were soft, and as a first kiss with a boy went it was pretty damned good.
Logan looked stunned now, stammering both thanks and pleas to both of them to be careful. Naomi looked like she was gearing up to one-up Harpreet, but it was then that the door opened, and Ajit popped his head in.
"Dad just texted me," he said. "He wants to know if us kids want to go see a movie; I think they're winding down the reception."
They all looked at each other in surprise, then burst out laughing, remembering the scenario Harpreet had just described.
"What's so funny?" Ajit asked suspiciously. He looked at his sister, and Harpreet hoped he didn't see any evidence on her face of the flush of good feeling she'd experienced with that kiss.
"Nothing," Logan said. "I'm cool with that, but it will have to be something we can all watch, including Emma."
"Okay." Ajit texted Dad back, then said, "are you done having your private chat?"
Naomi looked at them and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Let's watch videos until the parents come and get us."
It turned out only one parent came to get them, and it was over an hour later. Harpreet was surprised to see it was Al.
He explained, "I've booked a van so I can take all of you together."
Harpreet didn't want to ask him what her parents were doing and why they weren't coming too, because she was supposed to be cool; she was supposed to want to go out with Logan and the others, and hadn't she just expressed dismay about her parents accompanying them?
Naomi had no trouble asking, though. "Is it just you taking us, Uncle Al?"
"Yeah, your parents want to clean up, and Harpreet, your parents are going to my house to hang out with Rachel."
Harpreet thought that was odd. Why would her parents go to Rachel's house on their own, without Naomi's parents going too? They hardly ever did anything when they weren't all together.
"Who's taking Nonna home?" Tosh asked.
"As it happens," Al said, "she's going out with the other grandparents."
"Grandpa Toshiro and Grandma Ellen?!" Tosh asked in disbelief.
Al nodded. "And my mom, and Auntie Rachel's mom." He smirked knowingly and said, "Maybe your Nonna will get along with your grandparents with the other two there. They all seemed rather excited about going out, just their generation, as Auntie Rachel's mom said."
"Can I drive, Al?" Logan asked.
Al shook his head. "You only just got your new status on your driver's license. You're not allowed to drive so many people in one vehicle."
"Aw, man, I wanted to show them all that I could drive."
"Show them when you've logged more driving time on your own. I don't want to screw up my Modo membership if something happens; I've already had a few close calls with them."
"It's okay," Naomi said, "you can sit between us, Logan."
Al raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing. Harpreet cringed. Knowing the parents knew about this little triangle was just weird. She really wished she and Logan hadn't overreacted on Saturday. If they hadn't moved their hands back onto the table, no one would have even noticed them, and this triangle wouldn't even be a triangle.
They climbed the stairs to the main floor, and Harpreet was surprised to see most of the guests had gone. Naomi's Nonna was putting on her jacket and making ready to leave with Naomi's other grandparents, and Al's and Rachel's moms.
Joe was hugging his mom and saying, "If you need anything, just call me."
"I go have some wine with them," she said in her heavy Italian accent, indicating the other elders. "Giovanni stay tonight too, so no worry."
"Did Zio Johnny leave already, Dad?" Naomi asked.
"Uh, yeah, I think he and Zia and the boys left around the same time."
"What was going on with Zia? They looked like they were mad at each other."
To everyone's surprise, Joe's mom answered, "Eh, when you married that long, you can't help it, but you make up in the end."
Joe looked at Lauren, neither of them looking convinced at this.
Harpreet saw her parents emerging from another room with Rachel. "You guys are going to a movie, right?" Mom said.
"Yeah, we haven't decided which one yet," she said.
"We can decide when we get there," Ajit said.
Suddenly an idea came to her. "Hey, wait, do you want to go to the big complex in Coquitlam with the bowling alley attached?" she asked. "I haven't bowled in a while."
The other kids cheered in agreement. Al looked at Rachel and Mom and Dad. "What do you think? Can they stay out that late?"
"It's a summer evening," Dad said, shrugging. "It isn't a school day."
"That'll give me and your mom and dad a lot of time to catch up," Rachel said, and from the way she said the last two words, Harpreet expected her to use air quotes. Mom and Dad snickered a little, and what was that about? They looked like they were up to something.
"Well, I hope you enjoy catching up," Al said, again with that emphasis.
"As you've done a lot of catching up lately, I think it's only fair," Rachel said.
Joe and Lauren were looking anywhere but at them, and Harpreet wondered what was going on. Still, she wasn't about to pass up a chance to beat Logan at bowling and hold his hand in the movie theatre. Her lips were still burning from that kiss. "Let's go!" she called. "To the bowling alley!"
That made everyone chuckle, even the elders. Embarrassed at herself, she stalked away and looked for her shoes.
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To see what Rachel and the others were doing while Lauren was refereeing Johnny and Val, click on "Continue reading."