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“What can I say?” he said with a shrug “No, seriously I’ve got nothin’”

“I’m buyin’ you condoms for Christmas,” I replied

“Cool The kids can use them as water balloons”

“Jesus, Hawk must be fuckin’ exhausted”

“We’re both exhausted,” he said seriously “But it’s a hell of a ride”

“Better you than me,” I replied

“Give it a year or two,” he said knowingly

“Fuck that”

“You seen her yet?”

“Nope”

“You lookin’ for her?”

“I’ll see her eventually”

Toeneration act like fuckin’ onna start takin’ bets”

Hethe area again Either Kara had changed her appearance so nize her or she wasn’t there I was betting on the latter I’d had a sixth sense when it came to her since I was a kid—if she was around, I knew it instantly

“Co his arm over my shoulder

I flinched, but neither of us mentioned it

“There’s more kids,” I said as I almost tripped over a little boy with a Mohawk That one was definitely one of Tommy’s

“A few, yeah,” Curtis said with a laugh “You can mostly thank Tommy for that”

“Yeah, he said Heather’s pregnant again”

“’Course she is,” Curtis replied “Like clockwork Let’s see,” he said, pausing to signal for two beers at the prospect behind the bar “Toot little Mick, Rumi, Otto and Titus Kara’s little brothers, Brody and Jamison Gray’s not really a kid any?”

“Cecilia’s,” I said, nodding my thanks to the prospect as he handed me a beer

“Right,” Curtis said “Olive, Meg and Forrest You met most of ’em before you went in”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh, turning to lean h”

“You can always tell which ones are Tommy’s—”

“The Mohawks?”

“That and the fact that they’re complete hellions that look exactly like their father,” Curtis said dryly

“Hey,” Heather said, co toward us “I take exception to that A couple of ’em look likeher ar “Happy as hell to see you, kid”

“Hey, Hawk,” I said, squeezing her back “How you doin’?”

“Great,” she replied, her lips twitching as she pulled away She looked at me and then Curtis “Does everyone know?”

“We know the signs by now,” Curtis said with a laugh