It felt strange, hearing my own last name attached to a sentence like that for the first time, like trying on a jacket that somehow already fit perfectly despite never having worn it before.
We went out for burgers afterward, the whole family, Jonah insisting on ordering the biggest milkshake on the menu to celebrate.
Renata called Marcus’s phone in the middle of lunch, wanting to know how it went, and Marcus stepped outside to tell her, the whole table watching through the window as he talked, hands moving the way they always did when he was excited about something.
Jonah narrated the entire call for us, wildly inaccurate lip-reading that had the rest of the table laughing before Marcus even sat back down.
“She sends her congratulations,” he said, sliding back into the booth. “Said it’s about time somebody in this family made things official on paper. Her words, not mine.”
