Ray's POV
I sat on the couch, sipping my coffee like a man resigned to fate.
Sebastian slouched across from me, arms folded, his entire existence radiating the energy of someone being unjustly tried for war crimes. Which, to be fair, if you asked Ava, he was.
She was pacing the living room with a notepad.
An actual. Notepad.
"Okay," she said, spinning on her heel like a prosecutor. "Let's begin."
"I don't think—"
"Silence in the court," I muttered into my mug.
Seb shot me a betrayed look. I shrugged. I didn't make the rules. I just lived with the people who did.
Ava inhaled sharply. "First question. What's her name?"
"Which one?" he asked.
I choked on my coffee.
Ava dropped the notepad and made a sound that could've cracked marble. "WHICH ONE?!"
Seb rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean—uh—no, I meant which girl you were talking about, not like, you know, a list—"
"You have a list?!"
"Oh my God."
"What's her name, Sebastian?!"
"...Harper."
"Okay. Harper. Nice name. Now. Harper what? Harper Lee? Harper what?"
"I—don't know. I didn't ask her last name."
She gasped like he'd confessed to murder.
"You didn't even ask her last name? Are you—Ray, say something! Say something to your son! Your son just kissed a girl he doesn't even know the last name of!"
I blinked. "I think we've officially lost the moral high ground."
"Do not be calm right now!"
"That's literally my job."
She turned back to Sebastian with both hands on her hips. "Where did you meet her?"
"School."
"What does she do?"
"She's a student, Mom."
"What's her GPA?"
"I—I don't know?!"
"Oh my God, you don't even know if she's smart!"
"Mom, it was just a kiss—"
"It was not just a kiss, it was a devastating betrayal of my maternal illusions! You were supposed to be my little baby forever!"
Sebastian looked to me for help. I raised my hands and gave him a sympathetic nod. "You brought this on yourself, buddy."
"She's going to kill me," he muttered.
"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," Ava said sweetly. "I'm going to raise you better. You will be the last romantic disaster this family ever produces. Do you hear me?"
He nodded like a hostage.
Ava turned to me and pointed. "You. You're not helping."
"I'm staying out of it."
"You're smirking."
"I'm always smirking."
"YOU corrupted him."
"I think you overestimate my influence."
"I think he inherited your stupid flirt side and ruined us all."
"Thank you?"
She plopped down next to me and put her head on my shoulder with a dramatic sigh. "I'm never going to survive his teenage years."
"Dramatic," I said, kissing the top of her head.
"You were worse."
"I was charming."
"You were insufferable."
"And yet," I said, resting my arm around her, "you love me anyway."
She grumbled something unintelligible but didn't pull away.
Sebastian stared at us like we were aliens.
"You guys are weird," he muttered.
"Thank you," we said in unison.
Then Ava sat up suddenly and gasped. "DO YOU NEED CONDOMS?"
"OH MY GOD, MOM!"
I snorted coffee out of my nose.
She pointed at him with the fury of ten Greek goddesses. "I am your mother and I will always care if you are protected!"
"Please stop talking."
Ray Chen, calm as the apocalypse, sipping coffee through it all.
But inside?
Inside, I was smiling.
Because yeah, she was over-the-top and chaotic and dramatic—but she loved that boy so much it scared her. And that love?
That love was saving all of us.