“So, wait, your brother is a basketball player?” I asked Eduardo, confused.

We were walking into the Smoothie King Arena, getting ready to watch a professional basketball game between the Fresno Fever and our local team, the New Orleans Gators.

“Yeah. I just found out,” he said nonchalantly.

“You just found out? When were you going to tell me about this?”

“I’m telling you now.” He shrugged, and I wanted to throttle him. He was a priest, for Christ sakes. Surely, he should know better than to keep secrets from his wife.

“When did you find out?”

“A couple of weeks before we got married.” He handed the guy our tickets then turned to me. “Do you want a beer or something to eat? A smoothie maybe.” He pointed at a big sign with a fruit smoothie on it.

I punched him lightly on the arm. “No, I don’t want a smoothie. I want to know why you didn’t tell me I was marrying a man whose brother was a professional basketball player, and why didn’t he come to our wedding?”

“Would it have made a difference?” he asked in a remarkably calm voice that made me want to punch him harder.

“No, but it would be nice for you to be open and honest with me. I don’t appreciate being blindsided.”

“Believe me, I don’t either. I only found this out recently. I only met Nick for the first time yesterday. Apparently, we have the same father. Or at least that’s what his mother Lucinda believes. I’ve given them my DNA, and it’s being tested.”

“Wow.” That must’ve come as a pretty big shock.

I stopped dead in my tracks and made myself take a deep breath as I put two and two together. Eduardo was telling me his father was Ziggy Barnes, the hippie rock star who died in a plane crash. Wait, that meant he was related to the Barnes family including the popstar twins and The Barnes Bunch TV show.

“Wait, this is some pretty big information,” I said.

“Yeah. It’s been a shock but it’s not like I’m moving to LA and going on their show. Heck, I haven’t even seen it.”

“I’ve seen it like once.” It was rare for me to be at home long enough to even watch TV. I must’ve had the flu or something.

“Maybe we should catch a marathon of it sometime to get to know my family better.”

“You’re a nut. I can’t believe this.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “Except tonight we get some tickets we hadn’t planned on.” He took my hand and led me to our seats.

It didn’t take long for me to get over being irritated. I kinda felt sorry for him. As tumultuous as my childhood had been, at least I knew where I came from.

The game was exciting, with the Gators finally prevailing with a last-minute buzzer beater to win by one point.

“I feel kinda bad we won,” Eduardo said. “Nick invited us out for dinner afterwards, but we don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Try to stop me.” I definitely wanted to meet this guy. Not only was Nick good at dunking, he was also nice to look at.

“I think he had a triple-double, but I’m not sure. They usually only post stuff like that on the Jumbotron if it’s a member of the home team.”

Eduardo found someone to direct us to the bottom of the arena where we waited outside the locker room for Nick to appear. It took about an hour, but when he finally came out it was definitely worth it.

He was even taller in person.

“This must be your beautiful new wife I’ve been hearing about,” Nick said, giving me a hug.

I’m sure I blushed.

“Sure is. Nick Barnes this is Chloe Soto. Chloe, this is Nick.”

“It’s really nice to meet you,” I gushed, staring into his brown eyes and marveling at how similar his eyes were to Eduardo’s.

Later, at dinner, Nick showed us pictures of his wife Eden and their twins Annabelle and Albert. Check names.

“What a beautiful family,” I said.

“What about you two? Any plans for a little Soto running around anytime soon?”

“Haha. Not yet,” I said, and Eduardo winked at me. The minute we’d decided to get married I’d gotten the birth control shot.

“Sorry,” Nick said. “I sound just like Lucinda, right, Ed?”

Eduardo nodded.

“It’s just that having our twins, well, it changed my life for the better.”

Later, as we were saying good-bye outside the restaurant Nick put an arm around both Eduardo and me and said, “I’m so glad I got to meet you both and get to know you a little bit. Don’t let Lucinda put you off from the rest of us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“My mother has a tendency to try to run people’s lives, and that pisses them off and drives them away. I’m just now getting back on speaking terms with her after she tried to interfere with my relationship with Eden. All I’m saying is, the rest of us have problems with her too. You’re not alone, and as far as I’m concerned when it comes to family the more the merrier. I’d love to have you guys come out to Fresno sometime. Maybe for the holidays if you’re not too busy.”

“We appreciate your offer. I’m not sure the whole thing has even sunk in yet,” Eduardo said. “I mean, the DNA test isn’t even back, I don’t think.”

So Eduardo thought they were jumping the gun. He probably didn’t want to get his hopes up if it turned out to be a mistake.

“But we will definitely keep it in mind,” Eduardo said.

“Thank you for being so welcoming,” I said.

Nick let his arms drop. “No problem. Thanks for coming to the game.”

He held out a finger and pointed at Eduardo. “But next time I come down here we’re having Gator meat for dinner.”