"Read it again, Manny."
"Again? I've read it six times."
"Just one more time. Please?"
"Okay," Manny sighed and scrolled back up. "Degrassi Community School Hosts..." Before she could finish reading the headline of the article, her screen changed, revealing a picture in the center of a man grinning broadly, with two children smiling out from under each of his arms.
"Oop, that'll be Jay. Just a second."
Emma watched from the chaise end of the sofa as her friend scooted and rolled this way and that to try and hoist her pregnant belly into a standing position. By no means a small feat these days.
"Tell him I said 'hey'," Emma shouted to her back while Manny disappeared into the kitchen.
Emma's own phone let out a small ping as a new wave of photos from her mom were received. Christine and Archie had been saving for the Caribbean cruise since Jack left for university. It was well deserved and the pictures were cute at first, but now looking at them only increased Emma's guilt.
A soft knock at the door shook her from her quick spiral. "I'll get it," she said.
Not for the first time, she cursed Manny and Jay's house for not having a peephole and pulled open the heavy door. Spinner stood on the threshold awkwardly.
"Hey, Em. This should be the last of it." He held up a floral photo box. "And unclaimed burritos," he said around her as a take-out bag was snatched from grasp by Manny. It took her three full minutes to stand from the couch, but for this she could apparently appear out of thin air.
"Weren't you talking to Jay?" Emma asked.
"She was," Jay said as he folded up a stroller behind Spinner and two small children rushed into the house with a chorus of "Uncle Spin!".
"Are you staying for dinner?" Manny asked.
Emma turned a hard stare at her best friend. Spinner didn't miss it.
"I wish I could, but I just remembered ...that other meal...that I left running." He scratched at the back of his neck. "Em, can you walk me out?"
"Sure," She smiled and passed the photo box to Manny.
Spinner waited until the door was shut and they were on the sidewalk before he began. "So...how bout that cruise?"
"Those photos are terrible. A man his age shouldn't limbo."
"When are you going to tell them, Em? I shouldn't be in the group chat."
She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "I know, okay? I'm going to tell them. Just not while they're on vacation."
"Or during the holidays, right?"
"Spin..."
Spinner opened his car door and sat down inside."I'm ready to move on. We've been divorced for years. COVID complicated things but we're not trapped under the same roof anymore. No matter how they react it can't be as hard as keeping up this charade. I'll tell them with you. Whatever it takes."
Emma only nodded as Spinner shut the car door and pulled away.