Alien Proliferation

daughters—are heading back for Jamie’s induction ceremony. You have one minute to put your damn pants on, or I’ll use your balls for target practice.” She hung up and handed the phone back to me.
    “I’m glad Brian missed that. I don’t think that kind of nostalgia would be good for him.”
    “I hate hearing about things like this,” Jeff muttered. “Be kind, don’t talk about Reynolds. Or my uncle.”
    Mom smiled at him. “I never said those things to you, Jeff.”
    “That Kitty ever heard, yeah.”
    “Mom, you didn’t threaten Jeff, did you?”
    She laughed. “What’s the good of being Mossad trained if you never use it? Let’s go. Amy, at least, will be presentable. She might have cleaned the room by the time we get there, too.”
    “You are an evil woman.”
    “And you take right after me.” Mom kissed my cheek, then strode off.
    Reader ran and opened the door for her. “Going to escort Angela because I love watching her work, too.”
    The flyboys looked at each other. There was a small stampede to catch up to Reader and Mom.
    Tito shook his head. “Like they’ve never seen it?”
    “My mother’s got . . . style.”
    Michael laughed. “Yeah, trust me. I know when to hang back and play with the baby.” He was making goo-goo faces at Jamie. She seemed to like it. “See? She likes her Uncle Michael.”
    “All the girls do, Michael.”
    White went to the door. “Shall we? I’m hoping Angela has things under control so I don’t have to show displeasure or relief. Or offer tips.”
    I snorted but managed to keep my mouth shut.
    “I hate it when you lust after my uncle. Possibly more than when you lust after my father. Go back to lusting after Kevin, it was easier to take.”
    “Wow, I have your permission to lust after Kevin? What next? I get to go to Australia with Chuckie?” Jeff tickled me and I squealed. Jamie made baby sounds, but she didn’t seem upset.
    Got to the elevator. I gave it a closer look now that it looked like I’d be living here. It certainly had possibilities. Decided Jeff and I should test it right away. He moved his hand to stroke the back of my neck. “Love how you think.”
    We stopped at the second level to pick up the rest of the team. I could hear them as we walked down the hall. “No, really, Angela, we were just talking.” Amy sounded panicked.
    “Uh-huh. Brush your hair.” Mom sounded pissed. I knew she was laughing inside. “Christopher, tuck in your shirt. Do you really want your days-old niece to see you like this?”
    We walked into the ballroom. “Mom, really, they’re adults.” Amy was dressed and brushing her hair. Christopher was tucking his shirt in, fast. James and the flyboys were doubled over.
    Amy sprinted over and grabbed my arm. “Kitty! Shower time! Great!”
    “Oh, come on, Ames. You’re a big girl.”
    “Yeah, uh, right.” She looked over her shoulder. “I was scared of making your mom mad when I didn’t know she was the head of antiterrorism.” She looked at the brush in her hand and gave it back to Mom. Mom snatched it in the “annoyed parent” way she’d perfected years ago.
    “She’s also a crack shot,” Jeff offered. “Good thing Christopher got his pants on in time.”
    “We were just talking!”
    “Ames, really. Even Jamie’s not going to buy that one.”
    “Why not?”
    I coughed. “Well, your new Paris T-shirt is inside out, and your bra is, if I’m any judge, shoved into Christopher’s jeans pocket. Either that or he’s scary happy to see the rest of us. Christopher’s shirt is both inside out and on backwards. Proud of you both for getting your jeans back on, facing front and everything. You’re in his shoes, though. Either that or you really like your shoes bigger and he lives to scrunch his toes up.”
    Amy blushed bright red. Jerry and Hughes were collapsed against each other they were laughing so hard.
    Christopher shot patented Glare #5 at everyone. “You know, is a little privacy that hard to come by?”
    “Most of us don’t do it in the middle of a huge ballroom. Sorry, but even Jeff and I have more self-control than that.”
    “Yeah, and they’ll go for it pretty much anywhere,” Walker offered.
    “We do not.”
    All five of the flyboys looked at me. Jerry cleared his throat. “The elevator in Dulce, like every other ride, the women’s bathroom in the Paris Metro, the men’s bathroom in the Guadalajara airport, the Pontifex’s office, a maintenance closet in