And if there was one thing that Mal knew about AJ, it was that he didn't want a whole truckload of her bullshit either. If there was one thing he had gotten from Maribel though it was patience. Or at least enough to keep from rising right to Mal's bait about never seeing her nephew. Mal could say whatever she she wanted to about him considering she had plenty of material and he was more than willing to knock her back with his own verbal punches, but he wasn't going to take her being disrespectful to his wife that only treated her with kindness.
Mikey was attached to his Papi's back however when AJ answered the door. He had already helped to set the table and had been playing around while they were waiting on their visitor to show up. It also provided a good vantage point for seeing everything as AJ felt him hugging around his neck a little tighter to keep from falling. He still put on a smile though. "Hey Mal. Come on in and get comfortable."