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Other conversations begin to flow around my grandparents’ dining room. Even though Grandma bought a bigger table, it’s still not big enough to hold the entire family. Some of the younger grandkids are at a smaller table in the living room, happily chowing down on their food. There are ten of us in total now. Cody and I are the oldest and the ones the littles look up to the most. We’re a little like extra uncles to them.
Uncle Adam and Aunt Ellie have Christopher, who’s nine now and just as serious as his dad. At least until he gets that same mischievous look in his eye that Aunt Ellie gets. Then he not only looks like her but acts like her, too. He also has Ellie’s artistic abilities and will help her with designs for clients sometimes. She runs a very successful graphic design business. Most of her work is for authors now, but she still helps out the occasional company.
Aunt Tilly takes full advantage of having a designer in the family now that she’s a best-selling author. She’s a pretty big name in the romance book world. No one knows this, but I’ve read every single one she’s published. They’re fantastic, even if I can only read them when I’m alone. I popped enough random boners in public because of her books that I finally learned my lesson.
Lena, Uncle Matthew and Aunt Tilly’s seven-year-old, is following in her mom’s footsteps and wants to be an author, too. She’s been writing children’s stories since she learned to write. Her spelling is atrocious, but her plots are decent. Daniel, her younger brother, has a knack for coloring on her stories. He says he’s drawing the pictures for the book, though he’s mostly just scribbling. He’s only four, so they don’t get too mad at him.
When everyone is finally done eating, Grandma passes out slices of red velvet cake with Aunt Sara’s help. I dig in immediately, knowing that if I don’t, there won’t be enough left to have seconds. Since it’s my graduation party, not to mention my favorite dessert, I feel like I’m entitled to an extra piece today. I glance at my phone for the millionth time this afternoon.
I’ve been waiting for a text from my girl, but she still hasn’t responded. We’re supposed to hang out today. I’m just not sure when she’ll be done spending time with her family.
“Still nothing from Lilly?” Cody asks from next to me. This isn’t the first time he’s caught me checking my phone for a message from her.
I shake my head. “I haven’t heard from her since graduation. It’s weird.”
Cody frowns. “That was, like, three days ago.”
I give him a look that says, I fucking know that. “We were supposed to hang out all this week since we likely won’t see each other much after she leaves for her internship this weekend. It’s been radio silence, though, so I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Just go over to her house.” Cody shrugs as if it’s no big deal.
I roll my eyes. “You know I can’t do that. Her parents hate me.”
“I’ve never understood that. Bunch of high-brow assholes.”
He’s not saying anything we haven’t already talked about. We’ve had this conversation a million times. I have no idea why Lilly’s parents don’t like me. I may not come from a family as wealthy as theirs, but we do all right. I mean, fuck, my uncles run the number one sporting goods store in the world. They went international about five years ago. They’re a worldwide name now. How is that not good enough for them?
What’s crazy is how big of a sweetheart Lilly is. I have no idea how she’s as kind as she is when her parents are as shitty as they are.
“Look, I know they don’t care much for you, but you might as well try. Maybe she got grounded or something and can’t talk to you.”
I tilt my head at his suggestion. “True. They tend to ground her at the drop of the hat. At least when we were in school, she could tell me in person.”
“Sucks they’re still as controlling as always, even though you’ve graduated.”
“Tell me about it.” With a plan in place to find my girl later, I’m able to focus back on my family. This is my second graduation party. My first was with Mom and Dad’s close friends. They’re not technically family, but they’ve acted like an extra set of aunts and uncles since I was adopted.
I don’t have many memories from before I came to live with Mom and Dad. The fire at the group home is about the only thing I remember. I’ll never forget the way Dad looked when he opened the closet door to save me. He was both terrifying and friendly at the same time. Going from having no one in my life to having the largest family I could imagine was a shock. I’m incredibly grateful Mom and Dad were willing to take in a kid who wasn’t theirs. Although, Mom has said she’s known I was her son from the moment she first saw me in the hospital.
“Hey, Noah, can you help me with something?” Walker asks, pulling me out of my thoughts. He slides his glasses up his nose the same way Uncle Carter does. He may not be Carter’s biological kid, but I swear they’re practically identical, even down to his dark hair and blue eyes. Uncle Carter and Uncle Sam adopted Walker about five years ago when he came to stay with them through the foster-to-adopt program they were a part of. They went through a lot of ups and downs while they were foster parents, but I know they’d say it was worth every moment.
Walker clutches a textbook to his chest, and dread settles in my stomach. I hope that whatever he needs help with is within my knowledge base. The kid’s only eleven, but I swear he’ll graduate high school at fifteen.
“I can sure try my best.”
“That’s all anyone can do.” He tilts his head to the side, as if that is obvious.
I chuckle. “Too true. Show me what you’ve got.”
He sits beside me at the table, and we work together to solve his problem. At least this time, he’s asking questions about geometry. When he asks me things about philosophy, I’m never very helpful. By the time we’ve talked it out, he’s answered his own question. I just help him ask the right questions to work it out in his head.
When he runs off to the living room, Uncle Sam plops down in his vacated seat. “What the hell will we do when you go to the academy?”
I laugh. “You’ll FaceTime me until I can come home.”
“Thank fuck for modern technology.” Uncle Sam shakes his head in exasperation. He hasn’t changed a bit from the man I first met. The few laugh lines around his mouth are the only things that give away his age. “I can’t wait until you’re at the house with us. You know Paul is waiting for you to graduate before he retires.” Sam’s reference to one of the older firefighters at the house makes my stomach clench. Paul joined the house about seven years ago and has been one of my many mentors over the years.
“That’s a lot of pressure. What if I suck and get kicked out?”
