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And even though I now had my own family—my family that was at this very party—I couldn’t help but feel more of a pull toward the Carters than my own family.
Though, maybe a lot of that kinship would come with time.
I’d only known about them for a week now.
It was now seven whole days since I’d found out about them, and they looked no closer to leaving now than they did a few days ago.
In fact, from what I understood from Jessa—who was currently in the pool floating around with a squirt gun in her hand aiming it at all the little Carter kids—they were in the process of buying a house here.
“Is it true, sis?” Gable asked Ande.
“You know it’s true, you moron,” Ande said. “Why are we even talking about this?”
Everyone pointed at Ellodie.
“Hey!” she cried out. “I was just being honest! You act like you’re all screwed if your penis touches the bowl! But there are worse things! Like falling in the toilet!”
“And when you pee, and the liquid splashes up onto your lady bits,” Hollis offered.
“Or when you get your period, and you can’t tell if it’s your period, or if you have to go number two,” Mom joined in.
“Mom! Oh, God! Don’t ever tell us anything about your period again!” Gable cried.
Garnett rolled her eyes and stood up, her hands out for me. I took them, and she pulled me up into her waiting hug.
“I’m so happy for you, honey,” she whispered. “It’s been a long road, hasn’t it?”
Tears filled my eyes, and I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You should go talk to them,” she urged.
I followed her advice, walking up to where Auden was having a deep conversation with the entirety of the Semyonov clan sans Jessa.
“…taking her in tomorrow so she can get her answers,” Auden was saying to the group. “Maybe she can get him to talk. Because he’s not saying a fucking word for us.”
“I actually would like to go see him,” I said to the group once I arrived at Auden’s side.
He looped his arms over my shoulders, and I allowed my gaze to travel along the line of my siblings.
Athena’s laugh from behind me had me glancing over my shoulder to see her giggling at a now-wet Gable who’d apparently just gotten shot right in the face by a water gun.
Jessa looked at the sky, playing innocent.
I looked back at my siblings to find them all staring at me.
Over the last week, I’d tried my hardest to get to know them, but they were a lot.
One on one was a lot. But together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“Auden!” I heard Garnett call. “Can you come help me with the sprinklers? They’re not turning on.”
Auden squeezed my shoulder, then bent down to whisper in my ear. “Give them a chance.”
Dorsey, who’d been in the huddle as well, winked at me and disappeared with Auden, leaving me alone with a family that had always known about me, but I hadn’t known about them.
“Uhh,” I said. “Hi.”
It was Dima who said, “You know, if you want us to go, all you have to do is tell us.”
