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ARIA
“Happy anniversary!” I threw my arms around my Aunt Lourde before doing the same to my Uncle Barrett when I entered their penthouse apartment. They had been out of the country for a month to celebrate their anniversary and had deep tans thanks to all of the sun they’d gotten sailing around the Mediterranean.
“So this is Miles.” Aunt Lourde extended both hands toward him when he entered behind me, followed by Valentina and our parents. “The things you miss when you’re traveling. I’m Lourde Black. Colton and Sienna have already told us so much about you!”
“And you’re still welcoming him into your home?” I teased, winking at him.
“Don’t listen to Aria,” Valentina announced, kissing our aunt's cheek and hugging Uncle Barrett. “You two look amazing.”
“Are we the last ones to arrive?” Dad asked when Mom greeted her brother. They shared the same strong, special bond I shared with Valentina. It was nice to see them still getting along so well for so long.
“Everyone else is back in the living room,” Aunt Lourde informed us, draping an arm around Mom’s waist and leading her from the entry hall into the spacious living room with windows overlooked Central Park.
As promised, everyone was there. Ari and Olivia sat close together on the sofa, his arm around her shoulders. Connor and Pepper sat opposite them with her feet tucked underneath her, obviously having kicked off her shoes at some point. They chatted warmly like the old friends they were while Colton mixed drinks at the bar in the far corner by the windows. Whatever story Lucian was telling had him and Noah in stitches while Sienna and Rose rolled their eyes at each other. Boy talk.
“Hey, Miles!” Colton lifted a hand when he spotted Miles. “Are you a scotch man? Dad brought back a bottle of Macallan 1937. He bought it from a collector. You’ll love it.”
“I’ve been known to sample scotch from time to time,” Miles replied, and I had to give it to him. Somehow, he had managed to fit himself seamlessly into our group. I’d resented him for it at first. Now, I admired him since I had never been somebody who found it easy to fit in right away. When I was a kid, there were times that I’d wondered if I would have any friends if it weren’t for the close-knit group I had grown up with.
I could admit to myself as I sipped a glass of ice-cold Chablis courtesy of Sienna that I had resented Miles for that more than I’d wanted to admit to myself. It was so easy for him to be accepted by everybody—Mom, Dad, my sister, and all our friends. Had I been using that deep-seated jealousy as another reason to mistrust him? Probably. As if it was his fault he was so easy to like.
“This is exquisite,” he announced, smacking his lips and studying the bottle Colton had poured from. “And rare, by the looks of it.”
“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” Uncle Barrett called out as he helped Aunt Lourde carry two large charcuterie trays into the living room. It was like nobody present had ever eaten before, everyone descending on the elaborate array of meats, cheeses, and fruits. It meant all of us gathering together around the central coffee table, perched in chairs, cross-legged on the floor, telling stories like we had so many times throughout my life.
Most of the stories revolved around either my aunt and uncle’s anniversary trip or their wedding. Considering it had been thirty years since they were married, it surprised me how clear the memories were, how easily they tripped off the tongues of the older adults.
“I have one word for you, ladies.“ Aunt Lourde was giggling as she snagged a piece of sharp cheddar, pausing before popping into her mouth. “Headbands.”
Mom hooted with laughter, covering her face with her hands. “How could I have forgotten about those?”
Pepper shrugged, offering a smile when Olivia and Lourde turned her way. “Hey, I got a good deal on them. And let’s not act like everybody didn’t have a blast wearing them.”
“I seem to remember all of us dancing our asses off on that boat, wearing those silly things,” Olivia reminded everyone.
Valentina and I exchanged a confused look. “What headbands?” she asked.
Mom’s face went tomato red while Dad chuckled. “The headbands your mother and the other ladies wore the night of Lourde’s bachelorette party featured very large, glowing rubber penises on top.”
Rose shrieked with laughter while Sienna’s mouth fell open. “How did I not know about this?” she asked.
“They bobbed around when we moved,” Mom continued, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “I completely forgot.”
Dad pulled her in for a hug, the two of them seated next to Connor and Pepper. “And then I found you with that stupid headband falling over your eyes. Imagine that,” he continued, looking around the room, chuckling. “She was blinded by a flashing purple dick.”
“Oh, my God,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Very classy, Dad.”
“It was a bachelorette party,” Pepper reminded us. “That’s kind of the point. Classy has nothing to do with it.”
“It didn’t seem to turn you off any,” Mom pointed out, smiling fondly at Dad. At times like this, I could imagine them when they were young. They may as well have been those two young people thirty years ago, falling in love. “It didn’t stop you from giving me our first kiss that night, did it?”
“I must’ve been hard up. Newly single and all that.” Dad laughed when she nudged him like she was indignant.
“Please, tell me we’re not going to get more graphic,” Valentina warned as she stood, holding up her glass on the way back to the bar. “We don’t need tonight turning into an episode from a wildlife documentary.”
Laughing, I looked toward Miles, sitting in one of the leather easy chairs at the far end of the coffee table. He wasn’t laughing. Instead, he was staring at my parents, his brow pinched together like he was either in pain or deep in thought. I waited for him to look my way and lifted an eyebrow when he did, silently wondering what the problem was. He only looked down at his glass, his lips drawn into a thin line.
What was that all about?
