“The whole, whoa was me. My family is so far away. I swear, I’m gonna hear about this until the day I die.”
“Is that so?” I asked, my voice holding a little more bite than necessary.
“Hey, I’m just saying, you could invite them up. You keep saying you want to see them.”
“Because I miss them!”
“Then tell them to come here. Or we can go to them.”
“We have to watch Wes. We can’t just abandon him at the house. Not when everyone keeps moving it.”
“Right,” Mav chuckled, “but it would be totally fine if the house was bolted down.”
“You know what I mean,” I snapped.
“Can we just make it through this dinner and argue about whose parents are better at a later time?” Parker asked.
“Fine.”
“Fine by me,” Mav grinned, always ready with a smile.
So, we stewed in silence for the better part of the drive, and it wasn’t until we were pulling in the driveway that I felt something was off.
“Why are there so many cars here?”
“It’s not that many. The family is here,” Parker said, shifting into drive.
“Right, but?—”
“Are we gonna sit out here and count cars or go inside?” Parker asked.
“I’m ready to eat!” Mav said, jumping out. “Let’s go, kid. The food’s gettin’ cold.”
I was the last one out, still wondering why there were so many cars. Parker walked over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in tight.
“Did I tell you the house is almost done?”
“It is?” I asked, beaming up at him. “Thank God. We couldn’t last too much longer in that tiny house.”
“Yep, they’re just putting a few finishing touches on it. Don’t ask me what they are. I told him whatever he did, we needed an instruction manual.”
“Wait, are you talking about Knight? I thought you said he wasn’t going to be involved!”
“I did, but it’s Knight. Did you really think he was going to sit back and stay out of this?”
“He’s gonna blow up our house again,” I muttered.
“If we’re lucky, this one will last us at least a year. Oh, and I asked him to put in reinforced glass on the windows. I can’t be too careful around you.”
“Ha ha,” I said, sticking out my tongue.
The door opened before we could get there, but it wasn’t anyone from Parker’s family standing there. It was my dad and my brothers. All of them.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped, running at them. “You were just here!”
“We had to come for the unveiling of the new house,” my dad said as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Sam, what are you doing here?” I asked my older brother, diving into his arms. I hadn’t seen him in years. He was always busy with his boxing career, and rarely did he take the time to visit.