When I pocket my phone, I realize Kinney still hasn’t come downstairs. “Kinney Hale!” I yell again.
“Alright!” She emerges from her room. “Jeez. You don’t need to bust your vocal cords. No one likes the sound of your voice.” She stomps down the stairs and shoots me one of her epic glares.
I ignore it and return to the dining room.
“I like the sound of his voice,” Farrow says casually, gaze pinned to me. Heat washes over my face. He grins. “Some days.”
“Ha ha.” I take a seat beside him, and I catch sight of Xander’s plate. “Really?” A mound of half-eaten mashed potatoes rests on his dish.
“Luna’s already eating too.”
Sure enough, Luna is scooping into a hunk of meatloaf. “Oh, I thought we could.”
“It’s alright.” I let out a deep breath. “Everyone can eat.”
“Good, we thought you were turning into Dad for a second,” Xander says.
Luna nods. “Butts in the seat before you eat.” Her impression of our dad is spot on.
“No, Kinney, you can’t have wine at the table.” Kinney pours herself a glass of water. “If you want to drink the blood of your enemies, use grape juice.”
We’re all smiling.
“Lily would definitely be punching Lo’s arm,” Farrow adds, light behind his brown eyes.
Fondness drifts around us. We love our parents, and them not being here tonight—when they promised—is like a giant void.
Fuck.
I want to change the mood before it plummets to the bottom of the Earth. Go with your gut, Farrow would tell me. Everything inside me is saying—now’s the right time.
Just do it.
“Hey, you know what…” I stand up. “I’ve got something for you guys.” I go to the dining hutch, Avengers collector’s dishware displayed pristinely behind glass. Crouching down, I unlatch the bottom cabinet and pull out two small gift boxes. Each tied with a sky-blue bow.
“What’s that?” Luna wonders.
“You’ll see.” I hate this part. Where I hand one to Xander and the other to Kinney, and I give Luna nothing. I try not to look at Luna. Yeah, this is hard.
Kinney and Xander exchange a hesitant glance.
“You can open them.” I sit down, and Farrow slides a hand across my taut deltoids, then up to the base of my neck.
His comfort eases weight off my body in this effortless, seismic way. I smile a bit when I see Ripley hugged close to Farrow’s chest. Eyes shut in a peaceful sleep.
I focus on my sisters and brother.
Kinney unties the box faster than Xander. As soon as the contents become visible, she freezes.
Her eyes well.
She takes a bigger breath before meeting my gaze. “I’m fourteen. I didn’t think…” She huffs a lot to fight tears. “You know.”
My brows furrow. “What does age have to do with it? You’re my sister, Kinney. I want you to be my groomswoman. If that’s something you want.”
“Of course,” she snaps like I’m an idiot. Her chin trembles, and she rubs at the corner of her eye. Smearing dark liner. “This means…everything.” She clutches the box to her chest, careful not to crush the orange tulip inside.
The small card says: Kinney, will you be my groomswoman?
Xander reads his. Less surprised. He already knew I was going to ask him. But I’ve been building myself up for the possibility that he might say no.
Being a groomsman means he has to be in the wedding ceremony. Guests will stare at him, and I can’t change that or make it easier.
But God, I want him up there with me.
He’s my brother.
“Summers? I know it’s a lot—”
“Yeah.” He winces. “I mean, yeah, definitely—I want to be a groomsman. I’m there.” He smiles, a rare one.
My smile overwhelms me, just really happy, and I stand up. I hug my younger brother and sister, and as I go back to my seat again, this next part tenses every muscle in my body. Hurt cascades like pain in my bloodstream.
Luna eyes the two opened boxes with tulips and cards. “You asked Sulli to be your groomswoman already, right?”
“Yeah,” I say tightly.
When Sulli opened her gift box, she gawked. “Fuck…are you fucking serious?”
“I’m dead serious,” I told Sulli.
Her jaw kept unhinging. “Really? Fuck, Moffy. Really?” She started crying, and it choked me up, big time. We were hugging, smiling, and now I’m thinking about Luna.
Because she’s somber and sullen at the dining table. Like she believes that Sulli is more of a sister to me than she is, and it’s cutting me open.
Some of you believe that—out of my siblings—I’m closest to Xander because we’re the guys in the family, and that Luna and Kinney are besties because they’re sisters.
You’d be wrong.
Luna and I have always been the closest, and Xander and Kinney have their own thing. I have memories with Luna that supersede a lot. She was my first sibling, and as a kid, I loved taking care of her. Helping her out of the car seat, giving her my blanket when she was cold. I was so damn protective of her.