Levi #4
“That’s because you and fun get on like gasoline and fire,” the first voice said as they appeared in the doorway.
For a moment, I thought there had been some other story that hadn’t been told to me, namely that Milo had an older brother, which would have made no sense because technically, his older brother was sitting at the end of the table next to Elijah, and an empty chair.
“It wouldn’t kill you to have some fun once in a while. ”
“I have fun,” the other man said, and it took me a minute to recognize him.
“Jesus, how many monstrous people are in or adopted by this family?” I muttered to Dom, who chuckled when he saw I was staring at Jace making his way around the table.
The other man, whose hair was the brighter side of blond, was trying to grab Jace’s face to force him to smile.
The Jace I remembered would have threatened to break someone’s arms if they—
“If you jab your fucking fingers in my face again, I’m breaking them,” Jace snarled.
The other man just grinned and reached out again. “I’m trying to show you how to smile. You never got any practice, obviously.”
“Kayden, I swear—”
Mason snorted, taking hold of Jace’s wrist, yanking him down into the empty seat next to him. “He smiles for the kids, that’s what matters.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Kayden said brightly, bending down to wrap his arms around Moira’s shoulders and kiss her on the cheek, burrowing into her neck.
“Quit!” Moira said, but her laugh absolutely shattered any authority. “Sit down and behave.”
“Everyone’s always telling me to behave,” Kayden said with a wistful sigh, tapping the phone in Micah’s hand. “You could at least pretend to be happy to see me, kid.”
“I’m not a kid,” Micah grumbled, but he still looked up and eyed Kayden. “And it’s not my fault you’ve been gone for a week.”
“Six days, but who’s counting?” Kayden said, dropping into his seat. “So is GQ down there the one you told me about?”
“GQ?” I repeated, my face going blank as, to my horror, both Mason and Dom looked at me with a new, appraising gaze.
“Huh, I never realized,” Dom said, looking me up and down.
“Do not make me remind you what I can do to you,” I warned.
“Ugh!” Milo cried out. “No, not this again! I don’t want to hear about Dom’s dick again!”
“Hear about his what now?” Matilda asked, her voice high and tinged with warning.
“Nothing,” Elijah piped up, and once again, Milo gave a cry as something struck him somewhere out of sight and sent him tumbling out of his seat. “You know how Milo is, never able to control his imagination or his mouth.”
“And I thought you enjoyed his mouth,” Mason said, tilting his head.
“Mason, I may not be able to control your dirty jokes, but I will not deal with you making allusions to other people’s sex lives,” Matilda warned, pointing at him with her glass. “By the way, this latest drink is divine.”
“I’m so glad you like it.”
“That doesn’t change what I said.”
“I figured.”
“Mason,” Jace growled.
“I’m behaving,” Mason said and then froze. “Uh...good job, Milo.”
“What?” Milo asked, popping up, his hair in his eyes. “Oh.”
I followed their gaze to find Micah had put his phone down and was staring forward, horror on his face. Dom peered down at him and made a strangled noise before he started to get up. “Milo, you fucking idiot—”
“It was an accident!” Milo protested, waving his hands. “Someone help me, Elijah!”
“I love you to the ends of the earth and back,” Elijah said with a wince as he reached for his glass. “But even I can’t save you from the consequences of your own bad choices.”
“Boys,” Marcus began, but I took hold of Dom’s wrist and pulled him into his seat.
“Bear in mind that this all started because I was the one playing with fire. If Milo is still the Milo I remember, we can’t expect him to think before he speaks any more than we can expect a cat not to meow,” I said with a snort.
“Mom?” Micah asked softly.
Moira picked her head up from where she had placed it in her hand. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can I sue Milo for emotional damages, or do I have to pay for the therapy myself in another ten years?”
“I’m afraid, for this one, you’ll have to eat the damages yourself.”
“I thought so. Mom?”
“Yes?”
“This family is fucking weird.”
“Yes, yes it is, but remember to leave the ‘fucking’ part out when you tell other people about us...and that you know about your uncle’s dick.”
“I’m not telling anyone else that.”
“Good plan.”
Marcus peered across the table toward me. “So...ready to leave again?”
I burst out laughing, covering my mouth when Dom gave me a dirty look. He didn’t see the humor, but good God, I had forgotten how much chaos followed these people around, maybe because they caused it most of the time.
“You,” Dom swore as he jabbed a finger at Milo, “are dead, got it? And now we know Elijah isn’t brave enough to save you.”
“Hey, who said anything about brave?” Elijah said with a frown. “I know how to get mine. I’m just not going to save him every time he’s...him.”
Milo turned, his eyes wide as he stared at Elijah. “C’mon Eli, don’t let him...please?”
Elijah stared back at him, and although his expression never changed, I could sense something had shifted inside him. When he sighed, I had to cover my smile as he turned to Dom. “You can get yours, but talk terms with me first.”
“He will,” I said, picking my head up and smiling at Elijah.
“Hmm, maybe I’ll talk terms with you instead,” Elijah said.
“That works too.”
Dom scowled. “Excuse me?”
I patted his hand. “I’m sure I can come up with something to make you feel like you got your revenge, but without breaking Milo.”
“I’m starting to think maybe I should just let Dom do...whatever,” Milo said, squinting at me. “You sound devious. Were you always devious?”
“He was the brains of the operation,” a new voice said softly, and I looked up.
“Oh, hello again, Arlo,” I said, tilting my head. “You look...happy.”
“Thank you, I am,” he said, walking in with the man I’d only seen in videos. There was more confidence than arrogance about Arlo now as he followed Ward, never quite touching him, as they took their seats. “It’s good to see you again, Levi.”
I’d always liked Arlo, even when he was considered a freak by everyone who wasn’t family. The softness that followed him through life had always been a surprisingly effective armor against the ills of the world. I had envied that about him.
“Mmm, I suppose we’re not going to get introduced then?” Ward asked, watching me with a squint. “I’m Ward, you’re obviously Levi.”
“I didn’t get introduced either,” Kayden said with a wave. “I’m Kayden. Hello, Levi.”
“Hi, Kayden, I’ve heard plenty about you,” I said and turned to Ward. “I’ve heard less about you, but it’s not really necessary, is it?”
“Ha, man doesn’t even live in the state, and he knows me,” he said, frowning. “God, please tell me you know me by my off-camera reputation and not through my mother.”
“I have unfortunate news for you,” I told him, smiling apologetically.
“Damn it all,” Ward deflated. “Hope springs eternal, but it is a fickle, tricky bitch, let me tell you.”
“Hold on,” Matilda said once all the drinks were made, and everyone returned to the table, some reaching for the covers on the trays. “I don’t get a chance to do this sort of thing, so I’m taking the opportunity.”
“Uh oh,” Dom muttered, reaching to take his own glass.
“Levi,” Matilda said, and I was sure I probably looked like a deer in headlights when I turned to stare at her.
“We don’t know what happened or where you went, but I’m glad to have you back with us, however long it’s for.
And I hope that, despite how...unique this family can be, you can still feel at home here. ”
I tried not to, but I stared at the table.
I hadn’t been ready for a typical dinner with her family, let alone for her to single me out as special.
Once upon a time, I was a kid with a good, hardworking mom, but not much to speak of in the family department.
She and Marcus had basically taken me in whenever I wasn’t with my mom or Dom, and while I had never gone so far as to call them family, it had been close.
And now, despite disappearing without a word, she was welcoming me back like it was nothing.
“To the rest of you, you’re already family,” she said, looking around the table.
“You’re all mine, even if you started off with someone else,” her eyes flicked to Dom and Arlo, “were brought in by someone else,” her eyes moved to Elijah.
“Or you had the good, if somewhat dubious, luck of falling in love with one of my children,” she said, looking to Kayden and Jace.
“Or...you needed somewhere that truly felt like home.” This time, it was Ward she looked at, and his smile disappeared, his eyes falling to the table where mine had been.
“Whatever the case,” she continued after a moment. “This is my family, and even if you might test my patience, or make me wonder why I thought children were ever a good idea for my sanity. You are all mine, and I love every single one of you.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Mason said, raising his glass. “To this family, bunch of nut jobs that we are.”
“Hell yeah,” Milo said, raising his glass so fast it sloshed down the side.
The others did the same, and I felt oddly trapped as I watched glasses around the table begin to rise.
It wasn’t like I could just sit there, hell, even Micah had raised his glass of what I hoped wasn’t alcohol, a smile on his face.
Feeling like I was making the same sort of deal I’d made with Augustine all those years ago, just in a wholly different way, I raised my glass as well.
“Good, now eat up and try to behave yourselves,” she said, sitting down.