I hadn't made it a block when I saw them.
Six figures stepping out onto the sidewalk ahead of me, moving in a way that was too coordinated to be random. Too familiar.
My brain registered them before my body could react.
Caleb. Jacob. Ethan. Lucas. Gideon. Levi.
My brothers.
All six of them.
I stopped dead, rooted to the spot like I'd been hit with a stun grenade.
They stared at me. I stared back.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Ethan—the biggest of us, the one who'd always led with his body before his words—broke the spell.
He crossed the distance between us in three long strides and wrapped me in a crushing hug that knocked the air from my lungs.
"I've missed you, brother," he said, voice rough.
Something in me melted.
Not all at once. Not cleanly.
But enough that when the others moved in—crowding close, hands on my shoulders, arms around me—I didn't pull away.
Caleb clapped me on the back hard enough to sting. "Look at you. Still ugly."
"Speak for yourself," I shot back, the words coming automatically, like muscle memory.
Jacob grinned. "He's alive. And talking shit. Miracles do happen."
Lucas shoved him lightly. "Don't start. We just got here."
Gideon stood back slightly, arms crossed, but his eyes were warm. "Good to see you, Micah."
Levi just smirked. "Took you long enough to show up."
I looked at each of them in turn, my throat tight, my mind racing to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.
"What the hell are you all doing here?" I asked finally.
Jacob wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "There's a lot to explain. Why don't we talk as we go wherever it is you were headed? Where is that, anyway?"
I blinked. "Uh. Bakery. Three blocks that way."
Lucas's eyes lit up. "Thank God. I only had one meal so far today. I'm starving."
Everyone laughed—real, easy laughter that hit me somewhere deep.
"You're always starving," Caleb said.
"Remember when we used to fight over the last bread roll at dinner?" Gideon added.
"Mom made one too few on purpose," Jacob said. "Just to see what we'd do."
