Noah turns to Cailin. “I didn’t get my hug yet, baby girl.” She jumps into his arms. “How are you liking school?”
Cailin beams from ear to ear. “I love it! Miss Russo taught me how to read, and I can write the entire alphabet!” The excitement on her face brightens everyone.
Jack turns to me, his lips pressed in question as his eyes narrow. “Your last name is Russo?”
I nod. “Sure is. She’s doing so good in class. She’s one of my best students.”
Cailin’s face lights up, and when I glance to Adam, he’s wearing the same expression. These two constantly light up my life with nothing more than a simple smile of joy.
The additional noise must have woken up Max, and the sliding glass door opens. “Not going to say hello, fuckers?” His skin is pale, and his eyes are red.
“No, we weren’t. If it’s your dumb ass or this hot chick I get to talk to, you know which one I’ll pick,” Noah teases, faking nonchalance before chuckling and going over to slap his hand. “How’s it going, man?”
His head gives a quick nod. “Seen better days. How about you?”
“Same old shit, different day, different pus—”
“Noah,” Adam scolds.
Noah glances around, remembering Cailin is in the room. “Pus-shhes to mow. Man, the bushes in my yard really need a good mowing. A hard, firm mowing.”
Adam slaps his head again, and I get a feeling this is common between the two of them. Noah just rubs his head, laughing.
The timer on the oven beeps. I grab the oven mitts and remove our food to put on the stovetop.
“Max? Are you up to eating something?” Adam asks.
“Yeah, dish me up some. I’ll try to get it down.”
I grab the plates, handing them out one by one before I plate some for Cailin on her My Little Pony special set.
We gather around the dining room table. I sit and take in the dynamics of the group. Noah is obviously the friendly, outgoing one while Max and Jack are more laid-back, quiet in their own subtle way.
There’s no mention of why everyone is here, and they keep the conversation light while we eat. I’m sure it’s for Cailin’s sake, but I also notice Max’s shoulders loosen as the night goes on.
Stories of the tour and new music get tossed around, and they crack me up with how easygoing they are together. They really are a family of sorts.
“So, tell me how you all met,” I say once our meals are finished and we’re just hanging out.
Cailin has moved into the living room to play with her dolls again, and just us adults are hanging out in the kitchen.
Adam nods to Max. “Well, you already know Max and I go way back. Noah we’ve known since our senior year in high school, but unlike us, he had a loving family to go back to when all the shit was ending for the night.”
“I just didn’t want to go back to them.” Noah laughs. “They’re all goody-two-shoes types, and I tried like hell to make them sick of my crazy ass.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
Noah nods, leaning back while he rubs his hands up his shirt, showing off his stomach. “Yep, I’m the baby of the family. I have a brother who is a fucking insurance salesman now. We literally had the white picket fence and dog to match their perfect lifestyle. I couldn’t stand that shit.”
His face gives away that he’s obviously kidding, and I shake my head at his notions.
“No matter how much I tried to piss them off, they would kill me with their ‘love.’” He air quotes. “Can’t blame Mom and Dad though. At least they had the money to buy me a drum set when these two poor asses couldn’t afford one. That’s why they forced me to be the drummer. I could have been our front man.” He pauses, standing up straight, trying to act sexy with a nod to his head and rise to his eyebrows.
Adam throws his napkin at him. “Bullshit. That’s my job.” He turns to Jack. “Then, this guy actually came to us from a Craigslist ad. He’s been all over but landed here in Nor Cal to be with us.”
“Oh, yeah? Where’s all over?” I ask Jack.
He’s been fairly quiet through all of this, and I jump at the chance to engage him.
