I senta picture of the view, the Berg Khalifa dominating the blue sky, and waited for the hate. I loved my siblings, especially when it came to being able to irritate the shit out of them.
Claire:You’ve just put yourself top of the list for baby-sitting duties when you’re back. Killian and I are planning a weekend away.
Callum:Eliza is more than welcome to spend a weekend with me. Think about all the things I can teach her about animals and the pets I can send her home with…
I adoredmy niece and she was just at the age where she wanted to touch and eat everything, including cats’ tails and dogs’ paws. I’d threatened a pet for her a while ago, something that I knew Claire wouldn’t tolerate like a rat or a snake. My older sister was too easy to wind up.
Claire:As long as they live with you at your house, that’s fine with me. You realise you have another animal living there now?
I groaned, staring at the screen. I knew exactly what she was referring to.
Callum:I’ve done my share of babysitting Seph. Usually on a Friday night. Can someone ensure that my house is in one piece and empty when I get back in six weeks?
Seph:I’ve done my fair share of holding your hair back while you were vomiting too. And I have no intention to still be there when you return. I got plans.
Maxwell:As long as these plans don’t include moving in with me and Victoria again.
Payton:We’ve only got one spare bedroom and it doesn’t have a bed.
Ava:We’re renovating. And I’m not sure Eli wants a colleague as a housemate.
Jackson:No point staying with me and Van. We have a baby = no sleep.
Seph:I feel so loved at the moment. Claire?
Claire:*currently pissing herself laughing*
Marie:You can always move back home, Joseph. I’m more than happy to iron your underwear for you and vet your girlfriends…
Seph:My heart is warmed with all the love I’m getting from you… And thank you for the use of my real name, mother.
Marie:The offer’s there. And you’re welcome.
Seph:Thanks mum, but I really do have a plan this time.
I locked my phone,knowing that the message was likely to exponentially grow over the next hour. Seph liked to be in almost constant contact with one of us, probably part of the reason he’d never properly lived on his own. He’d been too used to having someone there with him all the time and without one of us there, he became Tigger from Winnie the Pooh and bounced around until someone gave him some attention.
I didn’t need the constant reassurance of my family. They were full-on and big, frequently intense. I spent most of my years at university and straight after putting distance between myself and what they were, not because I didn’t love them – I did, most of them anyway – but because I never understood where I was in the planetarium that was the Callaghans.
I didn’t know who I was meant to be.
My phone rang, the screen filled with the picture of a woman with pink hair and huge blue eyes.
“Hey.” No question would I answer. For her, I’d answer even if I was in the north pole.
“Your family is missing you.” Amelie’s voice sounded soft, warm. “You need to make the effort while you’re away.”
“Not going to be easy if we don’t have reception. But I know.” I felt the tug of guilt. “How are you?”
“I’m in London and my day never changes.”
“No,howare you?” She was one of my favourite people, because like me, she’d never fitted in either. She’d been the wrong shape to fit seamlessly into her family, a decagonal shape in a firmly square hole.
“I’m okay, Cal. I need a change.”
“Because of him?” We’d had this same conversation many times since Max and Victoria had gotten engaged.
“I’m over it. Please tell me you never told him.”
