“Adrian, not now,” his father said, his gaze flicking briefly to Logan, as if the presence of a guest should be enough to bury the conversation.
But Adrian had never been the type to swallow the tide when it came crashing in.
“Yes, now,” he protested. “I might not be here for another time.”
The words hit the dinner table with startling force, like a bomb bursting in midair.
His mother let out a small, broken sound, covering her face with her hands.
Aaron exhaled sharply, exasperation lining his features. “Adrian, you’redying, and you wanted to drive three hours and stand in the sun for some first ranks ceremony? It’s not even a staff sergeant, or a captain, or a second lieutenant, or a lieutenant like you were. It’s justfirst ranks.”
Across the table, Alon shoved back his chair, the legs screeching against the tile like a wounded thing, slicing through the tension around the table. He didn’t say a word—just stood and strode away, disappearing into his room, his absence heavier than his presence had ever been.
Adrian’s patience snapped, the last fraying threads coming apart all at once.
“Dad, it needs to stop! I also started from first ranks, you know that, right? It’s not like you just enter and are instantly given your lieutenant rank with a ‘congrats!’” he shouted, switching to his father’s language now, making sure there was no room for misunderstanding. “You have to stop treating him like that! Do you even know how hard it is to get to where he got? Do you have any idea what it means to him?”
His father straightened, his expression unreadable, but Adrian didn’t stop.
“No,Dad. Come on. Go talk to him. Go talk to your son. You’ve got two, you know.” His voice trembled slightly, but he pushed through, shaking his head.
Beside him, Logan’s hand found his under the table, warm, grounding. Adrian exhaled sharply and covered it with his own fingers, tightening around Logan’s as he forced his voice lower and steadier.
“Go talk to him,” Adrian said again, quieter now, the fire in his voice dimming into something softer. “He feels bad. He’s been standing in my shadow for years, and you—you never noticed. But I see it now, and I should have seen it before. He is his own person. So ask him about himself.”
For the first time, something in his father’s face shifted. A crack in the stone.
Aaron pushed his chair back, moving more slowly this time. He looked shocked.Distressed.
Like he had never seen it before.
As soon as the tension ebbed, Adrian leaned toward Logan, murmuring an apology for switching languages so abruptly, for leaving him stranded in a sea of unfamiliar words. Logan just waved him off with a quiet smile, as if to sayit didn’t matter. None of it mattered, as long as you’re here.
Still, there was something fragile in Adrian’s expression, something that only deepened as he rose from his chair and walked toward his mother. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as if to anchor her, as if to anchor himself.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
She cupped his face, said something soft, something only for him, and he kissed her cheek in return before moving to help clear the table.
Logan tried to stand and assist, but before he could so much as reach for a plate, Tammi pushed a thick slice of cake into his hands and pointed toward the couch with the authority of a woman who would not be questioned.
“Sit,” she ordered, her accent thick with warmth. “You guest.”
Logan, knowing better than to argue, grinned as he took his seat.
A few minutes later, Tammi and Adrian returned to the living room, but something in their quiet conversation made Adrian’s expression twist in immediate horror. His head shook—once, twice, over and over. “No. Mom, please—no.”
But it was too late.
Tammi smiled sweetly as she walked to the wooden sideboard, her movements deliberate, her intentions clear. Logan immediately knew what was happening the moment she pulled out the four thick photo albums and placed them on the coffee table with quiet reverence.
He beamed.
“Oh, this is going to be amazing,” his voice was a mix of gleefulness, teasing, and affectionate mockery, as he barely held back his laughter while Tammi sat beside him, opening the first album in her lap.
Adrian groaned, sinking onto the couch beside him, his face already in his hands. “Mom, please.”
But there was no escape.
