“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Come on - we’ll go eat ice cream and pickles and binge-watch something fun on Netflix.”
As he carries me from the room, I rub my wet face on his t-shirt like a toddler, making him laugh, and then he settles me on the couch where he wraps me up in a handknit throw my mom made during one of her crafting phases. The others fill the coffee table with the open jar of pickles, three kinds of ice cream, and a bunch of Starbucks drinks. They are the absolute best as they let me watch trashy reality shows like Love Island without complaint and cuddle me from either side. I pass out at some point against Gage’s side, and when I wake up a few hours later, it’s to a sloppy wet tongue licking my face.
I’ve always wondered what kissing Gage would be like, but this was not what I had in mind. When I open my eyes, it’s to meet a pair of big copper-colored ones with impossibly long eyelashes. My mouth drops open in shock at the puppy staring back at me and my arms immediately go around it and hug it to my chest.
“You have to name her and walk her and pick up her crap. I don’t do that shit. And keep her away from my shoes.”
I look up at a scowling Jules and an excited-looking Reid, who are both staring down at us.
“You… you guys got me a dog?”
Reid is practically vibrating in his excitement. “None of us except Gage has ever had a dog and you were right, that is sad, so… what are you going to name her?”
The smile on my face is so wide my cheeks ache as I look back at those pretty copper coin eyes already so full of love and happiness to be in my arms, and I know right away what her name will be. I smooth a hand down over her smooth, soft fur and say, “Welcome home, Penny.”
***
Group Chat
Gage: Thinking tacos take out for supper. Who’s in?
Jules: Reid and I will meet you there in 10. We’re just down the street
Torrin: I can swing by on the way back from the batting cages.
Reid: Hobby? You want?
Gage: Luna? You there?
Jules: Stop being a brat and answer Cin. Don’t leave us on read
Luna: No
Jules: No you won’t stop being a brat or no to tacos?
Luna has left the chat
Gage: She’s having a bad day. All I got was three I’m FINE's and a door slam when I asked her earlier if she was okay.
Torrin: To be expected. Today is Atlas’s birthday.
Jules: Fuck
Reid: We need to get her tacos and cake
Gage: Meet you at Los Rio’s
Torrin added Luna to the chat
Chapter 24 - Luna
It’s my big brother’s birthday today and I’m a combination of sad and mad. I’m sad because it reminds me of all the birthdays we’ve had together where mom went over the top with food, decorations, gifts, and I know we will never have a birthday like that again. I’m mad because it feels like I’m the only one who remembers. It’s irrational, I know that. I can’t help it. I can’t be the only one who celebrates them, remembers the important days that still mean something even though they are gone.
I flip through one of the photo albums my mom made for all our special days. It has cute stickers and frames around pictures of past birthdays, Halloween costume photos, get-togethers and school events, and I try to keep the tears at bay. It’s been almost a year since they died. I should be able to get through looking at these pictures without crying by now. I fail.
When I hear the garage door rumble open, I close the book and slide it back on the shelf with the others. I’m not in the mood to hang out with Atlas’s best friends right now, not when they didn’t even remember it was his birthday. I try to make it back tomy room before they come into the house but Penny heads me off with a whine that tells me she needs to go outside to do her business. With a sigh, I turn the opposite way and lead her to the back deck door and let her out.
When I turn around to run to my bedroom, Gage blocks the way with a deep frown on his face.
