As if that pulled Dany out of his trance, he lowered the newspaper and exchanged a sweet smile with Laura before his gaze fell on Sebastian and me. His eyes widened as he searched for Laura again, but she was already focused on the next batch of pancakes.
Mila joined us at the table, dropping into a seat between her father and brother. As if Sebastian were a natural phenomenon, she stared at him while he took a sip of his coffee, frowned slightly, and added more cream. Her eyes wandered to me, her lips pressing together to suppress a smile, and then back to him.
Dany watched the exchange of looks curiously. “So,” he grumbled, flipping his newspaper over to take a look at the back. “How did everyone sleep?”
“Good,” Sebastian replied, glancing at me. “Thanks again for letting me stay at your room.”
“No problem.”
Dany raised an eyebrow but didn’t take her eyes off the paper. “You two sure do get along, don’t you?”
“Is that a problem?” Sebastian asked quietly.
“Not at all. I’m just curious.”
“Well, the two of them certainly have enough in common,” Laura called from the stove. “And we’re happy about that, right?”
“Right,” Dany agreed, nodding along mechanically. “I still wish Devin had spent more of the evening with his family.”
“What are you talking about?” Sebastian’s head snapped back. “I talked to everyone for hours.”
“True, but still?—”
“Now, now,” Laura said in her softest voice as she brought over a small bowl with freshly cut bananas and strawberries.“Everyone’s supposed to enjoy the reunion in whatever way they want.”
“Then why couldn’t Devin do that with us? We’rehis family.” Dany asked, shaking his head wildly before hiding behind his newspaper again. “Whatever. No one listens to me anyway.”
For a moment, everyone went quiet. Even the fridge’s cooling unit clicked off.
His words echoed in my head.His family—the one I wasn’t part of.
“Sorry,” I chimed in. “I didn’t mean to monopolize him for so long.”
“I’m not mad at you,” Dany said.
“Are you serious right now?” Sebastian asked, glaring at the back of the newspaper. “If you didn’t want anyone to talk to Alex, then why did you invite him?”
The newspaper whipped through the air as Dany yanked it down. “Don’t twist my words. You know exactly what I meant.”
“I know you wanted to make it clear that you’re mad at me. But you didn’t hear how insulting what you said was to Alex, did you?”
Dany turned to me. “Alex, you know I didn’t mean it that way.” Then he turned to Sebastian. “Don’t twist?—”
“I’m not twisting anything. You just don’t hear how mean what you said actually was.Youinvited him to take part in our family traditions. That means he had every right to connect with anyone there, however he wanted. Sorry, not sorry, that it was me.”
“That wasn’t even the topic.” Dany glared at him, then looked at Mila and Laura for confirmation.
“I’m with Seb on this one,” Mila said, shooting me an apologetic glance.
“Can’t we all just enjoy the morning?” Laura asked, stepping behind Dany. “And I agree with De... Sebastian.” She turned to me. “I am happy that you joined us, Alex,andthat the two of you had… such a wonderful evening.” She patted Dany’s shoulder and walked back to the stove.
Dany folded his newspaper and set it on the table. He let out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry, Alex. “I really didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “Sorry again for taking up so much of Sebastian’s time.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. The others are right. Everyone should enjoy the reunion however they want. Although I still get tofeelsad that my son spent more time with someone he wasn’t related to than with us.” He turned to Sebastian, clearly tryingto keep his voice calm, but the longer he spoke, the harsher his words became. “And, unlike your mom, I don’t think this will lead to you coming over more often.”
The mood in the room shifted. After a moment of silence, chairs scraped across the tiles as everyone started talking at once.
