Sebastian shook his head and drummed his fingers on the table. After a second, he got up, his chair scratching over the floor. “Thanks for breakfast, Mom,” he said. “It was delicious as always.”
Eight of the ten pancakes on his plate were still left.
I scooted closer to the table to give him more room. His shirt brushed against my back as he squeezed past me, and something in me wished his touch hadn’t been just because of the cramped space.
Without looking back, he wandered off into the living room.
Laura turned her head after him.
Mila poked at the pancake on her plate and swirled it through the syrup, but she didn’t seem interested in eating.
Dany hid behind his newspaper.
I kept my head down. No longer hungry, I still ate the last two pancakes, so at least one of us finished his meal.
Laura snapped her finger against Dany’s newspaper. “I told you to leave him be, Daniel.”
“Hey!” Dany said, inspecting the paper as if she had erased the words he was reading. “I’m not the one who disappeared for three years, and then showed up without warning, leaving my bad mood in his wake.”
“Oh, that’s just great of you to say. You were the one who confronted him right away yesterday, before he could even say hello. Everyone else was happy he was here, everyone but you.”
“Of course I’m happy that he came.”
“What a way to show it.” Laura stacked Sebastian’s, Dany’s, and her plates on top of each other, walked back to the counter, and turned on the faucet. She scraped the leftovers into the bin and dropped the plates into the sink.
“Sorry, Dad,” Mila said. “I love you, but… treating him like this doesn’t help.” She took her plate and joined her mom, grabbing the tea towel hanging over the oven handle.
Dany grunted and leaned back so far in his seat that the wood creaked, then fixed his eyes on me. They pierced through me, begging for validation. “Alex, you’re unbiased. I’m not wrong about this, am I?”
“I’m sorry, Dany,” I replied. He might as well have asked me to carry a cow on my back; the weight on my shoulders would’ve felt the same either way. “I really didn’t mean to spend so much time with him and cause all this trouble.”
“No…” Dany waved me off. “No, you didn’t cause anything. I don’t know why I asked you.” His face tightened before it softened. “I meant what I said. I’m glad you two got along and that you agreed to let him stay in your room. I hope you had a good time yesterday.”
“I did.”
“Good. Let’s leave it at that.” His shoulders slumped. He sat there for a second before getting up. “Well, time to go feed the chickens.”
“Oh, I was just on my way to—” I said, jumping out of my seat.
“No. I’ll do it today.” He lifted his hand to ward me off. “Actually, why don’t you take the day off?” He slapped his hand on my shoulder, tapped me twice, then shuffled away.
I stared at my empty plate for a second before grabbing it and walking over to Laura and Mila. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“This is the one time of year when enough family members are around that we don’t need you,” Laura said. “So, you should use that time to relax a little.” Mila nodded behind her.
“Let me know when you need anything.”
“You know I will,” Laura laughed, pushing her hands back into the soapy water.
Not knowing what else to do, I headed back upstairs. Before I reached my room, the door opened, and Sebastian poked his head through the gap. His brows furrowed as he stepped aside to let me in.
“Sorry, I didn’t know where else to go.”
“My room is your room. Literally,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood, but I couldn’t get a reaction out of him.
The sun cast a bright rectangle from the window across my bed and the air mattress.
I shut the door quietly behind me. Sebastian dropped onto the edge of my bed, making the frame squeak. He dragged his hands through his hair.
