The front door bangs open as I hear my siblings’ chatter.
“I swear, if you put a hole in the drywall again with the doorhandle, I’m not making ribs ever again,” I yell out to Lennox. He’s like a bull in a China shop, and I know he’s the one who threw the door open.
“You made ribs?” He pops his head into the kitchen.
“Had I known you were going to bust up my fucking wall again, I would have made that salad you hate.”
“The strawberry one?” Willow asks with a smirk.
“Please stop putting fucking fruit in salads. I beg you. It’s like a crime against food,” Lennox whines.
“You are so dramatic. What do you need help with, big bro?” Rina asks.
“The ribs are resting, but you could throw together the potato salad.” Rina has always been the one I’ve turned to when I needed help. We’re only fifteen months apart, so we’ve always been close, but she helped raise Willow and Lennox when it all felt like too much for me.
“Have I mentioned you’re the best brother ever, and I will come over here tomorrow and fix the dent in the drywall?” Lennox asks.
“You seriously dented it again? I was just giving you shit, but damn, Lenny.” I shake my head.
“I know. I’m sorry.” He cringes.
He walks over to the fridge and pulls out two beers, handing me one as he cracks his. I open mine and take a sip as I watch my family come together to share a meal.
This has always been my favorite time of the week. I love my job, but seeing my adult siblings still come together for a family meal always fills me with pride.
Willow starts bringing food to the table as Rina finishes the potato salad. Lennox does the table settings, and we all sit down. Part of doing this every week was to do a sort of check-in. We would always go around and say our favorite thing about the week. It was also a time when we would talk about any issues we had with each other. Our teen years weren’t a walk in the park, so we had a ton of petty fights, and Sunday dinner was our time to talk it out and move on.
“Alright, who’s starting today?” I ask.
“I’ll do it,” Rina says with a twinkle in her eye. “My favorite part of this week was witnessing our good brother make an absolute fool of himself in front of his high school crush.”
“Wonderful. Glad I could provide entertainment.” Iroll my eyes.
“Mine was seeing the birth of twin fawns on Thursday,” Lennox says as if it’s everyday life. I mean, it kind of is for him, but it’s still amazing.
“How did you manage not to scare the mom?” Willow asks.
“I know I’m loud as shit, normally, but it’s different in the park. You never know what you’re going to walk up on, so I pride myself on being slow and quiet. I was just walking the trail, trying to find this family of racoons I stumbled upon earlier in the week, when I heard the grunts of the birthing doe. I watched the whole thing from a log about thirty feet away. It was fucking amazing,” he says in awe.
“Did you name them?” Rina chimes in.
Lennox scoffs. “Of course I named them. Marco and Polo.”
I stare at him, amazed he’s serious.
“We should really have a naming committee. Your names are getting worse and worse, I swear.” Rina shakes her head as she starts plating up food.
“They’re great names. You don’t have to admit it.” His smile is smug, and I hide my own behind my hand. I’ll never admit this to him, but he’s funny as hell, especially when he’s not trying to be.
“Okay, Willow, you’re next,” I say.
“I think mine was killing off Daryl in my latest book.” She smiles sweetly.
Oh yeah. Willow, the sweet and ultra nice one in the family, is an author, who writes primarily thrillers.
“Wasn’t he the sweet old neighbor in the book?” Rina asks, tilting her head.
“Yeah. He found out my main character was murdering people, so he had to go.” She shrugs like it’s just another day in the office, and for her, I guess it is.
