And it was.
Ben had been there for all of it. But experiencing it through the eyes of his people made it feel different. The more you got used to something, the easier it became to miss all the details.
But Julie was right, too.
Their walk had been amazing.
“You doing okay?” Ben asked Alexei, low and quiet, once the slideshow was done and everyone had splintered into separate conversations.
“Yeah.” Alexei scratched at Delilah’s neck. Ben did his best not to explode in joy at the sight of it. “Everyone’s really nice,” he added neutrally.
Ben leaned in closer, wanting to bring Alexei fully back to him.
“You know what I kept thinking about during all those photos?” he asked.
“What?”
“The foxes.”
They had night hiked together not long after Wrightwood, during the stretch of trail that followed the Los Angeles Aqueduct, too bare and exposed to truly hike safely during the heat of day. It still hadn’t been exactly fun, night hiking, but it had been far less frightening doing it together. And there had been unexpected treasures. Like the expanse and depths of the wide-open, starry midnight sky.
And the surprising playfulness of kit foxes.
The furry creatures had repeatedly crossed their path somewhere around one in the morning. Once Ben’s and Alexei’s hearts had stopped pounding and they realized the foxes had no interest in sinking their teeth into their calves, all they could do was giggle like children. Ben had bemoaned his phone’s inability to capture the scene in the inky blackness, the inadequate halos of their headlamps.
“Let’s just remember,” Alexei had whispered, squeezing his hand.
And so they did. Paused in the middle of the trail, they memorized the large triangular ears, the fluffy tails, the keen eyes. Until eventually, the foxes tumbled over each other back into the darkness for good, and Ben and Alexei kept walking toward Canada.
“Thanks,” Alexei said now, a small but genuine Alexei smile on his face. And then, as if he understood precisely how Ben was attempting to comfort him, “You’re sweet.”
“I know it’s a lot,” Ben said, squeezing his hand. “Meeting so many people at once. Meeting even more people tonight.”
This trip was bookended by two big events with downtime between them, starting with Uncle Jaco’s fiftieth birthday party tonight. Next weekend was Carolina’s senior awards ceremony, graduation, and graduation party. They would run to the airport at the tail end of the graduation party on Saturday, and hopefully be back on the trail by next Sunday.
“I just realized something.” Alexei’s forehead creased. “Is your uncle’s birthday party a dress-up affair? Because…I only have my hiking clothes.”
Ben blinked. He knew Alexei’s entire hiking wardrobe by now. One pair of cargo shorts and two shirts. Three pairs of socks, three pairs of underwear. A flannel and flip-flops for camp. A bandanna.
Ben burst into laughter, dropping his head back on the couch. “I mean, Caravalho family parties aren’t black tie affairs or anything. And you could probably borrow some of my clothes, but you’re bigger than me, and…”
Ben sat forward, snapping his fingers.
“Lex. You and I are going to the mall. We can get an Auntie Anne’s pretzel. I haven’t had one of those since, like, the seventh grade, but now that I’ve said it, I definitely need one immediately.”
The wrinkle in Alexei’s forehead had not disappeared. “Do we have time?”
“There’s always time for the mall, Lex.”
Ben stood and clapped his hands.
“All right, minha família. Who’s down for a shopping trip?”
***
Alexei had been to a few Lebedev family weddings in his lifetime.
None of them even came close to being as fun as Uncle Jaco’s fiftieth birthday party.
