“No, we’re totally perfect.”
“Only you can describe yourself as perfect, Bren.”
“Thanks, big bro.”
King’s voice silenced them all while I tried to stop the laugh that was threatening to leave my lips, “Why don’t you go and show your brother around the house, and after that, we’ll have dinner.”
Before we took off, I should introduce myself. It would be rude otherwise, right?
I coughed and gathered all my courage before saying, “I’m Diablos, but everyone calls me Di. It’s nice to meet you all. Thank you for the warm welcome.”
They all smiled at me before Bren took my hand and ushered me further into the house. The next hour was spent exploring the various parts of my new home. I was confident I’d get lost at some point. I’d need a GPS to survive here.
I was lucky Bren was talkative. Andras was the quietest of them all, but I understood him. Even though he was more reserved, I didn’t sense any hostility.
When the tour was over, we went to the dining room. A big wooden table sat in the middle. A sumptuous feast was laid out before the eight seats around it. I had never seen so much food in my life. I couldn’t even name half of the things. There was meat, different kinds of salads arranged in pretty ways, at least five types of cheese on a wooden board, some seafood too, and who knows what the other things were called.
When we sat down, everyone started to eat and chat like they didn’t have a stranger eating with them. They treated me like they treated each other. I got asked questions, but nothing too personal. It was awkward for me, but I made an effort because I could see all of them were genuine.
We were almost done eating when Bren screamed, making me nearly drop my fork.
“We forgot!”
“What?” King asked.
“To introduce how old we are!” before anyone could say anything, he continued, “So, I’m 17 years old.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Ooo, we’re twins then! Told you, I’m the best brother! When is your birthday?”
“It’s the 19th of December.”
“A winter child, well, I’m a summer child. Mine is on the 20th of June. Anyway, Luc and I are the biological sons of King, but that has no meaning. We’re all his children, and we’re brothers. Luc is the youngest one. Wilder is the oldest and the first to be adopted. He was adopted at the age of 5. Andras was adopted at 12. And then there’s Dagon, who couldn’t be here today. He was adopted at 13.”
I had no idea why he switched to saying when they were adopted and not how old they were. But, judging by his blinding smile, he was thinking about when his brothers came into his life – trying to comfort me that even though I was a teenager, some were also teenagers when they became part of the family. Was this his way of telling me I wasn’t too late? That it wasn’t too late for me to be their brother? Would he remember today with the same fondness? Would I?
I looked around and did my best to stay open to the possibility. There was only one more brother I had yet to meet.
Dagon.
I wondered what he would be like.
I wondered what we all would mean for one another in a couple of years.
Chapter four
Diablos
It was already eight p.m. when I headed downstairs to help Bren get ready for game night. Excitement bubbled in me, making it hard to sit still. Tonight was exactly what I needed to forget all the crap from today. Or, well, just pretend it didn’t exist, which was as good as it could get.
“Are you ready for a night of mayhem?” I turned to my left, where I heard Bren’s voice.
He was already in the game room, which was exactly what it sounded like. There was a shelf full of board games, a billiard table, and one arcade game machine.
On the left side of the room was the bar loaded with various kinds of alcohol. That was a newer addition. King let us add it two years ago. The begging and the constant whining were worthit. I chuckled, remembering how we drove our dad insane. One of us always talked to him about how much we wanted it. When one stopped, the next one continued. Ah, good times.
When we joined forces, there was no stopping us.
