CADEN

I’m on the phone with Kian, covering my ear so I can hear him over the crowd of Cockers who have overtaken my home. “I just need to get a mattress, really?”

He reassures me, “Yeah man. I threw his out. It was nasty. Dude was unclean, not that we’re the tidiest motherfuckers around. But filth is different from mess.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, rubbing the back of my head.

“Hey, Caden,” Hannah calls over. “I’m ordering pizza!”

“Sounds good!”

I face the wall again to focus as Kian explains, “He moved back in with his folks and left all his furniture for us to deal with. Selfish fucker. Nothing fancy. Dresser. Small desk. Crappy chair. Bed frame. Couple of nightstands from Ikea. Bunch of wooden hangers from them in the closet.”

I frown, “That makes it a lot easier, thanks.”

“I’ll pick you up from the airport. Text me time and flight. I work from home.”

“Dad said you’re a graphic designer now.”

“Yep, logos, websites, ad copy for social media. My schedule is my own, even though I work a lot of hours. Can leave anytime though, so I’ll come grab you. Just let me know which airline and all that.”

“You got it. Thanks, man. I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“It’s going to be great. You’ll love my friends. Chicago is awesome.”

“I’ve no doubt. Everyone is here helping me pack so I’ve gotta go. I’ll send you that text.”

We hang up and I turn to the dismantling of my whole world. Boxes are spread throughout the living room, pictures that were on the walls now propped on the floor against them. My immediate family is here, as are all the cousins in Atlanta, leaving out Elijah, Sofia and Ben.

Lexi and Sam are in my room with Zoe, packing up clothes and throwing everything out they don’t deem fashionable. I gave them full control because why the fuck not?

My cousins Hannah and Emma are sitting on my couch with Wren—Eric’s wife—chatting about their pregnancies because they’re all expecting. Ethan’s wife, Charlie, has her second child on the way, but she’s at Wyntech today, and she found out more recently. She’s not as ballooned out as these three. She’s going to work until the very end since she’s a CEO.

As he jokes around with his younger brother Eric, Ethan’s got daughter Kaya on his hip, tiny shoes banging his legs. I see glimpses of them walking dishes to cardboard boxes in my kitchen just beyond.

Gabriel’s taking apart my sound system I stupidly installed when I moved in.

“You ever use this, Caden?” Max calls out, which makes Gabriel look over at me.

“Nope. Maybe twice. But fell asleep during what I was watching.” They shake their heads at the waste. “Max, you want it? Hook it up to your editing system to hear what you’re doing.”

My brother nods with pursed lips. “Good idea. Sure.”

“Hey, everyone! If anything strikes your fancy, take it. Looks like I only need to bring the bare necessities. Kian’s extra room is furnished.”

Nathan hurries in through the front door. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Had to take an EMT test.” He gives me a hug. “Have new respect for you, Caden.”

“Fire department make you do that?”

“We work in tandem with the ambulance calls, you know that.”

“I never see the fire trucks.”

He drags a hand through his hair, looking tired. “Oh, right. Well, yeah. I’ve got the fire academy, and EMT classes. It’s rigorous but I fucking love it.”

I smack his shoulder, “I know the feeling.”

Nathan’s older brothers walk into the living room having heard his voice. Wyatt’s in his uniform—only had a chance to drop by on his way somewhere. Nicholas works in stocks from home so he drove over and said he could stay as long as everyone else. His live-in girlfriend, Madison, pokes her head out from my hallway. “You guys just going to leave me in the bathroom packing up?”

Nicholas nods with a somber face, then turns to face me with a grin she can’t see.

She shouts, “Hey!”

He waves, “Nobody chained you up. Get over here!” Madison disappears and he grins, “We fuck with each other. That girl makes me laugh.”

Wyatt and Nathan, standing next to each other with crossed arms, subtly nod that it’s a good thing. With these three guys and Zoe, that covers their immediate family, sans parents who are on a cruise.

Dad’s twin walks up to us, wearing a stellar suit as usual. “Caden, Jamie and I are going to leave you all to it. It’s a little crowded.”

I smirk, “You calling my place small, Uncle Justin?”

“It’s a shoebox,” he volleys back. “But your new career is going to change that. I have to tell you…Cardiology. Impressive.”

The approval shining from sharp, pale green eyes stills me. I’ve always admired him. We all have—the man was one of the most honest and effective Senators that Georgia’s ever known.

“Thanks, Uncle Justin, I appreciate that.”

“Your Dad is going to miss you, kid.”

“Mom, too.”

He glances around for her. “Yes, she’s taking it out on the clan, got everyone working like dogs. At least she did. Looks like break time.” Under his breath, he asks, “Where’d she run off to?”

“I dunno,” I frown.

Aunt Jaimie approaches us, her long dark hair neatly splayed over one shoulder. Touching Justin’s shoulder she smiles, “Hi.”

He gives her a slow peck while my cousins and I exchange a look. Our aunts and uncles have always been publicly affectionate. We dig it.

“We’re letting the kids pack?” she asks.

“Not a lot of room,” Justin repeats.

I puff up, “Hey!” all in fun.

Her smile softens as she comes in for a hug. “You are going to be missed, my dear.”

“Feeling’s mutual, Aunt Jamie.”

Stepping back she looks at Nicholas, Wyatt, and Nathan. “Are your parents not coming?”

Justin answers for them. “I talked to Jeremy this morning. He and Meagan are on a cruise. I forgot to tell you.”

An elegant eyebrow rises. “No, you didn’t want to put any ideas in my head.”

“I don’t like cruises.”

“You’re too funny,” she chuckles, returning to quietly tell me, “Don’t stay away too long, Caden. I think your mom…”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll stay in contact. Promise.”

They touch me as they pass, and Uncle Justin yells to Dad, “Jason, I’ll give you a call tonight!” before the front door shuts.

Max’s live-in girlfriend, Natalie, appears with a stack of linens in her arms, calling out, “Caden, if your place in Chicago is furnished, why don’t you tell us what you want to keep, first. We should organize this so you don’t end up without what you need. Then we’ll have this packed up in no time, to ship off to the Women’s Shelter Samantha chose.”

“Sounds good, Natalie. Just give me a second first?” I walk through the group, nod to my brother, “Your girl’s producing my move.” He laughs as I step over the disarray. “Dad, have you seen Mom?”

Looking up from his phone, he says, “I’ve just cancelled your electricity and WiFi. Is the password you gave me the one you use for everything?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t do that. Have one for all your financial accounts. Another for stuff like this. And one easy password for websites that never keep your credit card info. In fact, never let them keep it.”

Ethan, our family’s literal software genius, calls in from the kitchen, “That’s how you get your identity stolen! They send a bot through your system and any stored passwords and credit cards are swiped. Never save them in your computer!”

Hannah calls back, “Such a pain to retype!”

“Consider the alternative, Hann!” He pokes his head in, Kaya peering into the room as her dad adds in a conversational volume, “Just save the password for things that don’t need your bank or credit card information.”

Glancing around the family, Dad frowns, “She might be out back,” and starts to walk with me.

“I want to talk to her alone.”

His eyes soften. “Oh, okay. I’ll be here.”

I discover that Hunter is hand-washing pots while Eric and Ethan pack.

I stroll up to him and point at the basin filled with bubbles. “What’s this? Someone spike your lemonade or something?”

“There’s lemonade?”

I point to the glass next to him. “What’s that?”

“Beer.” He picks it up, bubbles drifting down his hand.

Frowning, “You okay?” I cross my arms and lean against the counter, while Eric and Ethan move a little slower, quieter.

Hunter shrugs, shoving his hands back into the water, scrubbing my pots with the wrong side of the sponge. But right now I don’t care if they get scraped up—he’s more important.

“Hunt, talk.”

His lips flatten. “I’m good.”

I remove the pot from my baby brother’s grasp, turn him around and hug him. “Hey, I’ll be back.”

“I know,” he rasps, tightly gripping me. We take a deep breath, our chests expanding against each other before we let go. “Got suds on your back now, Caden.”

“This shirt was dirty. The suds knew it.”

He laughs, eyes red around the edges. I smack his arm and walk to the back door, briefly locking eyes with Eric and Ethan. They nod that, as brothers, they know how it would feel if one of them had to move away.

Shaking my head I walk outside. “Mom?”

She turns around, curly red hair shoulder-length. She dyes the grays out, and in the sunlight her laugh-lines appear faded. Since she’s so short, all of this makes her look way younger than her years.

I shove my hands in my pockets. “I need fresh air, too.”

She slides a glance over the backyard. “You never put any patio furniture out here.”

“I’m rarely home. And when the cousins hang out, it’s at bigger backyards than mine.”

Staring at the overgrown foliage that lines the fence, she sighs, “It’s like you knew you wouldn’t stay.”

“No, I thought I would.”

“Are you ready? I saw you talking with Kian. Everything set?”

We lock eyes. “Mom, don’t give me the fake smile.”

“This is a real smile!”

“Yeah right,” I chuckle, yanking a hand free to run through my hair as I look at the sun. “I heard you the other night.”

She gasps, “Oh, Caden, I didn’t want you to hear that—”

“I’m glad I did. I love you, Mom. Might not say it enough.” Meeting her eyes I give her a half-smile. “It worked. You snapped me out of it. I needed that, and you put me first. It means a lot.”

She throws open her arms. I bend down to lift her off the ground, kiss her hair as she whispers, “I am going to miss you so much!”

“I’m going to miss you, too, Mom.” Setting her down I wipe my eye, clear my throat. “I’m going to make you proud of me.”

“You can’t make me more proud than I am,” she smiles.

I wipe a tear from her cheek, blow it up to the cloudless sky like I’m making a wish. “Oh yeah? Just watch.”

Laughter bubbles as Mom shakes her head. “So competitive.”

Max appears at my back door. “Caden? Guess who’s here.”

It’s like someone sucker-punched me, how fast my heart races. “Who?”

“Ben.”

My shoulders relax, and Mom catches it. “Who did you think it was?”

Glancing to her as we head inside, I ask, “Huh? Nobody. Just the way Max said that had me thinking it might be Sofia.”

Lie.

Lie.

Lie.

My brother’s face remains passive as he backs up to let us walk in the door. Mom’s in first and reaches for Kaya. “Come here, beautiful.”

With her distracted and disappearing into the living room, a smiling baby improving her mood, Max quietly asks, “You think it was Elizabeth?”

“Yeah.”

“You call her?”

“Hell no!”

My stride increases as Ethan and Eric ask, “Who’s Elizabeth?”

“No one,” Max shrugs.

Hunter leaves the dishes to say hi to Ben with us, and his eyes register Max’s lie. It didn’t slip past Ethan or Eric either.

The five of us guys walk into the living room where our long lost cousin Ben is being greeted in a big way. The guy seems to have disappeared ever since he got married to his second choice. Gabriel married his first. And now they’re all in my living room with the rest of us cousins, plus my parents who tend to let us do the dirty work when it comes to the problems of this generation. They had enough issues during their own.

“What the fuck, Ben?” I grin. “I gotta move to another state in order to see your mug? Get over here!”

He walks into a bear hug and since he’s six-six, the fucker picks me up and makes the room laugh.

“Light as a woman,” Ben calls out to them, setting me down.

I smack his chest. “How’ve you been?”

He glances to Shelby, quietly walking up to be at his side. “Good. We’ve been keeping to ourselves on the farm. Living a life that would bore the rest of you. Just sunsets and chickens.”

Nicholas shouts, “You know we love your farm! Don’t pull that shit with us.”

Murmurs of agreement, some not so murmured.

He takes her hand. “Hey guys, why don’t you let up. I just wanted to come say goodbye to Caden.” Emerald eyes fixate on me as Ben frowns. “Can’t believe you’re moving to a whole other state. It’s going to be like Soph.”

My sisters cry out, “Don’t say that, Ben!”

And Lexi adds a vehement, “You suck,” as Dad puts his arm around her. She burrows into him.

We hardly ever see Sofia Sol because she was raised in South Vacherie, Louisiana. All the rest of us were close by, and are close today because of it. Ben’s only an hour north of Atlanta, not far. Which is what makes his absence-of-late so unacceptable.

Elijah gets a pass pursuing a career in DC, but he flies back and forth because like his father, he plans to represent Georgia. We see him way more than Soph.

If anyone’s becoming as rare a sight as Sofia, it’s Ben. But we don’t want to scare the guy off.

The room is a little tense, and I need to lighten the mood. “The only way I’d be like Soph is if I grew a set as big as this.” I cup my hands far away from my chest. Our family shouts at me with varying reactions, and there’s lots of eye-rolling. On a satisfied grin I reassure everyone, “I will be in contact with you way more than she ever has been. Don’t you worry!” To Ben and Shelby I ask, “Can I get you guys a beer? Hunter’s already ahead of us.”

“Sure, I’ll take one. But uh…Shelby can’t.”

My eyes widen.

The room stills.

For a little too long.

Everyone breaks into congratulations like you’re supposed to do, coming forward to hug the future parents, and ask the normal questions you’ve gotta ask when this kind of news comes along.

But that extended moment of stillness said it all.