“Happy birthday, dear Delta, happy birthday to you!”

Amid all the laughter, Steel helps Delta blow out her two candles, one for her birthday, and one for good luck. “You get your own cake, Delta,” he says, smiling at his little sister. She returns his smile, and I’m one happy mom, because my kids are close and love each other to pieces. I grin because since we brought her home, he’s been by her side, telling her things, helping me, and in short, making sure he earns his big brother status. We watch as Delta slams her face down into her cake, trying to fit as much into her mouth as humanly possible. I see a bunch of flashes going off and notice all of the grandparents, aunts and uncles have either their phones out or their cameras.

“Mama, can we all have cake now?” Steel asks, watching his sister enjoy her individual little cake.

“Absolutely. You gonna help me give them out?”

“Yes! We is getting ice cream too, right?”

I nod because my boy loves his ice cream. He has a sweet tooth and especially loves his desserts. As I cut the cake into pieces, I hand the plates over to Talon, who scoops out one singular scoop of ice cream on each plate. Watching Steel carefully, methodically, carry each plate to someone, his little tongue sticking out in concentration, I’m caught off guard by the emotions that well up. How the hell I got so fucking lucky is beyond me, but once again, I thank God for the day that my folks took two broken kids on because it led me to all of this.

As the party is winding down, I happen to look over by one of the sheds on the property, and notice Ralynn and Jaxson, in a heated conversation. It doesn’t look pleasant, and I worry about how that will play out with Dad. He’s always had an eye on the two of them, since my sister is hell bent on getting that man as her own. She’s never cared about their nearly twelve-year age difference, and while Jaxson has never done anything improper, I’m sure it has to wear on him that a teenager has him in her sights.

Moving closer, I hear Jaxson growl out, “Little girl, you don’t know what the fuck you want. You’re too young for me, anyhow. Go off to college, live a little, grow up, and get some life experience under your belt. I’m sure you’ll forget all about this crush you’ve had on me forfuckingever.”

Oh fuck, shit just got real. I shake my head, because knowing my sister the way I do, she’s going to retaliate, and say, or do something, that will really piss him off.

“It’s not a crush, dammit! Why can’t you see that?” Ralynn asks.

“Maybe because I’ve never given you one indication that I return your interest, which makes it a crush,” he responds. Okay, now he’s being a bit cruel. Maybe it’s to push her away, but I don’t wanna see my sister hurt.

“You know what, Jaxson? One day, you’re going to look back on this moment and regret everything you’ve just said to me,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Keep dreaming, little girl, isn’t it past your bedtime? You should head on home and play little girl games with someone your own age.”

“Fuck off, Jaxson. You’ll regret this, I swear,” she replies. Before I can join them and try to diffuse the situation, she spins on her heels and stomps off.

“Brother, I recognize that you’re too old for my sister, but don’t ever talk to her in that manner again, feel me?” I question as I make my presence known.

“Feel ya, but, brother, she needed that to move on. She’s way too young and needs to live a little. She has an entire future to look forward to, one which doesn't involve me.”

“Yeah, you don’t know her very well, do you?” I ask. “She’s had this in her head for a helluva long time. Not saying you’re too old for her by any means, but you’re right. She needs to get a little bit of life under her belt.” Now, I’m egging him on further, because I’ve watched them over the years, and while he’s never disrespected her, he’s always given her the time she needed to talk and what-not. Hell, he even let her ‘help’ when they were building our house for fuck’s sake, just because she asked!

“Not too much life,” he growls out, before stomping off in the opposite direction.