Alexander glares at me, and I can tell by the set of his jaw he’s upset. I cut more flowers, give him a few seconds to stew, and wish I could hand him a piece of paper and some crayons to try to figure out what’s really going on with him.
“Then give me something to help you,” I say. “If you want to have a later curfew, then you have to give a good reason to have one and why you’re responsible enough to handle it.”
“Are you saying I’m not responsible?” he shoots back.
Did I twist every sentence around when I was his age? “I didn’t say that. I’m saying that if you want a different curfew then you need to build a case as to why Dad should give it to you. He responds better to well-thought-out conversations than to overly emotional arguments.”
“You won’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Alexander drops the scissors on the table and fiddles with the leaves of the roses. “There’s a girl.”
And there it is—the real issue. A million questions form in my mind, most of them belonging to the protective and giddy older sister who wants to know everything about this girl, but I need to help Alexander and Dad first. “What does this girl have to do with curfew?”
He shrugs his shoulders like he doesn’t know, yet he answers. “She works, almost every day, and she doesn’t get off until ten. I’m able to give her a ride home, but when she asks me to hang out with her, I have to tell her no. I don’t want to seem like a baby by telling her I have a curfew, and I can tell that even though I’m saying no nicely, she feels like I’m blowing her off.”
All the puzzle pieces start to click together. “Have you tried explaining this to Dad?”
He mashes his lips together. “Dad won’t understand. He’s ancient.”
True there aren’t many people Dad’s age with seventeen-year-olds, but ancient is a bit of a stretch. “I think you should try telling him. He might surprise you.”
“No, he won’t. I’ve heard how much he hated Noah for years.”
True again, but…. “Noah and I were different, and Dad’s changed a lot since then. He’s admitted to me he was wrong on a lot of things with Noah, and Noah and I didn’t exactly make it easy on Dad. I told you the story of how I once had to call Dad for bail money for Noah. If Macie ever called Noah for bail money for her boyfriend, Noah would probably lose his mind.”
Lose his mind would be an understatement. After being the bad boy, Noah is already on the lookout for any boy in Macie’s class who could be a potential leather-jacket-wearing kind of trouble he was. With Macie’s tendency to enjoy being a bit wild, even for six, I’m not sure any of us will survive her teen years.
Alexander finally glances up at me, and his open body language informs me that for the first time since we started this conversation that he’s listening, so I continue, “Dad isn’t a stranger to love. He fell in love with my mom, and he tried for years to help her, even when she didn’t want to help herself.” They’re even friendly with each other now when we have combined family functions. Mom has been doing very well for years and even has someone special in her life.
“And he fell in love with your mom. When I say fell in love, I mean fell hard. I was in middle and high school and had to watch their disgusting teenage lovey-dovey behavior. Each time I had dinner with them I wanted to vomit.”
Alexander chuckles and his posture finally relaxes. “Will you be there when I talk to him?”
“If you want me there.”
“I do.”
On the inside I’m smiling like Seth with a cookie, but I keep the sister joy off my face.
Alexander’s cell chimes with a text, and by the way he lights up, it must be this mystery girl. He jacks his thumb over his shoulder. “Do you mind if I take a few minutes off?”
That would have required him to have worked to begin with, but instead of mentioning that, I shoo my brother away to go woo a girl. The moment he’s out of the tent, I look over in time to spot Noah giving his brother Jacob a hug. Good. The last thing I wanted was for them to get into another argument.
Noah and Jacob share the same type of relationship Alexander and my father do. Lots of love and lots of arguments. Noah has always been more of a father figure to Jacob than a brother. Jacob and Tyler were adopted and have a mom and a dad, but Noah and Jacob fell into those roles with each other while Noah is able to just be Tyler’s older brother.
Jacob pulls away, offers Noah a crooked grin and then sets off to start the task of putting up table and chairs. Better late than never. Noah glances over at me, and even though he has thrown me that heart-stopping glance a million times since we were seventeen, those mutant pterodactyls take flight in my chest.
A blush hits my cheeks as I remember the way Noah loved me last night, and I return my attention back to the flowers, while catching a peek at Noah walking in my direction. It’s moments like this that I see glimpses of the rebellious teen who I first fell for all those years ago. That sexy swagger, those dark eyes set on me, and finally his touch as he puts a hand on my waist.
“S’up, Echo,” he says in a deep, sensual voice that causes my blood to tingle.
I giggle with the reminder from our past. “Hello, Noah.”
Noah leans down and kisses me. It’s brief, but it’s a promise of events to come later this evening when the kids are tucked away into bed. He pulls away and watches as our children use Tyler as a jungle gym. “How’s Alexander?”
“Seventeen, falling in love and thinks he’s the first one to have ever experienced it.”
Noah snorts. “Sounds about right.”
Because we felt the same way at his age. While all of those moments we shared as teens were new, fresh and exciting, I wouldn’t trade what I have now to experience any of that again. There’s something comforting and peaceful in the love and life we have now. A comfortableness in every simple touch, word and action.
Do we argue? Yes, definitely, yes. But even in the arguments, there’s a deep understanding and love that keeps us from going too far. As the years go by, the apologizing comes faster, the need to see the other’s side more apparent. Adulting is hard, but growing in a relationship with the man I’ve married is one of the greatest joys of my life.
“What’s going on with Jacob?” I ask.
“Do you really want to know?”
Flipping fantastic. Where Tyler is driven and focused, Jacob has been using his twenties to find himself, hopping from job to job and girl to girl. Not that he has to have everything figured out right now, but Jacob has a tendency to create drama with his choices.
“When you put it that way, not really, but tell me anyhow.”
Noah rubs the back of his neck then drops the bomb. “You’re going to be an aunt.”
I blink repeatedly and try to process the words. “Jacob’s having a baby?”
“Technically the girl he slept with is having a baby, but yeah, that’s the gist. She’s four months along, and she’s keeping the baby regardless of what Jacob decides to do. Jacob doesn’t want me to tell you who it is yet, but I’ll give you three good guesses and the first two don’t count.”
Crap. Just crap. “It’s Sylvia, isn’t it?”