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Boyd’s head bobs. “We are. We get on each other’s nerves a lot, but that’s just sibling stuff. My sister Briar and I are really close. Always have been.”
“And your other siblings?”
He grins. “They’re the three musketeers, and also absolute menaces to society. The twins are constantly bickering and finishing each other’s sentences, as you can imagine twins would do, and Busy is this really flamboyant artist who has taken her newfound independence as an adult very seriously.”
The look on his face is so sentimental and sappy, I almost can’t believe it’s him I’m looking at.
The frowny-faced Mr. Gruff from the beginning of the flight has stepped aside, leaving room for this genuine guy with a heart for his family.
I can probably credit the two glasses of whiskey that are now running through his system with why his defenses seem to have dropped so much in the past hour, but I’ll take what I can get.
My mind wanders as I try to picture Boyd, this introverted stud sitting next to me, surrounded by a bunch of siblings who give him a hard time and poke him like the big bear that he is. I can just imagine him being so intent on his quiet, alone time and this brood of others trying to talk to him and make him laugh.
It makes me smile just imagining it, especially because I don’t have any true context for what that kind of life would be like, having grown up as an only child.
“What?” he asks after I stare at him silently for too long.
“Sorry.” I shake my head but keep the smile on my face. “I’m just trying to picture you with a big family and a bunch of menacing siblings annoying the shit out of you.”
“You can’t see it?”
I giggle. “Actually, I totally can.”
“I love them. Even when I don’t,” he says, taking another sip of his drink.
“I always wanted siblings. I didn’t need as many as you have, but I’d love to have a confidant. My mom was amazing—is amazing,” I amend. “But even though we’re so close, I would have loved to have someone I could have been friends with growing up, someone to get irritated with because I love them and hate them at the same time.”
“I think the last part is the most accurate, definitely. My brother and sisters drive me absolutely insane. Some of their decisions are just…so…” He shakes his head, not really able to finish.
But I can still see it on his face—how much he loves them, even if they drive him nuts.
And I’ve always wished for that, right there…that love that riles you up but brings you home at the same time.
“Are you nervous?” he asks, bringing the conversation back to the original reason we started talking about families. “About seeing your ‘dad’?”
He uses the air quotes, his question hitting at something inside of me. I haven’t really talked with anyone about this trip, haven’t taken the time to really analyze how I feel about it.
Am I nervous?
I turn that thought over in my mind for a little bit before responding.
“I’m terrified, actually,” I say, giving him what I am sure is far too much honesty for a stranger on a plane. “He has a whole other family…a wife and two kids.” I shake my head, my eyes zoning out as I focus on the blank screen in front of me. “It just makes me wonder what could possibly be different now.”
Boyd is quiet for a minute, and I can’t tell if he’s just being polite and doesn’t have anything to say, or if he’s intuitive enough about me already to let me collect my thoughts.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to get that dark and broody about it.”
But he shakes his head. “Don’t apologize. How you feel is how you feel. It just seems like a really complicated situation,” he admits, letting out an awkward laugh. “And you seem to be processing a lot.”
I nod and let out a long sigh. “Yeah.”
A flight attendant loops over and asks if we’d like anything to drink. When Boyd orders a third whiskey neat, I decide maybe I should allow myself to have a drink, too.
“I’ll have a vodka and cranberry, please,” I say when she looks to me. Then I take a look at Boyd. “You’re three drinks deep, mister. I don’t wanna see any judge-y eyes from you.”
Boyd lifts both hands up. “I wasn’t. I just think it’s safe to assume you’ve never experienced the joys of day drinking on a plane before. I’m glad to know you’re gonna give it a shot.”
A few minutes later, the attendant brings us our drinks. Once we both have them in hand, I turn to Boyd.
