She’s sad. She’s going to miss you. But she wants you to be happy and she knows you need to be there for that to happen. She also wants us to plan a visit to see you soon.
Me
I’m glad you’re there for her.
Breck
I always will be. We’ll both always be here for you too.
Me
Thanks, Breck. Hug your girls for me.
Breck
I will. Call me anytime.
Me
Will do.
“Well…” Avi questions.
“He said the same as you, nobody knows what they’re doing… Not sure if that makes me feel better or more terrified.” I chuckle. “He did say they want to come visit soon.”
“I know someplace they can stay.” She shrugs her shoulders to indicate the space around her, unable to do much with her hands that are still kneading the dough.
“Yeah. I think we may have a lot of visitors here. My parents mentioned wanting to come out soon too. They want to see Grandad, but they also want to meet Nox… Do you think he’s up for that?”
“Am I up for what?”
Both Avi and I snap our heads around to the door.
“Lennox!” Avi shouts and sprints the twenty feet between them, wrapping her arms around him while trying to keep the sticky mess on her hands from transferring.
“Mum…” He drags out the word like he’s annoyed, but his face doesn’t hide his excitement, nor does the way he grips her around the middle.
Grandad, Gran, and Avi’s parents all arrive in the doorway a moment later.
“Sorry,” Avi’s mum says, “we couldn’t hold him back another minute.”
Avi pulls back from him, holding her hands up in front of her like some sort of odd mannequin. “Just a sec,” she says, and walks briskly to the sink to rinse them off.
In her absence, the rest of us stand in quiet awkwardness. I don’t quite know how to act with Nox. Avi’s parents are looking at mein a way I can’t interpret. And my grandparents are watching it all unfold like spectators at a movie—all they need is the popcorn.
“Hey, Nox,” I say with a hopeful smile.
To my surprise, he walks over and gives me a hug. I must look as shocked as I feel because the adults all hide smiles behind their hands and choke back laughs. I bring my arms around him and return the hug.
“Hey, Jamie,” he says, stepping back, and we both swipe a hand through our hair. It would appear I passed on my nervous tic to the boy.
“Okay,” Avi says, rejoining the group. “Who’s hungry?” She pulls Nox into her side and ruffles his hair.
“I’m starving,” he says.
“As if you didn’t eat every snack in the car on the way here,” Fiona says. “And a whole pizza when we stopped for lunch.”
“Thank goodness your mum’s a chef, aye?” Grandad jokes, and Nox beams at him.
