A tiny hand waves.
“This is Ollie.” I ruffle his sticky hair. “And this monkey here is Benson.”
My younger nephew has wrapped himself around my leg.
Ollie tugs Marco by the sleeve and leads him down the hallway.
“You wanna see my tower that I made? It goes all the way up to the clouds.”
“Absolutely I do, let's go see it.”
Marco grins over his shoulder as he disappears from view.
Benson toddles after them, not wanting to be left out.
“I gave him a heads up before we got here,” I tell the others. “He's been brushing up on dragon lore this afternoon.”
“He's wonderful, sweetheart. Such a gem,” Mum croons. “Come inside, let's get you a cuppa.”
She wanders off to find the teabags.
“He’s super cute,” Talia swoons. “Go little brother.”
My neck grows warm.
She’s not wrong though.
Marco still melts me just as much as he did that first day.
???
Somewhere on the other side of the house, I hear a stampede of little feet.
And one big pair of feet.
In the kitchen, sun streams across timber floors before fading.
“Herbed chicken with lemon,” Mum explains. “And baked apples with custard for after.” “Sounds perfect.”
I give her a smooch on the cheek.
A worried look crosses her face.
“Oh gosh, I forgot to ask. He's not vegan or vegetarian or anything, is he?”
“Nah, you're all good,” I laugh. “He's not a drinker though. And maybe don't ask about his family yet. Bit of a tricky topic.”
“Glad you told me,” she smiles, handing me two cups of tea.
Dad hooks an arm around my shoulder, still wearing floral oven mitts.
“How's my boy, anyway?”
“Been good, Pa. You behaving yourself?”
“Always do,” he says with a wink. “Met your handsome fella just before. But somebody’s already snatched him away from us.”
“Ollie's recruited him as a construction manager,” Mum chuckles.
