Page 14 of Dickathlon

“Pierce, how many times have I told you not to call him a runt?”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, shoving him off of me.

“You know he prefers the term special boy,” Mom teased.

“Oh, he’s special alright.”

I ignored Pierce and asked Mom where Dad was.

“He’s with Travis discussing the winery expansion.”

I nodded. “When will the rest of the gang get here?”

“Owen and Christa are heading up from Anaheim after a few days at Disneyland. They should be here by dinner. Kyle and Rene are on their- well, here they are.”

I turned to see a minivan pulling in behind my car. Kyle waved from behind the steering wheel. I gave them space to get the kids out of the carseats. I wasn’t able to greet my brother and his wife properly because I was swarmed.

“Uncle Ty!” My nieces screamed at the same time as they tried to take me out from below.

“You girls are so tall! You been drinking your milk, huh? Do you remember meeting Luke before?”

Kora and Riley looked over at Luke. Riley, the younger of the two, ran over to him, offering a hug, but Kora just looked at him and waved. I leaned towards Luke, and whispered, “Even she can see you’re hideous.”

After greeting our mom and Pierce, Kyle and his wife, Rene, made their way over to me and Luke for hugs and small talk. Once the kids had run around in the driveway for a few minutes, Mom herded them into the house, and I helped Kyle with his family’s luggage.

I told Luke to throw our bags on my bed. My room was one of the things in the house that hadn’t changed. Practically the only perk of being the baby. They left it alone for me. It was on the third story in the tower. It wasn’t the biggest room, but it had the best view. I could see the ocean from the north windows.

“Luke got a boyfriend yet?” Kyle asked.

“Nope.”

“Huh.”

Well, that’s friggin’ weird. I changed the subject. “How are you and Rene? Real estate market treating you well?”

“Oh yeah. We’re selling a house or two every day. The market’s coming back.”

I wasn’t super interested, but it was better than talking about Luke’s love life. Seriously odd.

We made our way inside, and after dumping their luggage in the first floor bedroom, I made my way into the backyard to see my Dad and Travis.

“There he is!” Travis halted his conversation to open his arms for me.

“Hey, Trav,” I replied, letting him scoop me up and spin me around. It was what he did.

To avoid getting kicked, Dad backed off, but he was next, though he didn’t spin me around. “How’s training going, son?”

Pretty soon the whole family, minus Owen and Christa, was in the backyard, catching each other up on our lives and watching the girls run around and play on the swing set. It didn’t take me long to notice Luke wasn’t there.

I ventured back into the house. The smell of Mom’s pies baking made me salivate, and I stopped for a moment to admire the tree. We used to get a real one when we were kids, and though it was artificial now, I could see the familiar ornaments. Mom had a thing about tradition. It was strong with all of us because of her. I don’t think we had ever missed a Christmas together.

I made my way up the two flights to the tower where I could hear Luke’s voice. It sounded animated. I halted outside the door, conflicted. I didn’t want to eavesdrop, but I wasn’t sure if he needed me or not.

I didn’t have to wait long. The voices stopped and before I could back off, my door opened and I fell inward, almost knocking Luke over.

“Shit, bro. Sorry!” I cried, as he caught me in his arms.

He helped me right myself, then said, “It’s fine. Sorry for not coming down. My parents called and I had to deal with that.”