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Fifty-Six
Noah just stared at everyone. Becky woke up and started screaming because Nova was. The twins just stood there staring like total dorks.
There was an ugly guy with no hair trying to act like he was in charge or something.
Noah recognized him. He’d been the man to take him away from Nova after the funeral. His stomach tightened as he remembered the man’s hand on his shoulder, and the kind of mean way he’d said Noah was going away.
Linsey was there, trying to help calm down everybody. Chandler was there, too, asking what was going on, by the hall to the back office where he worked most of the time.
Noah didn’t even know what was going on.
But…there was a man there. He had said he was Noah’s uncle, but Noah didn’t remember him. He hadn’t seen his since he was like five or something. It had been before Nova was born, he thought. His mom had yelled at him to leave her alone.
So why was this uncle here now? His mom had died five weeksago. Everything had been going ok.
He’d liked it with Nick, most of the time.
Unless…Nick didn’t want him anymore? But why would Nick have said that? Said Noah wasn’t going anywhere, in that mad way?
Somehow, Noah ended up with Becky in his arms. He was supposed to give her to Chandler so Chandler could calm her down, but Becky didn’t want to go with Chandler.
She wrapped her arms around Noah’s neck and clung, sniffling and crying. “Nova real mad, Noah!”
“Yeah.” He should calm his sister down, but…Robin and Nick were already doing that. Holding her and telling her everything was going to be ok. Nova’s arms went around Robin’s neck and Robin just held her and rocked her, even though Nova was kind of too big for Robin to do that.
Noah’s mom had never done that when Nova cried. She’d always get madder at Nova when she’d be upset. It was always Noah’s job to calm her down before.
But…Nova had a new dad now. And he thought Robin was going to be a really good mom for Nova soon, too. They took good care of his sister all the time.
“What’s this guy doing here?” Wesley asked, a mad tone in his own voice.
Philip’s was worried. “He’s not going to take Noah away from us, is he?”
Noah’s stomach tightened even more. He didn’t really think he wanted to go away. He just held Becky. She clung to him in her monkey way. “Noah not go away! No!”
The man in a suit stepped toward Noah. Noah tightened his hold on Becky and he turned her a little. Away from the guy. He sensed the guy was scaring Becky, and Noah wanted to protect her somehow. “Hello, Noah. Do you remember me?”
“A little. Why are you here? Where have you been? My mom died.”
“I know. I was actually in Djibouti, Africa. Doing medical relief work there. I didn’t hear about your mom until a week ago.” He had a sad look in his eyes now. “It took me this long to get back to the States. Your mom asked me once if I would take care of you—in the event something ever happened to her.”
“What about Nova? What did mom say about her?”
He hesitated. That’s when Noah got it. This guy…didn’t want Nova. He just wanted Noah.
“I was told you have a younger sister. I didn’t know. Your mom never told me. If your sister needs to come with us, too, then of course, she can. I can take care of you, and her, and can send you to the best schools. I have two grown daughters of my own in Montana.”
“Yeah, well, Mom didn’t tell Nick he had a kid, either.” Noah looked at Nick and his uncle and said words he’d never said before. “She wasn’t always very nice to us. What do you want?”
He looked at Linsey. “Do I have to go with him? I…thought I was staying with my sister.”
So many thoughts were running through his head. This guy…was his real family. His mom’s actual brother—Noah’s uncle, too. He wasn’t…a fake uncle like Phil was, even though Phil was really nice. This guy was his real family, too. Not just Nova’s. He didn’t know if that mattered to him or not. Not really. “He’s my uncle, right? Like Phil is Nova’s…and Becky’s, and Philip’s and Wesley’s? For real?”
The bald guy tried to say something. Linsey just held up one hand and shushed him. “Not now, Artie.”
That looked kind of funny. She was just as short as Robin was. And that guy looked like that Ichabod Crane guy from the cartoons.
He used to think adults were all giants and he was just a little kid. It wasn’t like that anymore. He was taller than Linsey, he thought. And Robin…Nick said he’d be taller than Robin by the end of the summer.
