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“Oh, it’s really no imposition. We love guests.” Her smile is contagious, and she picks up the boy still deciding if she likes me and rests him on her hip.
“Who’s this?” I ask, and he hides his face from me again.
“You wanna tell him your name, buddy?” His hand is in his mouth, tongue out, as he shakes his head and hides his eyes again. She laughs as she takes his hand out of his mouth. “This is Sawyer.” He grins at his name, looking up at her, and then she breaks away like she remembers we’re here.
“Well, please, come inside. We’ll get you each a plate.” She reaches her hand to Espie, who takes it gladly and whispers back and forth with her as I trail behind. The grin on my face has never been this consistent. I’m exhausted, drained, and maybe a little shocked that I’m actually free from my family. But despite all of that and perhaps amongst it, I’m completely whole.
Breakfast is wonderful and happy. Everyone is talking like we didn’t just experience something traumatic. It’s weirdly normal and filled with laughter. The twins run around with their chubby little legs, zooming under the chairs and around the house like it’s a playground.
Romeo has to ask them to calm down more than once, but mostly he runs after them and instigates their craziness.
“Selah, Sawyer, let’s be careful.” Kira calls a few times, but their laughter ensues, and she shakes her head with a grin. I look over at Espie, who meets my gaze with such peace and contentment that I feel like nothing is real— in the best way.
“You’re beautiful.” I whisper, leaning in and kissing her gently.
“Ew.” The two little girls who told me their names were Sailor and Nari resound in unison.
Vince clears his throat. “That’s gonna take some getting used to…” and Espie laughs, pulling away, and I grab her face again and kiss her forehead. She giggles and scoots closer to me.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys,” Antonio claps. “But Stella and I are exhausted.” She side-eyes him with a grin that tells me they’re not going to bed anytime soon, and I cough implicitly. Everyone chuckles at this, and Antonio’s face drops.
“You know what, at least we still have sex.”
“God. No!” Olive closes her ears and Vince covers Nari’s ears while Scout covers Sailor’s ears.
Stella coughs out a laugh through a parted grin and stands with him as he guides her up the stairs.
“Please take the third floor, back left room.” Kira asks as they continue walking up the stairs.
“Gotcha, sis. We know our designated room.” He calls back, and I turn, eyes wide and lips pressed together, looking towards Espie who grimaces at me, lips turned down at the edges, teeth bared.
“Nice.” I nod to no one in particular and the group picks up conversation as normal, with Espie’s other brothers asking me about what types of things I aspire to do now that I’m free from my family. Mostly I tell them I travel, but Espie adds that I love history, and everyone starts asking me all of these questions like it’s the most interesting thing ever discovered about a person.
For the rest of the morning, we visit with family and somehow, the day passes into night and the children are all asleep in one room. I’m not a parent but it seems like a bad decision, though Espie said the cousins never want to be separated when they’re together, so I guess I get it.
“We’re gonna go up to bed. Do you guys need anything else?” Kira asks as Romeo rests his chin on her shoulder, arms wrapped around her waist.
“No, I think we’re good.” I nod and look over to Espie, who nods.
“Thank you!” She adds.
“Yes, thank you guys.” I nod as they turn around the corner to walk up the stairs.
“Of course!” Kira laughs a little too hard, so I’m assuming something’s going on that we can’t see.
“Goodnight.” Romeo chuckles, and then it’s silent again.
“Your family is…”
“Crazy.” She laughs and I pull her onto my lap. She drops her arms around my neck. “And now they’re yours too.”
“True.” I whisper, too distracted by her lips to think of a better response before I kiss her. Her lips are soft as always, amazing against mine. We’re exhausted, the both of us, from not sleeping for a whole day. And jet-lagged from coming back from Russia not but a day ago. I pull away and kiss her forehead, feeling dizzy from the lack of sleep and the intensity of our kiss.
I lift her up in my arms, and she holds me tightly as she directs me where our room is located.
“Keep walking.” She laughs, and I kiss her once more before following her orders. We reach the back of the house and a door is at the end of the blue gray wood floors and walls.
“This is it?” I ask and she nods. I open the door with my free hand and, after I step inside, gently kick it shut with my foot. There’s a balcony and the doors are opened, letting in the sound of crickets to resound throughout the room comfortingly. There’s a large white bed on the far-right side of the room, and I tuck Espie into it before crawling in next to her. The room is the perfect temperature, cool and cozy.
