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“Thought you weren’t coming,” the first says.
“He brought a girl,” the second replies. “He’s been coming a lot.”
“Shut the hell up,” Eli says, shaking his head. “Mackenzie, these are my younger brothers, Brooks and Lincoln.” He looks at them with an eyebrow raised. “Boys, this is Mackenzie.”
They both wince at being called boys. I probably would, too. They must be in their late twenties or early thirties. They remind me of my brothers and from the way they tease Eli, I’m guessing their love language is the same as Johnny and Brad’s - shit talking. My chest twinges. I miss them.
A woman walks out and a smile splits her face. “You’re here,” she says. She’s wearing a dark blue wrap dress that emphasizes her curves. Her cheeks are plump with a smile, and she looks at Eli with warm eyes before she slides her gaze to me.
“Hey, Mom,” Eli says, taking my hand in his. “This is Mackenzie.”
Her eyes are the same color as his. They have the same color hair, too. But where he’s all masculine jaw, she has a heart-shaped face.
“Mackenzie, this is my mom,” Eli says.
“Linda,” she says, reaching forward to hug me. “It’s so lovely to meet you.”
Eli reluctantly lets go of my hand. Then a little girl toddles out of the door with her hands held up to him. “Lie,” she says, jumping up and down in the way kids do when they want to be picked up.
He swings her up into his arms, blowing a raspberry on her cheek. She giggles and my ovaries do a little dance.
“This is my sister,” he tells me, which seems so ludicrous because she can’t be much older than two or three and he’s forty. “Francie, say hi to Mackenzie.”
She waves and hides her head. Her shyness makes me smile.
“Don’t worry,” Linda says. “She won’t stop talking as soon as she gets to know you.” She holds her hands out to Francie – who I know isn’t her daughter, but her ex-husband’s child – and Francie happily slides into her arms, as Eli’s mom carries her inside.
We follow them in and another wave of Eli’s relatives welcome us. Eli tells me their names and I immediately forget them. I thought I had a big family, but it’s tiny compared to this.
And everybody seems so relaxed and happy to see him. His older brother – Myles – asks Eli about the game on Friday night, and the one who looks just like Myles – Liam – comes over and introduces himself and his wife, Sophie, to me.
Sophie hugs me. “They’re all a bit much,” she whispers. “But they’re lovely. Want to come meet Myles’ wife?”
“Sure.” I let her lead me down the hallway that’s adorned with what looks like expensive art. It doesn’t feel pretentious, though. It feels like a home full of love.
Myles’ wife is a lovely woman named Ava, and she’s in the kitchen with a little boy who looks like he’s having a tantrum. She looks up as we walk in and lets out a long sigh.
And then she sees me and smiles. “Oh, hi! You must be Eli’s friend.”
“Mackenzie.”
She hugs me, too. They’re a cuddly family, unlike mine, but I throw myself into it.
“Your house is beautiful,” I tell her. “And this must be the birthday boy.”
“Charlie,” she says. “And he’s a little overwhelmed.”
Myles walks in. “Problems?”
“You could say that. He wants everybody to go home.”
“Not Daddy. Daddy stay,” Charlie says, his voice vibrating with a suppressed sob.
“Well, at least I have permission to stay in my own house.” Myles scoops Charlie up in his arms. “What’s up, bud?”
“Francie opened one of his gifts,” Ava says. She looks at me. “Sorry, you’ve just walked into Toddlermageddon.”
“Not Fancy’s,” Charlie says, leaving out the ‘r’. “Mine.”
