My Brother From Another Universe

7: Party People

"Who'd be more than glad to help him?" Austin suddenly asks and we turn to see her leaning by the door.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask.

"Twenty seconds," she replies curtly.

"Dinner's ready. Mom has a sore throat so she doesn't want to yell tonight," she announces and I stand up.

"Mom's already made dinner? I didn't even know when she and dad got home," I say.

"They've been home for a while now. I told them you were working on your invention so they didn't want to bother you. And, come down for dinner soon so mom can let us eat." And with that, she leaves the room with the door open, with the aim of prompting us to leave after her because mom never lets anyone eat unless everyone is seated at the table.

"Come on, let's not keep them waiting," I say to Travis and we go downstairs for dinner.

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"Hey mom, hey dad," I greet as I hug my parents and sit down beside mom while Travis sits beside me, opposite Austin.

"Avan," mom calls lovingly but her sore throat makes her voice sound coarse. "Austin told us you were working on your invention. Aww my baby is working so hard, I hope that all your hard work and efforts reap good dividends for you."

I beam at her as she serves me dinner; mac and cheese.

"Thanks mom."

"Is it finally fixed now?"

"Yeah, I'll just do a little test run and we're ready to go," I say.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Mom exclaims and engulfs me in an unexpected hug while dad reaches out to ruffle my hair.

"That's my son aka future award-winning global inventor aka innovative genius!" he says and I smile sheepishly. My parents have so much faith in me and are so supportive of my dreams.

"Is this dish made of cheese?" Travis asks.

"Yeah, it's macaroni and cheese, my special recipe," mom tells him.

"I love it."

"Do you want more?" Mom offers.

"Of course," Travis accepts and mom dishes him another serving of mac and cheese.

Mom's recipes are classic and it comes as no surprise that Travis who is a complete stranger to some of our food in this universe finds all her meals tasty and delicious. I for one would choose mom's cooking over eating out. It's just that mom can be very busy sometimes and can't cook all the time due to her schedule.

"I think this is the right time to tell you guys that I need a phone," Travis speaks after a few minutes of silence.

Mom and dad look up at him in unison and then at each other.

"What do you need a phone for? You'll be going back to your universe soon," dad says.

"Well, not so soon."

"What do you mean? Avan's invention is all fixed as he said." And that was Austin, who I'm guessing doesn't want Travis to stay here another second.

"I want to stay here a bit longer, I really like this universe," he tells her.

"That's wonderful," Austin comments sarcastically.

"You are welcome to stay for as long as you want, Travis, this house has become your home too," mom says.

"And about that phone, hmm, we'll think about it," dad adds and mom nods in agreement, causing Travis to vibrate with anticipated excitement.

"This can't be happening," Austin grumbles.