Found Tonight ||Family Bond

10) Meeting The Rest Of Them

March 12

(I know the time skip is kinda big here, but it'll make sense later)

(Alexanders POV)

I was working at my laptop in the afternoon, listening to the heavy rain sounds outside. March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb over here. I'm just glad it wasn't a thunderstorm. I hate those. Its triggering for me. You remember in the last book. I saw a Skype notification.

Laffytaffy wants to chat with you!

Ugh, why didn't he change that name? He's had it since college. I clicked on it and Skype opened. I immediately saw a young girls face up close as she was running. That was Marie, Lafs daughter. "Marie! Reviens ici le telephone de papa, fille coquine!" I heard from Laf in the background. "Rends le téléphone à ton père, chérie." I told Marie. Yeah, I speak french. Cool, right?

Laf grabbed the phone. "Alex, sorry. The little one should've been in bed a long time ago. It is night over here." "Thats fine, whats up? Hows Adrienne?" "Good, good, I have huge news! Oh...." He looked like he was looking at something. "What?" "Herc wants to call." "So jsut do a group call, no big deal." Suddenly, Hercs face came up. "WHAAAATS UP!" "Herc! The kids are sleeping!" His wife, Elizabeth (Not to be confused with my wife) called out." "Sorry! I have huge news! Next week, we're coming to New York!" Laf smiled. "No way! We're coming to New York next week too!" "Woohoo! The squads coming back!" I cheered. Eliza walked in. "One sec, guys." Eliza ran up to me, excited. "Angie and her husband are coming from London next week!" "Really? The guys are too!" "Its a family reunion! Oh! We could cater food from Usnavi and ask Benny if he can pick them up at the airport...." "And Fanny gets a chance to meet everyone!" I heard Herc clearing his throat. "Hello? We are still here." "Sorry, got excited. I never told you guys, we're fostering a kid!"

Herc got excited. He loves kids, he has eight of his own. "Aw! Whats her name? And whats her size? You know, in case I need to make clothes for her."

Herc owns a clothing shop in Ireland, he, his wife, and a few of their kids help out with making clothes. Everything in there is sewn by hand. I should know, most of my clothes is by him.

"Frances, but likes to be called Fanny. And I don't know. Ask Eliza." Lafs french bulldog, Archie, climbed on him. "Archie wants to say hi. So, hows the barrio?"

We NEVER call the barrio a neighborhood. Thats the english word for it. We call it barrio to honor its hispanic heritage. It used to be a humble spot in Jackson Heights, where Usnavi would sell his coffe and chase away Graffiti Pete, the ladies at the salon would gossip, and the Rosarios ran a small taxi service. But over the years, more people moved in, and the barrio family is bigger than ever. Not everybodys hispanic. I mean, I'm from Nevis and Bennys black, but we don't need to be one race to be family.

"Great, Nina and Benny are doing just fine, Petes got a new job working for a graphic designer, Usnavis still making coffee. Per the ush." Before I married Eliza, me, Herc, Laf, and John all lived in an apartment in the barrio after we graduated college. Eventually, we all got married, settled down, and moved away, but the one rule of the barrio family is, 'Una vez en el vecindario, siempre es parte del vecindario.' Which translates into: 'Once in the neighborhood, always a part of the neighborhood.'

"So how long are you in town for?" "A week." "Yeah, same. I don't want the kids to miss too much of school." "Hows the weather over there? Its been a real shitstorm over here." I chuckled. Herc sighed. "Have you forgotten I live in Ireland? WE'VE WERE TRAPPED INSIDE BECAUSE OF SNOW FOR A WEEK!" "Huh, we do not get much storms here. its been cold, but no storms." Laf said. I looked up at the clock. "Oh, shit! Can we pick this up later?! I gotta pick up the kids!" "Sure, just go!" "See ya!" I slammed my laptop closed, grabbed my coat, and ran out the door. Then I forgot I had to put on shoes, so I ran back inside, put boots on, and ran back out to my car.