Belief in Miracles (completed)

Chapter 32: Sebastian

32 Sebastian

I'd been sitting in the living room for almost twenty minutes and Summer still hadn't returned. Tom sat in a high back chair to my left, Dev in one on my right. Both were watching me. I had set my backpack on the floor at my feet, and nudged it with my shoe as I let out a long breath. I noticed Tom's eyes lock on it, then shoot to me with a warning.

"I just realized... where's Eustace?" He asked.

"Gave him the holiday off." I said, and leaned back to cross my real knee over my fake one, listening to the faintly audible sounds of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade drifting from the TV room.

"Bas..."

"Don't start." I held a hand to him. "I already got it from Dev. I brought the portable, so I'm fine. Besides, the constant oxygen was making me lightheaded."

"That generally means you need it, dummy." Dev blurted, and I rolled my eyes.

"Where's Dad?" I asked, changing the subject. I was not there to get drilled by them, and hadn't seen my Dad at all since we'd arrived. I hadn't seen my Mom either, but I heard her voice from the kitchen.

Dev inhaled deeply, stared at me a moment longer, then finally relaxed back into the seat. "He's watching the parade with Mark, Ryan, and the grandkids."

I nodded, realizing that I hadn't even said hi to either of my parents, let alone the rest of my brothers. Summer was seeing more of my mom than I was. Picking up my backpack, I tried to stand, and grunted as I collapsed back into the low-set couch. Letting out a huff of frustration, I glanced at Tom and my brother.

"Help me stand up, will you?"

They both stood and took an arm, then hoisted me to my feet. Though they didn't question, I heard them follow me as I started down the hall and past the stairs to the TV room. The only light in the room came from the sun shining through the window, and I lingered in the doorway a minute before entering.

My father was held down on both sides by a young boy and girl, the three of them with their eyes on the TV as a giant Pikachu balloon came on the screen. Mark and Ryan were stretched on the loveseat against the right wall, both of them scrolling through their phones, oblivious. I cleared my throat, grinning as Ian's son, Caleb, and Dev's daughter, Madison, both whipped their heads in my direction.

"Uncle Bassy!" They cried simultaneously, and I heard my father chuckling as they leaped off the couch to run to me.

I dropped my backpack to the floor to embrace them, my arms filled with a nine-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. Behind me, Tom retrieved my bag and shouldered it, and I laughed as the kids hung on me, dragging me to the floor as they pounced.

"They got you pinned, Bas." Mark said, and I laughed as I nodded.

"Yep, they do." I breathed on a grunt, and coughed lightly as Madison dropped to sit across my stomach.

"Hey, hey, easy with him, Maddy." Dev warned, and the little girl paused in her pouncing to look down at me.

"Bassy has boo-boos." She said, and pointed at my finger splints.

Dev nodded, his face unfairly stern. The kids knew nothing of my cancer, and what they'd seen of its effects, they didn't understand. It was better that way, but also made the adults in the house hover like hawks whenever I played with them, worried that they might hurt me. Had a way of making me feel pretty pathetic.

Pushing the thought aside, I grinned as Maddy looked back at me, her expression contemplative for a moment before she lodged herself backward to grab and tickle at my thighs. My Dad chuckled from where he had stood from the couch and came to hover at my left, his expression amused, but cautious.