The Art of Moving On | ✔

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE; part two

     When I get inside, I set Sofia down and help her out of her coat, stacking it on top of Uncle Dan's and Aunt Suki's on the staircase.

     "Everyone's in the living room," I say as Sofia grabs a hold of my hand.

     She's shyer than Maddox, who ran into the room the moment Suki took his coat off. Grandma and Pop are first to hug the kids as mom takes Lily from Uncle Dan and hugs him. Suki kisses her on the cheek as my mom makes googly-eyes at the baby. Mom and Uncle Dan look alike, but not the way Dres and Amelia do. Maybe that's something that changes with age.

      Sofia runs back to me after Grandma lets go of her and clings to my leg. I bring her over to Dres and Amelia, where Maddox is already hounding them. I get there just in time to hear him say, "Are you Cas's boyfriend and girlfriend?"

     "Okay!" My face heats as I grab Maddox and pull him back into me. "It doesn't work that way, Maddox."

     "Why?" he asks, looking up at me.

     I'm still flushing and Amelia's laughing in a way that just makes it worse. "I mean, it can be like that, but it's not—that isn't. You know what? Forget it. Maddox, this is Dres. And this is his sister, Amelia. Sofia, can you say hi?"

     Amelia crouches down so she's level with Sofia and says, "I like your dress, Sofia."

     Maddox goes, "You guys are like Poe and Finn. Here. You be Finn," he shoves an action figure at Dres, "and you be Poe." He shoves the other at me. "You guys can fight storm troopers!" he exclaims, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards Dres. His face is pink as he says in Chinese, "And kiss like momma and dad."

     I respond in Chinese, telling him we should stick to English when others can't understand. "It's not polite," I add.

     "Sorry," Maddox says. "I forget sometimes and it just comes out."

     I look up, meeting Dres's gaze. He's staring at me hard, an expression I can't decipher. I don't have time to make out the code.

     Mom comes up and says, "Excuse me, Maddox, aren't you going to give your Aunt a hug?" Maddox spins out of my arms and crushes my mom.

     Aunt Suki and Uncle Dan circulate back towards us. Dres still hasn't stopped giving me this look, but he smiles at them, in a way he really only reserves for rare and fleeting moments. "Aunt Suki, Uncle Dan, this is Dresden and his sister, Amelia."

     Uncle Dan shakes Dres's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about your place, Private Weston. A lot of people in my office frequent there."

     "Oh, where do you work?" Dres asks.

     "Prestige Builders. Our main offices are in the city, but I work for their Northeastern branch. Actually, I think one of my teams did work on your place over the summer."

     Dres nods enthusiastically. "They did. Gutted and designed the whole kitchen. Did a really great job. So you're an architect, then?"

     The thing about Uncle Dan is once you get him started on a topic he can go for days. Aunt Suki shoots me a knowing look. Dres has been commandeered by my Uncle's clutches.

     Mom gives Lily to Suki, announcing, "I'm going to check on everything. But we should be ready to eat soon." She turns to me, touching my forearm. "Would you mind finishing the table?" I nod, following her into the dining room. She stops in doorway of the kitchen, stares at me but doesn't say anything.

     "What's up?" I ask as I pull glasses from the china cabinet.

     "I'm just looking," she says smiling.