A/N - on a roll😛
TW - brief mention of eating disorders in this chapter
~~~
I hadn't realised how much I'd missed the laughter and happy atmosphere in the house until it was missing.
Alexander going missing, the fallout that had followed afterwards, it had drained any positivity from within these walls; but now that we were on good terms yet again I felt content, laughter filling the air like the tension was never even here in the first place.
"So you're telling me you don't think I'm capable of looking after an animal?", the offence written all over Xavier's face was comical, a hand pressed to his chest as he took a step back, "the lack of faith hurts".
"You literally put food in the oven and forgot to turn it on", Caleb deadpanned, a laugh coming from his phone where Chase was propped up on the counter on facetime.
"Tell me that's not a common mistake", he surrendered, being met with complete and utter silence, "Xan?".
"Well usually if I'm cooking food, I'm gonna turn the fucking oven on", he slapped his twin on the head, "I'd even go so far as to preheat it".
"Who has time for that?", Xavier grumbled, scratching his head, "what were we talking about?".
"You said you want a dog", I reminded him, he just clicked his fingers in realisation and grinned, "is that the wisest of choices?".
"Yes", he said as if it were obvious, "there's nothing I want more".
"I thought that was the ice rink", Prescott raised an eyebrow and I smirked, Xavier was one of- if not our largest form of entertainment at home.
"Can a guy not have more than one desire?", he frowned, "pretty sure Xan wants to open a restaurant and become a criminal at the same time".
"You know me so well", our brother flashed him a grin before it disappeared and he cleared his throat, "I uh, I was gonna go meet a friend...is that okay?".
I could feel the rest of my brothers' eyes on me as if they were waiting for my reaction, I just smiled at Alexander and nodded.
"You'll be back by dinner? Marco and the boys are coming over", he nodded back, grabbing his keys from the counter and stealing a brief glance over at Xavier who was biting back a smile.
"I'll only be a couple hours", he told me and I hummed, "later". He slipped out of the room and I watched the back of him until the door closed, only turning back to the others when I heard the roar of his engine.
"Xan has friends now?", Chase asked on the call, Caleb just snorted and picked up the phone.
"We think he's hiding a girlfriend-,", he started.
"Or boyfriend", Prescott interjected.
"I was gonna say that", Caleb replied, "we think he's hiding a partner, I'm on the edge of my seat Chasey".
"Just give him time", I could just hear the eye roll in Chase's voice before he yawned, "I'm gonna sleep, going to the library to study with Dakari later".
"Nerds", Caleb scoffed to which I rolled my eyes, our brother was excelling and he knew it, "call you later". He hung up and tossed his phone down, then proceeding to randomly pull Xavier into a headlock which he just accepted.
"What's for food later?", Prescott asked and I sent him a deadpan expression, "takeaway, got it".
"Unless you feel like slaving away in the kitchen for the remainder of the day?", I tried, he just laughed in my face and I sighed, "thought not".
"I've missed those little shits", Xavier said once he was released from Caleb's grip, seemingly referring to our cousins, "I wonder what colour Milo's hair is now".
"I bet you fifty it's orange", Caleb announced.
"Fifty it's green", Prescott declared.
"One hundred it's red", Xavier guessed, I just moved over to the coffee machine with an eye roll- these idiots and their bets.
"You mind if Theo joins us for dinner?", Caleb asked as if he'd ever asked me for permission before, "haven't seen him in a while".
"You saw him two days ago", Prescott muttered.
"Exactly. A while", he shrugged.
"You've been friends with him for fourteen years, why are you now asking me for permission?", I mused, grabbing a mug from the cupboard, "he's just as welcome here as you are over there".
"Cool", he said, trying to hide the smile growing on his face, "I'm gonna do a run to McDonald's- anyone want anything?".
"Can I come?", Xavier's face lit up like it was Christmas, "I could kill for a cheeseburger". My stomach grumbled at the thought and I felt Prescott's eyes burning into me in the blink of an eye.
"Get Zane a double cheeseburger meal", he took the words right out of my mouth and I kept quiet, "before we have to spend dinner in the hospital because he hasn't eaten". He was something else.
"You're okay?", Xavier checked and I nodded rapidly, "let's go Cub".
"Fifteen minutes tops", the twenty year old saluted us, Xavier trailing closely behind; only did I face Prescott again once they were gone.
"You're insufferable", I let him know, receiving a grin in return.
"You love it really", he lifted a shoulder nonchalantly, I had nothing to say to that.
~
"If it isn't my favourite cousin", I opened the door wider and did a brief head count, they were one down.
"Where's Ezekiel?", I skipped all greetings and closed the door behind the three of them, nearly being blinded by Emiliano's almost neon-green hair. Looks like Prescott had won today's bet.
"Hello to you too", Marco cocked his head slightly, eyes narrowing at me just like he did when analysing everyone, "he's got a migraine".
And it certainly wasn't because they were here for food. I hadn't forgotten about my cousin's reaction when I offered him something to eat the other day, and now that he hadn't shown today? I'd have to speak to Marco at some point about my concerns.
"You'll have to take him some food home", I shoved my thoughts to the side for a moment, focusing back on my nearly twenty-two year old cousin, "your hair looks...interesting".
"He looks like he should come with a hazard for toxic waste", Marco muttered, adjusting his cuffs, "he looks like the grinch".
"Well aren't you full of compliments?", Emiliano huffed which Elijah laughed at him, "where's the food?". The two of them headed into the kitchen where laughter filled the air, followed by Prescott telling Caleb and Xavier to pay up.
"They bet on him?", Marco's lips twitched up in amusement, "you've raised hooligans".
"And you've raised someone who's dyed their hair the colour of hazardous chemicals in an animated movie", I narrowed my eyes and he clamped his mouth shut, "exactly".
"I hate you", he muttered, I just rolled my eyes and led the way to the kitchen.
No he didn't.
~
Sitting around the table with most of my brothers and almost all of my cousins was eye opening...we'd never really had the traditional parental love and affection- hell, we weren't a traditional family, but all we needed was each other. And as messy and chaotic as our small family was, I was completely and utterly grateful for it; always had been and always would be.
I perked up when the front door opened, already knowing who it was without having to look.
"Sorry I'm late", Alexander hurried into the room, tossing his keys down and sighing, "lost track of time". Caleb choked on his food but recovered quickly, pulling out the chair to his right so the seventeen year old could sit down; he did so after washing his hands and patting them on his sweatpants.
"You haven't missed much", Prescott snorted, "just these two talking for the past hour". He gestured towards Elijah and Xavier who grinned, taking pride in that statement.
"Your hair is fucking blinding", Alexander laughed, "I kinda like it".
"Kinda?", Emiliano scoffed, "I think it's my favourite so far".
"Are we sure we don't need to get him checked for colour blindness?", Elijah leaned towards Marco who smirked in amusement.
"You know, you're kinda defeating the point of being discreet if everyone can hear you?", Emiliano frowned.
"And?", his brother shrugged.
"Where's Zeke?", Alexander asked, stealing a spring roll from Caleb's plate, "reading somewhere?".
"He stayed home to study", Elijah replied, my eyebrows pulling into a frown straight away.
"I thought he had a migraine", I recalled, watching the sixteen year old stiffen momentarily.
"Yeah...he said he'd study after the migraine was gone", he explained to which I hummed, stealing a glance at Marco who was already staring at me.
Posture rigid, jaw clenched, nostrils flaring.
What may have looked like nothing to some, was clear anger to me.
I'd managed to piss him off.
"A word", his chair screeched back and I sighed, abandoning my food and following him all the way to my office, "dare I ask why you're so fascinated in my brother's whereabouts?".
"He doesn't have a migraine, does he?", I raised an eyebrow, he merely blinked, the movement being the only thing that changed in his still appearance, "I think it has something to do with the food?". I watched him straighten, closing the gap between him and I in a heartbeat, my eyes narrowed on the clenched fists at his sides- I'd well and truly done it now.
"You don't know what you're talking about", his expression darkened, deep green eyes swirling with emotion while he stood protectively.
"No?", I cocked my head, "I offered him a snack the other day and he nearly had a panic attack, we invite you for dinner and he doesn't show? Surely you can see the pattern". He stared at me for a good minute, just blinking, fists still squeezed into balls at his sides.
"What are you getting at?", he asked, "you think I'm not taking care of him?". I'd never think that, no matter how different our parenting methods were.
"Does he have an eating disorder of some sort?", I asked a little quieter, "because if he does-,".
"It's not your business", he snapped- he never snapped, "you focus on your brothers, I'll do the same with mine. And if Zeke doesn't want to eat here, ever, you don't push him".
"You know I wouldn't", I replied, offended that he'd think so in the first place, "so that's it?".
"That's it", he confirmed, hands relaxing at his sides, "the food ought to be getting cold".
Well then.
~~
Four days had passed since our dinner with our cousins...since my minor dispute with Marco, and despite that still playing on my mind every now and then, things were going smoothly.
My brothers were happy, I was as happy as I could be, and that was all I could ask for.
"That has to be Xan there, look at his huge head", I frowned as I entered the kitchen, halting in my tracks at the sight in front of me. Prescott and Xavier were sitting on the living room floor, one sofa and the coffee table completely pushed to the side while masses of books lay sprawled out in front of them.
Upon closer inspection, I soon realised what they were.
Photo albums.
"You two were so identical, I can't even tell", Prescott inspected the photo next, neither of them aware of my presence since their backs were facing me; I crept up behind it and smiled at the photo of the twins and Isabella sitting in the grass outside, all three of them in diapers.
"The one in the middle is Xavier", I declared, making the two of them jump before relaxing when they realised it was me.
"How'd you know?", Xavier frowned, staring at the photo, "we look like clones".
"Your belly buttons", I said as if it were obvious, "yours goes out, Alexander's goes in". He lifted his T-shirt, as if he didn't already know this, chuckling to himself afterwards.
"Fuck, yeah", he snorted, "so I just said that tiny me has a huge head?".
"You still do", Prescott ruffled our brother's hair before facing me, "you joining us?".
"I don't see why not", I lowered myself onto the floor and picked up a book with the year '2004' on the front, "the year Isabella was born".
They abandoned the book they were looking at and Xavier moved so I was in the middle, all attention now on this album.
"You haven't changed one bit", Prescott mused, smiling at the first photo: me holding our then newborn sister.
"I wonder if she has", Xavier muttered, a small smile gracing his lips, "she was tiny".
"She was bigger than you and Alexander when you were born", I smirked, "the two of you were tiny".
"I didn't know that", the seventeen year old chuckled softly, turning the page to a photo of Isabella in her tiny bed, all six of us crowded around and smiling at the camera.
I was just ten and holding a one year old twin- not even I could determine which one now- Prescott was six and barely holding the other, Caleb and Chase both four and three, huddled together at the front.
"We were cute kids", Prescott chuckled and I smiled, "simpler times, huh?".
"You can say that again", I scoffed, "that's my favourite picture of us all".
"Well let's hope we can take an updated one soon", Xavier sighed, resting his head on my shoulder and making my heart clench, "I look hot now".
And there went the strong emotion.
"We will", I replied to his previous statement, "I promise".
~~~
A/N - 3 chapters left NO
I listened to Fine Line while writing that last scene and just don't 😐
Although Marco's book is set 3 years after this, you will get your answers about Zeke🫡🥺