"I'm home!" I shout as I walk through the door to the house I grew up in. This hasn't actually been where I've lived for the past five years, but it will always be home. "Is the food done yet?"
"Shut your gob and get in here to help," Pops yells back from, presumably, the kitchen. His accent is thick today; probably Dad's getting on his nerves. "Is Ella with you?"
"I'm here, Uncle Day!" she yells out from next to me as we hang our coats on the rack by the door. Leaving our outerwear, we head to the enormous kitchen where Pops is stirring something over the stove. "Is my mom here yet?"
He looks up as she speaks and gives us a smile, "No, babe, she called to say she'd be a few minutes."
"Typical," Ella shakes her head and sits at the island watching my father.
I walk over to him instead and wrap my arms around his body, "Hey, Pops."
He hugs me and pats my back a few times. When I let go, he kisses my cheek before turning back to the stove.
"Where's Dad?" I pick an olive from one of the dishes sitting on the counter and throw it in my mouth.
Pops smacks my arm lightly in reprimand before answering, "I think he's up with Nikki. She's been downright petulant today."
"So, that's where the accent is coming from," I say it more as statement, but he answers anyway.
"My accent is no more, or no less," an ongoing debate from my childhood. "She is acting like a toddler. She needs to grow up. She threw a fit just before you got in and your father went up to console her. Your nan would roll over in her grave if she knew."
I chuckle a little because that's another one of Pop's favorite lines. 'Your nan would roll over in her grave if she knew.' But in all honesty, before she passed away, that woman spoiled us more than any other person ever. And we're the kids of movie stars, so that's saying something.
"I'm going to check if he needs help. Is Brie here? Is she even coming?" I ask as I start to leave.
He shakes his head and takes the pot off the stove, "She wasn't sure when I talked to her earlier. Said to start without her if it came down to it."
I just nod and leave the room, hearing Ella start up small talk as I head upstairs.
Before I even get to her room, I hear, "You can't do that. I'm practically an adult."
"My roof, my rules," Dad's voice comes right after my baby sister's whine. "When you have kids of your own, you can take away their car all you want."
"That's not fair!" she shouts at him.
Knocking twice, I don't wait for a response to enter, "Excuse me young lady, there's been a complaint about noise disturbance in China. They said some sixteen-year-old is throwing a fit."
"Look someone called the cops," my dad motions at me with his hand. He walks straight over and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. Then holding me out at arm's length, he smirk, "How's life treating you, son?"
"Good," I tell him honestly. "Catching bad guys and keeping the Greater New York Area safe." He lets go with one arm, one hand still resting on my shoulder, "But enough about me, I hear you have a bratty sixteen-year-old on your hands."
She rolls her eyes and folds her arms across her chest, "I'm not bratty. Pops said I had to give him my keys because I got a D."
"Wow," I nod in appreciation, "if I got a C I was grounded until it was an A." Shaking my head I look over to Dad, "You're really letting this place go."
He pushes my arm, but then pulls me back over so his arm is fully around my shoulders, "See Nik, you could have it worse. We can't possibly expect an A out of you," he pouts his lips and looks over at me. "Although if we grounded her like that anyway, we'd have a lot less to worry about."
"Yea," I agree, shrugging, "but you'll have to listen to her."
"Good point," he puts his unoccupied hand to his hip. "Listen Nicole, your father said no car and as his husband-"
"And partner in every decision they've ever made," I interrupt and look over at my sister. "Honestly kid, if one of them says something, the other is just going to go right on along. It's been happening to me for twenty-three years."
"Right," my dad starts again, "I'm going to agree with Damian. He's my husband and a very good father." My sister lets out a huge sigh and turns her face away from us. I can see water collecting in her eyes as Dad continues, "When you get your grades back up to passing, you can have your keys back. Now hand them over," he takes his arm from around me and extends his hand to her.
"D is passing," she argues still not looking toward us.
"Not in this house," is his answer.
She huffs again and walks over to her bedside table, "Whatever." She sneers as she hands them over, "I'll just have Jenny come get me."
"Not right now you won't," he tells her. "Your brother is here and Ella," he looks at me. "El's here, right?" I nod so he continues, "Your Aunt Becca and Auntie Angela are coming over and your sister should be here too with her boyfriend...." He looks at me.
He always forgets Brie's boyfriend's name. It's a wonder; the guys been with Brie for three years. "Patrick," I fill in for him.
"Patrick," he nods before look back at my youngest sister with raised eyebrows. "You can go out tomorrow night."
"No," she challenges with her voice raising three octaves, "Beth is having people over tonight. I'm going to her party. I'll just leave after we eat."
"It's already," I look down at my watch and back up at Nikki, "eight. By the time we eat and have a nice dinner, it'll be at least ten and you shouldn't be out after twelve."
She actually laughs at that, "Yea right, like anyone goes home before three."
"It's not safe for you to be out after midnight in New York," I look at her like she's gone crazy. I've seen what happens to pretty little girls that stay out too late. No sister of mine will have that fate.
She rolls her eyes and turns her back to me, walking into her closet, "Uh huh and it's not safe for my reputation to leave a party early."
"I don't care about your reputation," I tell her sternly. "You're not going gallivanting around at three in the morning."
"What are you going to do about it?" She turns back to me and folds her arms over her chest. "Tell on me? It's not against the law. And anyways, you're not even a cop, you're a detective. What are you going to do plant a murder on me?"
Shaking my head, I smile at her, "No wonder you have a D, first off. Second, I'll just pick up my phone here," I take my cell phone from my back pocket to show her, "and call one of my 'cop' buddies. And maybe there's a party going down with teenagers drinking alcohol."
"You don't know where Beth lives," she raises an eyebrow, but I can see her wavering.
"But I do," Dad pipes up. "She lives off Oak and-"
"Wait," she holds out her hands as if she's going to physically stop me.
Now I'm not a huge guy, but I'm build like Dad and I work out almost every day. If there's a loll in activity around the station I may hit the gym, but mostly before or after work. Even if not, I get in a certain amount of physical fitness on the job. Point is, I'm alright with my tiny sixteen-year-old sister who doesn't even carry her own backpack to school.
I think she realizes this at the same time I do. She drops her hands and says, "You wouldn't."
"I would if it kept my baby sister out of trouble. And," I smile even bigger, "I'll tell my buddy who I am so he can let your friends know that I was just so worried about you."
"No, no, no," she runs up to me and holds onto my forearms. "I'll stay home tonight, I promise."
"And your new curfew?" I ask knowing it will tick her off, but really I'm in it for her safety. I love the little brat.
She doesn't say anything so I wiggle my phone at her, "Fine, two o'clock."
I shake my head in a negative response.
She looks up at me with puppy-dog eye, "One?"
I look over at Dad and raise a brow. He brings his shoulders up and lets them drop, "Honestly, I gave up a while ago. I'll take one."
"One o'clock it is," I put my phone back in my pocket and extend my hand to her for her to shake on it. She does and I keep her hand in mine when she tries to pull away. She looks up again with a crooked eyebrow, "And if Dad or Pops tell me you're a minute late, ever, I'll call another buddy and have him follow you one random Saturday night. You won't know which it is, but he'll find out if you or your friends break any law at all."
She rolls her eyes again, but reluctantly agrees. I use her hand to pull her toward me and grab her in a hug. When she returns it, I kiss the top of her head and whisper, "I love you, kid. I don't want to see you get hurt."
She nods against my chest, "I know. I love you too."
"Good," I tell her as I release her. "Now, let's head back downstairs, all the pink in here is burning my eyeballs."
When we enter the kitchen, Aunt Becca is sitting at the counter with her daughter, talking to Pops. As I walk in, I sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. To which, she screams and then hits on my forearms.
Once she calms again, she turns to me and smacks my chest, "You scared me!"
"Drama queen," I shake my head before kissing her cheek.
She straightens her back, "I'm an actress, Blain. What do you expect?"
"I grew up with two actors as my fathers," I point to each of them as they smile in turn. "I know exactly how you lot are."
We all laugh and settle into the kitchen as Pops finishes the food. Dad starts talking about some new movie that he's going to start filming in few weeks. Even though it's spring, they'll be shooting a holiday movie or something. Pops doesn't have to worry about movies anymore. He has a recurring role on a television series that's been running for ten years. He's an on-screen detective; which is where I found my job calling.
I used to love going to his sets and watching him solve crimes. They told me I could be in an episode once, but I declined because I don't want anything to do with acting. I don't even like to go by 'Sam' because that's what the media knows me by. Every time I solve a case the tabloids are all 'Sam Ashton solves another one just like his dad'. No disrespect to my dad, but what I do is real.
So instead of Sam, I like to go by Blain. It's my middle name, but I started using it when I was about eight. Like I said, the papers and stuff still call me Sam, but my friends and family call me Blain. I like it better that way. Plus it's easier with my Aunt being called Sam.
"Hello, family!" I hear another aunt shout through the house and the sound of door shutting closely behind her.
My Auntie Angela is one of the most free-spirited people on the planet. Technically, I guess, she's my mother. She was the surrogate for my dads; so that we could be biologically related to both of them. Auntie Ang is Pop's sister and they used in vitro with Dad's sperm to create all three of us. Ang didn't want kids. I'm not sure of the whole story, but it's something about wanting to travel and help the less fortunate.
She's pretty cool, though. I don't see her as a "mom' at all. I just see her as my crazy aunt. Everyone has one, mine just also happens to have given birth to me and my siblings.
"Auntie Ang!!" My littlest sister springs up from her seat and runs out of the room. When she enters again, she has her arms around my aunt in a weird angle as they walk together. "Dad, she's here!"
"I see that," he chuckles and meets them in the middle of the kitchen.
Hugs are exchanged by all. Pops announces that dinner is done and asks for everyone to bring a dish out to the dining room. Soon, everyone is grabbing plates of food and sitting down.
We're all settled in and eating, Aunt Becca looks over at me, "Why haven't you married my daughter yet?"
We all laugh. This is a commonly asked question.
And this is the common answer, "She hasn't asked me properly."
Another round of chuckling before Becca continue, "You know ever since Ella was born, your fathers' and I made a pact that you two would get married."
"Then you probably shouldn't have had us grown up together," El chimes in to help. "Blain's more like a brother than anything. To marry him, would be incestuous."
"Oh, come on," Pops adds. "It's the classic 'fall-for your-best-friend-when-least-expecting-it' bit. The two of you already live together. The next step is love. And then marriage."
Dad shakes his head, "He's just mad because they made a bet against me years ago."
"That's not true," Pops argues, but smiles anyway.
"Completely true," Dad smirks at him then turns back to me. "I told them years ago that the two of you will always be just best friends. They wouldn't listen."
"Maybe it's because I've been duped once," Pop offers.
Ella tilts her head as all the older people in the room smile, "How so?"
"Once upon a time," he points to Dad, "I had a best friend too."
We all chuckle again as I hear the front door open.
"Hello," my other little sister's voice floats into the room, "anyone home?"
I immediately stand and walk to the foyer, "Brie-Bee!"
As soon as she sees me, her arms are around my neck, "Blainy!"
In truth, this is my best friend right here. We used to fight a lot as kids, but as we grew up, we became closer and closer. I don't get to see her much since she's still in school up at Harvard. The smart shit got in for pre-med.
When we pull away, I ask, "Have you lost weight?"
She answers with, "Have you gained a beard? What the hell is this?" and she pitches my cheek.
"I'm twenty-three; I grow facial hair," I push on her shoulder and she takes that as cue to walk into the dining room. When she passes, I hold my hand out to Patrick, "Hey man, nice to see you again."
He shakes my hand and nods, "You too. Does your dad remember my name yet?"
"I told him earlier," I chuckle lightly and pat him on the back as we enter the same room as the rest of my family. "We can only hope."
Brie hugs and Patrick shakes hands with everyone before sitting in the seats that are left for them. They grab food quickly and settle in with the rest of us.
"Where's Aunt Sammi?" Brie asks after swallowing her first bite.
Pops looks over at Dad with a frown, "She's been busy a lot lately."
"With Aunt Ruth retiring, Sam pretty much runs the bar," Dad tells us. "She doesn't have anyone to take over. It's just her and sometimes Jenny and her kids, but mainly just Sammi."
"Too bad," I tell them. "I haven't seen Aunt Sam in years."
"Me neither," Brie admits.
"Oh," I remember aloud. "I forgot to tell you guys. Ella and I put out an ad for another roommate."
"Yea after rent went up again, we decided it would be better to spilt it three ways instead of two," El fills in where I left off.
I shrug, "And we have that extra room that we don't really use for anything."
"That's supposed to be your children's room," Aunt Becca announces.
Ella rolls her eyes, "In your dreams, Ma."
~A/N~
Some of you were right! The new story (feat. Damian and Topher) is about Sam a.k.a Blain. I'm so excited about this story.
I'm still going to be uploading on Sundays. Today is the exception. Let me know how you like it!!
BTW Blain is played by Adam Levine who is like the only man I would turn straight for... okay maybe not straight, but definitely bi.