"That song is about being in love with a man who cheats on you," I reminded him.
"Don't be a killjoy. Alexa! Play "Upside Down" by Diana Ross," Thad demanded, cranking up the volume, grabbing my arm, dancing me around the kitchen.
And all I could think as we danced like a bunch of idiots was... I almost threw this all away. I had planned to throw it all away.
I was ready to give up beauty days with Thad and Jelena, lunch dates with Colson, nights in bed with Ty, knowing and having fun with the girls club, having a job I enjoyed and a boss I adored, cooking with my loved ones, showing my love like we had always done.
And dancing around the kitchen like a bunch of teenaged girls in their mirrors.
Maybe I had been wrong, after all.
Maybe I never had to be tough.
Just patient. Just open. Just understanding of the way life sometimes threw things at you for a reason, no matter how hard it may have been to see the reasons at the beginning.
There was a knock at the door.
And thinking it was maybe Ty who got back from a run early, I danced my way over, unlocking the door, pulling it open as I did a twirl.
Then nearly whacking my head against the side of the door at who was actually standing there.
Not Ty.
Or Colson and Jelly.
Not any of the girls. Or the guys.
Not even the neighbor down the hall with pre-read magazines.
Nope.
It was a person I was sure I would never see again. And maybe even a person I hoped not to see again.
Auntie May.
She didn't show the years on her face. It was still as unlined as it had been the last time I had seen it - telling her I would help her cook dinner on the day my entire life was thrown off its axis. Her hair was different, shorter, thinning just the slightest bit behind her bangs. She seemed thinner, too. But she had the same eyes. Sharp. All-seeing. All-judging.
A box was nestled in her arms, another on the floor at her feet.
"Who is at my door when I am trying to get my freak o... well," Thad started then cut off, all the joy seeming to drain from him at once.
There was not a single person I had met who was more accepting of themselves as Thaddeus was. All the good, the bad, the lovely, the not so pretty. He saw all of himself and loved it regardless of what society said. Nothing and no one could make him question himself.
Or so I thought.
I hadn't been around for their fallout. When Thad finally told the world what those closest to him had always known. We hadn't gotten around to discussing it either. And I guess I had been right in assuming it was a sore subject.
Because nothing stole Thad's joy.
Except our aunt.
"Alexa, off," he demanded, grabbing the edge of the door above my head, holding it steady. It was a silent way of saying there was no way in hell he was letting that woman into his home. "Last time I saw you, I believe you said something about how you would show up at my door when hell freezes over."
"I am not here because I want to be," Aunt May declared, voice as intimidating as I remembered it being. It was funny how it still had me wanting to curl my shoulders forward, make myself smaller, shrink away from her. Ten years away where I had become a grown woman. But I still felt like her presence made me small.
"Then you're here because?" Thad asked. His tone sounded unaffected, bored even. Only I knew it was a front.
"I have had these boxes cluttering up my garage for ten years now. I want them out of my house."
Just like she never wanted any of us in her house again.
It shouldn't have, but it still smarted. Not as much as it would have a decade ago, but enough.
"Good. You dropped them off. Go on and head out. You have made it clear you want nothing to do with any of us. What was the phrase again? Something about being ungrateful and an embarrassment."
"If you're expecting me to say anything different..." Aunt May started to speak.
"Tigers don't change their stripes. Cheetahs don't change their spots. And old, bitter, unhappy women don't change their minds," Thad cut her off.
"I did everything for you," she insisted.
"Except accept us. And love us," Thad shot back.
"How can someone love a rock in their shoe?"
"How da..." Thad started.
"No," I cut him off, shaking my head. "It's not worth the anger. Not anymore. Aunt May, I hope you live a long, healthy life. In your lovely, empty house. And I pray your self-righteousness can keep you warm. And your superiority can be the steadiest of friends. And when you find yourself all alone in that life you built for yourself, I hope you don't know the bitter taste of regret for pushing away your family just because they didn't turn out how you wanted them to."