"I can't. It's too much."
"You can and you will," George said with a wide grin. He looked like a child at Christmas right then.
"This had to have cost a fortune. Don't give me a car. Give me a bus pass or something."
They both chuckled, seeming wildly amused by my adamant refusal of such a lavish gift. George continued on as though this wasn't an absurd gift.
"You've spent too long in the jungle, it seems. This is what grandparents are supposed to do - spoil their grandchildren. You should feel like a princess. Now, let's eat some breakfast before you head off."
My jaw remained unhinged. The two of them were the craziest pair in the world to be giving me something this expensive. I barely had my driver's license. I'd only ever driven on old narrow dirt roads in the rust bucket jeep we had in Haluali.
Jay clapped my back too forcefully, which threw me forth, and Chris - Aster's husband - caught me at the last second before I flew off the porch.
"Easy, Jay!" Aster scolded.
I coughed on a new breath, surprised by what the hell had just happened.
"Shi... I mean, shoot. Sorry, Aria. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine," I mumbled, ignoring the burning handprint on my back. "Ease off the steroids though."
Everyone chuckled uneasily, and a slight awkwardness settled in the air as we made our way back inside.
"You okay?" Jay asked sincerely, regret in his eyes. "I didn't mean to do that so hard. I was just going to slap you on the back... a congratulatory thing."
"I'm fine. Stop treating me like I'm so fragile."
Of course, I felt pretty fragile right then. It wasn't exactly common to have someone knock the wind out of me.
Normalcy resumed when Ash and Jay began bickering. That's one thing I didn't miss when they moved out. They left almost the exact same time to come back to the states, even though Jay was a year older. Ash was eager, not resistant like me.
Iris finally brought the annoying argument to a halt by separating them as though they were children. I laughed while walking over to Jay. I studied the newlyweds, both sets. Aster and Chris were lost in a silent conversation as they stared into one another's eyes. Gear and Olivia were resting in each other's embrace while swaying lightly to an unheard melody. It seemed so natural.
"So, when you getting married, hot shot?" I asked Jay, nudging him playfully and instantly regretting it when my elbow tried to crack against his steeled ribs.
"Ha! You're funny. I'm in no hurry, there, jungle girl. I like my sweet little bachelor life." He put his head down, bashfully grinning. His dimples showed with so much definition when he smiled.
Ash snorted. "Yeah, he thinks he's a real stud," she said sardonically while rolling her eyes and drinking a sip of coffee. Then with even more sarcasm, she continued, "Not trying to say that his ego may be a little overly inflated or anything."
Jay scoffed, casually brushing off her insult. "Yeah, well, I do have Bradbury genes, and Weislen, too - makes it hard for the ladies to keep their hands to themselves. I guess the men don't care too much though, because they sure haven't been beating down your door."
Jay started laughing so hard that his body was shaking from it. Then he ducked quickly as a biscuit when zooming over his head. It missed him and splattered against the wall.
"Ashiara, clean that up right now," Iris admonished, chiming in to end the playfully heated argument between Ash and Jay.
Then Iris turned her attention to Jay. "Jaymondian, you shouldn't be so cavalier about your love life. And you shouldn't tease your sister. She's waiting on the ideal guy for her. Soul mates are important, you know." Her eyebrows were raised to complement her scolding tone.
"Yeah, well, I don't know if anyone could deal with her melodramatic attitude, so she may be waiting a while." Jay couldn't resist getting the last word in as he laughed at Ash who was still picking up pieces of the biscuit off the floor. It seemed like I was smelling smoke, but there was no fire.?
In a worried tone, I raised my concern to the rest of the group. "Does anyone else smell smoke?"
Everyone seemed to glance toward Ash for some odd reason. She shook her head, lightly cursing under her breath, and then suddenly I couldn't smell it anymore. Ash finally acknowledged my suspended question since no one else seemed to want to.
"The only thing I smell is a good for nothing, rotten brother." Then she stood up, still holding the particles of busted biscuit, and incredibly quickly shoved the crumbs in Jay's face, rubbing them all over him. It seemed like she moved as fast as lightning.
Everything got graveyard quiet until I spoke. "Wow, Ash. You're a lot faster than I remember. Guess a lot more has changed than I realized."
Everyone seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure what was up with that. I noticed something odd, too. Ash had a tattoo of the crescent moon inside the eye, just like all the markings around the house. It was in the center of her inner wrist. Jay's tank top revealed he too had the same tattoo. It was on his back shoulder blade.