I knew, of course, that my brother wasn’t going to have that shit. He’s the only one who’d stuck by us all those years, and for a while there, I thought Gabriel was going to follow him into the medical field.
The little shit was always showing my kid some shit in his homemade lab that I just knew was going to blow the whole fucking neighborhood to shit one day, but thank fuck it never did because he would’ve taken my house along with him.
He’d married his girl Amy, a no-nonsense type who keeps his ass in check, and they’d settled down in New York, right next door. I don’t know why somebody doesn’t knock down a wall because we’re always in each other’s pocket.
Mom and dad were pissed, but there wasn’t much they could do. Both their sons had moved away from them, and they wouldn’t see their grandchildren unless they toed the line.
When I asked my brother why he’d done such a thing, it was one of the first times I’d ever seen him so serious. Always the prankster and the one trying to lighten the mood in every situation, he’d explained that he took my side because I was right. For him, it was as simple as that.
I love my parents, no doubt, but I love my wife and kids more. Once pop finally got it through his thick skull that I wasn’t going to change, he’d had no choice but to relent.
Plus, I owned a third of the company and Garret the other third. That’s the way gramps had left it in the will. When his time came, who the fuck was he going to leave his share to?
After that first day, he’d come around. It hadn’t happened overnight, but once mom gave in enough to give Sofia a chance, my girl did the rest.
Her soft-spoken kindhearted ways couldn’t help but draw anyone in, and I knew that if given a chance, she’d be loved, and I was right.
Then I couldn’t keep them out of my damn house. Every weekend they found an excuse to be in my guestroom. The family started mending then, and the rift was forgotten.
Pop had changed towards Gabriel in a way that I’d never expected, even after he’d started to come around. My kid was smart and inquisitive, and he loved his grandpa once he got to know him.
He had him wrapped around his little finger in no time. I think the twins had a lot to do with that. They were never too far from their brother’s side. So if pop wanted to spend any time with them, he had to include my boy.
Pretty soon, I was threatening him for trying to steal my kid. We’d let the kids spend part of their summer vacation with them, and the man never wanted to let my kids come home when the time was up.
Then he’d got sick when Gabriel was thirteen, and I moved the whole family back to Bennington. Garret stayed in the city since he was in line for a top position at one of the major hospitals there, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before he, too, found a reason to follow us out. It took him two years.
Dad bribed him with his own hospital. Now the whole family was back together again. Sofia had pretty much taken over from mom in the community since mom spent most of her time taking care of pop.
It didn’t take Sofia long to win over the people in the neighborhood. The women and kids gravitated to her like she’d been one of them from the start. I have mom to thank for that. Mom paved the way for her, introducing her to the others as her daughter, and they took their cues from her; lucky for them because if they’d slighted my woman, their men would’ve paid the price.
She won them over with her charitable work and the way she went all out. Because of her background, she had a greater empathy for those in need, and it showed. They loved her.
It brought tears to my eyes to see my wife and son being accepted so wholly. When pop sat out in the garden to get the few rays of sun that shone in Bennington for ten minutes of each day, it was Gabriel who sat and read to him.
Anna and Rosa at eleven were too busy being little Prima Donnas; geez, my girls were into makeup and playing dress-up before they were twelve.
It was a thorn in my side, but my wife would only laugh and distract me in the way only she knew how and I’d leave them alone until the next time.
So, all in all, life has been a dream so far. Though as much as I love Sofia and she loves me and as close as we’ve become, there are times when I see something in her eyes that tells me she never forgot. And I’ve learned to accept that this was something she will carry with her for the rest of her life.