The only thing I remember from this house is Mom’s terrified expression, Dad’s frown, and eventually his ‘we shouldn’t have had Killian’ and ‘he’s defective’ words.
Leaving for college was the best thing that ever happened to me. I needed to stay out of Dad’s orbit, away from the constant ticking bomb that goes off in my head whenever he’s in sight.
So the last place I want to be in is his house.
But since I’m proving a point to the infuriating little shit Glyndon, here we fucking go.
She remains a step behind us, getting distracted by watching the house with her inquisitive eyes.
And yes, she definitely made us stop by a shop so she could change into a floral dress, smooth her hair and makeup, and buy a gift.
“My parents taught me to never go into someone’s home empty-handed,” she said when I told her the gift was unnecessary.
A small sound oftap,tapreaches us first before a model-like woman with the shiniest blonde hair appears, coming down the stairs.
Mom’s smile is the most contagious thing I’ve ever seen. Usually, other people’s emotions don’t matter to me. Yes, I can discern them, can even understand them when their owners can’t, but I don’t give a fuck about them.
Reina Ellis Carson is the exception to that.
And now, Glyndon is, too.
Mom wraps both Gareth and me in a hug, her head resting on our shoulders. She’s shorter than us, so we have to lower ourselves to pat her back so she doesn’t have to strain, or worse, dangle between us.
No kidding, she did that once.
“I missed you so much!” She pulls back to run her hand over our bodies. “Let me look at you. Did you get taller or what? I can’t believe this. Next time, I’ll get a staircase to reach you. Ahh, my boys are back home together. I couldn’t believe it when Gareth told me earlier.”
She hugs us again and I share a look with my brother.
Here we go again.
After basically strangling us for five minutes, she finally notices Glyndon, who has tried her best to remain in the background during Mom’s welcome home ceremony.
I didn’t think it possible, but Mom’s expression brightens further. “And you are?”
“Hello. My name is Glyndon.” She offers her a wrapped present. “Thank you for having me.”
“Oh, thank you. You’re so sweet and well-mannered.” Mom accepts her present. “You’re with…”
“Me.” I wrap an arm around her waist and bring her to my side. “She’s my girl.”
“The one who got your lips bruised the other time?”
“The one and only.” It wasn’t due to making out, but I was that way because of a fight I did for her, so it counts.
“W-what?” Glyndon asks with enough awkwardness to redden her neck.
“It’s nothing.” Mom feigns innocence. “I’m so glad Killian is finally bringing someone home. I thought he’d die alone. Don’t get me wrong, I know he sleeps around, but it’s never just one person and I was worried it’d come back and bite him in the ass.”
“Mom!” I throw a questioning hand up.
“What? You know you’re allergic to monogamy. Orwerebefore you met this beautiful young lady.” Her expression becomes serious. “If he gives you trouble, let me know and I will use my mother's privileges to knock some sense into his head.”
“Thanks, I’ll definitely do that.”
“So you’re ganging up on me now? Traitors, both of you.”
Mom just flips her hair. “We girls have to stick up for each other, right, Glyn? Can I call you Glyn?”