Brothers

CHAPTER 5

The walk back home felt longer than usual, even though it was just a fifteen-minute stroll from campus. My legs were heavy, probably from exhaustion—or maybe it was just the sheer mental toll of the day. Tanny had left halfway, promising to text me later with some new meme she found hilarious, and I didn’t mind the solitude. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the pavement, and the faint sound of birds chirping filled the quiet spaces in my mind.

By the time I reached the driveway, my backpack felt like it was loaded with bricks. I sighed, already imagining the blissful moment when I could toss it onto my bed and just collapse for an hour—or maybe two. But as I rounded the corner to our front porch, I froze. There, by the front door, was my mother. With a suitcase.

What the actual hell?

Her phone was clutched in her hand, and she looked...fidgety. Nervous, almost, which was a red flag because my mom was never nervous. She was a walking billboard for grace under pressure. A politician’s wife through and through. But today, she was tapping her nails against the handle of her suitcase, her lips pressed together like she was trying to figure out how to tell me the world was ending.

“Mom?” I called, climbing the porch steps. “What’s going on? Why do you have a suitcase?”

She looked up sharply, as if she’d just noticed me, and gave me this overly bright smile that immediately screamed guilty.“Mia! There you are. Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

I blinked, confused. “My phone?”

Dropping my bag on the floor, I pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket and hit the power button. The screen lit up with dozens—and I mean dozens—of missed calls from her. My stomach sank. Oh no. What had I missed? Did something terrible happen? Did someone die?

“Wait, what happened? Is everything okay?” I asked, my voice rising in panic as I walked toward her.

“Oh, everything’s fine,” she said breezily, waving a hand. “I was just trying to tell you I’m going away.”

I stared at her. “Going where?”

Her grin widened, and it took me a moment to process the words that came out of her mouth next. “Well, your stepfather and I decided it’s about time to finally have our honeymoon!”

“Your what?”

“Our honeymoon!” she repeated, as if this was the most normal announcement ever. “We’ve been planning it for days, but, you know, life gets busy. Now we finally have the time, so off we go!”

“Wait, just like that?” I gestured wildly toward the suitcase. “What about everything here? What about me?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine,” she said, patting my shoulder like I was a little kid she was leaving with a babysitter for the weekend. “It’s just a couple of weeks. You’re an adult now—you can handle it.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she steamrolled right over me, clearly in full mom-on-a-mission mode. “And you’ve got Nathan to keep you company. Plus, your stepbrothers will be home this weekend, so you won’t be alone for long.”

My brain short-circuited. “Wait…WHAT?”

She gave me a knowing smile, like she had just announced some amazing surprise and was waiting for me to shower her with gratitude. “You heard me. The boys will be back this weekend. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Exciting?” I repeated, my voice rising an octave. “How is that exciting? You’re leaving me with Nathan, and now I have to deal with the rest of them, too? This isn’t fair!”

“Oh, Mia,” she said with a sigh, clearly unimpressed with my meltdown. “It’s not the end of the world. Be nice to them, will you? They’re family.”

“Family?” I spluttered. “Nathan left me drenched in the rain yesterday just to spite me! He’s not family—he’s a menace!”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop being dramatic. You two just need to get along better. Use this time to bond or something.”

“Bond?” I laughed humorlessly. “Mom, the only thing Nathan and I are bonding over is mutual hatred.”

“Well, figure it out,” she said, brushing past me as she wheeled her suitcase to the door. “I’ve got a plane to catch, and I’m not spending my honeymoon worrying about your sibling rivalry.”

“Mom!” I called after her, but she was already halfway out the door.

“Oh!” She paused in the doorway, turning back with a mischievous grin. “One last thing—try not to kill each other while we’re gone. And maybe bake something for when the boys get here. I'm sure they would love your cookies!”

“Mom, are you serious right now?”

But she didn’t answer. She just blew me a kiss and disappeared down the steps, leaving me standing there in stunned silence.

I turned back to the empty hallway, my mind racing. Mum was going on their honeymoon with my stepdad. My stepbrothers were coming back. Nathan was going to be even more unbearable than usual. And somehow, I was expected to handle all of this without losing my mind.

“Great,” I muttered to myself, dragging my bag upstairs. “Just freaking great.”

I dropped my stuff in my room and flopped onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. This was shaping up to be the week from hell, and it hadn’t even officially started yet.

If this was some kind of cosmic joke, I wasn’t laughing.