Only Fools

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Aspen! Alex!" my grandmother exclaims as she opens the door for my brother and I and lets us inside, away from the harsh cold air and snow.

"She said my name first which means she loves me more," I whisper to Alex as I elbow him in the side.

"I love you both equally," our grandmother says decidedly as she leads us through her home to the gathering area where the rest of our family is located.

"How can she hear that well?" Alex hisses to me, trying to be even quieter than I was. And for a moment I don't think she heard him, but then she sends us both a wink before hurrying back off to the kitchen to continue preparing this evening's meal.

"Hello, Alex and Aspen. Come take a seat," our uncle invites us further into the living room to join the family that we only awkwardly see about once a year. As I glance around the decently sized room, I notice mostly familiar faces despite not being able to place names to all of them. Yet it hardly matters because as soon as Alex and I sit down, they launch back into their conversation about a relative I can't remember ever hearing about.

My dad's side of the family is rather large with his mom having ten siblings, most of whom I've never even met. My dad himself doesn't have any siblings, but my great aunts and uncles surely compensate for that. Here today are just two of the ten siblings with their spouses and children if they have any, them being the only siblings that currently live in state as the rest are dispersed throughout the country. My grandpa sits in his usual chair in the corner of the living room, staying silent except when he can throw in a corny joke. On the couch next to said chair sits one of my grandmother's sisters, Patty, with her husband who's name I don't remember and their younger twelve year old son Nick who clearly doesn't want to be here. Their older son is sitting on the chair across the room, eyes locked on his phone. All I know is that he's fourteen and his name begins with and R. Roger maybe? On the two folding chairs next to him that were set out sit the wife of my grandmother's other sibling, Lee Ann and her daughter Carol. The aforementioned sibling is sitting beside me on the couch, the uncle who in fact called us over to sit on the couch, Uncle Paul.

After a few minutes of glancing around the room with a faked "I'm engaged in this conversation" expression, I decide it's time for the famous "fake a phone notification so I can check my phone and then stay on it" move. So I furrow my eyebrows in confusion before tugging my phone out of my pocket and softening my expression as soon as I look at the screen. Quickly, I open my text messages and promptly text a couple people, inwardly betting on who will respond the quickest. Sadly enough, I end up losing my own bet.

Dustin: I just saw you yesterday

Dustin: Fuck off

Me: Wow. Love you too.

Dustin: Of course you do

Dustin: And you didn't actually need me right?

Dustin: You just wanted a quick cure to your boredom?

Me: No. I need you.

Dustin: Oh shit are you ok?

Me: I need you to cure my boredom.

Dustin: Fuck off

Me: Fuck you.

Dustin: We already agreed that wouldn't work

Me: Did we??

Dustin: Bye Aspen

I internally groan as my excuse to disengage in the family gathering has suddenly been ruined. And yet, somehow my knight in shining armor, as she's deemed herself, knows exactly when to swoop in to save the day.