See In Him

30

FINAL CHAPTER

Kennith was always shocked by how incredibly overwhelming having so many people in his house was. The morning that Saskia, who was the first of many, arrived, Kennith took half a tranquilizer. It was just as bad having a different sibling in the house as Mason or Zach was. Saskia was almost completely deaf, so communication with her was almost impossible unless they used their phones or Braille (which she only knew a little bit of in order to communicate with her adopted brother). He wasn't close with her because of this barrier. She was a nice, quiet woman, though, and Kennith respected her a lot more than his other brothers and sisters.

  Half an hour after Saskia arrived, Laurent got off his plane and called Michael to pick him up. Kennith wasn't close with Laurent, either, but the way his wheelchair squeaked on the hardwood induced the sharp beginnings of a migraine, and Kennith already hated him. Aja arrived home a little after he did to help start dinner. They didn't know what to make at first, but Aja eventually decided to ask Jesse what he preferred. After thinking, he chose one of his childhood favourites: homemade hamburgers. Aja and Michael agreed that it was easy enough to make for the whole family if a few people helped out.

  Kennith could tell that Jesse wasn't used to so many people around. Part of him wanted to be excited around new people, but the back end of a depressive episode could be just as exhausting as the beginning. He still felt a lot of pressure to do everything: get drinks for the guests, make dinner, do the laundry, etcetera, and the fact that he knew he wasn't physically or mentally capable of taking on such feats all at once made him feel even worse. When he asked Kennith what the boy normally did during family reunions, Kennith realized Jesse's anxiety. The guy was just unsure of himself.

  While Jesse stood over Kennith at the kitchen island, voices flowing in from the living room, the doorbell rang. It had to be Janet, Alex, or Lucia. It was Lucia, Kennith concluded when the girl bounded into the kitchen and greeted Jesse with a high-five over Kennith's shoulder and Kennith with a nudge in his arm. "Hiya, guys. How's it going?" As always, a bouncing ball of energy. She was perfect for Kennith's family.

  "It's going shitty. You met anybody from my family yet?"

  "Oh... no, I haven't. They waved when I entered, though. Seem nice," she replied. Kennith turned his head towards the man on his other side. "You haven't either, then, obviously."

  "Uh, no," he mumbled.

  So, the boy sighed and stood slowly, pushing in his stool while stretching sleepy joints. "Come with me," was all he said. Lucia and Jesse followed him into the living room. It wasn't huge, but certainly big enough for a gathering of their size. They only needed two or three couches to fit everyone, anyway.

  "Kennith! I thought you were upstairs," Alex greeted. He was sitting in a chair pulled in from the dining room. Alex was the eldest sibling and probably the most estranged. He had spent a lot of time in the military across seas and away from family. Normally, he missed holidays and family events; he was only close with Aja and Michael, really.

  "Hi," Kennith deadpanned. Others looked up from their conversations to say hi to him and the two people standing behind him. They waited expectantly; the chatter stopping suddenly. The sudden attention bothered Jesse, but not him or Lucia.

  "This is Jesse and Lucia. He's a sad guy. She's dyslexic. Don't get her started on Star Wars. Mingle."

  The family wasn't fazed in the least by Kennith's blunt introduction and did as they were told. Alex immediately reached up to shake Jesse's hand. The guy was already feeling better, Kennith was sure, and Lucia jumped for joy when Luka introduced himself. For the first time in a long time, the family was being civilized around newcomers instead of the usual barnyard crew that most thought had been raised by wolves. Zach usually instigated it.

  From the entrance to Michael's office, Aja and Michael watched their family grow even bigger, thanks to their son.

  ——

  When Kennith was around his large family, obviously, he grew exhausted easily, but some special moments could even be appreciated by him. The nice members, whom he could converse with like a civilized person, sometimes made the ordeal worth it. Around the dinner table, he could listen to these moments without feeling left out. Luka, of course, did exactly as he was told not to do, and sparked up a conversation with Lucia about their favorite movies. He watched movies for the soundtracks, he admitted, but both of them could enjoy one of the world's most memorable movie tracks together.

  Aja took the head of the table and Michael took the opposite end. The rest of them were littered around the table in such a way that wouldn't allow conversation to dwindle too much. Kennith could hear Jesse across the table sitting between Kai and Alex. Lucia sat on Kennith's left, and on her other side, Luka hungrily ate while maintaining conversation with her. He listened silently to Jesse inquire more about Kaia's motorbike. The way Jesse's voice flowed so easily, not clogged with pain and exhaustion, made the boy's heart grow a little. His friend was happy, supported.

  "And Kennith likes them, too, right, Ken?"

  His head turned, staring blindly at the girl beside him. "Hm?" He hadn't been listening.

  "How many books have I given you now? A few. You liked them all, didn't you?"

  "Yeah. They were pretty okay."

  Luka giggled lightly. "I think it's cool that you taught her braille. That takes so much patience. Kai is trying to teach me how to speak mandarin, but he has to use a translator app for half the phrases, too. Apparently he learned some in college, but I'm pretty sure he cheated on all his tests."

  "I didn't teach her," Kennith shrugged, "I taught her one letter and she took off running. She came to me a week later fucking fluent." Luka admired how dedicated Lucia was to becoming part of Kennith's life.

  "Hey, guys?" Michael's voice rang over them, signalling for silence. Almost excitedly, the family fell quiet, whispering the last of their words, while Michael stood. His glass was in his hand; they could tell that a toast was coming, and maybe even an explanation as to why they were all there.

  "I thank you all for coming. It's really nice to see the family again." As they watched him, the man cleared his throat. "Recently, we've had a new family member join us. We've been through a lot, seen some struggles, and we wanted to host a dinner to show him how much he meant to us. It was Kennith's idea, actually."

  Lucia put her hand over Kennith's under the table. He continued staring at his plate, a tiny little smirk creeping into his lips. The table was shocked at Kennith's new sense of friendship.

  "Jesse," the man said, looking him in the eye, "We can't express to you much you mean to us. And no matter what happens in the future or what has happened in the past, you will always be family."

  "Periodt," Mason said to the teary-eyed Jesse beside him. Kai snorted and patted his neighbour on the back.

  Jesse scratched his jaw, smile impossibly wide. He was almost speechless, but just barely managed to choke out a "Thank you."  

  My novel Angel has been published for a little while now, and it would be cool if you wanted to support me by checking that out!

  My next steps for this book are editing and then looking into another publishing opportunity. Thanks again. Have a good day. :)

  -Keara