"Oy vay?" Eagle whispered. "She's Jewish?"
"Anyone can say it," Sarah replied.
"True. And her latest boyfriend is Jewish," Wynter said.
"That explains it," Sarah concluded with a nod.
Emily came back, all smiles.
"Are you hungry?" Wynter asked, taking her arm. "We've just had the most delicious meal. I'll warm you up a plate."
"Thank you. That would be great."
"Coffee, tea, kombucha?" Eagle offered as he led the way to the kitchen.
Emily wrinkled her nose. "Vomit in a bottle? I'll pass, thanks. Coffee sounds amazing. Don't suppose I can get a latte?" she teased.
"Just regular, I'm afraid," Obi replied. "I don't have a fancy coffee machine. And before anyone gets any ideas," he eyed his brother. "I don't want one, either. My basic Mr. Coffee espresso machine blew up a year or so ago. Missed me by this much!" He held his fingers half an inch apart. "I don't want anything else with pressurized steam."
"Coward," Eagle coughed.
"You can be replaced," Obi warned him in a friendly tone. "I'll go to the Younger Brother Store and buy another one, who won't be such a nuisance."
Eagle burst out laughing. "You'd have to take valuable time, breaking him in."
"Good point. I guess I'll keep you."
Emily giggled. "Sounds like you, Wyn."
"I used to tell her that I'd take her to Kinkos and get a less noisy copy made."
"And you believed her?" Sarah asked, slightly aghast.
"Of course. Why would her older sister lie?" Wynter put her hands under her chin, batting her eyelashes.
Their laughter filled the house. Hester took over coffee prep, since Obi was having problems.
"In fairness to Emily, she was five," Wynter explained. "But it was a great threat, and worked like a charm."
"She had to babysit me," Emily added. "I didn't make it easy."
"No, you sure didn't! But you grew up pretty great."
"Thanks, so did you, Sis. She took a lot of work," Emily said with a sigh. "But I successfully molded her into the woman she is today."
Giggling, the sisters hugged. The front door opened.
"Hello!" Clive called. "Took a while to find the right corkscrew. And we picked up more wine," he explained as he and Frankie walked in arm in arm.
Obi and Eagle knew that they hadn't spent over an hour just getting a corkscrew, but didn't say so. What their parents thought, they didn't care to speculate. Clive had always been the most impetuous, and therefore got laid more than Obi ever had. Eagle topped them both, but he didn't care to think about that, either. Maybe it wouldn't be his youngest brother who reproduced first, after all.
"Emily!" Frankie screeched when she saw her younger sister. "It's so good to see you!"
Emily flung her arms around Frankie, hugging so hard her sister gasped.
Jabbing at Emily's ribs, Frankie turned slightly red in the face. "Air," she gasped.
Wynter came to her rescue. "Arms of steel, sis," she warned. "Emily is a personal trainer. She can break a walnut with her knees."
The men blushed, the women laughed.
"She's exaggerating," Emily explained. "But I'm very strong. Sorry to strangle you, Middle Sis." She gave Frankie a gentler hug.
"Food," Eagle announced, heading to the fridge. "What do you want?" He listed off available meals.
"Whatever comes first to hand," Emily replied. "I'm so hungry, I could eat tofu."
"We're out of that, at the moment," Sarah replied with a smile. "But I can make some."
"Thanks. I think I'd rather pass out from hunger. My boyfriend is a pretentious vegan, and can't understand my obsession with a delicious T-bone."
They all laughed loudly.
"Gary's vegan?" Wynter asked.
Frankie made a cut gesture, shaking her head.
"Frankster didn't tell you? I dumped him. He had some nasty habits." Her lips snapped shut.
"Which we won't discuss," Frankie said.
"I must have missed that," Wynter said quietly.
"I didn't want to burden you, Wyn. You were dealing with your own slice of hell. I dumped his pervo butt a couple months ago. This new guy though.... Whatever happened to men being manly? I swear, so many guys seem to think that we all want to date the Gay Best Friend." Shaking her head, she didn't see the men exchange a look.
"I heard that," she said without looking up.
"We didn't say a word," Clive responded.
"Didn't have to." She flashed a smirk.
Clive cleared his throat. "We have a bunch of friends, all manly—well, except for Patrick...." He shrugged.
"Patrick is always the exception," Eagle replied.
"Is Patrick gay?" Emily frowned.
"No. But he's—odd. Great guy, but—odd," Obi concluded.
"We'll pass on Patrick, thanks."
"Duly noted," the brothers chorused, making them all laugh.
Emily enjoyed her meal as the others sipped coffee and shared a box of cookies Wynter had brought over.
"When can we go see Mom?" Emily asked.
"We can take you by anytime," Wynter replied. "Do you want a shower or a nap first?"
"Yes, to the shower. Do we need to run by Mom's place?"
"You're welcome to shower here," Obi said. "Then one of us can take you over. You all want to go?" he asked the sisters.
©Dellani Oakes 2023
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