Page 138 of Dmitri

My feet won’t budge. I need to leave, yet being in the presence of my long-lost baby sister has me pinned in place. This could be my only chance to get to know her.

“You look like a banana man to me,” Addie says.

Ihatebananas. “Yup, I sure am.”

“See?” Addie slaps Daelyn on the shoulder with a spatula. “I’m so good at reading people. I just knew he was a banana pancake guy.”

Daelyn rolls her eyes and then mouths, “I’m so sorry” atme when Addie turns her back to us.

Shaking my head, I keep my mouth shut, but there’s no hiding the smile on my face.

“Come on, D. Help me set the table.”

“Yeah,D.” Addie cracks an egg, and pieces of the shell fall into the batter bowl. “Shit.” She tries to pinch them with her fingertips, but the tiny pieces evade her.

“Use the broken shell in your hand to scoop them,” I say. “They’ll come right out.”

Addie takes my advice. “Holy crap. That was crazy easy.” She looks up at me and my chest tightens even as warmth spreads across it. “You’re a genius.”

“Nah, I can’t take credit for it. My friend Knox gave me that tip.”

Daelyn slams a bottle of maple syrup on the table behind us. “What else are we having with these hostage pancakes?”

“Ummm…” Addie purses her lips. “Chicken nuggets and ice cream.”

Daelyn puts her hands on her hips. “What is wrong with you?”

“Ugh, I can’t help it! They made me eat healthy stuff the whole time! I’m literally fifty percent smoothie now.” She flips the burned pancakes in the pan. “My body is in withdrawal. I legit dreamed of a peanut butter sundae last night. With gummy bears on top.”

Daelyn preheats the oven. “You’re a pain in the ass. I don’t even think we have chicken nuggets.”

“I stuck an emergency stash behind the ice tray.” Addie dumps three blackened pancakes onto a plate.

“Oh my god, you did.” Daelyn pulls out a small, crumpled bag, and looks half annoyed, half impressed.

Addie pours more batter into the way too hot frying pan.

Watching them move around, picking on each other,laughing together, has me feeling like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe. One that’s happy and warm and smells like flowers and burned breakfast.

Is this what my life could have been like if things had gone just a little differently?

Would I have lived in a house full of laughter with the smoke alarm going off, and have ice cream for lunch?

“Oh my god!” Daelyn opens the sliding glass door and fans the smoke detector. “You’ve been home for two seconds and you’re already causing chaos.”

Addie laughs maniacally as she flips her pancakes. “Eat them while they’re hot, Dmitri!”

I stuff my face with those burned, god awful banana pancakes.

It’s the best meal I’ve ever had in my life.

???

“I’m gonna go,” I say once again. We’ve cleaned all the dishes, and I looked at every seashell Addie’s brought back for Daelyn, but it’s seriously time to leave.

My girl walks me to the front door, looking awkward and nervous. “Thank you for…” She glances over her shoulder, even though Addie’s gone upstairs to unpack and shower.

“Thankyou.It was nice to meet her face-to-face.” This is probably the only memory I’ll ever make with my half-sister. “She’s really happy,” I say quietly, tucking Daelyn’s hair behind her ear. “You’ve done a great job giving her all she needs.”

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