Page 19 of Unforgettable

When we get to the open plan living and kitchen area, my whole family is scattered around, some on the couch, some at the breakfast bar. Like usual, my mom is cooking, and my dad is her incompetent but always present sous chef.

It’s cute.

If romance and relationships were in the cards for me, my parents are the perfect example of how it should be. How I would want it to be.

“Oz,” my sister, Maddy, squeals, jumping off the stool. She runs into my arms and I squeeze her to me.

“Hey, you. Long time, no see.”

She kisses my cheek and then slips her arm through mine, refusing to let me go, as I say hello to everyone else. With only three years’ difference between Maddy and me, we have the closest relationship out of all of us.

The rest of us are still tight, but Maddy and I are the “too much information, any hour of the night” type of close.

The “I told her all about Reeve and our night together” kind of close.

She’s my rock. And even though we’re all relatively close and in one another’s business, she is the one person, without question, who always has my back.

I hug Kat and give her husband, Leon, a man hug before moving on to my mom and dad, then use the kids and their attempt at trying to push the furniture to the edge of the living room as an excuse to not linger and talk with everyone.

Maddy’s husband, Tyler, helps me move the coffee table and make sure the couches are all pushed to the edges of the room. We do this every time we’re together, my parents letting their grandkids get away with shit my sisters or I never could.

“Okay, Tommy, are you ready? Do you think you can beat me?”

“Yes,” he screams enthusiastically.

“Summer.” I look over at my niece. “Are you and Daddy ready to referee?”

She nods. “And then can I have a turn?”

“Do you think you can beat me?”

Summer pulls her sleeve up past her shoulder and then moves her arm as if she’s flexing. “My muscles have grown from the last time I saw you.”

I reach over, pretending to squeeze them. “Oh, my goodness, you’re getting way too strong for me.”

Her face lights up at the compliment and I give her a wink. “Let’s see if I can beat Tommy and then it’s your turn, okay?”

For the next half an hour, I let my niece and nephew jump, wrestle, and roll on the carpet, basically using my body as a bean bag, a punching bag, and a trampoline. It’s exhausting, but time with them is always so worth it.

When my middle sister, Dixie, and her fiancé, Archer, finally arrive, it’s our cue to settle down because now that we’re all here it means it’s dinner time.

We all sit around the twelve-seater dining table, with my father and mother on either end. And there’s never a dull moment between us. The banter is loud, and the laughter is constant.

“So, we have news,” Dixie announces. “We finally managed to set a date for the wedding.”

A chorus of excitement floods the room. Dixie and Archer have been engaged for three years, but seeing as they’re both specialized surgeons, and completely career obsessed, finding time in their schedules hasn’t really been a priority.

“It’s in nine weeks,” she announces, and we all stare at her.

“You’ve waited three years,” my father says. “Why are you rushing now? How will you wrangle everything in nine weeks?”

“It’s the only break in our schedule,” she informs him. “And I don’t want it to look like a shotgun wedding.”

Silence follows as her words sink in. One at a time, we all erupt in screams and squeals of excitement. Standing up, I wait for my turn and then throw my arms around Dixie.

We squeeze each other tight. “Congratulations.”

We pull apart and she wipes the tears from her eyes. “Just another kid to add to the wrestling roster,” she jokes.

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