Page 34 of Family Forever
Nobody had to tell the other males twice, they were already gone.
The ladies chatted as they tackled the mound of dishes and stowed the leftovers. Marissa had thought Mitzi and the girls would do a bit of prying about her private life but they didn’t dig too deep. The conversation stayed light. Perhaps the ladies were tired from their travels. The routine family banter was actually music to Marissa's ears. What she would give to stand in a kitchen with her mother, cleaning up after a large holiday meal. Unfortunately, since losing her mother at a young age, she was never afforded that pleasurable opportunity.
By the time Marissa and the others joined the men in the living room, Bob was snoring in the recliner, Cole’s head was leaned back onto the backrest of the couch, his eyes were shut and his mouth was open. Luke was sprawled over him. Dylan and the rest of the boys were watching a football game.
Mitzi shook Bob’s shoulder. “Hey, let’s go to bed.” She glanced at her girls. “Why don’t you guys turn in as well, and give Dylan his bedroom here. He’s got to get up early to hunt.”
Bob moaned, climbed out of the recliner and followed his wife to Dylan’s room. Jessica and Bianca headed up the stairs.
Mitzi threw a glance over her shoulder. “Good luck hunting in the morning.”
Cole straightened up on the couch and looked at Dylan. “Is all my stuff ready or do I need to get it together?”
“It’s ready. Your orange hunting clothes are hanging in the basement and your gun is on the workbench. I’ve packed your backpack, so you should be good to go. Nate will sit with one of us.”
Cole zoned in on Nate, who was still too young to get a hunting license but liked to go along. “If you sit with me, you’d better not make any noise, and you better find a quiet way to wake me up if a deer comes by.”
Marissa laughed. “You sleep out there when you’re supposed to be hunting?”
“That’s why he never gets a deer,” Aric teasingly interjected.
A sly smile spanned Cole’s face. “Should we place a bet right now on who will get a bigger deer this weekend, say twenty dollars?”
“I’ll take that bet,” Aric replied.
Luke rubbed his fists against his eyes. “When can I go hunting with you, Dylan?”
“I think we better give it a couple more years, buddy.”
Marissa held her arms open toward Luke. “Hey Luke, maybe you can spend some time with me tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen you in so long, and I’ve missed you.”
She scooped him up and kissed his warm cheek. “Should we get your bed made up?”
He nodded.
Cole and Dylan rose from the couch and Dylan pulled the cushions off and tossed them to the side before he retrieved a set of sheets and a blanket from the hall closet.
Braden, Aric, Nate and Cole disappeared up the stairway, as Marissa helped Dylan make up the sofa sleeper for him and Luke.
Luke climbed in and Marissa crouched down and tucked the blankets in around him. “I love you, Luke.”
“Love you, too.” Her heart swelled, she’d never tire of hearing those words from him. Though the older brothers would probably never say it to each other, this house was so full of love, to a degree she’d never known existed in a family until recently.
The little boy’s eyes drifted shut before she even had the chance to stand up.
She glanced up to find Dylan’s intense gaze fixed on her from the opposite side of the bed.
“He really missed you.”
She looked down at Luke and then back at Dylan. “I’ve missed him too. I’ve missed all of you.”
She missed Dylan most of all, and it took every bit of strength she had to stay away from him for as long as she did. When he dropped her off at school she was ready to run home the first weekend but Cole talked her out of it, telling her Dylan would just keep sending her back until she was finished. So she chose to stay away, knowing it was easier to stay away versus go home and then have to leave. Why couldn’t she have both, Dylan and school? Why was he being so difficult about this? She saw the way he looked at her sometimes, and Cole confirmed it for her on several occasions when her wild imagination let her believe differently.
Several beats of silence passed before Dylan’s lips parted as if he were going to say something but he pinched them into a thin line before any words could escape. He looked perplexed, and she wondered what he was thinking.
“Well, I suppose I should let you get to bed since you have to get up so early to go hunting.” Marissa turned and took a step in the direction of her room.
“Wait.”
