Chapter 48

Max

"She's so cute whenever she falls asleep like this," Chris chuckles softly. I fully agree with you, brother. Not that I'd ever admit that out loud, though. He shoots me a knowing look, and reaches over to tug the duvet out from under Evangeline and cover her with it.

"You know..." Chris begins, but is cut off by a quiet whimper. Both of our heads shoot up simultaneously in the direction of the sound. Evie's face is partially obscured by the pillow, but a frown creases her brow. Her hands suddenly clench, creasing the duvet, and a tear rolls down her cheek. Instinctively, I reach out and caress her face, wiping away the tear. There is a pained expression on my twin's face. His emotions are reflected on mine as well. It makes my heart throb.

Chris clears his throat. "Remember the wedding night?" I nod silently. How could I forget? Guilt still gnaws away at me for not being there to stop Tony. I'm sure the rest of my brothers feel it too. My twin swallows hard. "Mom and Tony will be back tomorrow." The rest of the one-sided, two-sentence conversation is left unspoken, but we have come to a mutual understanding.

My brother smiles fondly at our sister. Soft and gentle. I don't think he's even aware of what he's doing as he runs a hand over her hair, tugs the blanket up and kisses he forehead before turning back to the television, which we had both completely disregarded. I can relate.

-

Evangeline

The sheets are warm. Like, really toasty. And since when has my bed smelled so freaking good? I inhale deeply, burying my face in the pillow. I freeze. Only then do I feel the weight of an arm-no, arms slung over my waist, as well as the presence of two other beings in the bed on opposite sides of me. I reach up to rub my eyes, blinking several times to clarify what I'm seeing. nope. Eyes are working just fine.

I barely register the television at the foot of the bed, still playing the show from last night. I really am dumbstruck, ad have no idea what to do. I shift a little, realising my legs are tangled with one of the twin's. Argh.

At my not so subtle movements, one of them reflexively tightens his grip on my waist. Goddammit. I contort my body into this awkward, twisted posture to lean over Max's sleeping form ad peer at the clock.

"Shit!" I hiss as I immediately start pushing them off and half-screeching at them to get their asses up while grabbing a pillow to smack their (handsome) faces. Those morons simply grunt and groan, trying to swat my persistent hands away like annoying flies.

Frustration bubbles up in my chest. Dad and Mariam are back today. Most likely, they'll be at the breakfast table with us. "I swear to god, Christopher and Maxwell," i snap. "If you don't get up this instant, I'm gonna kiss you." My face burns as I say it. What the hell was that, Evangeline?

Their eyes fly open, and they gape open mouthed, dazed and barely awake. "Evie, what...?" They murmur in unison. In other circumstances, I would've laughed and found it adorable. I point at the clock impatiently with one hand, still kneeling on the bed and waving my other hand in an obvious manner. Gosh. How long does it take for their brains to process...?

As soon as they realise, both spring out of bed and begin dashing around the room in a frenzy, tugging off their sleep shirts and hopping around in an attempt to wear a sock with a toothbrush in their mouth. Talk about multitasking.

I scurry across the hall to my room, simultaneously throwing on my blouse, yanking up my skirt and nearly tripping on my undone laces as I race downstairs. I burst into the dining room, the twins also looking disheveled and half-dressed, panting slightly. Mariam's eyes widen. Asher suppresses a grin, Lucas looks like he wants to facepalm, and my father looks pissed. Nothing new.

"Morning," I gasp. Mariam smiles awkwardly." Hello, dear." The boys chorus their greetings as well, while my father simply grunts and rolls his eyes. I straighten my tie and smooth down my messy hair and wrinkled skirt, sinking into the chair next to Asher. "How was the honeymoon?" I ask out of politeness. My father ignores me and continues shoveling food into his gob-ahem, mouth.

Lucas clears his throat and rephrases what I meant. "I hope you had a good time." My father instantly brightens, a huge smile spreading across his face. "Yes, we did!" I gape in shock. What the hell? In all my years, my father has not once looked at me with such affection before. I dont think I've even seen his smile like that. The sting of envy persists as both him and Mariam begin an animated narrative about their honeymoon. They boys nod as they eat, seemingly entranced. Ugh.

After what seems like forever, the finally finish with the recount. "That's great. Thanks for sharing, Mom, Tony," the twins say. My father chuckles heartily. "Oh, no. Please, call me Dad!" I cringe. My father gets annoyed if I even call him dad. My brothers seem to feel the same as well."Yeah, uh...dad." Max looks like he swallowed a toad.

We get up to leave for school. Mariam flashes a genuine smile a we troop to the door. "Have fun!"