She Can't Read Minds

Will sat on the couch, me in the middle, and Markus on my other side. Mom and Lucas sat in the love seat a cross from us. His arm over her shoulders to keep her close to him. He only smiled when looking at her and she only smiled when she wasn’t looking at Will’s angry face. Nothing adorable about that facial expression.

“So, uh,” Lucas cleared his throat, “how old are you…kids?” Markus shifted beside me, making me glance at him out of habit. He smiled at me, making the situation slightly less awkward. I wonder how he does that. Will answered for us, “I’m seventeen and they’re fifteen.”

“So you’re all in high school, then.” He said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. “Do you have any thoughts for college, Willis?” I glanced at my brother, leaning closer to Markus so I could do so. Will glared at Lucas openly. He hated his full name; that’s why everyone but Mom calls him Will. Markus didn’t protest our sudden closeness either. Will shrugged. “Son, is that a yes or no? I don‘t know what this,” he shrugged, “means.”

I glared at him, feeling Markus tense up. His hand, which was right against my side, balled into a fist. Lucas wasn’t just being rude and upsetting Will, he was upsetting us all. But Mom was gushing over the man with a smile. “I was thinking of a private college, one with smaller classes and something as close to home as I can be. My grades are fine so it shouldn‘t be that big a problem.” Lucas nodded.

“Don’t you want to branch away from the family? Go out of state and be as far away as possible? I know my son does.” Lucas asked, ending his reply in a matter-of-fact tone. Mom turned to him with a shocked yet happy face.

“I didn’t know you had a son? How old?”

“He’s eighteen. I actually have four kids. Two sons, two daughters.” Lucas answered with a proud smile. Mom clapped her hands saying how we all had to get together tomorrow night for dinner. She invited Leslie and Markus and their parents as well. “I think my kids could be good for them, you know, Marie. My son’s aiming for Harvard. Daughter, Yale…the other two have yet to decide between the two.” I rolled my eyes; oh, yeah, they sound like a bundle of fun times.

“Do they have names?” Will replied, crossing his arms against his chest. He glanced at me, noticing my new backrest and smiling. Lucas stood up, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and tossing it into Will’s lap. He raised an eyebrow, opening it up to the see the photos.

“Oh, that’s my oldest, Grey. Like I said, he’s eighteen and aiming for Harvard. I’ve talked to some of my friends who are professors there so they said he should be fine. Amazing grades, all that jazz.” Lucas shrugged. Markus looked impressed when I leaned my head back and looked at him. He smiled down at me when he noticed my staring. Blushing I turned back to Will who flipped the photo to that of a gorgeous young lady. “That’s my lovely princess, Belle. We named her after the young woman in Beauty and the Beast. She’s eighteen too; they’re twins. Unlike her brother, she’s applying for Yale; though her grades are good enough for Harvard too.” Will rolled his grey eyes, turning the page.

“Oh, my, how old is she?” Mom gushed.

“Four.” Lucas grinned. “I adopted her while I lived in Kentucky, then we moved back here to the good ol’ hometown.” I smiled at the adorable little girl in the photo; maybe meeting them won’t be so bad if this little one acts as adorable as she looks. “My wife died just after we adopted her. Her name is Jane. She’s a doll, always giggling.” His eyes glowed as he spoke of her. Will grumbled something under his breath and flipped to the last kid.

“That would be my youngest-middle child, Cal. Willis, you said they were fifteen correct?” Will sighed, nodding his head. “So is Cal; maybe you’ll be able to talk to him and have some things in common…uh, was I told your name son?” Markus jumped slightly at the attention turn. I giggled a little, shaking my head.

“Markus.” I flicked my thumb in his direction.

“Markus, maybe you and Cal will have something in common.” Lucas said, shifting a bit to grab his phone to call his children. “They’re all home tonight so how about dinner tonight instead? I do believe Grey has an interview for a job tomorrow and Belle is touring some apartment. Cal might have practice as well. One second-hello, Belle.” Lucas spoke louder when on the phone, I noted, watching him exit through the front door. Mom turned to us with a grin, like she just saw the person she had an obsession over. She wanted to hear us say good things we thought about him, I knew it.

“Mark, dear, why don’t you go ask your mother if you guys could join us all for dinner.” She suggested. Markus nodded while I carefully leaned onto my brother instead. He smiled at me; he did that a lot it seemed. “Why don’t you go too, Miranda?”

“Okay,” I grabbed my coat and met Markus at the front door, “let’s head over to your house.” He nodded, glancing at Will who gave us a jealous glare. Sucker, I laughed.