Like Phantoms Forever

When Wes and I got home, the guys had found the TV remote and were watching a movie that seemed to have a lot of explosions in it.
“Hey guys, come see where I keep all the stuff.” I called. They all trooped and helped put the groceries away. I glanced at the clock on the wall and almost did a double take as I realized what time it was. “Shit, I gotta go get Sylvie from school!” I barely heard Wes say, “Who’s Sylvie?” as I bolted out the door.
I pulled up in front of the elementary school, my Mustang sticking out like a sore thumb in the line of minivans.
I spotted the familiar little girl picking her way towards me, weaving through the crowd of kids.
“Hi Sylvie!” I said when she climbed into the backseat. Her big hazel eyes were crinkled with a smile as she brushed her dark bangs out of her eyes. Sylvie was my niece, River’s daughter. He taught high school level history and his class didn’t end until almost an hour after Sylvie was dismissed, so I took her until he could take her home.
It broke my heart to see my brother raising his child by himself. His girlfriend had died giving birth to Sylvie. It had devastated him and for a while our mom was raising Sylvie. River finished college, got his degree and took Sylvie back. He was a wonderful father, despite his past troubles, and I was proud of him.
“How was your day kiddo?” I asked, pulling out of the carline.
“Good. I won in four-square today.” She smiled.
“I was awesome at four-square when I was your age.” I had to keep myself from flipping off the guy who’d cut in front of me without a signal. “I have some old friends over at the house.”
“Are they nice?” Sylvie was a little like me, in that she was shy as hell.
“They’ll love you.” I promised, pulling into my garage. I let her slip her small hand into mine as we walked in.
Everyone was sitting with grave faces on in my living room.
“Guys, this is Sylvie Leeves. Sylvie, that’s Wes, Frank, Mikey, Gerard, Ray and Bob.” I pointed them out as I said their names. “Go on into the kitchen, I’ll fix you a snack in a second.”
“How old is Sylvie?” Wes asked. I recognized the tone she was using. It was her “I’m trying to be casual about asking you this” tone.
“She’s eight.” I said, tossing my jacket on the chair. Mikey’s face was drained off all color and everyone turned to stare at him. I made the connection in my head just as Mikey opened his mouth to talk. “She’s not mine! She’s River’s daughter.” There was a collective sigh of relief and Mikey started looking less like he’d just seen a ghost.
“You scared me for a second there Emmy.” He said.
“Like I wouldn’t have told you or at least Wes if I was pregnant.” I tried not to roll my eyes as I walked into the kitchen to fix Sylvie some milk and cookies. I got some for myself and sat at the table with her while she worked on some multiplication problems.
“Emmy?” I heard the front door open as River called into the house. “Oh, hi guys.”
“Hey River. Long time no see.” Wes jumped up and hugged my brother.
“It’s good to see you again Wes.” River hugged her back before shaking hands with Mikey and Gerard.
“Daddy!” Sylvie took a running jump into River’s arms.
“Hey baby girl.” He kissed her forehead.
“Riv, that’s Ray, Bob and Frank. Guys, my brother River.” I said. “They’re gonna be staying with me until they can get places of their own.”
“Good to know. I talked to Mom today and she wants you to call her.” River laughed when I groaned. “Come on, its not that bad.”
“She always tells me I’m working too much though.” I was whining, but I hated when she did that.
“Suck it up kid.” He kissed my cheek and waited while Sylvie did the same before heading out.
“I never thought I’d see the day that River actually acted parental.” Wes shook her head.
“When Maddie died, he was a mess. For a while we thought that my mom and I would be raising Sylvie. But one day he pulled himself together and turned into the dad of the year.” I sat down between Wes and Gerard.
I’d forgotten how much Wes made me laugh. It was nice to have them back with me.
--
I woke up earlier than I’d expected the next morning to someone jumping on my bed.
“Wake up Emmy!” Amber almost landed on my stomach as she stopped jumping abruptly and dropped to sit on the bed.
“Jesus Christ Amber, what do you want?” I groaned, sitting up.
“It’s time to exercise!” She was a kickboxing instructor and I’d foolishly asked her to teach me once. Now she considered herself my personal trainer and surprised me at my house for kickboxing practice.
“Amber, it’s 6:30!” I said, looking at my alarm clock. “For fuck’s sake, exercise can wait for a decent hour.”
“No it can’t, cuz then you tell me that you have inspiration and go to hide in your office.” Damn, she’s got me there.
“I have house guests.”
“The more the merrier!”
“They just flew in from Jersey yesterday.”
“Jet lag is for wusses.”
“You’re adamant aren’t you.”
“Damn straight.” She bolted off into the guest rooms before I could stop her.
“Amber no!” I yelled, running after her.
“What the fuck?” Gerard said groggily, sitting up.
“Bad Amber!” I grabbed her around the waist and hauled her out of the room.
“I’m not a dog.” She grumbled.
“Good, then I shouldn’t have to smack you on the nose with a newspaper.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m gonna get dressed and then we’ll have coffee like normal humans.
“Who wants to be normal?” She scoffed, heading down the stairs.
“Who indeed.” I fell back into bed and managed to get another hour of sleep before I was woken up again, this time by Wes.
“We can’t figure out how to cook in your kitchen.” She said as explanation. “And Amber isn’t helping much.”
“What’s she doing?” I asked, grabbing clean clothes from my dresser.
“She challenged Ray and Bob to a pushup contest and they’re still going.” She rolled her eyes.
“I swear that girl’s on crack. But I love her anyway.” I linked arms with Wes and we headed down the stairs.
Bob had dropped out and Amber and Ray were still going. From what I could tell, they were on 250 each.
“Amber, I’m making pancakes!” I said, heading into the kitchen.
“Yes!” She immediately dropped out of the contest, telling Ray, “This isn’t over” before coming into the kitchen to keep me company while I made the batter.
“Someone get the coffee going.” I said over my shoulder. It shouldn’t have surprised me that Mikey knew how to use the machine I had and knew exactly where I kept the coffee stuff.
About halfway through breakfast, inspiration struck, so I jumped up and grabbed a piece of chalk from the board and started scrawling my ideas down.
“Felicity battle axe?” Gerard said, reading over my shoulder. “Sounds like a great book. Battle axes and girls.”
“She does this all the time.” Amber sighed. “Can’t you wait until you eat woman?”
“Nope.” I finished writing down the idea and picked up my fork again. “I’m gonna go into my office once we’re done here.”
“But I wanted to go sightseeing.” Wes pouted. I spent a split second deliberating whether I could send them out with Amber before I realized all of L.A. would get burned to the ground if I did.
“All right. Some of you will have to ride with Amber, not everyone will fit with me.” I said.
“Yay! You rock.” Wes kissed my cheek before running to get ready for the day. I just slipped on my sneakers and waited for everyone else.
“Shotgun!” Gerard called when he saw my car. He climbed into the front seat before Wes could protest, so she and Frank got into the backseat with Mikey.
Even after all this time, my heart still picks up a few beats when I look at Mikey.