The Summer I Met The Girl

nine

The parents arrive on Monday morning, waking all of the kids on their way in. They carry in enough bags of food to feed a small army. The house, which was already chaotic with just the kids, quickly becomes even more chaotic. 6 parents and the 9 cousins fill the home with talking and laugher quickly.

Matt loves when everyone is here. The house is busting at the seams. But it's also full of so much happiness and joy. He remembers his parents saying that was the whole point of the house. For it to be a happy place. And it always has been.

They celebrate, all 15 of them, Memorial Day all day on Monday. Matt and Mason, the oldest of the cousins, set off the fireworks on the beach while everyone watches from the house. Conrad and Uncle Jeremiah cook brisket and burgers on the grill. Steven makes his famous potato salad and macaroni and cheese. Hailey makes some fruity drink that everyone loves, and Belly and Shayla make homemade french fries and a fruit salad. Belly and Conrad even make Susannah's legendary strawberry cupcakes.

It's a perfect day. Beck is swimming laps in the pool late that night, just like their mom used to do, while Jude and Henry throw a football in the yard.

Matt grabs two beers and heads out to the front porch where he knows he'll find Mason.

"Yo," Mason says as he approaches.

Matt hands him a beer. "Beer for your thoughts?"

Mason chuckles. "Nothing worth sharing. What's up with you?"

"Oh nothing."

"You going to see that girl again?"

Matt looks over at Mason. Mason has always been so effortlessly cool. He's 2 years older than Matt and Crew, so they always looked up to him. He let them drive his car around abandoned parking lots, and let them get high in his college dorm just so he could supervise them. Mason, like Crew, shares no blood with the rest of them. But he's a Fisher. And Matt's always been in awe of him, being the oldest of the cousins and forging a path in a family he had no obligation to be part of.

Matt takes a swig of his beer. "I'll tell you, if you tell me about Emily."

Mason smiles. "Emily?"

"Don't play dumb. You haven't been your usual self lately."

"What does that mean?"

"You're not sitting on your phone, swiping through some model's Instagram or looking at all your Hinge matches."

"I guess I don't really want to anymore."

Matt nudges Mason with his knee, "Is she the one?"

Mason chuckles, "I don't know." He leans his head back against the chair. "I want her to be."

"That's great, Mase. When do we get to meet her?"

Mason rolls his eyes. "Yeah right, like I'm going to let you guys meet her anytime soon."

"Dick." Matt grumbles.

"She just met my parents a few weeks ago. I don't want to scare her with the whole Addam's family."

"Did your parents like her?"

"Loved her. Says she fits right in."

"What about Jude and Grant?" Matt asks, knowing his cousins well enough that they probably gave her shit all night, despite being younger than her & Mason.

Mason chuckles. "They're clowns. But they liked her."

"More importantly, did she like them?"

"Jude and Grant? No." He laughs. "My parents? Yes."