𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 | jeremiah fisher

03

Aaliyah always loved the dinner they had on the first night. though the food had always been something different, most of it stayed the same. the way they sat around the table, the way the food was passed around, who started what first, usually steven picking at belly.

liyah had always sat in the middle of belly and conrad. jeremiah and steven sat across from them, the layla on the left of steven and laurel right in front of her. susannah always sat at the head of the table.

the mothers' bond had been thicker than blood. they always said they were soul sisters, each coming from different backgrounds, but coming together with love for one another and treating each of the other children as their own.

belly and liyah had been discussing their plans for the night, the latter had already told her mother about the bonfire and was allowed to go. belly on the other hand hadn't.

liyah was trying to convince belly to go with her so she wouldn't be alone, even saying that they didn't have to go right away and that they could go after their swim. belly sat, weighing the options, ultimately deciding against.

they had been interrupted by the loud laughter that was coming from across the table. looking up, liyah saw that steven had been showing jeremiah something on his phone. shaking her head, she knew it was only seconds away before laurel had interrupted them by telling them about the no-phone rule.

"steven, i swear to god if you look at that phone one more time. i'm putting in the screen basket."

every summer, since the kids were old enough to even have a phone, laurel and layla had put in a "no phones at the dinner table" rule. and throughout the years they slimmed it down to, "no phones at the dinner table on the first night" rule. aaliyah was usually good with that since she didn't really use her phones that much the first day or night, wanting to soak in everything at once even the things that had changed.

"we just want to see your beautiful faces." susannah had said smiling at the boys.

"can dinner be a screen-free zone?" layla had questioned also smiling at the boys.

steven who obviously hadn't been paying attention had scrolled on his phone again.

"steven." jeremiah had said to the boy in disbelief, he quickly grabbed steven's phone and stood up.

"dude! are you kidding me?" steven let out as jeremiah launched his phone onto the seat behind liyah.

"boom! nailed it."

"okay, we get it. you've been working out."

"oh you're just jealous because jere has a better body than you." belly said poking at her brother.

"uh no, actually, it's all about the lean look now." steven began to defend himself.

"oh really?" liyah questioned, quirking her eyebrow upwards as a smirk began to settle on her face.

"yeah, otherwise you can't wear tailored suits." the boy finished, earning a couple of laughs from the table.

"hey," liyah said turning toward the older fisher boy, "when are you leaving for training camp con?"

the table had gotten quiet as everyone had turned towards the two. jeremiah had begun to look between them before saying that his brother had quit football.

the room had grown into a thick silence, steven and liyah breaking it.

"what—dude?—"

"wait really?" steven looked towards susannah, "are you kidding me, man? i'd kill to play college ball." steven said in shock.