The House That Built Me

Graduation

Here I finally am, graduation day. I thought the chair would be a lot comfier and the gown and hat would be way less itchy but at least I made it. I turned in my seat to look into the crowd to find my family. After a few seconds of searching with no luck, I turned back around. Becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at 24 is a huge accomplishment so I expected them all to be there. It was tough becoming a vet so young but I took every dual credit course in high school that I could and busted my ass every summer taking classes while I was here.

"Dr. Layla Dalal,"

College deans from all across the state of Montana came almost every day during my senior year but I knew they didn't want me for me, they wanted me for my last name and maybe a donation or two from my father. I knew that I had to go somewhere where no one knew me. Somewhere where I could be my own person and not just a Dutton.

Sure I could've gone to a college closer to home, but as soon as I got that acceptance letter from A&M I knew I had to go there.

"Dr. Aaron James Dixon,"

I was terrified to move 1,500 miles away from everything I ever knew. I also have never been away from my family for more than a couple of weeks. The thing that made me cope with being so far away from everyone was my older brother Lee. He was the one who drove me all the way down here and helped me move in. He was also the one I would call as soon as I woke up every morning.

"Dr. Madison Rose Dunn,"

Looking back now college wasn't nearly as fun as everyone said it would be. There was a lot less partying with my peers and a lot more staying in and doing extra work for class. I've pretty much lived in Texas full-time for the past six years and in all that time I have pretty much been all by myself. It's hard to make friends when you're studying all the time.

"Dr. Clara Evelyn Dutton,"

As soon as my name was called I went into full auto-pilot mode. My legs just seem to know where I needed to go. All of a sudden I was looking into the crowd, staring at my family. The first person I saw was my father. If you were to ask anyone they would say John Dutton is a tough, no-nonsense man but to me, all I saw at that moment was a proud, happy father and that was something I don't think those are words anyone would ever use to describe my father. Next to him was Beth. She seemed happy to be around everyone for once, I think I might have even seen her smile. Beth is a bossy, bitchy, and downright rude person but she always treats me like an equal and not some frail little girl as everyone else does. Standing cheerily next to her was my favorite person in the whole world, Lee. Ever since I could remember, Lee would let me come along to do anything with him. Whether it was checking fence lines, feeding cows, or just heading into town we were attached at the hip. So it was no surprise that Lee was the loudest one in the whole room. Next to him looking somewhat unamused and bored, was my other big brother Jamie. He's an ass but he's still my brother. Jamie wanted nothing to do with me after mom died but he eventually came around, or so I'm told that's what happened. The only person missing from this reunion was my brother Kayce. Being only four years older than me we were pretty close, that was until he and dad had their big falling out. After that, we only saw Kayce on the rare occasions that he would bring Tate around to see dad.

After receiving my diploma I returned to my seat. The rest of the ceremony seemed to go by in a blur. As soon as we were released I ran outside to find my family. Lee was the first to come into view after about ten minutes of searching. As soon as I saw him I made a beeline for him.

"Lee!" I yelled. He turned around just in time to catch me in a hug.

"Hey, Clara. Oh, I missed you so much,"

"We talk every day Lee," I say with an eye roll. "So where is everyone?"

"They're waiting at the car, Beth said she didn't have enough to drink to deal with this many people."

"Of course she did," I chuckled. As we walked towards the car I asked the question that was bothering me the most. "So how did y'all manage to get here from Easterwood airport in the same car without Beth killing Jaime?

"By the grace of God, that or maybe it was dad threatening them the whole five minutes it took to get here"

As we neared the car I could hear the bickering voices of Beth and Jamie but they started to die down as they and my Dad came into view. "Hey, Daddy,"

"Hey sweetheart," He greets me with a kiss on my forehead "Are you all packed to come back home"

With that question I get one of Beth's famous death glares. " Go back home? Could you not find any jobs in Texas?"

"I mean I could get a job here but I miss everyone and Texas is amazing but nothing beats home," I reply

I get another death glare but this time from Jamie "You're actually moving back in? If you miss it so much maybe you shouldn't have moved all the way to fucking Texas,"

"Jamie, shouldn't you be moving out? You're 36 and still living at home. How pathetic is that?" Of course, once I stirred the pot all hell broke loose. I was yelling at Jamie then he started yelling at Beth then Lee started in on all of us. As crazy as it sounds, our squabbling made me feel right at home.

"Enough!" Roared my father as our fighting ceased immediately. "Save your fighting for home and let's get the hell out of here," I received a round of goodbyes and hugs from Beth and Jamie as they loaded themselves into the rental car. "Clara, Lee's riding with you back home,"

"What? I can go by myself Daddy I'm not sixteen besides I had a few stops planned for on the way back."

"I know that Clara but you're not driving over 24 hours by yourself. I'll see you both at home." With those final words, I accepted defeat and said my goodbyes. As I watched them drive off I wondered if being in a car with Lee for over 24 hours or being in a car with Beth and Jamie for five minutes was worse.

Lee turned to me "So are any of these stops on the way home to see a certain horsetrader we all know?"

This is going to be the longest car ride of my life.