The Break-In

Chapter 8- Lego's and Family

***(Cory's POV)***

Just as I'm about to get a real answer out of this girl standing in front of me, as vulnerable as I've ever seen her, the doorbell rings. I don't move to answer it right away, being that I'm quite antisocial so no one ever comes to visit me, so there's a chance I could be hearing things. But a few seconds go by and it rings again. I snap out of my mini trance and go to walk towards the door. Before I'm even half way there, I turn around to Sara and whisper, "We will continue this discussion later- nowhere to run." I give her a playful wink. I finally reach the door and I'm instantly shocked to see who's standing right in front of me.

"Uncle Cory!!!" Brooke wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes tight. Even in my state of shock, I instinctually hug her back.

"Surprise!" Lily, my sister, steps inside my front door and gives me a side hug, making sure to not get in the way of Brooke.

"What are you guys doing here?" I pick up Brooke and rest her on my hip. "You're getting heavier, kid, you're gonna be bigger than me soon." Brooke gives me an exaggerated frown and stares me down. I poke at her stomach a little to make her laugh, and she instantly starts giggling.

"I just thought we would stop by since we were in the neighborhood and someone's been asking for her Uncle Cory." Lily side eyes Brooke who is resting her head on my shoulder now.

I'm about to say something when I hear faint noises from the kitchen and remember that there's someone else here. My sister must hear the noise too because her eyes pan over towards the room behind me.

"Who's that Uncle Cory?" Brooke points to the very awkward and quiet Sara standing near the wall of the entryway.

"I didn't realize you had company..." Lily trails off and gives me a wide eyed stare.

Before anyone else can say anything weird, I chime in with, "Lily, this is Sara. Sara, this is my sister Lily, and her daughter Brooke."

They exchange pleasantries and wave to each other, and Sara gives a smaller waive to Brooke, who I'm still holding. Brooke hesitantly waves back and slightly buries her head in my shoulder.

"How about we all go sit in the living room to get to know each other and so we can all rest our legs for a bit." Before anyone can agree with me, I start walking towards the couch- the couch I am very thankful that I actually cleaned the bedding off of this morning. I sit down on the couch and put Brooke in my lap as the other two join me. I break the odd tension and just blurt out the best explanation I have. "Sara is a friend staying with me for a little bit, she's visiting the city and needed somewhere to crash on a budget."

My sister knows me far too well and gives me this look that just says, 'Stop lying you idiot,' but I do not want to have this conversation with Brooke right here. "Hey Brookie- why don't you go into Uncle Cory's room and go get your toys he has in his closet?" Lily gestures towards my room and helps Brooke off my lap and sends her on her way. "Alright, talk. You have about one or two minutes until she comes back."

Sara looks at me with a blank face, as she clearly was not expecting my sister to just blurt that out. To save her the confusion I just start talking, just kind of knowing the drill. "Sara and I met the other night, long story short she needed a place to stay and that just wound up being here."

"So she's a stranger?" Lily looks at Sara and says with a genuine smile, "No offense, you seem really nice."

"Sort of. There is a bit more to the story, including why my window is weirdly taped and semi boarded up right now. This isn't permanent and it's a very recent situation but we are just kind of going with it. Did I get the gist of it?" I turn to look at Sara for confirmation.

"I think so? I promise I'm mostly a normal person." She gives an awkward laugh towards Lily to try and break the tension but before we can say anything else, Brooke comes running in with her box of legos and sets them on the coffee table.

"What should we build Cory?" Brooke has this bright eyed look and just stares at me as if her life depends on this answer.

"What about a really cool club house- it can have anything you want and look however you want it to." I start pulling out the larger legos to help her build the foundation. We all just sorta sit in silence as Brooke and I build the lego club house. I always loved doing these things with her. It always brings back my inner child and just helps me forget where I am at the moment. However, this time around I am brought back to the present by the faint tapping of Sara's foot on my hardwood floor.

"Is anyone hungry?" I look at Lily, hoping she'll understand my plea for help.

"I could use some food, Brooke and I haven't eaten since about nine this morning." My sister smiles and then gets this devious look on her face. "Why don't you go pick us up some food while Sara and I chat for a while. We can hold down the fort while you get us lunch, and I promise we'll behave." Her eyebrow lifts as if she's trying to see if I'll say no.

"I can never promise to behave," Sara laughs but then looks at Brooke remembering she's in the room. "But I do not suggest following in my footsteps." Sara looks at Lily for approval of that statement, and Lily gives a slight laugh and nods.

"I guess I can go get food. Once I get into town and see what's around, I'll pick a place and text you for your orders. I'll go grab my wallet from my room." As I walk into my room pretending to search for the wallet that I know is on my desk, I try to think of an excuse to talk to Sara.

There's a slight tap on my bedroom door. "Hey." It's like she read my mind. "I told them I had to grab a jacket cause I was getting cold."

"Makes sense." I sit down on my bed and go to put my shoes on. "Are you okay with being left here alone with them? I don't have to go."

"I don't mind. Your sister seems nice, and I'm sure she's dying to ask me tons of questions." She laughs a little and I see her shoulders start to relax.

I set my hand on her shoulder. "You're doing fine. She may be an impressionable child but she's still related to me so she can't be that bright." She smiles at my comment and I smile back. That was all I needed to feel better about this awkward situation right now.

"Okay, we should go back out there, and you should get food before we all starve." She starts standing up when I grab her hand. "What?"

"Just wanted to say thank you." I stand up with her and we walk out of the room.