The Final Base

Brotherly Bonds

Brooklyn breathed in the familiar scent of the restaurant and took in the feeling of being surrounded by brick walls. It was the same place Albert had taken her on their first date. But for him it was so much more than that, his mother used to bring him here, as well as his brothers long before he was ever born so it was fitting to say the least. She was wearing the same cream sweater from yesterday, only this time she paired it with a burgundy skirt and brown boots. Albert had come by to pick her up that afternoon, his hair looked as if he tried to make it look presentable only for it to get messed up a few seconds later.

Clearly he was more nervous than he was letting on. She knows the feeling of being reunited with a sibling after spending years apart. The thing is, he had more contact with his brothers while she had none, but the point still stood. His hands were sweaty but she didn't point that out as they reached the final step. The place looked exactly the same, even the arcade games, though well worn, worked as if they were brand new out of the crate. With it being around two, it was partly full. Not too busy, but not entirely empty either. There were a few families, some groups of teenagers studying and some college kids. At least Brooklyn assumed they were. But there was one table that stood out in particular, it was their usual spot, currently taken by two redheads laughing at something.

"Is that..."

"Yup."

That's it. All she needed to hear. "It's not too late to say you caught some random sickness," Brooklyn said, trying to ease him with a joke. It seemed to work too because he let out that low chuckle she loves so much.

"Let's get this over with." another joke.

Only a few steps away from the table did the two redheads look up. Suddenly they were out of the booth and happy exchanges were made. Of course it caused Brooklyn to take a step back. They were both loud, eagerly greeting their baby brother. Albert seemed to take it well. At least he didn't have his "I'd rather die" face, so that's a positive. When they finally pulled apart she had to do a double take. If she didn't know any better she'd say she was looking at triplets right now. Deep brown eyes, strong builds. Though she could pick out the difference.

"You must be Brooklyn," a deep voice said with a warm smile. "Pleasure to meet you, though I don't know how Al over here secured himself a girlfriend after claiming girls are gross." as this was said Albert was thrown into a headlock, which he easily escaped. "Oh, excuse my rudeness, I'm Liam." he held out his hand to shake, which Brooklyn took. "My wife would've loved to have been here as well, but then there was something about a mess with orange juice and not having anymore orange juice and Jamie started crying and then she sent me on my way."

"You as well," Brooklyn nodded in reply. Though she'd never admit it out loud, she was nervous meeting Albert's brothers. She's heard stories, knows he still talks to them here and there, maybe popped in during a video chat but meeting face to face was a whole other story. For the first time since their mothers funeral, all three of them were in the same room.

"I'm Cade, very nice to meet you."

Ah yes, the troubled child that turned into a truck driver. Brooklyn never would've known if she wasn't aware of that already. Though, the troubles of said past can still be seen. Cade was the slimmer out of the three Dasilva brothers. She could make out multiple scars and the look in his eyes. They weren't like Liam's, who has been on the war front. While both had trauma, Liam's eyes had that old, wise man look, while Cade's were dark. Someone who's hit rock bottom, dug themselves deeper but somehow got out. So different to Albert's, who could stare right into her soul, playful yet drowning.

They sat down and the brothers began to catch up, while telling her all the embarrassing Albert stories that come to mind. Complete with baby photos, and there may have been a video of him streaking down the hallway naked after a bath. Brooklyn couldn't hold back her laughter even if she tried. His little baby wobble was adorable.