Relentless

Canmore

"There he is!" Everyone cheered.

I smiled awkwardly, "Hey guys! Nice seeing you all again. Welcome."

Then a tall chubby man startled me like a siren. "James junior, how are you? It's been years!"

It was my Uncle Philip, my dad's brother, who admired me so much ever since I was a baby. He would buy me presents and give me allowances. He was wealthy enough to buy his nephews and his spoiled son, Venice, their first ever Audi car at age 15 and let them travel at a very young age. Believe it or not, Uncle Philip was the CEO of Audi and built several mansions across North America and Europe. He got all the money and he would do anything to make people happy. Somewhat.

I answered politely, "I'm doing great, Uncle Phil. It did feel long. How is everything in the east coast?"

He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a light pat, "All is well. Work and family has kept me busy! Venice has finally decided to reside in Melbourne. But, he'll be here for the reunion. I told him he can't miss this again. Work is still the same. My project has made a huge impact down south; we have been building schools and houses in Texas and Mexico for the past few months. Sometime this year we might consider moving to the west coast.."

"Wait.. You're moving to Vancouver?" I intruded.

"Mhm, your parents told you already?" He chuckled.

I gulped, "No, they have not."

Unexpectedly, Uncle Philip's wife, Tessa, waltzed towards me and interuppted, "James junior, you have changed."

"Not as much as Venice."

"Haha, you are hilarious. So have Phil told you about Venice?" Aunt Tessa's ravishing blue eyes pierced through my soul as she spoke.

"Yeah, so he'll be here tonight?" I asked.

Aunt Tessa nodded, "He better be. I need to see him before he flies out to Australia. That boy is very stubborn like your uncle, he wants everything his way. We just couldn't stop him." She paused for a good second and gathered her thoughts, "I'm going to miss him a lot."

"I will too," Uncle Phil added. His sour expression, which I have never seen before, disheartened me. 

(Couple hours later)

I peaked at the glass windows to check who arrived. My uncles and aunts ran outside to greet my siblings and cousins. They made a loud cheer, "Welcome Home!"