Mary and Halley (sequel to When Mary Met Halley)

twenty

Thanksgiving was a whirl of chaos and coexisting, and when we finally sat down to eat at five, there were eleven of us; Halley, Leif, my mother, my brother Noah, Joey, Charlotte, Nate, Shiloh, Jasper, Hank, and me. It was surprising as always that it only took half an hour to eat all the food that had taken the entire day to prepare.

Our estranged brother Noah had arrived a little after noon, and was the center of attention. Being such wasn't exactly his thing, but he put up with it good naturedly. Our mother especially was fascinated by him, another one of her stranger sons. Even our father came over from next door for awhile.

Shiloh recognized a fellow genius and engaged him in conversations spanning literal galaxies when she realized he worked for NASA. Jasper was overwhelmed by all the people and spent most of the day next door with Ruby, and the rest of it under the kitchen table. Hank, on the other hand, was in his element, the joyful little extrovert. 

Joey, Char, and Nate were inclusive toward our brother after the initial awkwardness of not knowing  each other. Joey and Noah talked on the phone a few times a month but being together in person was of course different. 

Our mother finally left after we ate and Halley and I went out on the porch to spark a joint. The teens joined us and we didn't protest; I knew it wasn't the most parental thing to do, but they were going to do it anyway. And at least this way they had less of a joint to smoke with it being split between five of us.

Noah came out to get something from his car. "You guys aren't smoking marijuana out here, have you?" he asked sternly on his way back. "Just kidding, I don't care; I'd hit it if I didn't get tested for it," he added, then laughed at the surprise on our faces. "What? I'm smart enough to know it's more beneficial than not," he joked, and I could see so much of Elle in his face when he smiled, I had to look away.

"Genius approved, nice," Joey said. Leif was playing video games with Shiloh and keeping an eye on the other two, having sneaked out to smoke himself while we were saying goodbye to the mother. 

We all took places around the porch, Halley sitting on the top step and tugging me down into her lap, which was fine by me. Luckily Noah hadn't turned out to be homophobic, which I hadn't figured he would be, but when strangers raise your sibling you don't really know what to expect for sure. 

 "As long as your mom doesn't care, that is," Noah amended to Nate in a very big-brother way.

"She's all for it in moderation," Nate assured him, sitting cross-legged between Char and Joey. His face was a lot better, and he hardly winced at all when he moved now. "She actually helped start the first dispensary in town here, back in the day. She knows all about every medical benefit and strain and edible, you name it." He yawned. "I have ADHD so it helps me a lot, and Ritalin just made me pretty much sick and lethargic." He shuddered theatrically.

"Cool mom," Noah answered. "What's that like?" He glanced at me. "Sorry, I shouldn't trash our mother probably. Such as she is."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Whatever, she's not my mother. Mary's my mom."

"Everybody's mom," Charlotte said, as she often did. It still warmed my heart each time, though I knew that wasn't true when it came to my oldest brother. The boarding school staff had raised him, and while it had been his choice to go, while he'd in fact begged to be allowed to go, it was only because circumstances at home had been unlivable. It had been years before I was able to take care of the kids properly, and by then he was long gone and had no plans of leaving the security of his gifted school.

I totally got it, and appreciated his keen sense of self-preservation. If he hadn't left, his chances of thriving would have been slim to none, and I was glad he'd gotten out. Even if it made him somewhat of a stranger.