The Way We Get By

27 // Ramona

okay i lied when i said there was only one chapter left. there's one more after this one.

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"Why don't you go put your things upstairs?" I suggest as I watch Alex slip his shoes off in the foyer of our house. "Then we can talk more."

Alex nods before taking in the sight around him. He was gone for a bit over two weeks, and in that time it feels as though so much has happened. Not only did Angel get suspended, but Lucy's case was completely settled—the last hearing was this morning.

Mr. Danny was sentenced to thirteen years for being a repeat offender, and he's paying us restitution to cover the costs of Lucy's medical and therapeutic bills. A solid punishment if you ask me, though Liam said the only thing that would suffice was if he burned in hell. I agree, to an extent.

"Alex!" An energetic voice screeches through the house before a blonde blob is seen sprinting down the foyer.

Lucy hits Alex with a force that nearly knocks him back on his feet. Once Alex has steadied himself, he scoops Lucy into his skinny arms with an adoring smile on his face.

"Hey," he laughs while glimpsing up at Liam and I. "The gang's almost back together, huh? Where's the last one?"

"Right here." Angel, whose mouth is stuffed with god-knows-what, is making his way down the foyer. Upon glancing towards the kitchen, I can see he's chomping on a mouthful of cereal.

"Why are you eating cereal?" I question through slitted eyes as he approaches Alex. "I'm making dinner."

As I expected, I'm mostly ignored. Angel's more preoccupied with staring Alex and Lucy down.

"Can I help you?" Alex questions while shifting Lucy's weight on his hip.

"You're still skinny."

"Did you think I'd be fat?"

"Okay," Liam cuts in before stepping towards the kitchen. "He just walked in the door. Let's not have this conversation yet."

Liam uses his hand to pull Angel towards the kitchen as he walks past us. I watch him whisper something to Angel while they continue down the foyer.

"Why's Angel acting weird?" Alex questions while placing Lucy back down.

"Don't listen to your brother. He doesn't seem to know when something is triggering."

Alex shrugs before readjusting his bag on his shoulder.

"I'm not triggered. He was kinda right."

I sigh. While Alex made leaps and bounds of progress in the group home, he's nowhere near recovered. John and Dr. Peterson helped change his mindset but they didn't change his habits. We've still got rules, boundaries, and treatment steps to follow through with now that Alex is home. This is only the beginning.

"Your dad and I are gonna have a talk with you later, Alex. Until then, just enjoy being home. Can you do that?"

I watch Alex rub his sock-covered toe over the planks of hardwood in our foyer.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Go reconcile with your bearded dragon. She misses you."

This makes Alex grin, and with a shake of his head I watch him begin up the stairs.

"I'm coming with!" Lucy calls from beside me once she realizes where Alex is going. She bounds up the stairs after him with her short little legs and I watch through eyes that have beginnings of tears in them. My boy is okay. He's smiling. Laughing.