A Boy Called Noah

Chapter Thirty-Three

Noah James

Noah stands leaning most of his weight on his cane. His attention continues to stray from the current conversation that his mother and Regina are having. His breath catches in his throat and he stares awestruck as Thea descends the stairs. Her hair lay in curls across her collarbones and shoulders and her dress hugs her figure perfectly. Her eyes pin him to his position for a second then moves on to the next person.

"Thea, what took you so long. Our guests have been waiting." Regina's smile is tight and seems very forced. If Jessica notices anything, she gives nothing away with her heart-warming smile, "Thea! How great to see you. I'm so sorry that I missed you earlier. It seems you were there while I was out for a second." Thea brightly smiles and hugs Jessica close to her, "No problem. You'll definitely be seeing more of me-" Regina clears her throat in warning. Thea looks down for a moment and a dark look crosses her features, then she lifts her face and smiles a too-bright smile, "I'll go see if Thalia needs some help in the kitchen. Hey, Vick." She waves to him in the passing and closes the kitchen door behind her.

Regina allows the awkward silence for a moment then pushes Calum forward, "This is my son, Calum. He has his own unique taste in style." Calum rolls his eyes and throws a peace sign in Vick's direction, "Sup." He then turns to his mother, "I'll be in my room." Regina looks like she wants to protest for a moment but decides against it and opens her mouth, "Ryan! Darling, where are you? We have guests." A door opens upstairs a moment later and a very familiar face comes down the stairs.

"Rhino G? Dude, how have you been?" Vick and Ryan bro-shake and step apart, "I've been good, man. Life's good. How've you been? How long are you gonna be in town?" Vick laughs and slaps Ryan's shoulder, "We've got all night to talk." He gestures to Jessica, "This is my stepmother, Jessica and that's my brother Noah and the little one over there is Danny." Every person smiles in turn and Ryan greets everyone with a handshake except Danny whom he greets with a high-five.

Danny looks at his mom with hopeful eyes, "Can I go to Thea? Please?" Jessica nods and Danny quickly bounces through the kitchen door and disappears. Jessica clears her throat and Noah sees the sadness behind her smile, "I'm sorry my husband could not make it. He had to work late." Regina snorts and doesn't even try to cover it up, "You mean to tell me you still believe that?" Jessica's smile falters for a second but returns in full force. "Why don't we go sit and have a drink?" Regina complies without complaint and leads Jessica into a different room while Vick, Ryan, and Noah all head towards the kitchen.

Vick pushes through the door first and an incredible aroma fans over the three boys. Noah's mouth waters and he inhales deeply, "Damn, Thalia, it smells incredible in here." Vick and Ryan eagerly nod in agreement. "What's for dinner?" Thalia smiles and opens the oven to let the three boys look inside, "Roast beef with gravy and rice and Raspberry Cheesecake for dessert." Ryan flinches, "Does mom know that you're making dessert?" Thalia closes the oven and shrugs her shoulders, "Regina, doesn't concern me and neither do her opinions." Noah and Vick share a look for a second but Noah quickly breaks the stare and shuffles forward to lean against the counter next to Thea.

"Hey." Thea smiles, "Hey." "About earlier-" "It's no big deal. You don't have to apologize so we can just forget about it. Okay?" Noah nods but feels a bit of shame burn in the pit of his stomach. Thea looks extremely uncomfortable so he lets the subject slide for the time being.