Lover in the Window

Homecoming

"No party is any fun unless seasoned with folly."

-Desiderius Erasmus

September 12th is unusually hot for that time of year, given it was shy of a large cold front destined to hit the Mideast as it has done every year. As fate would have it, a heat wave chose to come first, coinciding with the return of Ms. Blair and Ms. Raven. Evelyn, Ocean, and Blair thought nothing could be a better idea than their first real and likely finally pool party for the year. Evelyn's only regret is she hasn't had the pool constructed sooner because her tan would be golden, her spirit would be high, and maybe could have avoided a lot of mundane day to day milling around the house and yard going out of her brain from boredom.

Evelyn has Eli to thank for the idea, but now that the dust has settled where only a week before there was concrete blocks, displaced top soil, and mere chaos, they could enjoy that fruit together. The entire Layton clan is there when Luke flips on the pool lights which lit up the water with a wonderful light blue. Everyone starts clapping and howling and whistling. It is a marvel to Evelyn because she always wanted one, now it is here.

"Listen up everybody," Eve yells and everyone lends her an ear.

Christ - my sister is going to make a speech. Let's just swim.

"I just wanted to point out the fact that all the credit should definitely go to my big brother, Eli. I love you, bub." She stands near the edge of the water that cascades a blueish hue up her buttocks and back. She is wearing a tight, black bikini. Even though, her thing wasn't giving speeches and she sure as hell wouldn't stand in front of a class room even if she is wearing winter clothes to hide herself away to give a speech; but she knows they are her people, her loved ones, and that made all the difference in how relaxed she is. The eyes are upon her face, her body, her soul.

"Hush," Eli says bashfully as he throws an arm around her thin shoulders. "Thank you for saying that though. It means the world to me."

"You're welcome but I'm not done." Eve insists. "All of this isn't possible without you. I look at each one of your faces and each one of you tell me a story. Some bad days, some heartache, and I can personally tell you that you're not alone in sharing the pain that comes with simply living. Each one of us has been alone or at the very least felt alone. Seriously, tonight isn't about tomorrow. Tonight, is about us forgetting there is a tomorrow, let's make tonight the best one we've ever had together. Like I said, none of us would be together without Eli. But I wouldn't make it without each one of you. I truly believe that. Thank you for coming and making our family bigger.

There is a round of sincere clapping from Ocean, Blair, Raven, and Luke, and young Elijah (joining the crowd randomly.) "So, as a running joke tonight -I'm asking all of you to randomly give our big brother a hug every time you see him." Evelyn throws her pony tail off her chest and around her back, reaches and grips Eli around the waist. He's laughing hysterically.

"That's a lot of hugs."

The party itself hadn't picked up until eight when Calum gets back with the alcohol. Eli told him, "Spare no expense." He keeps that in mind as he is strolling around O'Hares. Calum is surprised when he told them he was shopping for the Layton's that the owners of O'Hares' gave him a twenty five percent discount. When he returns with both hands full of bags, Ocean volunteers to go back with him to get the rest of the bags out of Blair's Suburban he borrowed. Luke is quickly happy to aid them both. Evelyn had purchased an outdoor dining set from Walmart that very day. It sits just to the right of the descending steps on the three-foot side of the pool. (Wicker design - four chairs, glass dining table, with an umbrella.)