Perfect Eve

24

Just as Scarlett opened the door, Caleb whistled, signalling his arrival and the next moment, Theo was running down the stairs.

Aaron was right behind him, asking him to be careful.

"You are very lucky, Miss." Liam followed, with Noel right beside him. "You must be an interesting person if they're this excited to greet you every time. I've got one sister. Instead of being enthusiastic, she's all ready to kill me. Every damn time."

I ruffled Theo's hair and waved at Noel. Wouldn't want to embarrass him with a hug.

"Where are others?" I asked after a few seconds of silence and Liam answered.

"Oh, they're upstairs. We are chaperones." He placed a hand on Noel's shoulder and pulled him close.

"Be down in an hour for dinner." Scarlett called out when we all started climbing the stairs.

I slid into Sasha's room for a shower and when I came back, everyone was sitting on the floor with beers and cokes in the middle. Theo and Noel had milkshakes with them and were nibbling on a piece of cake.

"Welcome, big sister. Have a seat." Aaron gestured to sit with him and I did.

"Pick a team." Seth said, gesturing me to join in his and I frowned.

"Team?"

"Yep, we're playing charades. Now pick a team." Seth mumbled again, pointing at himself.

"There's nothing to pick, idiot. Our team has only four members, she's definitely in ours. Evelyn, we're a team." Justin exclaimed, giving me a side hug.

Theo, Sasha, Dean, Seth and Zack were a team competing against the rest of us.

The game was awesome, all fun and laughs. But towards the end, Seth and Justin were fighting for the final point and that's when Scarlett's call came.

"Aren't we waiting for Alex?" Aaron asked when Scarlett started serving and she shrugged.

"You mean someone like me?" He came out of the kitchen carrying a casserole.

"Didn't know you were home."

"Would have if you guys decided to lower the volume a little. You missed my dance, by the way."

Oh, would've loved to see that.

"Hey, uncle Alex." Noel chirped and he laughed.

"God, my sweet pumpkins. Don't call me uncle. Call me dude or bro." He grinned sheepishly. "Or homie."

"Like you're seventeen. Come on, Alex. Admit you're old." Scarlett scoffed with a smile and he just shook his head.

"You've got two ages, Scar. One that's outside and one inside. Inside, I'm still 17." He winked with a charming smile and she shook her head.

"What's my other one?" Theo asked, totally confused and Sasha laughed.

"Good question, we need to discuss that, don't we? We'll do it after dinner. Now let's eat some food." Alex ruffled his hair.

And Alex kept his word. He entertained Theo with a speech about age, fun, school and a lot of stuff. Noel too listened to him while I helped Caleb in clearing the dishes.

When we were done, they both were asleep.

"He bored them to sleep." Liam blinked with a smile.

"Did not! They were tired." Alex shouted from his room and I smiled.

And when Justin was ready to take them to bed, I stepped forward.

"It's okay, I got him." I scooped Theo into my arms and sighed. Boy, he was getting heavier.