Silas: Taylor, I looked at flights from Boston and there’s some good deals this summer. Hint. Hint.

Niri: YES! COME HOME!

Michael: You should. I can’t quite remember what my niece and nephew look like. What are their names again?

Silas: Chewbacca and Lego Face, right?

Taylor: Thanks, assholes. Way to ruin the surprise. John and I booked tickets for the last week in August. AND IF YOU TELL THE MOMS AND DADS I WILL MURDER ALL OF YOUR FACES!

Michael: The last weekend of August. Didn’t anyone tell you? The rest of the family is going to Disney without you. Sorry we’ll miss you.

Niri: I’ll grab you a pair of the mouse ears if I have time between all of our fun family activities.

Taylor: You are terrible people. If I had any sense at all I’d cancel the flight to Boise and book myself into a spa for a week.

Silas: I guess we could reschedule the Taylor-free Disney trip. Maybe we can squeeze it in before our Taylor-free Alaska cruise instead.

Taylor: *middle finger emoji*

Niri: Okay. Razzing over. I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE COMING HOME!! I’M CRYING!!

Silas: Me, too. But with very manly tears.

Michael: I’m smiling appreciatively.

Taylor: You guys are the worst. I love you shitheads.

Silas: We love you back, turd breath.

Comforted with the constancy of his siblings, Silas headed inside for more coffee. He was just pouring when the doorbell groaned out a greeting.

“Sy, can you get that?” Maggie called from upstairs.

“On it,” he called, heading for the front door. Kevin and the kittens exploded past him.

He opened the door and barely restrained his dog from plowing through the screen into the visitor. A woman with short-cropped dark hair and an exasperated expression on her pretty face bounced a sobbing toddler on her hip.

“They’re friendly,” he promised as he held the screen open for her. “Come on in.”

After a slight hesitation, she stepped over the threshold.

“Kevin, sit.”

The dog sat and stared up at the stranger with adoration in his eyes. One of the kittens ran up his back and jumped, sinking its claws into Sy’s shorts. It was downright undignified.

“Kevin and Hot Landscaper Guy, right?” the woman said over the wails of the boy in her arms.

“That’s right,” he answered, holding the screen door open and shooing dog and cats outside. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Maggie around?” she asked.

The little boy spotted him and, with fat tears still rolling down his cheeks, reached for Silas. “Buddy, remember Stranger Danger?” she said with exasperation that tinged toward hysteria.

“Come on in,” Silas offered, deciding not to be offended about being called a dangerous stranger. “Do you want any coffee? Water?”

She shook her head. “Just tell her her sister is here.”