I followed his gaze, then glanced back at him.

He clarified, “A member of this family. Related, yes. I definitely share traits with my sisters and parents. But…”

He paused. Struggling to find the words.

I let him.

“…Your mother closed her heart off. She had room in her heart for her sister alone, back when we attended the school. Then for Mark. Then for you and I presume Amelia. I never quite figured in. Your Aunt Sarah, my heart jumps every time I try to think if I should speak of her in the past tense or be horrified that I can’t… she threw herself into her role as Lady Photon. She found someone who could keep up with her.”

“And you didn’t figure in.”

“I wanted two ordinary sisters and one of them didn’t want a brother, and the other didn’t want a civilian life where she might be vulnerable. I wasn’t a saint, either. I was angry and emotional, I acted out. Part of it’s on me. But I don’t think we’ve been family since they were kidnapped.”

“You could take another tack. Say we’re all just one massive, fucked up family, and it’s that twisted nature that defines us as a unit.”

“Or I could keep a safe distance. My life for the past few years has been warm and calm, and I’ve stopped being the angry teenage boy I was after I got sent away to school. I go to your mother’s house for a barbecue, and I lose my cool.”

I nodded, frowning. “What did she tell you?”

“That you and your sister were estranged. That your sister put you in the hospital, she went to prison, she was out after two years, and she was looking to make amends. I reacted badly to the way the situation was being manipulated, like she used to try to direct the Brigade. Telling my kids what to do, dancing around something that sounded serious. It made it abundantly clear that my worst fears came true. No divides where we needed them.”

“No details?”

“Should I have details?” he asked.

I hesitated.

I shook my head. “Just don’t go to her for healing. Don’t take your kids to her for healing. Take that from one of the people who knows her best.”

“Okay,” my Uncle Mike said.

“Okay,” I echoed him.

“But,” he said. “Unless you’re about to tell me I should keep my distance from you too—”

I shook my head.

“Any walls? Any defense mechanisms I need to watch out for?” he asked.

He sounded like he was teasing.

I could one hundred percent believe he was still holding on to his own. That it was a genuine belief and a genuine worry on his part.

“No,” I said. “I don’t think I have any.”

“Or you haven’t figured out what they are yet,” he told me.