“What?” I asked. “Don’t tell me you didn’t save me the dessert you promised. Looking forward to that is pretty much the only thing keeping me going right now.”

She smiled, touching my cheek, before kissing me on the forehead. “I saved you dessert with extras to take home, in case you want pie or pastries for breakfast tomorrow.”

“You’ve done your duty then,” I said, with mock seriousness.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve failed a mission,” she said, in the same tone. She put her hand on the side of my head. “You missed Uncle Mike, I’m afraid.”

“Oh shoot,” I said. “I barely remember him. How is he?”

“He’s Uncle Mike. He brought his wife and your cousins, and I haven’t child-proofed at all. It was… something, in the brief time he was here. A whirlwind of chaos and emotion, and then he was gone.”

“Ah, too bad,” I said.

In the background, my dad was trying to get my attention. He’d sat up, and didn’t look relaxed anymore. He offered me a small smile. I acknowledged him by lifting one hand up from where it sat on my elbow, in a mini-wave.

“Thank you for coming,” my mom said. “I know the family stuff is hard, after everything, but it means so much to me. To everyone.”

“I’m here for the desserts,” I said. I amended it to, “…and a bit for family.”

My mom lightly rapped me on the side of the head before stepping away. “Come on in, then. Meet people, I’ll get your pie.”

As she stepped over to the gate by the garage to unlock it, Crystal stepped out into the backyard, joined by a few others in our age group. She glanced in my direction, saw me, and froze like a deer in the headlights.

Her arms folded, defensive, like something was wrong.

She mouthed words at me, and I couldn’t see her face well enough at a distance to know what the words were, but I could draw conclusions from context.

My dad’s posture, still sitting upright now, both feet planted on the ground.

My mom’s earlier change in expression. Even the wording—

I backed away from the fence a few steps. My mom froze, the gate only slightly open.

“You invited her,” I said. I wasn’t talking about Crystal.

In reaction to that, my mother didn’t look confused, she didn’t negate. She looked toward the house, to see what I’d seen that had clued me in.

Whirlwind of fucking chaos and emotion indeed.

“You invited her,” I said, again. More emotional this time. “She’s in the house?”

My mother rallied, composing herself. Now she looked confused. “I told you I invited everyone.”

“She’s actually in the house,” I said.