I held up a hand. The last thing we needed was this turning into some weird, macho competition. “I really don’t want to have to take either of you to the hospital when you tear a muscle.” I turned to Ava. “What’s your good thing?”

She thought for a moment. My girl took everything seriously, even deciding her best thing from the day before. “We were all together. And it was a really fun day.”

My eyes burned and began filling with tears. Will groaned. “Seriously? You’re crying at that?”

I glared at Will through my tears. “It was really sweet.”

Griffin looked slightly panicked. “Are you happy or sad?”

“Happy,” I said, trying to get myself under control. “Very happy.”

The set of Griffin’s shoulders eased, some of the anxiety slipping from his features. Will chuckled. “You’re just going to have to get used to the tears if you plan on hanging around.”

Griffin rubbed his bearded jaw. “Tears aren’t my strong suit.”

Mia leaned closer to him. “Why? They’re just letting the feelings out.”

I’d tried hard to instill the belief in my siblings that no feeling was bad or wrong. And neither was expressing those feelings, as long as you weren’t hurting someone else. Mia let her feelings fly, no matter the situation. Ava was quieter about hers, but whenever we had our time just the two of us, she’d let them free. Will was more bottled up. Too many years with parents who didn’t give a crap, and a father who judged him for any tears shed.

Griffin shifted in his seat, seeming to search for the right words. “I hate the idea that one of you might be hurting.”

Mia reached out and laid a hand on his arm. “Everybody has hurts sometimes. But they don’t last forever.”

So wise for such a little one. I felt my eyes filling again.

“Oh, geez,” Will complained. “Someone distract her, quick.”

Ava reached over and tickled my side. I squealed and squirmed away. I gave her my best I’m serious face. “That is not allowed.”

She grinned. “But you’re not crying anymore.”

“Fair enough.” I turned my focus to Will. “It’s your turn, and you better make it good.”

He smirked. “Just not too good, or you’ll flood the table with your tears.” I shook my head and motioned for him to get on with it. “We got pancakes on a school day, and my chemistry test got moved to next week.”

I placed my hands on the table. “Thank you.”

“Wait,” Ava chimed in. “You and Griffin should do one, too.”

My face heated. “We don’t need to make Griffin—”

He cut me off. “I had amazing pizza, a green smoothie that didn’t taste half-bad, and I learned how to do a cartwheel.”