As Caleb rounded the other side of the truck to meet me, I heard the front door open.
“Do you want me to wait here?” he asked.
“No,” I said, as a man and woman stepped out onto the front porch, “It would be safer if you joined me.”
My father ascended the steps and rushed up to me, “Danielle,” he said as he opened his arms and wrapped them around me. I gripped him back just as tightly. His embrace was a blanket of safety and I wanted to remain in that moment. My arms would not let him go and I rested my head against his chest as I hugged him. “I missed you terribly.”
“I missed you, too, dad,” I said, finally releasing and gazing up at him. He was as before, tall, same dad haircut, just not quite as thin as before and his hair had lost its vibrant light brown hue and now presented a dull brown with an assortment of gray hairs scattered throughout. As I surveyed him quickly, I could see he did the same for me, with possible concerns over my weight loss and pale complexion.
“Hi,” came a voice from behind my dad. A woman with red hair and red lipstick, a light complexion, and a warm smile, “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Olivia,’ I finished, inserting my hands in my pockets and nodding my head, “We’ve met before.” I retrieved my hand from my pocket and held it out in front of Olivia, “Danielle, nice to meet you again.”
“This is my wife, Danielle,” my dad said, putting an arm around Olivia.
“I had pieced that together. Where’s Nathan?” I asked.
“Oh, he’s inside, playing one of his games,” Olivia said, “Come inside. Let’s eat; I’ve just finished the spaghetti.”
They exchanged greetings with Caleb as all of us headed toward the front door. As we entered, a chill ran through me. The house was decorated quite differently, but I was mildly grateful it didn’t resemble the place I’d once called home. It made the experience bearable.
“Well, you guys can wash your hands. Caleb, there’s a bathroom there, and Danielle, I’m sure you know where the upstairs bathroom is,” Olivia said, pointing upstairs.
“Yeah,” I said, looking up the steps. Caleb glanced at me looking for the ‘ok’. I nodded and proceeded upstairs. As I reached the top, I heard explosions, gunshots, and music coming from Nathan’s room. I walked up to the door and knocked.
“Yeah?” he yelled from the other side, his voice a much more mature adolescent tone than I remembered. I opened the door. He sat there in a gaming chair on the floor, controller in hand, enthralled, as he always had been, with his video games. His golden brown hair was growing down over his forehead and pushed to the side. He was thin and much taller than before. I was sure he was already as tall as me, if not taller. So much time had passed from the last time I had seen him, I couldn’t have begun to imagine what he would look like as a young man. He was just a child the last time I saw him.
“Oh, hey,” he said, pausing his game and lifting his finger off the button, “I didn’t know you were here already.”
“Yeah, I just got here,” I said, resisting every urge to run over and hug him. My intuition warned me against it.
“Long time, no see,” he said, getting to his feet. He wore jeans and a dark gray polo that was in serious need of an iron.
“Yeah . . .” I tried to reach for an explanation.
“Don’t worry,” he said, walking up to me and giving me a one pat hug, hardly touching me, “It’s whatever. What’s for lunch?” he asked, walking past me to the stairs.
“Spaghetti,” I said behind him.
“Olivia’s spaghetti tastes like shit,” he said with a laugh and headed downstairs.
We all sat down at the table, Caleb and I on one side, Nathan on the other, and my father and Olivia at opposite ends.
“Is that your boyfriend?” Nathan asked, looking at Caleb.
“Ha ha, no,” Caleb said, wiping his mouth.
“No, he’s a friend,” I replied.
“I was about to say, I thought you were a lesbian,” Nathan said.
“Nathan, really?” my dad said without amusement.
“What? I really thought she was,” he said with a smirk, as he shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.
“So, Danielle, what do you do for a living?” Olivia asked.
“Sweetheart,” my dad said, “Maybe we shouldn’t ask Danielle so many questions about her personal life,” he said, clearly trying to heed Joyce’s advice.
“It’s fine,” I said, “I, uh, work at an assisted living facility right now and live with a lot of really nice people like Caleb. I’m just working on getting my life together and figuring out what I want to do.”
“Oh, that’s great,” Olivia replied.
“Yeah,” I said, unimpressed with my current life story.
“When did you get out of the hospital?” Nathan asked, not looking at me.
“About a year-and-a-half ago,” I said quietly.
“Didn’t think to drop by after that?” he asked.
“I was still dealing with a lot —” I started.
“Is that right? Rumor has it you were in town right around that time, visiting mom,” he shoved another bite into his mouth and looked at me, emotionless, as if he was a doctor trying to psychoanalyze me.
“That’s true, I did,” I said.
“Didn’t bother to stop by and visit your dad or brother though, huh?” he asked, “Visit any other family members?”
“I ---”
“Nathan, you sure are moody today, have you taken your medication?” Olivia asked. Nathan exaggeratedly dropped his head and
