Page 56 of Our Broken Pieces
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, Mrs. Holt.” Gigi extends her hand to my mom for a handshake, but is instead greeted with a hug.
“Marcus, your brother’s inside. He just got here a little while ago.”
“I’d love to meet him.” Gigi takes my hand.
My mom opens the door, and I follow the women inside the house. Gigi looks around, taking in the spacious first floor.
“This is beautiful.”
My mom smiles. “Thank you. We get out here a few times a year. It’s nice to have a place to get away to.”
We walk to the kitchen where my brother is sitting at the island, eating a sandwich. He looks up and his trademark grin forms on his face. I realize I’ve missed him in the year since I’ve last seen him.
“Hey, bro.” He walks over to hug me. We’re about the same height, but he’s smaller than I am. We both have the same tan skin and dark hair, but somehow he ended up with green eyes. Where I take after my mom’s Hispanic influence, he’s more the image of my dad’s Irish ancestry.
I return the hug, then release him to place my hand on Gigi’s back. “Dominic, this is Gigi. Gigi, this is Dominic, my little brother.”
His eyes move to Gigi, and he gives her a big smile. “Great to meet you, Gigi.”
“Great to finally meet you, too! I wasn’t able to see you when you visited Marcus last year, so it’s nice to put a face to a name.”
When Dominic stopped in Boston for two days last year, Lewis had Gigi stressed to hell with one of his family’s charityfunctions for the weekend. Lewis’ family loved to make sure the world knew how much money they gave away. Meanwhile, my family quietly donates to causes my grandfather cared about. We regularly donate to food banks and women’s shelters. He said he wanted to help those who needed it most, because when his grandparents emigrated from Ireland, they struggled.
Dominic looks at me. “Tell me my brother is treating you well. Not too grumpy, I hope.”
“I’m not grumpy.”
The entire group answers in unison, “Yes, you are.”
“I hate you all.”
Gigi curls into my side, hand on my chest. “No you don’t, prince. Don’t lie.”
“Prince?” my brother says, looking like he’s going to laugh.
Damn Gigi and her nickname.
“I call him prince because he reminds me of a Disney prince. The hair, the protective side. Just fit.”
My mom’s face looks like it’s going to break with the large smile plastered across it. “She has a nickname for him.”
Dominic slaps my shoulder. “Well,prince, it will be great to spend a couple days with you and to get to know Gigi better.”
Gigi leaves my side, walking to the island to inspect Dominic’s plate. “Are there sandwiches?”
My mom goes to the fridge to start pulling out bread and everything needed. “I’ll put out everything. You kids make as much as you like.”
“Prince, are you hungry? I can make you one.”
“I could eat.”
I sit on one of the chairs and watch her move through the kitchen. She has on a sundress today that, while it’s cute on her, isn’t her. I know she bought clothes for this weekend, and I hate that. I want her to be herself. I miss her weird shirts and her boots.
She sits, placing a sandwich in front of me. “Mayonnaise, not mustard, don’t worry.”
She knows how I take my sandwiches. Why does something as simple as a condiment make me feel cared for? I lean over and kiss her cheek, because that’s what I think a boyfriend would do. She smiles so sweetly, it’s almost believable that we’ve done this a hundred times before.
