You don’t have to do that, but thank you! Text me your flightdetails.
Love you.
Drew
Love you more.
Grabbing my laptop, I sit up against the headboard and map the distance between the resort and my birth mom’s address.
A rush of anxious energy courses through me. The longer I keep the truth from my brother, the deeper I dig this proverbial hole. I need to tell him.
As much as I’d like to think this news wouldn’t come as a shock since it’s natural for adopted kids to want to find their biological parents, Drew and I have never spoken about my birth family. Lack of resemblance aside, our bond has never felt a drop shy of full-blooded. It’s possible this has never crossed his mind.
I shouldn’t wait another three weeks to tell him. This isn’t a conversation to have over the phone either. With my social calendar full of nothing and no one for the next three weeks, I have no excuse for not making it up to Chicago to see him.
Taking a deep breath, I grab my phone and hit the call button before I talk myself out of it. He answers on the second ring.
“Hey, Gretch.”
“Hey!”
“Okay, I’m looking up rental cars. Do we need an SUV or will a compact do?”
“Whatever’s cheapest. I’m sorry I didn’t think about that sooner.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
There’s a prolonged silence as I clamp a fingernail between my teeth. Drew cuts the silence. “Stop chewing your nails, Gretch.”
I yank my hand to my lap and scoff. “How did you know?” He releases a teasing sigh. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. I was calling to see what you’re up to over the next few weeks. Mom and Dad are leaving soon and I’m gonna be here alone with nothing to do.”
“Well,” he begins, “Reagan and I have grownup jobs so we’d probably be boring as balls to hang out with.”
“Ew! Stop being such an adult, you loser.”
“Right? Zero out of ten, do not recommend. Oh wait! We have an extra ticket to the Cubs game next weekend if you wanna come.”
“The game you and Connor were talking about?”
“Yeah. Reagan will be there. Lauren was supposed to come but Connor said she had something come up.”
“Oh…um…” My spine straightens and I have the immediate urge to bite my nails again. “I don’t know?—”
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Drew’s voice is way too cheery for my current reality, which, I remind myself, he knows nothing about.
I rack my brain for an excuse not to go. Except, I literally just told him I have nothing to do. No plans. None. I fall back to my pillow, palm plastered to my forehead. “Ok. Sure.”
I disconnect the call when Mom and Dad announce their departure from downstairs. A quick farewell at the car turns into a ten-minute run-down of the household checklist I’m responsible for in their absence, as if I didn’t live here for eighteen years.
Set the alarm every night.
Don’t forget to turn on the vent hood if I cook bacon. Good grief, you forgetonetime and your family never lets you forget about it.
Water the plants every other day.
Clean Franny’s litter box every day.
No house parties.They must be confusing me for my extroverted, frat boy brother.
