Peter stood in front of the wide mirror, leaning over the sink to get a better look at the bruise on his torso. It was purpling a bit and felt as sore as the first day he got it. He went a bit too hard in the ring that day, and his sparring partner had been equally invested. With the pad of his thumbs, he dabbed some ointment over it.

He dressed up and left the shower room. As he left the room, he received a message from Ember reminding him that she was waiting for him at the restaurant for breakfast. They had agreed to meet because she wanted to talk about their little brother. More specifically, she wanted to talk about their sister-in-law.

The hottest topic in his home was Samuel's new wife. Kali. The announcement of his marriage had caused quite a stir. Peter was hopeful that everything would get back to normal after the wedding. It hadn't. His father was recently coming to terms with it, but Giovanna and their mother believed Kali was no good.

Peter could not wait for them to finally agree that Samuel had his reasons. It was none of their business. Of course, he was worried, like the rest of them, but no amount of doubt had changed the boy's mind in the first place. His brother's new wife was taking everything well, but everyone had their limit, and he didn't want to see the explosion that might occur when she hit hers.

Peter parked the car in front of the restaurant, looking out the windshield to spot his sister. She stepped into his view, waving at him.

"Finally."

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I was training, and time flew by me."

"It's alright." She punched his side, and he bit back the grunt of pain as she barely missed his wounded side.

"Come on." He turned her towards the entrance. "Let's grab something to eat."

Breakfast was a cup of tea, some bread and crispy bacon. Neither of them where great at eating large amounts of food. On a personal level, Peter wished he was, but his digestive system never seemed to handle it. So, he savoured the plate of bacon and toasted bread.

"When are you planning to go back to work?" Peter asked when their meal was cleared.

"In a hurry to get rid of me?"

"Not at all. You've just not mentioned work since you got back."

"I am taking my vacation months seriously. I have missed so much of life at home, and I want to get back into it."

"That's understandable, you haven't lived home for years, and many things have changed."

"They have indeed." She took a sip from her cup, casually looking around the restaurant. "Like our younger brother getting married out of the blue."

"What's happened has happened. We can't change anything."

"As much as I find Kali charming, I still think he should have given himself more time with their relationship. I mean, he broke up with Flora and married someone else less than a month later. Someone he has known for barely four months."

"It does happen. It's not the strangest thing in the world. I feel like we should all move on from it."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. Samuel and his wife are all we talk about lately. He introduced her, married her, left with her, returned with her and now lives with her. Yet we still talk about this. They are the centre of most of our conversations these days?"

"Really?"

"Yes. If you haven't noticed, I have." Ember pursed her lips. "You know am right. And everyone speaks more about Kali than they do Samuel. Kali this, Kali that. Kali is hosting the family dinner. Kali hasn't met grandad yet. Kali is just in it for the money; that is something Gio said to me. It's like we don't want to just let them be."

Ember's phone vibrated on the table. "Speak of the devil."

"Kali?" He asked, and she nodded, lifting the phone to her ear.

"Kali, good morning." Her voice carried an extra pep, and Peter couldn't help but grin.

He busied himself with his phone, looking through some videos. From Ember's end of the conversation, he picked up that their dear sister-in-law wanted to meet. Peter was surprised by that. Given the treatment of his family towards Kali, he was surprised she even wanted to extend an olive branch. Granted Ember had basically given her an open invitation the night of the dinner.

She was the less nuclear option.

"She wanted to meet?"

"Yes," Ember confirmed. She set the phone down and picked up her cup. "She is free on Friday and wanted to go out for a drink or something."

"That's good."

"Yeah. But..." Ember leaned forward, and he perked up with interest. "Samuel mentioned to me that some days ago, Ember went to buy some clothes from Flora's store."

"Say that again."

"I was surprised too. Apparently, she didn't know it was Flora's store, but Flora knew who she was. They met and had a kind of awkward conversation. Samuel didn't explain it clearly."

"It was bound to happen, the two of them meeting. Flora was at the wedding. I thought mom would blow a gasket if she knew, so I stayed quiet. She sat in the church until it was over and then drove off."

"I can't even imagine." Ember groaned. "Do you think she wants to squeeze some information out of me? Maybe because she is too scared to ask Samuel."

"About Flora?"

"Yes."

"I wouldn't know. You'd have to go to find out."

Ember groaned, resting her hands on the table. "This is a bit of a mess for Samuel, isn't it?"

"Breakups can be messy, especially with how it went about for him. I don't know if I should get involved or not. Samuel likes to keep his private life to himself, but as a brother, I feel bad when it seems like I am leaving him to drown."

"We can wait for him to come to us."

"Samuel will never come to us for help. You, maybe, but he didn't even tell you he was leaving Flora until he did it."

"Then maybe we try checking on him subtly."

"That's good."

"Now, let's forget about Samuel for the next few minutes. Tell me about you."

"Oh, no." He chuckled, and she laughed, scooting her chair closer to the table.

"Come on. You said we only talk about Samuel and his wife these days so let's change that. I want to talk about you. What's happening in your life these days?"

"What do you want to know."

"Everything. Are you in a relationship? How are you handling the promotion? Are you planning anything new?"

Still smiling, Peter recounted a few stories about his life in the previous months and Ember listened attentively. They ordered another fresh cup of coffee after the first finished and spent the next thirty minutes seated in the city café. It wasn't long before they exhausted the topic of his life. But they remained seated, laughing and chatting about other random things.