Justin

Something's up when we get home from the grocery store.

How do I know?

Because Addie's vehicle is parked in our driveway, while four others are parked along the side of the road, their tires almost on the front lawn.

"What the hell?" I mutter to myself as Mom pulls into the garage. I turn to look at Mom. "What's going on?"

She flattens her lips into a line and she shakes her head.

It's her way of telling me that she's not going to reveal why Addie and other guests are here. I look back at Chris. He's gazing out the window with a smirk on his face.

Wow. I'm getting the cold shoulder from my two favourite family members. How sweet.

I enter the house cautiously, a couple of grocery bags in hand, wondering what I'm going to find in the kitchen because, from the hallway, I can hear voices. Addie is definitely here. I think I hear Sophia and Zander, too. The rest are just too muffled for me to make out.

I pause, taking a deep breath in case they catch me off guard. They all know what's wrong with me, but it's still embarrassing to have a seizure in front of my friends – tonic-clonic or partial, it doesn't matter.

Finally, I round the corner and step into the kitchen.

Sure enough, I see Addie, Sophia, Zander, Jacey, Nadira, Jake, Alex, Addie's parents, and a couple other adults I recognize as Sophia's parents. My eyes widen the slightest bit as I set the grocery bags down on the counter. As I do that, something in the bag clinks against the granite, and everyone turns to look at me, suddenly going silent.

"Uh, hey," I say slowly.

Addie walks over and gives me a hug. "I tried to tell Sophia that a party wasn't really your thing, but then she pulled everyone in, and, well, I couldn't stop them. Sorry."

I smile against her neck. This has got to be one of the best things anyone has ever done for me. "It's okay," I reply. "Seriously. This is awesome. Thank you."

When Addie pulls away, we stare at each other for a moment and I realize just how exhausted she looks. I can see the nervousness in her eyes. It mirrors the look I saw in my eyes when I was brushing my teeth this morning.

I reach out and squeeze her hand. "Let's forget about what's to come for now," I say softly. I gesture to the stacked boxes of pizza and the board games on the dining room table. "Right now, I want to eat pizza and play board games with our friends."

She smiles. "That sounds fantastic."

After that, the party starts. First, I make my rounds and say hi to everyone, thanking them for coming. Next, the teenagers migrate into the living room, while the adults hang out in the kitchen. As I exit with the group, I glance over my shoulder and look at my mom. She's smiling and laughing with her newfound friends and I feel my eyes burn. My father was controlling; barely let my mom spend time with her friends or have them over while they were married. In fact, I heard him say multiple times that he hated her friends back in Cache Creek.

Fuck you, Father, I think.

If only he could see her now. If only I could take a picture and send it to him to let him know that even after all the shit he put her through, she's doing fine. There's not a day that goes by I don't feel thankful for having a mom like her. Strong and independent. The past still affects her like it affects me and Chris; that pain we felt is always going to be familiar. But just because we sometimes talk about what happened and shed a few tears, doesn't mean we're stuck in it. And this is proof.

Seeing her like this, laughing and smiling and having fun with her friends, makes me happy. I decide that this party, in my mind, is for my mom.

"You okay?" Addie asks.

I look back at her. There's a smudge of tomato sauce on the left corner of her mouth from the slice of Hawaiian pizza she took a bite of a minute ago. I lift my hand and swipe it away with my thumb. "Yeah," I reply. "I'm good."

In the living room, Jacey and Nadira have already started to set up a game of Aggravation. Zander and Sophia are sitting on the couch eating pizza and drinking orange pop. Jake and Alex are arguing over which colour they get during this game; both want blue and neither want to be white.

Just as I'm about to head over there to play a game as we did on Halloween, I feel someone tug my arm. I stop walking and so does Addie. Both of us turn around to find Chris.

"Hey, Chris," Addie says.

"Hi, Addie," he replies.

I look at my brother. Something's bothering him. "What's up, Chris?"

His gaze goes over to where the game is being set up. "I, um..." he trails off. "Could you introduce me to everyone?"

Any other older brother would probably laugh at his younger sibling for being timid about being around a new group of people. I, however, understand him completely. On a daily basis, I struggle with trying not to define myself as the odd one out, which is exactly how Chris feels right now. He's only met Addie.

"Hey, Jake and Alex," Addie calls. "Can you two come here for a minute, please?"

"Sure," Jake replies.

They both get up and start walking over. "You know," I hear Alex say. "Just because you're being a suck-up to our older sister does not mean you gain the right to be blue. That colour is mine."

Jake rolls his eyes. "You know how immature you sound, Alex? You're obsessing over some marbles."

Alex gives his twin a death-glare, which causes Chris to laugh.

"Oh, yes," Addie says. "It's funny when you don't have to put up with them on a daily basis."

When the boys are standing across from us, Addie goes ahead and introduces my brother to her brothers. She tells them that Chris is only a couple years younger than them and is interested in sports and stuff.

After Addie's done talking, Jake and Alex look my little brother over. I bite the inside of my cheek. Jake and Alex are nice kids, and I'm not singling them out when I say this because it happens to everyone, but sometimes an age barrier can get in the way.

I'm, however, proven wrong.

"So, Chris," Alex says, throwing an arm around my brother's shoulders and guiding him to where Jacey and Nadira are. "Have you ever played Aggravation?"

"And if you have," Jake adds in. "You agree that I should get to be blue, right?"

Smiling, I watch Chris join in with the group. The girls go as far as giving him a hug while Zander says any sibling of mine is a friend of his.

I turn to Addie. "Did I ever mention I love your brothers?" Seriously. They have no idea how much easier they've made this for Chris.

Addie rolls her eyes. "Please, Justin. You know what they're like beneath the act. Little devils."

I laugh because I know she's joking. Sure, Addie sometimes complains about her brothers being annoying, but she loves them to death. Just like the rest of her family members.

Her family is awesome. She's lucky to share DNA with them, but I'm also lucky to be dating her. Because of that, I get to spend time with these awesome people, too. I wonder how long they all knew about this planned party.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to me.

"How did you get in the house?" I ask.

Addie grins. "Chris left the front door open."

I begin to laugh. So that little smirk on his face when we were in the car was about something, then.

Addie nudges me in the ribs. "So are you ready to lose a game of Aggravation?"

I wrap an arm around her waist. "Are you ready?"

She shrugs, resting her head against my shoulder. "You know me better than that, Justin. I never expect to win the game. I just play by the title of the game – I try to send as many people as I can home to aggravate them."

"Yeah, and that's why we all hate playing with you, Addie," Sophia calls from the couch.

Addie sticks her tongue out at her cousin and gives my hand a tug.

"Come on," she says. "You deserve this night."

"We deserve this night," I correct her.

She smiles at me, and I can't stop myself from thinking about how much I'm going to need that smile post-surgery. It's going to be tough – the doctors said so themselves.

People say we need to be able to get through tough times on our own. I disagree. Having positive people around to make you smile and laugh when times are dark is something I need. Sometimes, you just need the support.

And God, am I thankful for these amazing people around me.