"What the hell is wrong with Mal?" Asked Phil when we entered the house. "He was totally mad." We told him the story. "Did Brian really say that?" Phil asked in shock.

"Yes." I sighed. We went up to Malcolm and Linda's floor. Linda slept in bed. Cara wasn't there.

"Where could he be?" Asked Phil. We walked through the house until we heard piano notes.

"Found him." Angus whispered. We slowly opened the door. Malcolm was sitting on the piano stool, playing a slow melody. Cara was lying in her baby carrier that was on the piano. She looked at Malcolm with big eyes and clutched the little ladybug. I had to smile a little. She wasn't even two days old and already super cute. Malcolm sang softly as his fingers danced over the keys. Angus went to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Malcolm looked up. Tears ran down his cheeks.

"Am I really useless, Ang?" He whispered.

"Come here." Angus replied instead, opening his arms. He sat down next to Malcolm on the piano stool and the two hugged each other tightly. Malcolm sobbed softly into Angus' shoulder. I had never seen him cry before. Malcolm never cried, said the others.

"I've never seen myself cry before." Phil whispered.

"Neither do I." Cliff agreed. Malcolm whimpered softly. Angus stroked Malcolm's back.

"You are not useless, Mal. Brian didn't mean it. He was just exhausted and wanted to sleep, okay?" Malcolm whimpered.

"B...But he was right. The rhythm guitarist is useless."

"That's not true." I said and entered the room. "You and Phil keep the rhythm. If you weren't there, then the whole band would be lost." I hugged the two of them. Malcolm was crying softly. Cara started to cry too when she saw him like this. Malcolm smiled. He got up and stroked Cara's cheek.

"It's good, darling. I have you Cara. Everything is fine." He kissed her head and then sniffed. "We're not letting our good mood spoil, are we?" She giggled. "I agree. The whole family is coming to see you tonight, Cara."

"Really?" Angus asked excitedly.

"Yes. Linda said that I should invite everyone."

"Who's coming?" Asked Angus.

"Ma, Dad, Alex, George, Stephen, William, John and Marga."

"Jay! I haven't seen Marga in so long!" Angus exclaimed happily.

"Who is it all?" I asked hypocritically.

"They are our siblings." Malcolm told me.

"Wait...you are a total of...8 siblings!?"

"Yes." Angus chuckled. "Stephen is 23 years older than us." I gasped.

"So he's around 50?" Angus nodded.

"Yes. William is 52 and John 54."

"What the hell." I whispered.

"Yes, we also didn't understand why our parents wanted both of us when they had their children out of the house. Our nephew is just two years younger than Angus." Malcolm chuckled.

"How old is George?" I asked.

"Oh. George is only four years older than me." Malcolm explained.

"Oh. It even works." I muttered. The two laughed.

"I'm sorry if I say that, but...your siblings are all old grandpas already?" We all laughed.

"Yes. Like that." Angus chuckled.

*

In the evening, we had everything set up in our huge living room. Linda felt a little better and sat on one of the sofas. I sat next to her. Malcolm on her other side. Cara was in Linda's arms.

"I love you both so much." Linda hummed.

"I love you two too." Malcolm smiled. The doorbell rang and Angus rushed to it. He opened it and began to scream.

"Marga!" He shouted and ran towards an older woman. I giggled.

"Hello little brother." She grinned and hugged him. So that was the only girl in the family. Several men came through the door. One seemed to be about the same age as Brian. So it had to be George. The others were considerably older. An old couple also came. They were probably Mal's and Ang's parents. Brian had come too. Two hours ago. He talked to me and I told him I wasn't angry with him. He kissed me and we made up again. He was sitting on the armchair. Malcolm, however, hadn't spoken a word to him yet. He had ignored him the whole time. I told Brian to fix it.

"Where is the little girl?" Asked Marga and walked towards us. Malcolm and Linda beamed happily. "Hello little brother." She smiled and hugged Malcolm.

"Hello Sister. How are you?"

"Later. First I have to look at my niece." She sat down between me and Linda. "Oh. You look good Linda." She grinned and hugged her carefully so as not to hurt her. Linda smiled. "Is that the little one?" She asked and looked at Cara.

"Yes, that's our little Cara." Malcolm said proudly.

"She is beautiful." Marga beamed and stroked the baby gently on the belly. Angus and his brothers talked loudly. Cara let out a scream and it immediately went quiet. Everyone looked at the baby.

"She's just as assertive as you, Mal." An older man laughed.

"Let's just not hope so, Will." Linda giggled. So that was William. Cliff, Phil, and Brian all seemed to know because they had a good chat with the brothers. Everyone rushed around Cara to see her.

"Oh. Who are you, then? I don't know you yet." Asked Marga. I shook her hand.

"I'm Arlene. I'm Brian's girlfriend." She smiled and gave me her hand.

"I'm Marga. My name is actually Margarete Jr. After my mother. But because that's too long, everyone calls me Marga." I nodded.

"You're the only sister, aren't you?" She nodded.

"Yes. Having 7 brothers is not easy. But I didn't even notice William, John and Alex. I grew up with Stephen." I nodded. "George was born when I had my first boyfriend and then, when I moved out, Malcolm was born." I smiled. "Boys! We have a new one!" Shouted Marga. Everyone looked at me. "This is Arlene, Brian's girlfriend! So please introduce yourself, because she doesn't know you!" I giggled shyly. So the men introduced themselves. And so I found out the order of the siblings: William, John, Stephen, Alex, Marga, George, Malcolm, Angus. Angus the poor, was the youngest. He wasn't the big brother to anyone. Malcolm and Angus parents were really nice too. Thousands of liters of alcohol were drunk that evening. Linda soon put Cara to bed because the newborn was still quite tired. Malcolm went into the kitchen to refill the glasses and get food. I nudged Brian.

"What is?" He asked puzzled.

"Go to him." He nodded a little fearfully and got up to go into the kitchen. I followed to watch. Malcolm was cutting sandwiches on the kitchen counter.

"Malcolm?" Asked Brian. Malcolm put the knife aside and looked down at the sandwich. But said nothing for a long time. I only saw his back. "Listen, mate. I'm so sorry for what I said. I did not mean it like that. I...it was really cool of you how you just turned the guitar over and tried to play the other way around. Others would have just said they won't play because of their hand. I...I wanted you to know that I'm really sorry. I don't know why I said that. I was a real asshole. You are the best guitarist that I have ever met. And...that you think that you are something better is not true at all. In truth, you are far too humble. You never take praise or just say that Angus makes it up. Please forgive me. I was an asshole. Can we be friends again and forget all of this?" Malcolm slowly turned around. He leaned against the kitchen counter and looked up at Brian. Brian picked up his slate cap and nervously twisted it in his hands. It was quiet for a while between the two of them.

"I wasn't angry with you, Brian." Malcolm said then. "I...it just hurt what you said. And...to be honest, I think you're right. I'm not very good at playing the guitar. I do my best and hope that you do it really well. I was an idiot when I told you to play the guitar yourself, but I was angry and hurt and...I don't know what else. And...I behaved pretty stupidly. I'm sorry." I smiled. The two were the same stubborn heads, so it must have been hard for them to say that.

"Come here." Brian grinned and opened his arms. Malcolm walked up to him and the two hugged each other tightly. "You are my best friend, buddy. I was an idiot." Said Brian.

"I was an asshole too." Malcolm chuckled. Brian squeezed him a little tighter and Malcolm squealed. Brian immediately withdrew.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked in a panic. Malcolm giggled.

"You pressed my hand." He held up his hand in a cast. "But it works again."

"Friends?" Brian asked, holding out his hand to Malcolm.

"Sure." Malcolm grinned. They hit.

"And now let's celebrate that your daughter was born!" Brian shouted loudly and took the tray with the drinks to go back into the living room. Malcolm giggled. Everyone got a glass. "Now let's drink to Cara Young!" Shouted Brian. Malcolm giggled and raised his glass.

"To Cara!" Everyone shouted in unison.