“The boys took the babies ice skating down the road, they should be back shortly. Girls are in the hot tub and your father is lying down.”

“How’s he doing this week?” She shrugged her shoulders, defeated, and I felt like shit for being preoccupied lately. “Ma, say the word and I’ll get you whatever help you need. Sorry I missed dinner last month. I need to be around more.”

“Asher, stop it. You do more than enough, too much. We’re fine. Our good days still outnumber our bad ones. Besides, we know you’re a hop, skip and a jump if we need you. But this,” her eyes lifted in the direction Talia left the room, “is more important.” She circled the large island and ran her hands down my cheeks. A small amount of moisture had collected behind her eyes. “I’m going to let your sisters know you’re here before they prune and then go check on Dad.”

She fled the kitchen struggling to hide her emotion. My mother looked tired, really tired. She had enough on her plate and definitely didn’t need to worry about me and my relationships. Fuck, a pang of guilt shot through me. I leaned my elbows against the counter and dragged my hands through my hair. I sighed, knowing moving any further from my family than I was now wasn’t an option. Not now, who knew if ever.

“Everything okay?” Her warm touch brought me back to reality.

I nodded slightly and tucked her against my side and kissed her temple wondering if she’d ever consider moving. My gut twisted. Stupid fucking thought. I might have planted the seed and half joked about it at the airport last week, but I couldn’t ask her to uproot her life or her career. For what? For me, for this? I couldn’t even tell what this was. It was all fucking new to me and just because she was all I thought about twenty-four-seven since she walked back into my life, I couldn’t guarantee her anything. There were no guarantees, period. Being willing to write a new page didn’t mean it was destined to be part of my final book. Or did it? Fuck, maybe this meet the family was a bad idea. Tal pulled back, her eyes concerned.

“Ash? Talk to me.”

Luckily the chatter of my sisters interrupted us and I got a reprieve on talking. I figured the I’m crazy about you and need you within an arm’s reach or my head might explode chat should wait until we weren’t holed up with my entire family for the next two days. Just saying.

“Hey, Mol, Tar—hey, Avery.” I released Tal and hugged my robeclad sisters.

“Oh my god, a little warning, little brother,” Avery whined. “Might have been nice to, I don’t know, have some clothes on when you bring guests home.”

Talia laughed. “No worries, a hot tub sounds wonderful.”

“She’s not a guest.” Molly stole the words right from my mouth. “She’s Talia. It’s been forever, you look amazing and-”

Tara chimed in, “And all grown up. Wow, that made me sound old.” The four women chuckled.

My sisters were off in college by the time we were in high school, but I expected they’d remember her. They didn’t disappoint. “Glad we can skip the introductions.” Tal smiled at me, a sweet smile and my gut relaxed.

“Of course we remember, you and the Colton twins were inseparable,” Tara said. “You guys had that awesome band and Talia had that amazing voice. Do you still sing?”

Tara wasn’t asking me, but since I had recently heard it firsthand, I answered. “Her voice, like her, got even more amazing with age.” Tal’s jaw dropped first, then my sisters’. All of them. “But she thought a medical degree was a more responsible career choice. Go figure.” I smirked at Talia, whose cheeks were now a shade I’d yet to see on her. She huffed and jabbed my arm. Molly, my second mother, was grinning like a fool.

“What kind of doctor are you?” Tara asked.

“Dermatologist.”

“Oh that’s so cool … then you would know…” Within seconds Talia held a glass of wine and the vultures consumed her. I hadn’t popped the top on my beer and the four of them had retreated to the living room, cozied up to the fire chit chatting while Molly gave me a thumbs-up and mouthed ‘she’s gorgeous.’ The entire vibe made me smile, but what put me over the fucking moon was overhearing Talia tell the girls how ‘delicious’ I was for sending her office staff dinner Tuesday night. It was takeout, far from delicious, but if something so small made her happy it was going to be a weekly event. Hell, her staff changed their schedule at the drop of the hat for Tal and made it so her ass was napping on my couch when I got home Friday. I owed them a whole lot more than Chinese.

“Hey, son, want to grab me one?” My dad pinched my shoulder, pointed to my beer and sat down on the kitchen stool next to mine.

“Hey, Pops.” I caught my mother out of the corner of my eye shaking her head no. Guess it wasn’t a good day. I grabbed two seltzer cans from the fridge, leaving my Heineken behind.

“You too, huh. What does a guy need to do to get a beer?” he grumbled, clearly not happy about it. Symptoms worsened with alcohol. It had only been about six weeks since I saw him last and he looked different. His face was drawn and his normal jovial eyes were dulled and glazed. My throat tightened, feeling like a little piece of my father was missing.

“Up for some skiing tomorrow?” If anything was going to brighten his eyes, a ride down the mountain would. Man lived for it. My sisters and I were on skis the year we walked. “Would love to hit the front four with you for a couple runs. First tracks?”

He nodded, attempted a half smile and then his eyes bounced toward the living room. Talia was the only blonde; he couldn’t miss her. I ushered us over, planting my father on the nearest chair since he seemed unsteady. Maybe skiing was off the table. “Dad, this is-”

“You don’t have to tell me. I’d know that sweet face anywhere.” Dad’s bellow grabbed the room’s attention.

“Hey, Mr. Craig, it’s so wonderful to see you.” Talia crossed the living room, leaned over and hugged him so he wouldn’t have to stand. Cowlneck. Lucky Pop. When she parked herself beside him, he was still holding her hand. Smart Pop.

“I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Mom cleared her throat a little louder than necessary. “None of us did, darling.” My sisters cackled in my direction like they were five. Point made, whatever. “It was a surprise, a lovely one at that,” Mom continued. There was no mistaking her genuineness. No one could miss it, least of all Talia, whose liquid eyes shined brighter, stirring that unfamiliar warmth behind my chest again.

Pop squeezed Talia’s hand. “Are your parents up here, too?” The room quieted. No one knew about Talia’s mother, but I was fairly certain everyone would have remembered her father’s passing. It was years ago, innocent mistake, considering.

Talia’s smile never faltered, answering with a simple, “No.”

My family was well versed with Alzheimer communication strategies, including steering clear of ‘do you remember’ questions. Luckily my father was still in the early stages of his disease and mostly struggled with finding the right words, organization, or forgetting recent events, but we still tried to avoid anything to trigger more confusion. I quickly changed the subject.

“Pop, I think we’re in for a good laugh, Talia’s going to try and conquer the bunny slope.”

Tal smiled brighter in my direction and I winked to thank her for handling the awkwardness like a pro. She turned back to Pop and said, “Your son is quite the comedian.”

“He takes after his old man.” The room eye-rolled. Ha, hadn’t heard that one before. Dad took a second to pat himself on the back then asked, “So when is she getting here?”

“Who?” Mom questioned.

“Talia. I’m surprised she’s not with you. You two could be the twins. For that matter, where’s your brother, already on the mountain?” The quiet from moments ago was nothing compared to the deafening silence that engulfed us. The knot in my throat stung like a bitch. Avery and Molly’s eyes ping-ponged back and forth. Tara’s face drained of all color while she death gripped my forearm. We all watched Mom’s eyes well in slow motion. Because we knew. We knew all too well. This wasn’t a little confusion. Dad thought Tal was Kimi, which meant he had no idea what year it was. This was a serious change in his cognitive function. And a sickening punch. We knew our two years of luck had run out and next year at this time, we’d be lucky to see a glimmer of the man we loved. Goddamn it, we’d be lucky to see him at all. You’d think firsthand experience and two years of preparing ourselves would lessen the blow ... it didn’t.

Dad kept talking, blending past and present, struggling to find words, flustering himself in the process. He was getting more agitated by the second. Tal suggested we find a more comfortable spot, so we moved to the couch in front of the fire. It gave me a chance to tug Molly into the kitchen and calm her down after she lost her shit. It took a lot longer than it should have, but then again we just watched our father deteriorate before our eyes. With this fucking disease there were no two steps forward and one step back; it was full steam ahead from this point on.

I joined them back in the living room, my jaw tight, and my fists itching to meet a wall for release, expecting a bad scene. But that’s not what I found. Mom was sitting next to Dad, dry-eyed and calm, her smile aimed at Talia. Even at the tail end of the conversation there was no mistaking what was going on. Tal was cool as a cucumber, going with the flow and answering Dad’s jumbled questions, pretending she was Kimi. Her eyes were soft, her posture relaxed, and her hands had never left Pops. The tension was half of what it had been. Because of her.