Chapter 12: Chapter Eleven

“Are you okay?” Alexander asked me as I lingered in the foyer. Everyone else had gone upstairs to their rooms to sleep.

“I want to try,” I told him.

Alexander walked right up to me and gripped my shoulders in his hands. “You’re not alone and I’ll always be your biggest supporter.”

I nodded my head. “I don’t feel so lost anymore.”

“That’s because you’re not, Kage.”

Emotions swirled inside me and for the first time I let him see it. “You’re a good man, Alexander. I never looked at myself as special or deserving.”

“Every child has greatness in them, they just need a guiding hand to help them shine.”

I didn’t fall asleep immediately, even though none of us had slept since midnight Friday and it was now Sunday morning, barely two am. We had eaten cake on the jet and talked and laughed. I lay in bed with a smile on my face and wondered how I’d gotten so lucky.

We all had our own stories, our own demons we were fighting. We were a brotherhood and we loved each other, but I just clicked differently with Sloan. He always wore black, and he always had a smile on his face, a smile to hide his insecurities.

Sloan’s father was in prison for attempted murder, the attempted murder of Sloan. He hadn’t seen him in seven years and Alexander had adopted him when he was ten. Sloan was prone to sarcasm, and he loved his piano. His music made you feel things, things you didn’t know was possible.

Endri had been in the system since birth and was adopted as a baby. His adoptive parents weren’t cruel, although things changed when his mom got pregnant. On his ninth birthday, they were heading out of town and a pile-up on the interstate left him an orphan again. Alexander adopted him when he was thirteen.

Castiel was a real hard-ass, brutally honest and insanely intelligent. He had his future all planned out, which college he’d go to for his undergraduate degree, which medical school he wanted to go to and even where he’d do his residency. His birth mother had been a teenager, and he was given up a few days after being born. He had lived with the same foster family for twelve years before they moved, and he was moved to a group home. Alexander adopted him a year after Endri when he was fourteen.

Miles was a technological genius. He had gone from foster home to foster home much like I had, and he’d spent the last four years in a group home before Alexander adopted him at the age of nine. He was the first to be adopted and even though he’d lived with Alexander the longest, I was seen as the big brother.

They had all suffered abuse of some sort, some psychological and others physical, none of them went through what I did, but abuse was still abuse. It still taints you and mars your soul a little. We shared that as well, although I didn’t go into much detail about what I did share with them.

I woke up just after eight am and took a shower before going downstairs. I heard my brothers in the living room as they argued over breakfast, more specifically, who’s turn it was to make it. I leaned against the doorway as Alexander just smiled.

“I’ll make breakfast,” I said, and they all turned to look at me.

“Dude, you’re fine with chicken and pasta but your eggs can kill someone,” Miles said.

“I second that,” Endri said.

“You can all have cereal,” Alexander said.

“Cereal?” Castiel’s tone of voice suggested that cereal might as well be cardboard.

“No way, Alexander, cereal is for kids. We need eggs, toast, bacon and hashbrowns,” Sloan said.

I huffed out a laugh. “Fine, I’ll make the bacon. Miles, you’re on eggs. Endri, the toast, and Sloan can make the hashbrowns.”

“What about me?” Castiel asked.

“You can set the table, pour juice for everyone and make coffee,” I said.

We all headed to the kitchen and got started on breakfast. We worked well together as a team and most Sundays had us cooking together, instead of just one of us. We listened to the radio as we prepared breakfast and Castiel left to set the table.

I liked days like this, each one busy with his own task, working as a unit and I laughed when Sloan tried twerking to one song. We all laughed at him, it just looked wrong when he did it.

“Stop, Sloan. You’re ruining all my fantasies here,” Miles said as he added seasoning to the eggs.

“What fantasies?” Endri asked.

“Oh, you know, the usual, big ass women twerking, that ass jiggling all over the place,” Miles said as we erupted into laughter.

Sloan leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You like them big?”

Miles grinned. “Big girls give better head because they’re always hungry.”

“What the hell do you know about getting head? The most action you’ve ever seen is your hand and your Justin Bieber screensaver on your phone,” Castiel said.

“Screw you, Castiel,” Miles said.

“Castiel wouldn’t even feel you screwing him it’s so small,” Endri said, and we laughed.

“I’d make a big girl choke,” Miles said.

“Not true, I’ve seen you naked and Kage wins,” Endri said.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” I asked them.

“What?” Miles asked as they all started to laugh again.

“I’m never getting undressed in front of any of you again,” I said.

“Oh, come on, big brother.” Miles batted his eyelashes at me, and I smacked him behind his head.

“Piss off,” I said with a laugh.

Alexander cleared his throat and we all turned to look at him. “When you’re all done discussing your dicks, can we have breakfast?”

“It’s a worthy subject, Alexander,” Endri said.

“I’m sure it is and now I’m glad I don’t have to share a floor with you.” I started to laugh as Alexander shook his head and walked out of the kitchen.

“Idiot,” I muttered.