Chapter Twenty Seven-3

When Everett woke up again, he had no concept of what time it was. With no alarms set and already waking up once, he laid there and tried to see if he could get a feel for what time it was. Unfortunately, he couldn't and so, with a grunt, Everett threw the covers off and stretched. Even though he normally hated sleeping so much, he felt so much better. Well rested and ready to tackle the world. Everett stood and did his normal routine of counting steps to navigate his room. Once he felt presentable (hair and teeth needed to be brushed at this point - no leaving the room without it), Everett emerged from his hibernation and followed the sounds of his family. A smile played on his lips as he walked, happy to hear the familiar voices. Cole babbled, his mother cooed back; Jesse's obnoxious chewing followed by a few observations about his car. His father bouncing ideas off of everyone else. What felt like forever ago, Everett would have found this walk to be dreadful and irritating. Now, after he left for two weeks and didn't have those sounds to greet him, he realized how much he missed it. "Oh, look -  he decided to join the living," Jesse teased as soon as Everett rounded the corner. Several clanks followed his statement, closely linked to the body that yanked him forward and into a hug. Everett smiled and squeezed his eyes shut, giving his mom the hug of her life. "Hey, mom," he murmured. He really was happy to be back. "I'm so glad you're back!" Denise exclaimed, letting go and doing her motherly action of patting his hair back down and straightening his shirt from where she rumpled it. Everett let her do her thing, just smiling the whole time. "I can't wait to hear all about your trip. I know you called a few times, but it's nothing like watching you describe it. You have such an expressive face." As she walked back to doing whatever it was that his mother abandoned once he entered the room, Everett realized that maybe having an expressive face wasn't exactly the best thing. And of course, the second they asked if anything big happened on the trip, even if his voice kept the secret safe, his face would sing like a canary. "You okay, Everett?" Jesse asked, sounding a wee bit too smug. Everett really wished he could see the look on his face so he smack it right off. "I'm extremely dandy, bro," he responded, hoping he kept the slight annoyance out of his voice. The entire subject of Lizzie and him was still a really new one and he hated that Jesse had a leg up on it. He realized belatedly that Jesse probably witnessed the really, for lack of a better word, tender moment that Everett and Lizzie shared last night. Everett really didn't like that. But he brushed it off; he had a feeling that Jesse wouldn't blurt out anything if Everett didn't feel like talking about it. So instead of letting it get to him like he used to, Everett took a deep breath and walked over to the table. "So, can anyone tell me what time it is?" * * * * * * * * * * As it turned out, Everett literally slept the day away. Five o'clock and he only just woke up. But he curled up on their sofa as they played a card game. Having small dots on the cards made them a wee bit hard to shuffle, to be honest. But Everett's family didn't mind it as long as it meant he could play Shanghai Rummy with them. "I love this game," Jesse sighed happily, one hand ruffling around in the popcorn bowl. Everett placed a discard on the appropriate pile and grumbled, "Yeah, that's cause you wipe the floor with the rest of us." Jesse thoughtfully looked away before replying, "Yes. You are very correct. Oh, by the way, I'm done." He chucked the last card in his hand on the discard pile and leaned back as his family collectively groaned. "And of course, I have all the high cards," Denise lamented, dropping her hand of cards without any grace. Jesse chuckled. "I don't know why you insist on grabbing the entire discard pile! Why do you do this to yourself?" Denise sheepishly shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I always think I have a plan for those cards. And I do! You just execute your plans faster than I do." Everett laughed from his spot on the couch, counting out the points on his cards. Thankfully, he didn't have a lot. "I think Jesse has a point, Mom," he pointed out. "You set yourself up for disaster." Denise swatted at her middle child. "Okay, that's enough!" she scolded playfully. She stood and said, "Fine -  I'm getting more snacks and you get to hold Cole." She placed the Cole in Everett's arms and watching him fumble for a second before getting a proper hold on him. Everett stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at her before lightly poking Cole in the tummy. Cole giggled and waved his hands around vigorously. As she walked away, it dawned on Denise that a year ago, holding Cole would have actually been punishment. But looking around the corner at her family, Denise smiled as Everett held Cole without any cares, the youngest member of the North family wedged between his criss crossed legs. Denise smiled one more time, her heart full and warm, and entered the kitchen to fetch more snacks. * * * * * * * The rest of the afternoon remained much the same: an official North Family Bonding Ceremony. They played many rounds of Shanghai Rummy and continued with some movies. By the time bedtime came around for everyone else, Everett too was ready for sleep. Even though he slept most of the day, Everett felt like he needed more; he still felt exhausted. And though he was super excited about being back with his family, he sort of wished he could of talked with Lizzie more through the day. However, he spent so much time with his family and it felt great. Everett finally felt like his family was his again and the day of bonding he had with them, it just made him happy to be alive. Everett snuggled under the covers of his bed, the weight of his duvet comforting and soothing to his still tired body. Letting out a sigh, he thought about one more thing before his mind shut down for the night: He and Lizzie had a lot to talk about tomorrow.