Page 66 of My Little Doe
I hung the phone up and stared at it. I shouldn’t have called. What did she mean by Paxton was sick all the time? My mother was drunk before one p.m. Things were really bad at home, and Aspen was in the middle. I cared about my mom and brother, sure, but Aspen was the axis around which I revolved. She was like my own child, and I loved her like one.
“I’ll have someone pop in and see what’s going on,” Quinn said.
He heard everything that was said on the other line. I still stood there, frozen, staring at the phone.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
We sat around for a little longer before we headed to Lina’s house. The drive felt longer than it had when we first arrived. I remembered it a little bit and was pretty sure we were getting close.
“Listen, before we get there, my family can be loud and very unfiltered,” he said.
“It’ll be okay,” I said.
“And if it becomes too much, you can tell me, and we can leave.”
“Yeah? Do I just say,‘Hey, your family is too much?’”
He laughed. “No, just say you’re really tired, or you’re not feeling good.”
“Understood, chief,” I said.
He shot his head toward me. “I’m glad to see your spunk has returned, even if it’s at my expense.”
“Figured it was better thandaddy.”
He glanced my way again, narrowing his eyes before turning back toward the road. We pulled into the drive. Before he even turned the truck off, three people rushed out the door to his side of the truck.
“Here we go,” he muttered. He cut the engine and opened the door.
“Quinnlyn!” a female said.
“Cousin!” the shorter male said.
“Mikel!” the other male said.
All three of them shouted a different name. He stepped out, and all three of them pulled him into a group hug. I opened the door and walked around to the front of the truck.
“Ohhhh… I see why you’ve been hidin’ her,” the female said.
“Stop,” Quinn said. “Zay, meet Beau.” The shorter male stepped forward and reached his hand out.
“And Graham,” Quinn said. He stepped up and shook my hand, too.
“Last but not least, the lovely Delilah,” Quinn said. She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. My arms locked to my sides for a second before I reached around and patted her back.
“Sorry, I’m a hugger,” Delilah said.
“It’s okay,” I muttered.
I followed them inside. Once the door was opened, the noise from inside spilled outside. I looked around, and there were people everywhere—adults and children alike. They all stared at me as I entered.
“Everyone, this is Zalayuh. Please be nice,” Quinn announced.
“And I quite like her, so y’all best behave,” Lina said, coming from the kitchen.
I turned and smiled at her. “Merry Christmas, Lina.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” she said, “you want to come help in the kitchen? Quinn can catch up with his family. Some of them haven’t seen him in far too long,” she said. He looked over at me and nodded subtly.
