Page 82 of Go the Long Way

Cassie had waited until at least the late and lazy of six a.m. before she'd crept downstairs in search of coffee. The squeak of the floorboards as she'd tried to tiptoe past where Alex was sleeping on the couch had been enough to launch him into full wakefulness as well.

She was sharing her room upstairs with her mom, while Frank had claimed the guest room Alex had been using the previous couple of weeks. Jakob's ex-husband Reed had beensupposedto take the pullout couch in the office that took up the other half of the upper level. But Alex had spotted him hopping into Owen's pickup truck last night when the handyman had left to head back to his own home. He hadn't returned before Nash had headed out for the night and Alex finally fell asleep on the couch, so… Even odds which bed Jakob's ex would wake up in, Alex supposed.

Briefly, he wondered if Liam was awake yet this morning…

He took the cup of coffee Cassie cheerfully held out in his direction, gratefully mouthing a quiet 'Thank you,' at her in return for the caffeinated bliss.

It had a small chip in the side and bore the name of some place called'Pearl's Po'Boys', featuring a cartoon of a dapper octopus blowing a kiss.

Alex snorted, then winced, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to work some of the stiffness from his back. He'd been tempted to see if Reed's absence meant he could trade up from the couch for the night, but…

Cassie had put on the Rudolph movie after dinner last night, and they'd all gathered around to watch. Alex had only been half following along, scrolling through social media on his phone and trying to avoid any spoilers for the newest Relict Saga book.

Somehow, he'd accidentally started listening in on Jakob talking with Ethan, something about swapping the office with his guest room down to the main level. None of Alex's business, really; though he figured offering to help move furniture if Jakob did decide to swap was the least he could do for all the — theeverythingJakob had done for him the last few weeks. Jakobsaidit was to make things easier on him on account of his leg, and that — that part was fine.

Normal, even.

ButthenJakob had followed that excuse up by immediately asking Ethan if the school would have any issues with Alex staying at his teacher's place so he didn't have to change schools in the middle of his senior year; or if Ethan thought Alex might rather move in here permanently — or, at least long enough to finish out his school year before moving off to university dorms…

Alex'd had to excuse himself a minute, escaping the picture-perfect scene of holiday bliss in exchange for the quiet of the bathroom in order to get himself back under control. After an entire lifetime of his dad making it pretty fucking clear what a burden he considered Alex to be, especially once his mom's health took a sharp turn; forcing Alex's dad to stop pretending that they were still the most perfect family in the whole suburb…

It had… It had just been alot, alright?

And now here was Alex's teacher, and his teacher's new/old boyfriend, and apparently their entire patchwork family that by all rightsshouldn'twork. Except that somehow it did, and they — they were telling Alex they wanted him to be a part of it too?

What the fuck was he supposed todowith that?

(He'd say yes, of course, if they asked. He wasn'tstupid.)

Alex scrubbed a hand through his hair, trying to put all thoughts of the future out of his mind. The present was already enough to think about, even with everyone over the age of twenty in the house still asleep. He didn't want to spoil whatever equilibrium he'd managed to claw together over the past few days, worrying how he was supposed to ever repay Jakob and Ethan for their help.

That sounded like atomorrow-Alex problem, at least. Right now, it was Christmas Day Alex's turn.

A Christmas Day Alex who quickly found himself drafted into assisting Cassie and her bottomless sweet tooth; baking chocolate-chip muffins for breakfast in lieu of pancakes, after she'd realized they were out of maple syrup.Woe and calamity.

"I still don't get how this all… works," Alex prompted as he dutifully filled the muffin tins with little candy cane stamped paper cups, just as ordered by the Christmas Elf herself. "Jakob, your mom, Reed — I thought exes were supposed to hate each other's guts?"

"I mean… maybe the first year or so was rough," Cassie allowed, measuring out the muffin batter into each cup, careful not to overfill. "But I was so little… I didn't know, did I?"

Alex followed behind her, adding a couple more chocolate chips to the top of each she filled; earning himself an approving smile for his efforts.

"Mom and Dad — they've always been so determined to make sure I knew that whatever shape it took, my family was always there," Cassie told him as she slid the first of the muffin trays into the oven. "That was something Dad never had — not until Grampy, I mean. And sure, it can be a bit too intense sometimes with how hard they try. Which —Don'ttell them I said that, yeah?"

Alex quickly tried to stamp down the brief flare of jealousy her words had set to twisting in his gut.

"I won't," Alex promised her instead, as green eyes flicked in his direction.

She grinned gratefully back at him as she let the oven door fall shut, the sound loud enough in the sleeping house to make Alex reflexively wince. He was sure the noise had to have woken everyone up, just as he wasalmostas sure that had been the point. But he covered it quickly, pasting on a small smile in return.

"Thanks," she said; pouring some of the chocolate chips straight into her hand, before tipping the bag in Alex's direction. "Poison check?"

"I…What?" Alex blinked at her, confused.

"You can never be too careful when baking," Cassie informed him primly, popping a chocolate chip into her mouth. "Have to sample the ingredients. Make sure we aren't about to poison everybody with the final product, right?"

Her tone might be utterly serious, but her grin as she jiggled the plastic bag at him somewhat gave the game away. Also the fact that the only ingredient she had sampled so far, had been the one made of milk chocolate.

"Right," Alex agreed as he accepted the bag; his grin much more enthusiastic this time around as he eagerly helped himself to a palmful of the little chocolaty morsels.