Jack opened the door and Andie gave him a huge hug. "I missed you so much!" She exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. His breakup was enough of an excuse to be rude.
Andie ignored the question anyway. "Where's Amy!" Amy came running to her. Andie wrapped her arms around her niece and lifted her into the air.
"Andie!" She cried.
"Are you excited for the party tomorrow?"
"Yes!"
"I've got a special present for you."
"Yay!"
The timer buzzed and startled Andie. "What's that?" She asked.
"Pizza!" Amy exclaimed. Jack took the pizza out of the oven and put it in front of Amy. They both blew on it to cool it down.
"Okay, Amy. It's good." Jack announced.
He and Andie went in the hallway to talk. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked answering his question with another.
"How did you find out?" He said still refusing to cooperate.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Andie had always been a persistent nagger.
After years of living with her, Jack knew Andie could do this longer than he could. "Can we discuss this after bedtime," he said glancing toward Amy in the kitchen.
"Depends…" Andie was ready to negotiate. "When's bedtime."
"In an hour," He said frustratedly.
"Fine," she replied and they walked back into the kitchen to pretend all was well.
"All finished," Amy boasted.
"Wow, you were a hungry girl!" Jack replied impressed. "You still hungry for ice cream?" He asked.
"Yes!"
Jack got up to get the ice cream. "I'll get it," Andie stopped him. He didn't argue. Even though she was the younger sibling, Andie had always been good at looking after Jack and he felt in desperate need of her care. Andie took the ice cream from the freezer and 3 bowls and they sat and ate their ice cream.
Andie helped Jack put Amy to bed and then the two went to the living room and lounged on the couch. "Okay Jack come on," Andie pried.
"We broke up," Jack said. "No big deal."
Andie scooted closer to him. "It is a big deal. Why didn't you call me?"
"I knew you'd come. I didn't want to think about it, Andie. I just wanted to keep moving on with my life. I have to just keep moving on."
"You know, Jack, you don't always have to be this strong. You can't always be this strong. You've got to let us help you. We all want to help you."
"Okay," Jack agreed.
"Besides, I met this nice gay guy at medical school and I've been dying to set you up."
"Andie…" Jack warned.
"Okay," Andie said backing off, "Too much, too soon, I get it." Andie smiled and touched Jack's shoulder. "We can talk about it more later." He laughed. The two of them spent the next few hours watching TV. Jack would occasionally start to cry but it didn't last long. He had a long way to go, but he knew that with everyone's help, he could get through anything.
"Jack," Andie whispered. "Go to sleep."
Jack got up and stumbled towards his bedroom. "You want me to open the couch into a bed?" He turned around to ask and let out a big yawn.
Andie looked at him and smiled. "No, I'll be alright. You just get some rest," She replied sending her brother off to sleep.
