The Premiere was awesome, guys!
Anyway, we're well on our way to summer! And with summer comes… Babies!
And… Bonding!
And… Monsters?
Luca felt a little nauseous, showing up for play rehearsal the first time. He had gotten the part but he wasn't really fully prepared to assimilate into the cast, mostly full of people who had filled dozens of roles in the past. Khary wrapped an arm around him though, and coaxed him inside, promising that it would be fine.
"Okay, let's get your mind off of this, you're a bundle of nerves," Khary assessed, "here, I have someone I want you to meet." Khary directed Luca's attention over to a tall African American man, with dark skin and a shaved head.
"Luca, this is Dion Foster, my boyfriend. Dion, this is my nephew Luca." Dion beamed down at him.
"Of course he is! He's the spitting image of you, Khary. It's nice to meet you, young man. I've heard tons about you." Luca nodded and smiled up at Dion.
"It's nice to meet you too, sir."
"Dion is a high school drama teacher and he's playing George Murchison, he's fantastic."
"Aw, babe, I don't hold a candle to you, you're the star of this whole thing." Luca glanced away when Dion put a hand on Khary's shoulder and leaned down to kiss him. It seemed like a private moment between them, so he looked out into the theater. There were a couple of people milling about near the doors and one older black lady in a seat, probably one of the cast's parents or grandparents, Luca didn't think twice about it. When the director called them forward for rehearsal most of the people in the theater came up on stage, except for the older lady.
"Alright, this is our first play rehearsal. I know some of you are new to this and some of you have done a thousand plays but I expect the same effort from all of you. I know we have a talented bunch this year and I'm sure everyone is going to be bringing their A-game, but I don't want any slackers. How're we feeling?"
A chorus of a dozen or so voices cheered, "Good!"
Luca didn't really feel that way, but he lied it into reality with the rest of the cast, sticking close to Khary.
"Young man," it surprised Luca to realize the director was talking to him, "is this your first production?"
"Yes sir."
"You did well at the audition, I look forward to working with you. If you do well and enjoy it, I'm sure we'll be working together again."
"Yes sir, thank you, sir." Khary placed a hand on Luca's shoulder, smiling down at him with obvious pride.
'Khary! You could learn something about respect from your nephew."
"I'll keep that in mind." Khary squeezed Luca's shoulder and Luca felt a lot more comfortable. For this summer, these people were family too. They might not all be his friends yet but they would be soon. He just had to believe in himself and memorize his lines. Easy as pie.
He noticed Khary scan the auditorium and frown, going over to the older lady and telling her something. They seemed to have a slight disagreement before she left the theatre.
"What was that?" Luca asked.
"It's a closed rehearsal," Khary said, trying to seem nonchalant, "I asked her to leave. She didn't want to, but she did."
"That's weird," Luca said, immediately forgetting about it.
"You ready, kiddo?" Khary asked, grinning down at Luca.
"No," he admitted in a small voice, "this is really daunting."
"Deep breath," Khary instructed, "Luca Justus Tomago, you've got this, you're in control, you are capable, you are talented, you choose your destiny."
"Uncle Khary?"
"Yeah?"
"That's too many affirmations."
"Sorry. I listen to 'em during yoga, before that guy's awake," Khary nodded towards Dion, who was talking to the actress playing his girlfriend, a smile playing on his lips.
"Um, Mr. Foster seems nice."
"You can call him Dion. Maybe Uncle Dion one day." Luca raised an eyebrow at him and Khary laughed, "What? I think this time it's real."
"I think you're right," Luca said, "he looks at you like you're his everything."
"Someone's gonna look at you like that someday if that's what you want."
"Maybe there's someone," Luca said, looking away, totally flustered, and shrugging.
"I need details," Khary said, his eyes lighting up.
"Places!" The director called, sparing Luca the awkward musings of which of the people who stared at him like he was everything was the one he felt the same for if any at all. It was a hard decision to make when you were only in middle school and he knew he probably wasn't prepared for it. The thought of people liking him didn't freak him out the way it freaked out his sister but it was still a weighty concept that he knew should be taken seriously. So he kind of pretended that there weren't admirers, that there hadn't been confessions in the Valentines' notes he'd collected. He didn't want the responsibility of holding someone else's heart just yet. Right now, he just wanted to remember his lines.
The first rehearsal was kind of stressful, but when it was over Luca felt pretty good about himself. It was nice to be part of this kind of team, all working together towards the same goal. He understood, a little bit, why Reese liked sports so much. It felt good, and he was buzzing as he and Khary reached the house. Khary was coming over for dinner and to talk to his brother, who was going to teach him how to knit.
When Luca looked around the living room, his heart was full to bursting. There was his dad and Uncle Khary, tangled up in vibrant purple yarn, there was Scout and Reese, running around their little digital island. There was his mom, taking a rest for once, eyes closed and hand resting over her unborn son.
"Reese!" Luca called to his sister, who glanced up, "Travis?"
"It's from a play."
"Fine. How about Trevor."
"Trevor Elliot. Nah. I don't vibe with it."
"Oh, so you vibe with things now?" Luca teased his sister, who hit him with a throw pillow
"Nelson," Scout suggested, before also being hit by the throw pillow.
"Mason."
"That's five letters," Reese chastised, "we're shooting for 6."
"It doesn't have to be five letters," Luca argued, "Maison can be spelled with an I."
"I don't know," Reese said with a shrug, "we're probably only gonna have a baby brother once. I want this to be perfect." Wasabi smiled at his little perfectionist and stood up, nearly tripping on Khary's mess of a scarf start, and went to check on dinner. He waved his ever-expanding family over to the table, and for a moment everything was perfect.
