Brooklyn breathed in the familiar scent of the restaurant and took in the feeling of being surrounded by brick walls. It was the same place Albert had taken her on their first date. But for him it was so much more than that, his mother used to bring him here, as well as his brothers long before he was ever born so it was fitting to say the least. She was wearing the same cream sweater from yesterday, only this time she paired it with a burgundy skirt and brown boots. Albert had come by to pick her up that afternoon, his hair looked as if he tried to make it look presentable only for it to get messed up a few seconds later.

Clearly he was more nervous than he was letting on. She knows the feeling of being reunited with a sibling after spending years apart. The thing is, he had more contact with his brothers while she had none, but the point still stood. His hands were sweaty but she didn't point that out as they reached the final step. The place looked exactly the same, even the arcade games, though well worn, worked as if they were brand new out of the crate. With it being around two, it was partly full. Not too busy, but not entirely empty either. There were a few families, some groups of teenagers studying and some college kids. At least Brooklyn assumed they were. But there was one table that stood out in particular, it was their usual spot, currently taken by two redheads laughing at something.

"Is that…"

"Yup."

That's it. All she needed to hear. "It's not too late to say you caught some random sickness," Brooklyn said, trying to ease him with a joke. It seemed to work too because he let out that low chuckle she loves so much.

"Let's get this over with." another joke.

Only a few steps away from the table did the two redheads look up. Suddenly they were out of the booth and happy exchanges were made. Of course it caused Brooklyn to take a step back. They were both loud, eagerly greeting their baby brother. Albert seemed to take it well. At least he didn't have his "I'd rather die" face, so that's a positive. When they finally pulled apart she had to do a double take. If she didn't know any better she'd say she was looking at triplets right now. Deep brown eyes, strong builds. Though she could pick out the difference.

"You must be Brooklyn," a deep voice said with a warm smile. "Pleasure to meet you, though I don't know how Al over here secured himself a girlfriend after claiming girls are gross." as this was said Albert was thrown into a headlock, which he easily escaped. "Oh, excuse my rudeness, I'm Liam." he held out his hand to shake, which Brooklyn took. "My wife would've loved to have been here as well, but then there was something about a mess with orange juice and not having anymore orange juice and Jamie started crying and then she sent me on my way."

"You as well," Brooklyn nodded in reply. Though she'd never admit it out loud, she was nervous meeting Albert's brothers. She's heard stories, knows he still talks to them here and there, maybe popped in during a video chat but meeting face to face was a whole other story. For the first time since their mothers funeral, all three of them were in the same room.

"I'm Cade, very nice to meet you."

Ah yes, the troubled child that turned into a truck driver. Brooklyn never would've known if she wasn't aware of that already. Though, the troubles of said past can still be seen. Cade was the slimmer out of the three Dasilva brothers. She could make out multiple scars and the look in his eyes. They weren't like Liam's, who has been on the war front. While both had trauma, Liam's eyes had that old, wise man look, while Cade's were dark. Someone who's hit rock bottom, dug themselves deeper but somehow got out. So different to Albert's, who could stare right into her soul, playful yet drowning.

They sat down and the brothers began to catch up, while telling her all the embarrassing Albert stories that come to mind. Complete with baby photos, and there may have been a video of him streaking down the hallway naked after a bath. Brooklyn couldn't hold back her laughter even if she tried. His little baby wobble was adorable.

"It's not that funny," Albert grumbled.

"You're right," Liam said. There was a pause. "Mom used to call him her little orange blossom."

"I don't care if you're a highly trained Marine, you're the next target of my bat," Albert threatened.

But it was too late, Brooklyn was already doubled over in laughter. She hid her face in Albert's arm, trying her best to contain herself. "Oh gosh, I gotta have Feisty add that to the blacklist book."

"Like hell you will."

"The blacklist book?" Cade sounded amused.

"My sister-in-law, Feister, grew up at the Lodge. She loves having the upper hand so she made a book for every single boy with their most embarrassing stories, or stuff they don't want getting out. Al and Race are tied with the most, with my brother being just pages away."

"Mush makes it too easy for Feisty that's why."

"You vandalized my former school's statue."

"Hey I was never on your former school's property." he was the one that came up with the ideas though. But he wasn't about to voice that since she seemed to have forgotten that minor detail.

"Al was always the prankster," Liam said. "I remember this one time he put packaging tape outside Cade's room, then woke him up by bangin' on pots and pans yelling at him to get up for school. It was a Saturday. This dummy ran head first in his boxers"

"No more stories from my childhood," Albert grumbled.

"Why? Cause Feisty is still holding the pageant thing over your head?" Brooklyn teased, playfully poking his chest. The thing is though, that's the payback. The looming disaster that's bound to strike is exactly what Feister wanted them to believe all along. Several years later and she still has the nightmare twins believing that.

"No, I'm not scared," Albert replied. "I have balls flying at my face at a million miles a second and the only thing keepin' my face from gettin' bruised is a wooden bat and perfect timin'. I can handle her."

"Do I want to know?" Cade asked.

"No," came Albert's quick reply.

Brooklyn only giggled. "Ok so, Feisty is basically one of the boys. This dummy and Race, his best friend, signed her up for a beauty pageant on April Fools. So then she swore she'd pull the biggest revenge known to man. This was several years ago and she still hasn't done anything."

"Maybe she's not planing to do anything," Liam suggested.

"You haven't met Feisty. She's tiny but scary. Don't let those doe eyes fool you, she'll strike when you least expect it." While Albert was going on his little tangent, Brooklyn winked at the oldest Dasilva brother to confirm that he was indeed correct.

"Moving on, how're you liking playin' with the big boys."

"It's great. I feel like my limbs are gonna fall off but I love it. And this one-" he wrapped his arm around Brooklyn. "Is my biggest fan, so don't even try fightin' for it." he paused for a moment. "Though, I haven't brought her over to the dark side yet."

"Baseball is boring," Brooklyn protested. "You play nine long innings, you gotta wait for the next batter to walk up to the plate, three strikes, you're out. You can't even see what's going on from the other side of the stadium. And there's always a chance of rain, so you're sitting out there in the cold."

"You're in the box gorgeous."

"And the game is still slow as a snail. Oh and some uniforms look like toothpaste."

"Well at least you're livin' your sports romance dreams."

"More or less."

"You're lucky I love you." letting his hand slide down he tickled her side, making her squirm. He didn't care if his brothers were sitting a few feet away. She's the most adorable human in one cute freckled package.

Standing at the bar Albert waited for the order of garlic knots. Usually he'd wait at the table but she and Cade shared a love of Hunger Games so they were in deep conversation. And since Liam has only seen the movies, he was deemed an outcast by the two, so he was standing beside him with a fresh beer in hand.

"THAT WAS YOU!" Cade yelled out, causing several heads to turn in their direction. "I can't believe it, that was one of the funniest ways to get kicked out of a movie theater."

"Glad you think so, cause it isn't happening again," Brooklyn replied. Was it one of her finer moments? No. but at least her point was made loud and clear.

"I can see why you like her so much," Liam said, breaking the silence. "She's a sweet little thing. Mom would've loved her."

"You think so?" Albert asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

"I know so." Liam smiled. "She would've taken her in like she was her own child. Gush over her and the moment you turned eighteen she'd start asking if you put any thoughts in engagement rings."

Albert choked on his drink. "The hell?"

Liam shrugged. "Happened with me. She'd be hounding Cade to settle down already. But he's a free spirit. Always has been. And you? You were her special little baby. Complete mama's boy."

"Ok that's enough," Albert said, playfully shoving his brother's head to the side.

"What, it's true. For the longest time she was convinced you were going to be a girl. Well, when we all saw you were a dude yeah she was a little sad. She was getting old and child baring wasn't easy anymore-"

"You make it sound so old fashioned," Albert cut off.

"But the second you came out screaming and crying like a banshee it was love at first sight for her. And I know for a fact if mom were still here she'd look you dead in the eyes and said you did good with that one." he gestured to Brooklyn who was now in a heated debate with Cade over how said movie was butchered and the book was far better.

The truth is Albert doesn't remember his mom. A few things here and there, how she liked her tea, raspberry and honey, just like Brooklyn. She smelt like fresh lavender, a sweet spring day, where Brooklyn is a warm cozy bakery in fall. He couldn't remember her voice, the sound of her laughter, just small images but even then he couldn't be sure how correct they were. All he really knows is when she started to die. It was a slow process but one that had taken a great toll. Her body shrunk, her hair became wispy. She was tired but tried to put on a smile when he was in the room. Then the smell of alcohol came from their father. The death was a fast one. The middle of the night.

He had woken up to his grandmother making breakfast. Liam was home from the base, Cade was home too, but he wasn't in the room. Out on the fire escape smoking a joint but their grandmother didn't scold him for it like she usually would. It was slow motion. "Mom died last night". Liam, always practical and straight to the point, tried explaining what had happened but it was all jumbled in his mind. The funeral came in a blur, he was up front with his family. Cade was the most sober he had been in months, though it was obvious he was nursing a hangover.

There was the graveyard, her casket covered in flowers. An arrangement of roses, peonies, and other types of greenery he couldn't name, but did his best to stop from crying. It was the beginning of November. Days following were dark. Thanksgiving was a mess, Christmas was meaningless. He was shipped off to live with his grandmother for about three months before she could no longer care for him old bones and the loss of her youngest daughter. It wasn't long before she passed on as well. Liam was back on the base, Cade was in no condition to take him in.

There was about a few weeks he was with his aunt. Trouble kept coming up and the next thing Albert realized he was standing in a strange foyer with a social worker and a man with kind eyes, oh and about sixteen other boys running around. A blonde about his age was chasing after his toy race car, took one look at him and said, "wanna play?" Albert, looking between the blonde, the two group of kids and the car, shrugged and went along with it. Quickly he became friends with the blonde boy named Racetrack.

"Yeah, I like to think mom would love her too."

Author's note

I've had this in my back pocket since before I drafted this book. I've mentioned Liam and Cade a few times but they haven't shown up on paper. It's canon that Albert has two older brothers (back of the trading card), so it's something I like bringing to the table. Real talk, I didn't mean for this to get so deep during the second half but I think it made this chapter better. Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.