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Before he could finish, there was frantic knocking at the front door. They all looked to the front of the house.

“This can’t be good,” Carter grumbled, getting up.

Mila was torn. Did she follow Carter to the door or stay in the kitchen and make sure her parents didn’t piss off Gio?

She thought she’d left these situations in South Dakota, but they’d followed her!

“Hello, I’m sorry to bother you, but is Mila here?” a familiar voice asked.

“Anthony?” Mila cried out, rushing out to see a bunch of familiar faces gathered at the front door. “Bec? Vivi? Dustin? Em? What are all of you doing here?”

“We’re here to keep you from listening to Mom and Dad,” Dustin said.

“Did we beat them here?” Anthony asked.

“I was supposed to keep an eye on them, but they snuck out when I was at class," Em wailed, like the drama major she was. “You have to promise not to come home or I’ll feel guilty forever!”

“I thought there was something going on!” Barb said from behind Mila. “You were all sabotaging us!”

“Everyone, come on in,” Carter said with a broad smile as he stepped aside. “Anyone who wants Mila to stay with us is welcome!"

Vivi’s mouth dropped as they all stepped inside, and she got a good look at Carter. “Oh shit, you’re fucking built!”

“Vivi!” Barb screeched. “That’s grossly inappropriate."

“Hey, Dad’s always saying to tell the truth,” Vivi smirked at Barb, then gave Mila an approving glance. “Good job!”

They all shuffled in, smiling at Carter and ignoring Barb. Soon everyone was in the kitchen and Mila introduced everyone.

“Gio, Carter, these are my siblings, Anthony, Vivi, Dustin, and Em is the youngest and just started college. This is Bec, my best friend since grade school. Everyone, these are the loves of my life, Gio and Carter.”

“Oh, snap,” Bec said. “I wouldn't be able to pick only one either.”

“It’s just like the romance novels,” Vivi said with a little sigh.

“I mean, I guess it works for them,” Dustin said with a shrug. “But I’d rather do it the other way around, you know? Two girls and me.”

Em smacked the back of his head. “Don’t be gross!”

“All of you are acting inappropriately,” James barked. “You can’t approve of this arrangement. Not with Mila.”

Suspecting a fight was about to break out, Mila got busy in the kitchen. Sure enough, Dustin and Dad went after each other.

“Why can’t you let Mila live her life?” Dustin asked. “Why do you have to bully her all the time?”

“We don’t bully her,” Barb argued. “We’re only trying to protect her.”

Anthony rolled his eyes and swallowed the bite of pastry he’d taken. “Protect her from what? Out of all of us, she’s the only one who didn’t get to go to college. She didn’t get to move out. She didn’t get to do anything.”

“We never said she couldn’t,” James said.

“But you didn’t encourage her either,” Dustin pointed out. “Do you think we didn't notice that she was the one who took care of us when we were sick? She’s the one who helped with our homework. She was at our school events. You guys didn’t even show up for Em’s high school graduation.”

“She said it didn’t matter,” Barb said, looking a little less sure. “Em said she didn’t care.”

“I lied,” Em said softly. “But it was way more important that Mila was there.”

“You know, for people who like to have kids, you don’t seem to want to take care of them,” Bec said. Everyone, including Mila, gasped. Bec casually picked up a cookie and started nibbling on it, as if she hadn’t just pulled the pin on an insult grenade and launched it at Barb and James.