Dad had me running errands for him after hockey practice Monday night. He probably saw this as some type of punishment for me disappearing, but I honestly didn't mind it too much.

Christmas was in three days and Dad and Mindy were never the type to get everything we needed all at once. They would probably be sending me out every day until Christmas to pick up food we needed for the holiday.

It was also the night that our mandatory family time was starting so I was trying to prolong the shopping for as long as I could.

It wasn't until I saw Wren standing in front of the cake mixes that I wanted to get out of the store as soon as possible. I even tried backing out of the aisle as quietly as I could but my damn cart betrayed me with its squeaky wheel. Wren turned to look at me with a box of cake mix in his hand and an amused expression.

"Elijah," he said in a smooth tone. "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," I lied with a sigh.

Wren chuckled, obviously seeing right through me.

"I saw that Fox had spent the night with you," he told me.

So we were getting right to the important matters.

"So?"

"Did you tell him?" Wren asked.

He didn't have to be specific for me to know what he was talking about. But Wren wasn't stupid, he knew I hadn't told Fox anything. I could tell by the smug look on his face.

"You would know if I did," I replied, moving over against the shelves so someone could get by.

"You're right, I would," Wren responded. "I just can't quite figure out why you haven't."

I hadn't because it felt like Wren had some weird ulterior motive with having me be the one to inform Fox that his brother knew his secret. But I wouldn't tell him that.

"If you want him to know, tell him yourself," I said in a bored tone.

Wren laughed. "You don't know Fox that well, do you?"

I tried not to take offense to that.

"It wouldn't go over well if he heard it from me," Wren continued, an arrogant smile on his face. "He's a bit hot-headed, but I'm sure you know that."

I hated hearing Wren speak that way about him.

"You know, maybe he wouldn't be so hot-headed if you told him yourself and showed him you actually give a fuck about him," I spat, not being able to stop myself.

Wren pondered on my words for a few moments, that stupid smile still occupying his face.

"Well, we've got ourselves in a predicament, Elijah," he said.

"What?"

"Well, if I tell him and he finds out that you kept it from him, what would he do?"

He was trying to unsettle me, I knew that much. Fox wasn't lying when he said his brother thought he was so smart. He was cunning and he undoubtedly was used to manipulating people into getting what he wanted.

"He wouldn't hate me," I said in a hard tone. He would never hate me.

Wren nodded. "Maybe you're right."

We both turned to look at Robin as he came down the aisle with a friendly grin. He was the one that reminded me most of their parents, kind and welcoming.

"Hey, Elijah right?" Robin asked, bumping into Wren with his cart.

I nodded, giving him a small smile.

"I can't wait to see you guys play tomorrow," Robin said, taking the cake mix from Wren's hand and placing it in the cart. "I haven't been to a hockey game in so long.

"No games at school?" I asked, wondering where he went.

"There is, but it's not very popular there," Robin replied. "I go to UCLA."

"Oh, nice."

"Anyway, we gotta get going. Ma's been texting me," Robin announced. "It was good seeing you, Elijah. I'll probably see you again tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you then."

Wren didn't say anything as the two of them left. He just looked over his shoulder at me with an expression I couldn't decipher, before turning around and leaving the aisle with his brother.

I waited in the aisle for a few more minutes so I wouldn't bump into the brothers again at the check out. Then I grabbed the cake mix I needed and made my way to the front of the store.

Once I loaded up the car, I drove home without hitting any curbs. When I walked in the front door, my hands full with grocery bags, I saw Dad and Josh moving around the furniture in the living room.

They both looked toward me as they were moving the couch up against the far wall.

"Are there more groceries?" Josh asked as they finished moving the couch.

"Yeah."

Josh nodded and left the room and out the door, presumably to get the rest of the groceries from the car.

He had been sucking up to me lately, doing my chores when Dad and Mindy weren't around, offering me the car, and even minding his own damn business about his suspicions with Fox and me, which was surprising for him.

"Thanks for doing the shopping," Dad said as he followed me into the kitchen.

I shrugged, placing the bags down on the counter. "I don't mind doing it."

Dad smiled at me, beginning to put the groceries away.

"Why were you guys moving the furniture?" I asked.

"Mindy asked us to for family night," Dad answered, though it seemed like he didn't know what we were going to be doing.

"Perfect! You're home!" Mindy greeted me as she entered the kitchen. "We have some exciting news and some fun things planned!"

I wasn't sure how fun family activities could be, but I wasn't going to rain on her parade.

"Sit! Dinner is ready!" Mindy announced, kissing the top of my head as I sat down at the table, giving her other children the same treatment when they filed into the room and sat down.

"Did you tell them the news?" Dad asked Mindy as she sat down beside him.

"No, I wanted to wait for you."

Dad smiles at his wife and then looked at each of his children.

"We wanted to tell you guys that the adoption went through," Dad announced. "So now Josh is legally my son."

My eyes immediately drifted over to Josh, a wide smile overtaking his face. I couldn't help but let my lips quirk up slightly at the delighted look he wore.

Things were still awkward between the two of us. I could tell he still felt guilty about what had happened a few nights ago. I couldn't even be angry at him because he had a right to feel the way he had.

"That took forever," Josh said with a laugh.

Dad nodded with a smile of his own. "A bunch of legal stuff. Takes forever but it's done now."

The conversations at dinner were light-hearted. I tried to perk up a bit, not wanting to ruin the night for the family after something exciting had happened, especially for Josh and Dad.

Once we were done eating and had the table cleaned up, Mindy led the rest of us into the living room where all of the furniture had been moved out of the way.

"So," Mindy started with a wide smile, facing all of us with her hands clasped together. "I found this video on YouTube and I thought we could do it together as a family."

"What is it?" Ava muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Family yoga!" Mindy exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

She was met with silence from the rest of us. It wasn't until she cleared her throat and gave Dad a look that he nodded and turned to us.

"It'll be fun guys," Dad tried assuring us, though he didn't look too convinced.

Mindy placed her hands on her hips. "It's calming and you're always complaining about your back, Dan. This will help with that."

Surprisingly, the thought of this activity didn't bother me too much. I was working on not dreading everything I didn't want to do, so this was a start.

"You can't just put the word 'family' in front of something and make it a family activity," Ava remarked.

"Sure I can," Mindy replied with a nod. "We're doing it! I'll set it up on the TV."

The first few poses were quite easy, but it got harder as we went along. Mindy and Ava seemed to be having no trouble at all, but the rest of us were a different story.

"My body does not bend that way," Dad said as he let himself fall flat on his stomach, resting on the floor.

Mindy turned her head to us as her body was practically bent in half.

"Come on, guys. Try it," she said to Josh and I.

We tried it. And we failed. Josh tumbled over, knocking himself into my legs and knocking me down on the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he hovered above me with a concerned expression.

I couldn't keep myself from bursting out into laughter, which caused everyone else to follow my lead.

"This is hopeless, Mindy," I laughed, rolling over onto my side.

She chuckled, throwing her head back. "Maybe I should've picked something a little easier."

Despite everything that had gone on before, it felt nice to sit on the living room floor and laugh with my family.

***

The locker room was buzzing with excitement as we geared up to play our last game before the Masters Tournament.

My eyes wandered around the room, skimming over each of my teammates in search for the one I really wanted to see. It wasn't like Fox to be late. He was always the first one here, being the captain it was his responsibility to be.

Just as I was about to turn to Josh and ask him if he knew where Fox was, the guy in question walked into the locker room, holding a box under his arm. He didn't say anything as he took his spot beside me at the lockers, placing the box down on the bench behind us and getting into his gear.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and, of course, he noticed, sending a coy smile my way.

Once we were all done getting ready, we gathered around to listen to the coaches and Fox talk like we did before every game. Only this time, at the end of their speeches, Fox picked up the box and all eyes looked to me.

"What?" I groaned, feeling uncomfortable at the sudden attention.

"Don't complain," Fox warned with a stern expression, opening the box.

He pulled a black sweatshirt out of the box, much like his own hockey sweatshirt that I had worn before, only this one had my name and number on it.

"We should've gotten you one at the beginning of the season," Fox said as he unfolded the sweatshirt, showing it to me.

I smiled as I looked at it. "You guys didn't have to do that."

"Yes, we did," Ryan interjected with a wide grin. "Everyone on the team needs one."

"Well, thanks," I said as Fox handed it to me.

It was one of the only times I was getting looks of appreciation from the guys on the team other than the ones I had acquainted myself with. It was a small gesture but it still felt good.

Everyone turned back to their lockers as we waited to get out onto the ice. I looked down at the sweatshirt with a smile on my face before gently placing it in my locker.

"As much as I like seeing you wearing mine, I thought it'd be nice for you to have your own," Fox said in a hushed tone, coming up behind me.

I turned and grinned at him. "Thank you."

Fox rolled his eyes, gently shoving me. "Don't."

I just laughed and playfully shook my head.

"Let's go win this thing!" Ryan shouted, causing a chorus of cheers from the team.

Fox grabbed his hockey stick and motioned for me to follow him out of the locker room. The team filed out onto the ice for warm-ups. I glided along the edge, looking into the crowd to see where my family sat. It didn't take me long to find Dad, Mindy, and Ava. My little sister sat right next to Fawn, a bag of popcorn between them. What surprised me was that Fox's entire family was sitting among them, including Wren.

I noticed Fox's attention on the ice in front of him, keeping his eyes from lingering toward the crowd. He was always so focused during hockey, but I couldn't help but feel like there was an added tension to his demeanor at that moment.

The game started poorly. Within a minute of the first period, we had given up a goal. Fox was tense as he sat beside me on the bench and I knew better than to say anything to him.

At the next whistle, it was our turn to get on the ice. Fox wasted no time winning the face off and getting the puck to Josh, who brought it to our offensive zone. Fox sped down the ice after my brother. Josh passed the puck between the legs of the other team's defender and Fox easily slid it into the goal.

It was times like this where I realized how natural this was for him. He made everything look so easy and elegant.

When I made my way over to the rest of the line who were hugging in celebration, I felt Fox's arm wind itself around me, undoubtedly tighter than he would embrace anyone else on the team.

We managed to pull off a win thanks to Fox and his two goals. I had a few blocked shots that I could feel forming bruises on my legs.

"Good game," Fox said, coming up behind me at the lockers after his shower and clasping his hand down on my shoulder.

"You too," I said with a smile, throwing my new sweatshirt over my head.

I looked away as Fox got dressed, then trained my eyes on him as he shoved the towel through his hair to dry it. He caught me looking and threw the towel at my face.

"Quit staring at me," he said as I let the towel fall to the floor.

My eyes followed him as he sent a wink my way and left the locker room.

When I followed him out, I didn't expect to see our families standing together having a laugh. The two of us stopped short to look at them with confused expressions.

Josh had already made his way out and was having a conversation with Wren and Robin while my parents talked with Fox's parents and Raven. Of course, Fawn and Ava were hanging out and it seemed like Colt was just following them around.

The sight was strange and I didn't know how to feel about it. It seemed as though Fox felt the same way because the two of us stood side by side in unmoving confusion.

"Boys!" Mindy greeted when she saw us, motioning us over to the group. We reluctantly stepped closer, still wondering what was going on.

"We were thinking about heading to dinner together," Vanessa, Fox's mom, said with a smile. "Sound good?"

Fox gave his mother a strange look. "All of us?"

I nudged his ribs with my elbow. He caught my arm in his hand and moved it back to my side.

Somehow we ended up at a buffet style restaurant, all thirteen of us. Our parents seemed to be getting along remarkably well and I couldn't tell if that filled me with excitement or dread.

I was making my way around the buffet when I noticed a presence behind me.

"This is nice isn't it?" Wren asked, moving to stand next to me.

"What is?"

"Our families getting along," Wren said with a chuckle. "Isn't that good for you and Fox?"

I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. "Shut up."

Wren didn't have time to say anything else as Fox walked up to us, a hard stare set on his brother.

"My cue to leave," Wren muttered, walking away from us.

"What were you guys talking about?" Fox asked, his voice sharp.

"Nothing, really," I told him.

"He's been acting really weird around me lately," he said, glancing over his shoulder at his brother.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Fox sighed. "He's just been acting strangely nice all of a sudden."

I couldn't help but let myself smile a little at his words. Maybe Wren was feeling guilty.

"Well maybe that's a good thing," I suggested as I grabbed some food.

"Or maybe he wants something from me," Fox mumbled, following my lead around the buffet.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Is it so hard to believe that your brother just wants to be nicer to you?"

Fox sighed. "I guess not."

We were silent for a few moments before Fox spoke up again.

"He's just always been so hellbent on making sure he was better than me," he continued. "And making sure I knew it."

I thought I heard vulnerability in Fox's tone, but when I glanced at him, his face was set in a hard express with no trace of it. He could only open up so far before he stopped himself.

He started walking back to the table, me following closely behind him and sitting down beside him.

Wren and Josh sat across from us, both giving us knowing looks while the rest of our families remained oblivious.

**