Shaking those thoughts free, Adam went to go find whoever wanted to play a game. Their mom was at the store so he ended up playing Parcheesi with who was left since the twins were still too little to fully comprehend the rules and each picked a person to be on a team with. Jenna went with Adam and Jonas went with Evan.
He felt himself relax as Peter yelled at Evan for killing him when he was so close to reaching home. This was what he was used to. He didn't need anything more.
They played four games because Evan refused to stop until he won and Peter ended up getting his revenge with a blockade and winning the first, Adam and Jenna barely managed to win the second, and Colton won the third.
"I should have picked Colton," Jonas grumbled. He wasn't very happy about losing either.
"You can be on my team this time if you want," Colton told him.
Evan was highly offended as Jonas walked over to sit by him instead. "You traitor!"
"Be better at games if you want me on your team."
Peter choked on the water he had just taken a sip of and Adam had to thump him on the back. When he got a hold of himself, he turned to Jonas with aggrieved watery eyes. "Don't say anything funny when I'm about to drink!"
"Sorry. I can't help being funny."
They were all still bickering when their mom returned with the groceries and shot them all a look that got them to stop instantly. "Do you need help, Mom?" Adam asked now that the game was a bust.
She beamed at him. "That would be great, sweetie. Thanks!"
Those who had just been given The Look reluctantly helped too because they wanted to get back in their mom's good graces. Adam had to get to work not long after but was glad he was able to play games with his siblings for a while. It would be nice being able to do that more often once Colton had a job.
As much as he didn't want his little brother to overwork himself when he didn't have to…not having to bear the load alone would help a lot. His birthday couldn't come soon enough. Adam would have to be sure to get him something nice to show his appreciation. Maybe some new baking utensil.
===
"Do you have your classes for next semester figured out yet?" Erica asked one day as they ate lunch not long before registration opened up.
"Just about," Adam said once he had swallowed. "What about you?"
"I'm still trying to decide what generals to take. What are you taking?"
"Introductory Chemistry and Literature."
"At what times? Maybe I should just take the same ones. At least I know I'll have someone to study with that way," Erica said casually even as he choked on his next bite of sandwich.
She would seriously do that? Just to have someone to study with? Why? She was the friendliest person he knew; she could study with anyone in her new classes. So why stick with him? That didn't make any sense!
"Don't you have other people to study with?" Adam asked stupidly.
Erica suddenly looked a bit sheepish. "Not really. None of my friends are really the studious type. If I tried to study with them, I would never get anything done."
Oh. That made more sense. She wanted to keep studying with him because he got things done and she cared about her grades.
"Makes sense," he ended up saying. "Yeah. That would be fun."
Fun, yes. A good idea, no. He wasn't supposed to see her anymore after this semester. If he kept seeing her, he was going to get his stupid, unwavering heart broken. He had never loved anyone else. Continuing to see her knowing that they were incompatible would be the most beautiful kind of torture but he couldn't say no. He had always been unable to say no to the people he loved.
Erica beamed at him. "Great! We'll have to figure things out once registration gets closer."
"Sure," Adam agreed, his head still reeling.
This was a terrible idea. One he would surely come to regret. Colton would give him SUCH a hard time about this if he found out. Adam had no intention of telling him but if he asked, lying would be difficult. He had always been a terrible liar.
When registration rolled around, they managed to get both of the classes together that they wanted. With two classes instead of one, there was a good chance that he would end up seeing a lot more of Erica next semester. He both looked forward to it and dreaded it.
But Adam could worry about that later. He had the holidays to worry about first. His mom was obviously down when the ping-pong table got brought out, thinking about his dad. She watched her kids go at it with a bittersweet smile on her face. These tournaments had always been heated and Darren had always been the one to step in before things could get too escalated. He used to act like a professional sports announcer too and that always made Sarah laugh.
No one had the heart to do that without him. They were all too focused on the games anyway.
When Adam got back after Thanksgiving break, he got to hear about how Erica and her parents went to visit Julie's family and he told her about his family's annual ping-pong tournament. She laughed and said it sounded pretty crazy.
Well, he had told her about how Jonas got so frustrated that he chucked his paddle and broke a glass of water. Their mom had not been happy about that and wanted to send him to his room but Jenna tearily said that it would be too sad if he missed the rest of the tournament and that he wouldn't do it again, nudging him in the ribs so he apologized. That got him out of punishment aside from helping clean it up.
"Your sister sounds like a real character," Erica said with a laugh.
Adam shook his head indulgently. "Oh, she is. Like I said, she 'cutes' herself out of all sorts of things. Jonas too since he's her partner in crime."
"Lucky for him."
"Seriously. He's the biggest troublemaker in the family but she's not far behind. I swear those two share a brain."
Erica shrugged. "Must be a twin thing. My twin cousins are the same way but they're identical."
"It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was," Adam said before they got back to work.