"Could everyone quiet down for a minute?" My brother Toby was tapping on his glass. We were in the party room of a restaurant Mom and Dad used to go to. The twenty people in the room quieted down.
"Now, I'm not old enough to drink so this champagne flute is obviously just ginger ale," Toby winked and everyone laughed. "But Mom asked me to make a toast which I think is stupid because David doesn't deserve a toast for doing what we all knew he was going to do anyway. But she insisted and told me I couldn't use the car this weekend if I didn't. So just think about it, Dave, use of the car was the only thing Mom could use to get me to do this."
Everyone laughed again. Toby had told Mom he wanted to make the toast.
"So, like, eight years ago, I think, Mon and Dad brought this guy into the house and told us he was our Foster brother. Which I thought was weird because why didn't he live with us before if he's a Foster? Turns out his last name wasn't Foster. But hey, I was ten. What did I know?
He wasn't very nice at first. But I didn't know why. I just thought he hated us all. Maybe he did a little. I wouldn't blame him. As we got older I learned a lot more about the life David lived before coming to live with us.
On his sixteenth birthday, Mom and Dad made him our brother, officially and legally. I think by that time I'd forgotten we hadn't grown up together. He felt like he'd always been part of the family.
When David left for college in California, I was actually really sad. I thought we'd never see him again. But then I got used to him being away and I thought 'this is great! I'm the big brother again.' Except he insisted on coming home for the holidays and summer break. We never could quite shake him off. I tried to convince Mom to move after Dad died and not tell David the address, but instead she grounded me."
More laughter and a shoulder punch from me.
"Mom! You saw that! He hit me for no reason!"
"Nice try, Toby," Mom said, smiling.
"Anyway. All this to say I really want to congratulate David today. I know I pretend to be a brat," he said.
"Pretend?" I said. "That was you pretending!?"
"Shut up, stupid," he smiled.
"You shut up, stupid," I countered.
"Both of you shut up. You're both stupid," Erin finished. We laughed.
"But seriously," Toby continued. "I know I pretend to be a brat, but I'm really proud of my brother. Not only did he get a full scholarship to UCLA, thanks for not using my college fund, by the way. David also graduated top of his class and valedictorian. I really should be more annoyed than proud because now how are Erin and I supposed to compete?"
Everyone laughed again
"Oh. And by the way, Dave. This letter came for you today from some college in Boston. I'm a little unclear as to which one. Something Ard? Har Vee Ard? Haaardvark? I dunno. Probably nothing important. Can I just toss it?"
I stood up and grabbed the envelope from him.
"You are certainly not pretending to be a brat," I jokingly punched him.
"Open it! Open it!" Everyone chanted. What if it was bad news? Did I want my entire family knowing I didn't get in?
I looked at Mom. She stood up and came up to me.
"Go ahead," she whispered. "Open it if it's bad news, we're here to support you. If it's good news, we're here to celebrate."
"But if it's not what I want..." I said.
"David, they would be stupid not to accept you. And if they didn't, you have Yale and Columbus to fall back on."
But I really wanted Harvard.
"Okay," I said. "Here it goes."
I turned away from everyone and carefully tore open the envelope. I pulled out the single sheet of paper. Already my heart sank. I thought acceptance letters came with more information. It had to be a rejection. Yale and Columbus had sent packages.
I handed the folded paper to Mom.
"I can't read it. It's got to be bad news. You read it," I said.
"You're sure?"
I nodded. Angela came up to me and wrapped her arms around me. Erin stood next to Mom and read over her shoulder. Toby did too.
I looked away. I didn't want to see the disappointment in Mom's face when she read I hadn't been accepted.
Then I heard Mom scream.
"David! You got in! You got in and you got a scholarship!" She screamed.
"What?" I said. She handed me the paper.
"Dear Mr. David Freud,
It is my great pleasure to offer you a place in the Harvard Medical School Class of 2000.
Having gone over your academic transcripts from High School and your Undergraduate Degree at UCLA, along with your exemplary marks on the MCAT, we would like to offer you a full scholarship. Further information will be sent to you in the coming days.
Welcome To Harvard, Mr. Freud."
I had to read the letter three times before it sunk in. Angela was literally jumping beside me, pulling on my arm.
"Hey, come on! Fill the rest of us in!" Spencer called out. His girlfriend Pam shushed him.
"Um," I said. "Uh, it would seem I got into, uh, Harvard."
I held up the letter. My family swarmed me. Everyone was cheering.
Our waiter and the restaurant manager came in to see what all the commotion was. Mom told him about my acceptance to Harvard and he came up to me and congratulated me. He knew our family. When Dad died, they'd even sent in a meal for us. Dad took clients here, Mom and Dad had their date nights here. We celebrated here.
The only thing that could have made this night better was if Dad was still here.
"He would be so proud of you," Mom said, seeing the look in my eyes.
"I miss him," I said.
"I know. Me too. But you're doing exactly what he asked of you. You're being good and doing good."
She hugged me, made me bend down so she could kiss my head and squeezed my hands.
"I am so proud of you, David. We all are. You're going to be someone. You're going to do good things. I just know it."