"Four: two brothers and two sisters. I'm exactly in the middle, with two older and two younger," I explained, still embracing them all.
"Yeah, and once I came along and got diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, she had to run away from home just to get any attention," Tommy said, and I could see Ethan shift uncomfortably in his boots, although I had a feeling he was relieved to learn what was wrong with my baby brother without having to come out and ask.
It wasn't nice of me not to have forewarned him of Tommy's disability, but I'd gotten so used to it over the years, I didn't even think about it. None of us did. He was just Tommy to us. Plus, we'd all discovered a kind of fun in intentionally not telling anybody about his disease and enjoying the surprised look on their faces when they found out.
It was a good way to judge someone's character. The way an individual reacted when they were first confronted with Tommy's disability and how they chose to treat him after they knew his diagnosis said a lot about what kind of person they were. So far, Ethan was a blank slate and time would have to tell.
"Well, can you blame me for wanting to get away from you?" I teased Tommy and then ruffled his hair lovingly, making him laugh. We shared a hug, and I helped Junior put Tommy back in his wheelchair before he fell or got hurt.
Then I said, "You know it had nothing to do with you. I just felt lost, like I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere, so that's why I ran away. Now I realize what a mistake that was. I do fit in; I fit right in the middle of the Brandt family."
"And you always will." My siblings embraced me in a group hug again. Letting them go, I turned to Ethan then and introduced him to them all one by one.
There was Junior; he was the oldest and a born athlete. He went to college on a baseball scholarship, graduated with a business degree, and married a girl he went to college with named Shelby. They had their first child two years ago, a chubby boy they named Joseph III. As I told the story, Junior grinned at me and said, "And, Shelby is about to make him a big brother. She's pregnant with a little girl, due in January."
"Congratulations!" I hugged my
big brother tightly, no longer able to hold back my tears of joy. His lovely wife approached holding their young son, and I put my hands on her rounded belly, blinking back tears of joy again.
Then, I introduced Ethan to my big sister Emily. She was the brilliant academic I could never live up to. If they made a trophy for it, she had it. Spelling Bee Champion, President of the Future Leaders of Tomorrow Club, Student Body President, Class Valedictorian. Polk High may not have been a big school, but inside its walls, Emily Brandt was a shining star. Everybody loved her, and she had won a full-ride scholarship to the state university.
"Of course, all those trophies didn't mean a thing," Emily said, as humble as she was brilliant. "I ended up dropping out of the university my sophomore year when I got pregnant. I married my college sweetheart Mark and we had little Madison. Now I'm just a housewife while all my friends are getting their master’s degrees."
"Yeah, but you’re Super Mom." I wouldn't let her get away with putting herself down. "I hear you’re the head of Toddler Time and Mommy and Me and you held a fundraiser to get new toddler safe equipment at the park."
"Yeah, but that's just local stuff. I've never been on a national magazine or the star of a huge marketing campaign," she said. Now it was my turn to blush.
Next came Morgan, the musician the family. She could play piano, violin, and cello.
"When I graduate in June, I've been accepted into the music program at the University," she gushed happily, and it was clear we were all extremely proud of her. Then, it was time to introduce the baby of the family.
"Last but never least, you've already met Tommy," I said with a wave of my hand. I headed for the door to our house, ready to allow Ethan to escape the awkwardness by going inside to meet my parents. He surprised me, however, by hanging back and taking the time to shake Tommy's hand and spend some time with him first. A lot of people who'd come to the house couldn't wait to get away from Tommy because his disability made them uncomfortable, but I was glad to see Ethan wasn't one of those people.
"We haven't met officially, but now we have. What about you? Do you have big plans for the future?" Ethan asked, and Tommy's face lit up.
"I spend a lot of time studying on the computer, and I really love engineering. The things you've done to improve the speed and efficiency of your motorcycles is impressive. It's given me some ideas I've been developing. I just wish my hands worked the way I wanted them to so I could build models and try them out."
"Well, maybe I could give you hand with that. I'd love to look at your ideas. If they're any good, I could have some of my innovation techs build it."
"That would be so cool!" Tommy nearly fell out of his chair with excitement and we had to hold him back.
"We'd better get you inside before you hurt yourself and I end up getting in trouble with your parents before I've even met them," Ethan joked and Tommy laughed heartily. It was good to see him so happy, and nice to see Ethan taking the time to make him feel good. He probably had no real intention of actually showing Tommy's designs to his tech team or wasting the money to develop them just for some kid, but Tommy didn't know that and it was sweet of Ethan to make the offer, even if they were just words.
Mom and Dad embraced Ethan with a bit more wariness than my excitable siblings had. It was obvious from the first awkward handshake that Ethan was lot closer to my Dad's age than he was to mine.
"How old are you, son?" my father asked, making my mother flush.
"Joe, it isn't polite to ask such things." Mom had turned bright pink, but Dad didn't care. His arms were crossed over his chest, in full protection mode of his family.
"That's for women, not men," Dad said to Mom. He turned to Ethan, and looked him up and down disapprovingly. "You look a bit more mature than the average young man I'd expect my 21-year-old baby to bring home."
"Yes, sir. I'm 42. I realize that seems a bit mature to be dating a girl of 21; but if I may say so, Kayla isn't your average kid. She has maturity and class that far exceeds her years.
“I was impressed by the way she carried herself in Los Angles, where women come from all around the country desperate to be models. Many of them will do anything to make it on the cover of Speed Magazine, but Kayla wasn't one of those girls. She had integrity and grace, the kind that doesn't come from plastic surgery or sleeping your way to the top.
“It was that strength of character that attracted me to her, and made me want to work with her. The more I got to know her, the more I respected her. I was drawn to her good heart, so we started a relationship. I can honestly say that I've benefitted more from meeting your daughter than I'm sure she has from meeting me, but I'll do my best to treat her right."
It was the perfect speech and when he was done, my father had lowered his arms and invited Ethan to sit down to dinner. Ethan promised to give my brothers a riding lesson in the morning when it wasn't dark out, and the whole evening was just what I had hoped it would be.