“Your brother Taylor, who was reaching up into the cabinet for a box of cereal, had his back turned to his mother. He smiled slyly. Yeeeessss!! he thought to himself. “Really?” he asked nonchalantly, locating the box of raisin bran he was looking for. Diana looked sideways at her son as he turned to face her. “Tay, what’s going on with those two? Are they back together or what?” Taylor raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “I don’t know, Mom,” he admitted. “I really don’t. Sometimes they act like a couple, and sometimes they act like they’re just being civil for Clara and Iris’ sakes. I don’t know what’s going on. You know Ike. He waffles.” “I never thought he’d be able to get over what Taryn did,” Diana remarked. “Trust me, Mom, he’s putting her through the ringer for it,” Taylor said. “It’s not like he just forgot about it. They’ve talked about it at great length, and she knows it was a mistake.” Diana turned the sausage patties she was cooking on the stove. “Isaac just holds grudges for such a long time,” she said. “I have to admit that I was never really sure this thing with Taryn was more than a crush. But it’s obvious that he cares about her a lot. And he loves those kids.” Taylor grabbed the milk out of the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. He poured himself a large bowl of raisin bran and covered it with sugar and milk. “She loves him too,” Taylor said. “But I’m not sure what’s going to happen there. There’s nothing simple about it. If they do decide to try and work things out, there are still a lot of things they’re going to have to overcome.” Isaac appeared in the kitchen doorway, carrying Iris’ hot pink backpack. “That’s a manly piece of luggage, my friend,” Taylor remarked. Isaac pulled a sarcastic face at his brother. “It’s Iris’, smartass.” “Clarke Isaac, watch your mouth,” Diana admonished. “This place is full of kids.” “Sorry,” Isaac muttered, closing the kitchen door behind him. “Is Iris up yet?” Taylor shook his head. “No, and I wouldn’t expect her to be anytime soon,” he said. “Why’s that?” Isaac asked. “Because she and Jessica were up half the night giggling,” Taylor said. “They probably woke me up three times.” Isaac smiled and sat down at the table across from his brother. “So she had a good time?” Taylor chuckled. “It sure sounded like it from where I was trying to sleep.” “Speaking of sleeping, young man, it would have been nice to get a phone call last night if you weren’t planning on doing that at home,” Diana said. Isaac blushed. “I’m sorry, Mom,” he said. “We were watching a movie and it was late by the time it was over. I just decided to crash there.” Taylor snickered and Isaac kicked him sharply under the table. “All the same, you know the rules,” Diana said matter-of-factly. “I know you’re an adult, but I still expect you to exercise common courtesy while you’re living in this house.” Isaac nodded. “Okay. I promise to remember next time.” Zac wandered sleepily into the kitchen and took a chair next to Isaac. He narrowed his eyes at his oldest brother and looked him up and down. “Aren’t those the clothes you were wearing yesterday?” he asked. Isaac threw up his hands. “We were watching a movie, for Chrissake!” “Isaac! Mouth!” Diana said, pointing the spatula at him. “I just asked,” Zac mumbled as his mother set a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him. “Taylor, do you want eggs?” she asked. Taylor nodded and cleaned out his cereal bowl. “Just a few,” he said. “No sausage.” “What about you, Isaac?” she asked. “Sure,” Isaac said. “But don’t make any for Iris. She doesn’t like eggs.” Diana looked worried. “What does she eat?” she asked. “Fruit for breakfast, usually,” Isaac said. “Don’t worry about it, Mom. We’ve got bananas and grapefruit. She’ll eat those. She’s not really a fussy eater, but I just happen to know that eggs and lima beans are the two things she absolutely won’t eat.” Isaac smiled to himself. He was sounding more and more like a dad all the time. “When is Taryn coming over today?” Zac asked as he dug into his breakfast. “I thought if you guys weren’t doing anything later, we’d run over to her hotel and take the kids swimming,” Isaac said, looking back and forth between his brothers. “We could take the girls and Mackie, too. Then I figured we’d be back here by mid-afternoon.” Taylor looked thoughtful. “That sounds good,” he said. Zac nodded. “I’m in,” he said.
didn’t come home last night,” Diana Hanson told Taylor.
