S. Bodeen - The Fallout

Was it betraying Eddy to admit that I liked my sister? That maybe I even needed her?

Eddy waited for an answer.

“It’s not that at all. Lexie’s having a hard time.”

“Yeah, I noticed. She doesn’t do anything but cry.”

“She was really close to Dad and she’s taking it really hard.” I tried to sound casual. “It’s not a big deal. I’m trying to be nice, I guess.”

Eddy held my gaze for a moment, then popped a chip in his mouth. “Okay,” he said, his mouth full. “Just want to know where I stand.”

I nodded. “You know it’s you and me.”

“Cool.” Eddy turned to a movie and started watching.

I stared at the television.

Had I meant what I said? Some days I felt way closer to Lexie than to my twin, simply because of everything we’d been through. And sometimes… Eddy seemed like a stranger. Reese was beginning to warm up to him, but she still came to me for everything. Lucas would tolerate Eddy, but preferred me, and Cara… Cara was pretty much scared of him most of the time.

As for Eddy and Lexie, I had expected them to get along better than we all used to. We were older, more grown-up, and so much had happened since then. Maybe I just wished they would get along. Because as long as those two were at odds, I would be stuck in the middle. At least we were all together, and it wasn’t as if I’d ever have to make a choice.

After my morning run a couple of days later, I showered, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and headed down to the kitchen. As I passed Reese’s room, I heard her talking. In an English accent.

For the last few years in the Compound, my little sister had spoken in an English accent, something I never understood or got used to. Finally, as things began to fall apart down there, she had stopped.

But, now to hear that again…

My heartbeat sped up. I rapped on the door. “Reese?”

The sound stopped.

Silence.

I rapped harder. “Reese? Can I come in?”

I heard a hushed thump, and then the door opened and she stuck her head out the opening. “What?”

What was I going to say? Hey, I couldn’t help hearing you were talking with an English accent, which totally freaks me out… “I just…”

She raised her eyebrows. “Do you want to come in?”

I nodded and stepped inside. The walls of her room were white, but all the material on her bed and other furniture was bright and full of flowers. The television on top of the dresser was on, but the sound was off. “What’s up?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Just watching the telly—I mean television.”

I let that slip go. “With the sound off?”

She quickly glanced over at the television and back at me. “I didn’t…”

“What?” I asked.

She went over and turned up the sound. Reese had been watching the BBC News. I listened to the female newscaster’s voice: “Authorities are perplexed by the recent disappearance of ninety-two-year-old Dr. Dmitri Isbayeva, a Nobel-winning geneticist, from the elderly living facility in London that had been his home for the past ten years. This is the fourth such disappearance of elderly scientists in the past six months.”

I said, “That was the voice I heard.”

Reese frowned. “You thought it was me?”

I bit my lip and nodded.

Reese flopped down on her bed. “You think I’m a freak and I’m going to start doing that again.”

“No, no.” I went over and sat down beside her, setting a hand on her back. “I was just—”

Reese interrupted me, “Worried that I was a freak. I know. The other night, what Lexie said at the table about us being freaks. It’s true.”

I cleared my throat. “No. It’s not true. We went through something no one else has, but we are a family and we’re here for one another. We’ll get through this.”

She sat up. “I just like British things. Hearing about England. Does that make me weird?”

I laughed. “No, not at all.” I pulled her to me and gave her a hug. “I promise, we’ll go visit England one of these days.”

Her eyes widened. “You think Mom will let us?”

I nodded. “Eventually, we’ll all get back to normal.”

I hoped I was right. I was already worried about Lexie, so I was glad I didn’t have to worry about Reese, too.

Downstairs, I found Eddy and Lucas sitting across from each other in the kitchen. Lucas climbed down off his stool and jumped up and down, clapping his hands. “You’re ready!” He ran into me and threw his arms around my waist.

I looked at Eddy and raised my eyebrows. “What am I ready for?”

Eddy made a face. “Another family outing. The aquarium. Up for it?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

“I’ll get everybody.” Lucas ran out of the room.

Breakfast items were set out on the kitchen counter, and I spooned some Greek yogurt into a bowl, then added granola and sliced strawberries. I snatched a small cinnamon roll as well and went back to Eddy. He was just finishing a bowl of cereal and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his gray hoodie. “So, you never said how the thing at the lab went the other day.”

“It was cool,” I said. “I mean, not cool. But it’s a good cause.”

“Did you meet any kids with the disease?” He took a drink of orange juice.

I plucked a couple of raisins out of the granola and set them beside my bowl. “Yeah. A little boy.”

He set his glass down and tilted his head slightly. “That’s it? A little boy?”

“Yeah. And the scientists and all.” I stirred the berries and granola into the yogurt and shoved a big spoonful into my mouth, giving myself time to decide if I should tell him about Verity. I decided not to and shoveled in another spoonful.

Eddy said, “Not everyone’s going with us.”

With a full mouth, I asked, “How come?”

“Mom and Lex and Reese are online shopping. Again. They’ll keep Finn and Quinn, so we’ll just have Cara and Luke.”

I swallowed. “Does that ever seem weird to you?”

He pushed his bowl and glass away, then propped both elbows on the table, clasped his hands, and rested his chin on them. “What?”

I held up a palm. “All these kids. I mean… like you said the other day. You were left with memories of me and Lexie and Reese. And then, all of a sudden, not only do you have us back, but you have all these other kids to adjust to. Little ones.”

Eddy shrugged. “I didn’t like being an only child for those years. I was lonely. So this? All these kids?” He nodded. “It’s cool.”

But something in his words didn’t convince me. I said, “Cara and Lucas are getting used to you,” I said. “You’ve got to realize that they never saw anyone else in all that time.”

“They seem to like Gram and Els okay,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows.

He grinned. “Well, they seem to like Gram okay.”

“Give it time,” I said.

I didn’t have time to think about it because Lucas came running in, dragging a giggling Cara by the hand. Her dark hair was in pigtails and she wore a purple fleece jacket. Her jeans were tucked into tiny pink Uggs, and she immediately tried to launch herself into Eddy’s lap.

Eddy shot a look at me and I held out my hands. “See?”

He picked her up, then stood up and started throwing her into the air, making her laugh even more.

Lucas tugged on my arm. “Can we go now?”

“Hey, okay. Lemme finish eating.” I pushed away from the table enough so he could sneak up into my lap, where he sat until I was done.

Lee was waiting outside in the SUV, and Eddy and I strapped Cara and Lucas into their car seats. Then Eddy sat in front by Lee and I sat behind him. Both little kids fell asleep on the drive over, and we had to wake them up when we got there. Lucas was fine, but Cara started crying, so I carried her into the aquarium while Lee bought tickets. There were rental strollers, so we got one of those for Cara. I pushed her as Eddy held Lucas’s hand and walked toward a mammoth aquarium with a viewing window at least twenty feet high and probably twice that wide. The sign near it read, WINDOW ON WASHINGTON WATERS. I scanned the information and said, “Hey, Lucas. There’s more than eight hundred fish in here.”