Chapter 8

Episode 8 - Normal Run of Things

“All right—is that it?” Car glanced back over the shoulder that wasn’t pressed up against the pile of supplies stacked precariously behind the seat, and Rachelle cast a quick glance around and nodded.

“All that needs to go in back. The rest can sit with us.”

“Okay, someone get the hatch! I’ll duck.”

Brady hesitated as he eyed the open door and the shifting pile with Car in the middle, but Marcus reached up and yanked the handle, and Car slid expertly out of the way and slammed it fully shut before anything could slide out.

“There. Done. Now getting it out again—might be a different story. All of you better load up before the whole thing explodes.”

Grace squeaked and clutched Brady’s leg, and he grinned as he patted her shoulder.

“She’s teasing, Gracie-girl. Hop in and buckle up so the balloons can go in next to you.”

Grace obeyed and scrambled into the extra booster seat in the middle, which Rachelle had apparently had the foresight to keep in case she ever needed to beg a ride when Shavonne wasn’t available. Brady picked up one set of balloons, trying not to grimace at the strong scent of latex, and settled it next to her on the floor, and Marcus held out the tray of cupcakes.

“Where we putting these? I can hold them if someone can take them while I get settled.”

“Let me get in first, and you can put them on my lap.” Rachelle offered something like an actual grin at Marcus’s skeptical look. “I’ll sit on my hands, promise. Then you can get out and get them from me.”

The teen shrugged his acquiescence and waited until Rachelle had slid into her seat on one side of Grace before balancing them carefully across her legs.

“All right, you next. And take these with you.” Brady handed him the second set of balloons, and Marcus wedged himself and the floating bundle in on Grace’s other side.

“Well, against all odds, looks like we’ve made it.” Car’s eyes laughed at Brady across the car, and she nodded toward the front door. Brady ducked inside and was amazed at how much more cramped the space felt, even though he had nothing but a bag of paper plates and plastic forks at his feet. “Not claustrophobic, are you?”

“Not that I know of.” Brady glanced back over his shoulder and winked at Grace. “Can you even see out your rear window?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Tell you what, you hear somebody coming up on us, you can play lookout. Can everybody breathe back there?”

“Mostly.” Marcus obviously intended a joke, but there was a slightly breathless quality to his voice, and Brady turned sharply. There was nothing obviously wrong, except the balloons that crowded his face, and Brady grabbed the strings and pulled the entire bouquet into the gap between him and Car.

Marcus sighed, but his breath already sounded fuller, and Brady’s shoulders relaxed a little.

“Now I can’t see anybody.” Grace’s voice fully expressed her pout, but Brady couldn’t help letting his vision pierce the almost non-existent barrier of the balloons so he could view it anyway.

“You can see Marcus, can’t you?”

“I guess.” Grace sighed, and her frown deepened as she glanced over at Marcus.

“And I can still see you, if you can’t see me.” Brady saw the instant the words struck her—her eyes widened, her breath sucked in, and her mouth rounded into an O. She was quiet for a few seconds, apparently thinking, before flopping her head down onto her knees.

“What am I doing?” Her words were muffled in her party dress, but Brady’s grin widened.

“You’re hiding behind a hair curtain, best I can tell.”

Grace dissolved into giggles, and Rachelle’s soft smile glowed in the corner of Brady’s vision, warming his heart more than he would have believed possible less than a year ago. Grace scrunched her nose up and flattened it with her fingers before fumbling to pull her eyelids down.

“N-now what?” She swallowed her laughter long enough to get the question out, and Brady winked automatically before remembering that she couldn’t see him.

“Now you’re doing a pig face.”

Grace’s giggles turned into howls that echoed painfully in Brady’s oversensitive ears, but it was still one of the sweetest sounds he’d heard in a good long while. Marcus leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and she curled her fingers into a circle and let it trail next to her booster seat. Brady wrinkled his forehead, then groaned as he recognized the gesture.

“Seriously? You’re corrupting Grace now? That’s incredibly low.”

“We got you, didn’t we?” Marcus’s smug tone would have given his grin away even if Brady hadn’t been able to see his face.

“Yeah, well, we only earned the right for Grace to slug me, not you.” Brady scowled halfheartedly, for all the good it would do. “Besides, does it even count if you can’t be sure I looked?”

“Sure, because you’d have totally had that reaction if you hadn’t.”

“Do I even want to know what’s going on back there?” Car turned a perfectly arched eyebrow in Brady’s direction. “Or am I going to have to turn this car around?”

“I’m as much in the dark as you are.” Rachelle sounded mildly puzzled, and Brady opened his mouth to explain, but Grace tugged on Marcus’s arm with wide, innocent eyes.

“Hey, Marcus? What’s that?”

Marcus followed her gaze down to the fingers she hadn’t moved, and Brady bit back a laugh as the teen’s expression morphed into shock.

“Did you just—”

“Got you.” Grace’s grin was shy, but her giggle was unmistakable, and Brady’s chuckle finally broke free.

“Yeah, she did. In your own game too. The rest of you, look out—I think Marcus just created a monster.”

“Ugh, please tell me he didn’t just teach her that ridiculous circle game,” Harper moaned from the earpiece that Brady had almost forgotten, and he hummed noncommittally.

“You want peace of mind or the actual truth?”

“I want you to tell him he’s lucky he doesn’t have his earpiece in right now.” Harper huffed, and Rachelle groaned, but the sound quickly morphed into a laugh.

“Well, at least you’re the one who’ll have to live with the consequences, Marcus. You and Brady, probably. Listen, baby—” She turned to face the mass of balloons next to her, even though she couldn’t possibly see Grace through them. “You only get to play that with people who want to, all right? If somebody’s never played it with you, you don’t get to start it with them.”

“Okay. But I can do it with Marcus?”

“Marcus deserves what he gets, and he absolutely started it.” Brady chuckled. “And you might as well leave me on the list, Gracie-girl. You can’t slug Ellie, and don’t do Dash or Harper unless they start it—”

“Fat chance,” Harper muttered in his ear, but Brady ignored her.

“—but you can do it with Marcus and me. It’ll be just our game for now, okay?”

“Okay. Except not when you’re sick.” Grace shook her head emphatically, and Brady’s smile softened.

“That’s a good thing to remember. And I say instead of a slug, if we catch you, we get to tickle you.”

Grace squealed and curled in on herself as though the threatened tickling had already started, and Car cut in with an exaggerated sigh.

“You guys start World War III back there, I’ll put you in the trunk and let the party stuff have the seatbelts.”

“Aww, come on now!” Marcus threw up his hands. “It’s not anywhere close to war. There’s been one shot fired, and it wasn’t by me.”

“Two shots, and you taught her how to do the first one,” Brady pointed out cheerfully, and Marcus grumbled.

“Kinda forgot about that one.”

“You’re all completely ridiculous. You know that, right?” Car’s tone was nearly dry enough to pose for Dash’s, and Rachelle hummed a low laugh.

“Sorry now you didn’t let me hire another driver?”

“Yeah…maybe not so much. I don’t know how another driver would put up with you. I’m used to—at least some semblance of this chaos. It’s just not usually happening in the car.”

“Besides, tell me your family’s never given you worse.” Brady offered Car a knowing smile, and a grin curved the edge of her mouth.

“Feels like I’m legally obligated to say ‘no comment.’”

“That’s about what I thought.” Brady settled back in his seat with a huff of laughter, then sobered a little as he glanced toward the back seat again. “You two be careful today, okay? Don’t wear yourself out, Marcus. You’re there to have fun and see your family, not kill yourself trying to help everybody with everything. And watch yourself, Chelle. I don’t know how you do that while relaxing and not stressing at the same time, but—you can figure it out, right?”

“Oh, sure.” The irony in the words ran thick, but Rachelle’s voice stayed soft. “Piece of cake. ’Cause I’m Superwoman, apparently.”

“Nuh-uh.” Grace spoke up suddenly, and Brady’s gaze snapped over to see her shaking her head positively. “’Cause you’re Mighty Midge.”

“Guess you’ve got me there.” Rachelle glanced toward where her sister was hidden behind the balloons with a look that made Brady sure she would have pulled the little girl close for a hug if they weren’t separated by party supplies and her own overwhelming strength. “Too bad I’m not Superwoman—or somebody with flying powers—or I could’ve flown both of you and all this stuff over there and let Brady get on with his day.”

Brady instinctively opened his mouth to protest, but he pulled up short when Grace spoke again.

“Yeah, but Mighty Midge is lots cooler.” The little girl spoke so matter-of-factly that Brady’s heart swelled, and Rachelle blinked hard in his peripheral vision.

“Is she?” The words wobbled a little, but Grace didn’t seem to notice as she smiled sweetly and leaned into the balloon bouquet.

“Uh-huh. Because she’s real.”