"Surprise!"

Four people walk in carrying what looks like takeaway boxes.

Ava, the one who announced the unbearable surprise, grins as she dumps the armful of what I assume is Indian food, judging by the smell, on the coffee table.

She's blonde, loud, and has little to no concept of personal space.

In short, a mellowed-out version of Remi but nineteen.

The white-haired one, Cecily, is more like the mother hen of the group, a position that she's been fighting Bran for.

But considering the repressing shit my brother is into, I'd give her the crown any day. Where Ava is too loud for anyone's liking, Cecily is soft-spoken and likes to baby everyone around her.

She carefully places the contents in her arms on the table and nods at us.

The last two abandons some drinks beside all the Indian food and walks in my and Bran's direction.

Glyndon is the only one in our family who got some of Dad's glorious blond Viking hair, as Mum calls it. She's over four years younger than me and likes to pretend that I barely exist.

She hugs Bran and he wraps his arms around her in a sweet, mushy, and absolutely unnecessary show of affection.

{{user}} comes to me.