Someone was pissed.

At least that was the conclusion Em came to as another screech came from the front rooms. As she sat in the library waiting for Nick, Cady and Bas to finish unpacking, she’d heard the front door open. The first of a series of screams had echoed down the hall seconds later, announcing that her goddaughter Rosy was not happy. As Em closed in on the sound, the decibels increased until she came to a frazzled looking Libby holding her daughter in one arm while trying to extract an object from the baby bag hanging from her opposite shoulder.

Em opened her mouth to offer her friend some help, but feet sounded on the stairs and Nick beat her to it. Within moments, he’d swooped his niece out of her mother’s arms and cradled her against his chest. As soon as he began to coo down at  the infant, her screams began to quiet and with a few hiccups stopped. Em didn’t know what was funnier; that Nick’s touch extending to females in diapers or the clear look of relief on Libby’s face. Calling it a draw, she stepped forward and said hello to her friend with a quick hug.

Libby had only been the mother of an infant for three and a half months and she’d transformed in that time. When Em had first seen Libby, she’d thought her plain. Long red hair, a face where her eyes were too big for her nose and dwarfed by her mouth. She’d seemed tall, awkward and gawky and for the life of her, Em had no idea why Deacon, an admitted skirt chaser, had brought the girl home for the summer his junior year. But then she’d gotten a chance to know the younger woman as she spent time around the house and just like a rose she bloomed.

By the time Deacon had proposed, Em considered his future bride one of her closest friends. She’d been in their wedding and when they’d found out that they were having a baby she’d been thrilled to have Libby ask her to be godmother. She hadn’t thought it possible, but having her friend bestow the honor had made them even closer. She could take anything to Libby and get help. Which was exactly what she intended to do once they were alone.

The two younger Beckenbach siblings came trudging in with suitcases and bags in hand as Bas descended from upstairs. All at once, it was officially a Beckenbach holiday. All four brothers were making noise. Deacon was gripping about how much his wife had brought; Casper ordered him to move out of the doorway as Nick continued appeasing his niece and Bas tried to offer his help. All were talking at once, none were listening to the other and it wasn’t until Em let out an earsplitting whistle that the streams of conversations all came to a halt.

Before the shock could wear off, Em sent Nick and baby Rosy into the living room, told Deacon to hand over some bags to Nick and then for the brothers to get the bags to their rooms.Used to Em’s charge taking, and quietly grateful for it, they all moved to follow her directives. Soon she and Libby here left standing in the foyer alone. The latter made sure that her brother-in-law and daughter were out of earshot before grabbing her friend’s hand and quietly demanding “So what’s she like?”

There was no question who the ‘she’ in question was. Libby had been the first one to call and tell her that Nick was bringing home a ‘friend’ for the party. She’d had enough experience of her own in Nick speech to know what that translated to.

“Blond, pretty and not a stick figure.”

Libby’s brown eyes doubled in size. “No way. Do you mean that Nick actually brought home a respectable normal girl?”

“Shocking isn’t it?”

“And how are you? Upset?” Her friend scrutinized her face carefully for any signs of emotion.

“I’m fine. I’ve got a project, but we’ll have to talk later.” Casper came thundering down the staircase. Stepping away from Libby, Em found herself being scooped into a hug by the younger man. They hadn’t seen each other since Casper had come home for Christmas break, so it was good to see the man she considered to be her younger brother.

Habit prompted her to ask him if he was hungry and Casper grinned. The fourteen year old she’d dropped off at the freshman dance twinkled at her, playing his charm card. It didn’t matter that Cas was over six foot, a year away from his degree in Political Science and able to drink. The youngest of the brothers, Casper had been associated with most of her responsibilities when she’d started the job. In between giving him rides to school, picking him up from lacrosse practice and everything in between, they’d bonded tightly. His brother’s liked to tease Casper he was ‘Emmy’s baby’, but neither he nor she were ashamed. Her baby was hungry and her feet were already in motion for the kitchen.

Soon as the fridge door opened, the others found their ways to the kitchen like moths to a flame. Em felt sorry for Cady as she was the last to appear in a room full of Backenbach curiosity. As the introductions were made Em could see Cady sizing up the siblings for their similarities. Nick and Cas shared their mother’s blondness; Deacon and Bas had the same eyes and all four brothers loomed over her small stature. To her credit, the other woman smiled the entire time though her nervousness was clear. Even so when Em announced that sandwiches were ready, relief clearly reflected on her face as the brothers abandoned their position in order to eat. An easy smile of reassurance was what she gave in response before distracting herself by asking what everyone wanted to do with the rest of their day.

When Nick suggested they all take Cady on a hike and show her the highlights of the property Em was surprised when that itinerary was set with no real debate. They had several hours before the rest of their party would be there, so killing it outdoors in the sun sounded fine to her but Bas hated outdoorsy activities. Instead of saying anything, he stayed seated at the kitchen counter, saying nothing. When Nick had asked if it was okay with him, Bas had simply given a shrug of indifference. Libby noticed it too, exchanging a look Em wordlessly before suggesting that maybe he wanted to stay at the house with the baby while everyone else hiked. Bas was crazy about Rosy and usually the suggestion of him even holding her would have been met with enthusiasm, but he simply agreed that would be fine.

As everyone split to quickly change for hiking, Em thought she’d take a moment to see if Bas was fine. Before she could even get the chance, he’d taken Rosy from the room like the hounds of hell were nipping at his feet leaving his friend to wonder was there something wrong with him.