Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Guess Who’s Back (Part 6)

Amanda was the first to respond to Samantha's suggestion by raising her hand and yelling, "count me in, I'm famished." After she said this, Don just nodded and said, "me too."

After answering, he looked toward Summer who was still silent. Since she was the only yet to answer, all eyes were on her again. She didn't like this at all and just muttered, "yea sure."

The scene was far from the perfect vision Samantha had in mind for her son's welcome celebration but it was going well enough so she continued to force a smile as walked over toward the outside sitting arrangement. As she did so, she called out to Amanda, "Amanda, mind giving me a hand with the serving?"

Amanda took a final swig from her bottle before handing it to Don as she accepted Samantha's request. "Sure thing." She then walked over and the two began to properly arrange the food on the table along with drinks and snacks.

Summer stood awkwardly in the same position and just crossed her arms while looking around the yard. From what Don could gather from the information he had studied, the old Don and Summer had a sort of love/hate relationship. They could be at each other's throats one day but they were pretty much inseparable most days.

'It doesn't look like she'll approach me on her own. So the question is, should I approach her? And if so what should I even say?' Don asked himself as he took a quick sip of the beer he was still nursing.

After giving it a moments thought, Don also took a final swig from his bottle before standing and walking toward Summer. This action caused both Amanda and Samantha to look his way curiously as they continued to serve.

'He's coming towards? Why? What does he want to say?' Summer became extremely anxious as she heard his footsteps. She couldn't help but slightly raise her head in the next moment to confirm and sure enough he was making his way toward her.

Summer was currently biting her lip nervously under the face mask she wore but managed to keep her gaze fixated on Don. He came to stop about an arms length away from her before tilting his head and looking at her.

Both Samantha and Amanda were looking on while trying their hardest not to seem too obvious.

'Why's he just looking at me? Fuck, what do I say?' Summer worriedly thought. But before she could say anything, Don, with the help of a little beer confidence, spoke first. "I missed you little sis."

"!!!"

Summer's eyes immediately widened the moment she heard Don utter those words. Samantha was equally surprised while Amanda let out an audible, "awww."

Summer, unsure how to reply, lowered her head and began to shyly move her leg while uttering, "oh…" in a very low tone.

"I'm guessing you didn't miss me much huh, I don't blame y-." Before Don could begin his mind games, Summer cut him off.

"I never said that!" She yelled out, finally raising her head again and looking at Don with frown.

"I know, but I wanted to hear you say it." Don replied with a small smile, trying to lighten the otherwise awkward mood with a bit of sibling banter.

Amanda laughed loudly at this exchange. "*Haha* He got you there Summer."

'Fuck why did I say that! This jerk led me on.' Summer bit down on her lip harder and felt like she was going to die of embarrassment.

"Well?" Don asked, causing Summer to look at him with confusion. "W-well what? You've had your laugh, ha ha." She sarcastically answered before crossing her arms.

Don maintained his smile and replied, "well I still haven't heard you say you missed me. Mom said it, Aunt Amanda said and now it's your turn."

Samantha's expression softened and she showed a genuine smile as she watched this exchange. For the first time it felt like the tense atmosphere had actually disappeared completely.

'Is he being serious?' Summer was genuinely lost on how to react to this. Her mother's words left a deep impact on her and because of them, the initial anger she felt toward Don was gone, replaced by doubt, guilt and fear.

"Go ahead… if you want… I don't care." Summer hesitantly answered while keeping her hands stiffly by her sides and her head lowered.

Don maintained the small smile he had on his face and closed the distance between them before embracing her. Summer was surprised to feel his hands around her neck. And before she could make sense of it or react, Don gently placed one hand on the back of her head and pulled her into his chest.

"!!" Summer became even more stiff but she didn't protest his hug.

She could feel herself tearing up again and she tried her hardest to hold back the tears. 'Don't you dare cry for him Summer, you're still mad at him, at mom…' she tried to convince herself. But she ultimately found herself relaxing in Don's embrace.

"I'm still mad at you..." She muttered, loud enough for Don to hear. "But I did miss-but I guess it's good- it's okay that you're back."

'Seems like that's the most I'll get from her for now. Beats the awkward atmosphere from before.' Don didn't mind the lack of excitement or emotion from Summer. So long as there was no tension or bad blood, he'd be able to assimilate into this new life of his more smoothly.

"Fair enough." Don muttered before breaking the hug.

"Yea, there's your hug. Now excuse me." Once she was let go, Summer immediately turned away from Don and rushed to the door.

"Summer? Where are you going?" Samantha worriedly asked, thinking she was upset again.

"Geez, I'm just going to the bathroom!" She yelled out before disappearing behind the door and slamming it behind her.

Amanda just laughed and shook her head. "I haven't seen her this flustered since me and her had "the" talk."

Samantha relaxed again now that her worries had been cleared and she looked toward Don with a smile. "I guess she really just missed her big brother."

Amanda finished serving her side of the table and placed her hands on hips while looking at Don. "Yea, we all did. Now, that's enough hugs and kisses, let's eat!" Searᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Samantha let out a helpless sigh but showed a sincere smile as she also finished serving her side of the table. Don walked over to the table and decided to entertain Amanda's cheeky remarks as they were the best way to lighten the mood and hopefully avoid a serious topic during the meal.

"What kisses? I didn't get any?" Don replied to Amanda while showing a bewildered look. Amanda, without even needing to think about it was more than willing to keep joking with Don.

"Aww, you poor thing. C'mere and let your dear old auntie give you a big wet kiss" Amanda offered while making exaggerated smooching noises.

"Uh, maybe next time?" Don jokingly refused as he proceeded to take a seat.

Amanda took the seat to his right whereas Samantha took the one to his left, shaking her head at her sister's shenanigans. "Oh leave the boy alone Amanda, he's too old for that."

"Too old for what?" At that moment, Summer came back, and immediately asked this as she walked over to take a seat as well.

She paused to look at both aunt Amanda and her mother before doing so, a frown appearing under the mask she wore. 'Of course no one asked if I wanted to sit next to him. Whatever, see if I care.'

Summer sat down aggressively before starting to place food onto her plate.

The table had servings of roasted chicken, vegetables, rice, egg salad, sausages, pork kebabs, fries and mashed potatoes.

As she taking some from each dish, Amanda finally answered her. "Donnie here says he's too old to get kisses from his favorite auntie."

"Gross." Summer quickly answered, her tone a bit more angry like usual again. 'What next? Is she going to ask him to share a bed? Attention whore much?'

Aunt Amanda wasn't put off by Summer's response and instead just used it against her. "Bold words from someone who had her first kiss with Donnie."

"!!*cough* *cough* T-that doesn't count! We were kids and- argh! Why am I even trying to explain to you." Summer just huffed and angrily put a bit more food on her plate before covering it.

This prompted her mother to ask, "aren't you eating?"

"I'll eat later. I already ate before coming here." Summer quickly explained.

Don felt this was a good opportunity to learn a bit more about everyone, starting with Summer, who he proceeded to ask, "well at least your boyfriend isn't a complete ass then if he took you to eat."

Summer immediately became a bit flustered before slamming the table with both her hands. "He's not my boyfriend!! None of those two are! And he's not an ass, he was just standing up for me."

Samantha was clearly about to say something to Summer but Don knew that would only spark an argument so he spoke up first.

"Is that so? Well next time you see him tell him to talk to mom with respect, especially in her house." Don took on a slightly serious tone as he said this and Samantha looked at him with a softened expression.

Summer frowned and was about to say something but Don continued on to say, "but also tell your friends thanks for looking out for you while I was away." Don added more softly, feigning a bit of sadness before he began selecting from the dishes as well.

Don left no room for Summer to argue with him. Instead his words left her curious and she summoned the courage to ask the question Don was looking least forward to addressing.

"After you left… where did you go?"