Chapter Text
Chad was sitting in the same chair he’d been in before, haloed by the light above the table and a meatball sub in his hands.
“I can’t believe you took the biggest one,” Alex said, grabbing the biggest one that was still on the serving plate. It looked delicious.
“First come, first serve,” Chad said, taking a massive bite from the sandwich. For a moment, it was like they were really brothers again.
Could they be?
“Serves you right, Alex,” Morgan said, manifesting at Alex’s elbow and snagging a sandwich of their own. “You always take the biggest one.”
“Your point?” Alex asked, grinning.
“What would everyone like to drink?” Mom asked, having made her way into the room last and being ever the hostess.
“Can I have some wine, Mom?”
“I’ll be good with a root beer, Mrs. Stewart.”
“Could I get a Coke?”
They all said their replies at once— save for Dad— but Mom seemed to understand them all. She just smiled and headed into the kitchen.
The table was quiet for a moment, no one eating just yet. It would’ve been rude to start dinner without Mom.
Mom came back out, five drinks hovering in the air ahead of her.
Chad seemed slightly startled by it, but he was the only one who had never seen Mom actually using her powers.
Alex snagged his glass of wine out of the air, and Morgan did the same with their beer. Dad and Chad’s drinks floated down onto the table.
Finally, Mom sat down and claimed her own sandwich.
That was the only cue Alex needed to start eating. They dove right into that sandwich, cherishing each bite. There was nothing like one of Mom’s home cooked meals.
Alex heard Dad strike up a conversation with Morgan about the farmer’s market, heard Mom ask Chad if he liked his food, and he felt. . . Whole.
This was his family. His family was whole again.