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Amelia glanced across the dinner table at Bradley, then Jake. It wasn’t the first time Jake had been over to the house. The Dagger squad stopped in occasionally in the past, Jake included. And she liked him well enough. He was always nice to her, and she knew Bradley really liked him.
But she couldn’t tell if Jake being there meant Bradley got his head out of his ass or not. They certainly weren’t acting any differently from one another. There weren’t any random touches that lingered longer than usual from what she saw. They weren’t making eyes at one another either. However, Jake was dressed up more than any of them were . . . almost as if he was expecting this to be a ‘Meet the family’ type of dinner instead of a regular Thursday night dinner.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but that was the best dinner I ever had,” Jake declared in the lull after everyone finished their plates. “Thank you for letting me enjoy it, Penny my dear.”
“What are you looking at me for?” Amelia’s mom scoffed. “I didn’t cook it. Tom did. Give him your praise.”
Jake straightened instantly, glancing at Pops with a startled look. “Oh, Admiral, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me, Lieutenant. I’m not the one you insulted there.”
“Seriously, guys?” sighed Bradley heavily before he turned to Jake. “Don’t sweat it. You didn’t know. They’re just yanking your chain because they think it’s amusing to see you sweat. They’d do the same thing to Ethan if he said it.”
“Which he wouldn’t have,” Amelia chimed in, deciding to prod Jake. “Because he isn’t so embedded in the whole stereotype BS because we actually get an education in school these days.”
“Amelia,” her mom chided with a frown.
“Think now’s a good moment to do the whole family dinner table topic for tonight, don’t you agree, Ice?” Her dad was always doing his best to keep the peace.
“Family dinner table topic?” Jake repeated, glancing at them puzzled.
Ethan took the reins that time. “It’s where Admiral Kazansky puts out a topic for the night, and we either discuss it or reveal a story about it. It’s a lot of fun sometimes. You learn quite a bit about everyone. The last time I was here the topic was about childhood family vacations.”
“Sometimes the topics spur other topics as you’d imagine,” her mom revealed. “Which keeps the table talking a bit longer than usual. It’s a fun way to connect with each other. If you don’t have anything to share, though, you’re always free to decline.”
“Sounds fun,” Jake declared with a curt nod. “So, what’s the topic tonight, sir?”
“Actually, the topic I originally planned is going to have to be shelved for another time.”
“Why? Was it a knock against Texas in some way, sir?” he joked.
“Actually, it was about ghosts,” replied Pops. “What our thoughts were on them.”
“Oh.”
A feeling of awkwardness settled around them. Amelia understood why Pops was tabling that discussion for another time. It was a heavy subject, not exactly meant for their company tonight.
“I believe in them, sir,” Ethan spoke up. “That those departed stick around at times to make sure we’ll be okay when we need them the most. It’s not that different from angels and God in my mind actually. It’s easier to think like that they’re with us, I think, rather than the alternative.”
Glancing at her boyfriend, Amelia didn’t know what to say exactly.
Jake then continued the topic by saying, “I agree. After losing my brother, it was comforting to think he was still there with me, watching out for me like always. There’d be some little thing that would happen, and I’d just think it was him figuring out how to interact in a way he could, giving me little reminders and whatnot. It helped on the bad nights especially.”
“Dad used to say something similar after Mom passed whenever the clock would chime at random hours and wake us all up from a dead sleep. Like, we knew it was broken. It had been since I could remember, but it was nice to think she was still with us whenever I’d hear that.” Ethan’s eyes then glanced sideways to her. “What about you? What do you think about ghosts?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s pretty naïve of us to say definitively that it’s impossible when centuries ago we first believed the world was flat.”
“What? You mean it’s not?” feigned Jake, earning a few laughs.
“But do I believe that people who passed on stick around? I don’t know. I guess it depends on the person. Like, Dad definitely would. He’d haunt our asses every chance he could get.”
“You better believe it, too, Tomcat,” her dad chuckled.
“But do I think the same would be said about Grandpa Jack? No. He always goes on about how he knows we’ll be okay now with Dad and Pops. That he doesn’t need to worry about us anymore. So, I guess I’m in the camp of if the dead had unfinished business, yeah. But otherwise, no. Otherwise, we’d be having a global cool down instead of warm up with all the dead people roaming around out of sight.”
“I think you’re right, sweetie. I think Dad would move on pretty quickly to see my mother again. Me, though . . . I’d be one who wouldn’t want to let go, I think,” her mom revealed quietly. “I’d want to see you grow up, see your whole life.”
“Well, could you promise to visit Dad or Pops when I’m with Ethan so you can get grandbabies at least?” Amelia joked, snickering at her boyfriend’s instant red face. She loved teasing him because he was so easy to fluster.
“Hilarious, sweetie.”
Her dad then sighed heavily, deciding it was his turn to go next. “I think we all know I’m a firm believer. There are special places where it’s easier to feel their love with me than others. And after I lost Goose . . . then Carole, I didn’t want to lose them entirely, so I kept up with talking to them. I used to be so desperate to hear back from either of them afterwards. To hear them one more time. Eventually, though, I realized that they lived on in me. That they left pieces of them inside me that I’ll carry with me forever. And that helped a bit. That’s not to say I dealt with my trauma in any shape or form healthily because I know I didn’t. But imagining them around sometimes was enough to get through some days.”
Amelia glanced at Bradley expectantly next.
“I’m going to have to pass tonight,” he answered.
She thought about calling him out on his non-answer but decided against it, recognizing that she couldn’t force him to talk if he didn’t want to. She just hoped he understood that they were all there for him, no matter what. He wasn't alone anymore.