The barbecue slowly broke into smaller groups as the evening stretched on.
Jay and Phil stayed near the grill, arguing about steak temperatures.
Cam tried convincing Mitchell that thed centerpieces were "essential."
Luke nearly slipped into the pool attempting what he called "parkour."
Nobody reacted with real concern.
That probably said enough about this family already.
Gael sat near the edge of the pool beside Haley while music drifted softly through the backyard.
String lights reflected across the water.
Glasses clinked sowhere near the patio.
Conversations overlapped lazily in the warm night air.
Haley rested against his shoulder, one leg thrown loosely across his while absently stealing strawberries from the plate between them.
"You're losing food privileges," he said.
"You say that every ti."
"Because you commit the sa cris repeatedly."
"That's consistency."
Across the yard, Manny and Alex had sohow turned a casual conversation into a debate serious enough that Jay was now listening with visible disappointnt in both of them.
"See?" Haley pointed with a strawberry. "This is why I chose beauty over academics."
"You failed biology."
"That was personal growth."
Gael laughed quietly while Haley grinned against his shoulder.
Then Gloria appeared beside them carrying another glass of wine.
"There you are," she said dramatically. "Everybody abandoned for boring conversations."
"That sounds impossible," Gael replied.
Gloria ignored him and stole one of Haley's strawberries instead.
"Hey!"
"You inherited selfishness from your mother."
"I learned from a professional."
Gloria looked pleased by that.
She stayed talking with them for a few minutes:
teasing Haley,
complaining about Jay pretending to hate reality TV while secretly watching it,
lightly touching Gael's arm whenever she laughed at sothing.
Easy.
Confident.
Natural for her.
At one point, Claire crossed the backyard carrying empty plates toward the patio table.
She paused beside them briefly.
"Luke's banned from soda for the rest of the night," she announced.
"Dictatorship," Luke yelled instantly from the other side of the yard.
"You tried to jump over patio furniture!"
"It was parkour."
Claire rolled her eyes before looking toward Gael.
"Can you hand that towel?"
He passed it over before she could even finish her sentence.
"Thanks."
Claire headed back toward the patio while Gloria watched the exchange quietly over the rim of her wine glass.
Then she smiled slightly to herself and wandered off toward Jay again without saying anything.
The music shifted slower as the night deepened around them.
Soone turned on the pool lights.
Cam started singing along badly to an old song.
Phil attempted harmonizing and got imdiately yelled at by Mitchell.
"You know what my favorite thing about this family is?" Haley asked softly.
Gael glanced down at her.
"That everyone survives despite obvious odds?" "That nobody stays normal for long."
"It's true."
She tilted her head back slightly to look up at him.
"When you first t us, you used to act all mysterious and observant."
"That sounds like ."
"You literally studied people before talking."
Haley smiled faintly.
"Now you argue with my dad about grill temperatures."
"That's character developnt."
"That's dostication."
He laughed under his breath while she stole another strawberry imdiately afterward.
Across the yard, Claire looked over again during conversation with Mitchell.
This ti, when she noticed Gael catching it, she just lifted her wine glass slightly in acknowledgnt before turning back to the conversation.
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