Unravelling

Chapter 9 - Catching Up

"I think it's time that I take big boy home now," Josh announces later that evening.

I am currently snuggled up against Jordan's side on one of the sofas in our living room. Josh's announcement startles me and I jump slightly, realising that I must have dozed off. Jordan gently rubs his hand up and down my arm and when I glance up at him, I see that he looks pretty exhausted.

We have had a family dinner to celebrate his safe return home and it has been great fun. Even Will bothered to show up, much to my surprise. I wonder if Alex had to threaten him or if he actually joined voluntarily. I am not quite sure about his and Jordan's relationship, to be honest. I don't think they are very close. Which is kind of understandable, what with Jordan having been gone all these years. Nobody other than me has put a similar amount of effort into staying close with him, apart from my two oldest brothers, of course.

But it is obvious that the younger twins are just as excited as I am to have him back. We have always thought of Jordan as a very cool big brother to have. Because he has been away for so long, he has never come across as much of a parental figure, since he has not really been involved in raising us kids. He is more like a proper big brother than a parent. But there is no question that he clearly has an air of authority surrounding him. Not even argumentative Aidan dares to challenge him – most of the time, anyway.

"What time is it?" Jordan asks, unsuccessfully trying to suppress a yawn.

"Almost nine," Alex replies, smiling understandingly at him.

"It's still early," Jordan claims.

He sits up straight and readjusts his hold on me so that I can lean my head back against his chest.

"You're obviously spent, which is no surprise. Only a day ago, you were in a place that's got a 12-hour time difference to here," Ben says.

"There's no shame in being tired, man," Josh adds. "After that tour, you deserve to sleep for a week, at least."

"I was just doing my job, you know, like all of you guys do yours. No need to make it sound like it was so special."

"Well, the circumstances of your job are certainly a lot more challenging than our daily routines of doing safe work in a safe environment," Sam reminds him. "Alex excluded, of course."

Automatically, my stomach is in knots when Sam's words register with me. I don't like being reminded of the dangers my brothers put themselves in due to their career choices. For the past six years, I have more or less constantly been worrying about Jordan's safety, despite the reassurances from him and my other brothers that nothing bad was going to happen to him. Knowing that Alex puts his life on the line regularly, too, doesn't help. I don't even want to think about what I would do if one of them got hurt or – worse – died.

"What they're trying to say is that you're a hero. And even heroes need their beauty sleep," Luke sums it up with a smirk on his face.

"Don't exaggerate."

It is obvious to me that it makes Jordan uncomfortable to be given so much attention. Although he is one of the most confident people I know, he doesn't like being pushed into the spotlight quite so forcefully.

"So, what's the plan for the weekend?" he asks nobody in particular, clearly attempting to change the topic.

"I've got to go to work tomorrow," Alex replies, pulling a face. "I tried to get the day off, since it will be your first day back, but stuff came up and I have to go in. We'll do something together as a family on Sunday. Unless you have other plans, of course."

"Surprisingly, my calendar is still wide open," Jordan jokes, making us all laugh.

I wonder if he is still in contact with his old friends or if anyone outside our family even knows that he is back? Well, I guess the military people know about it, obviously.