6. Bennett

After taking a bus, a ferry, another bus, a tiny terrifying plane, and then a bigger one that didn't exactly spell relaxation because I had chosen to fly coach, I was finally in an Uber on my way home. And Jesus, I was exhausted.

As the silver sedan that had picked me up from the airport drove through familiar hometown streets, I was armed with all of my belongings—admittedly not a lot, as I'd been providing healthcare to people in need in the developing world for the past year and that didn't lend itself to a lot of shopping—and a healthy heap of anxiety. Of course I was glad to be home, to see my family after a long separation. But I was a little anxious to see Logan, Nate, and Dad again after all this time away, too. Maybe it was some leftover worry from years ago, when Dwight took me in and I worried I'd never feel comfortable in this new family.

That worry had turned out to be unfounded, obviously. But now there was a new one to contend with. Never once in all the years since Dwight McDonald had lovingly pulled me into his cadre of sons had he ever been as cryptic as he'd been over the phone when we last spoke. My logical brain didn't do well with too many possibilities to mull through, and I certainly wasn't one for "surprises". The basic facts of my life were surprising enough.

I wasn't sure if you could really call losing both of my parents in a car accident and having to be taken in by their lifelong best friend something as positive as "surprising", but it definitely was destabilizing, even years after the fact.

Not that I was ungrateful for all the good surprises that had come out of that tragedy. It was because of that event and Dwight's longtime friendship with my biological parents that I now had him and my foster brothers. And without them, I wouldn't have been able to survive everything I'd done since that first day when my dad's best friend had offered to take me in.

For the past several years, I'd been in a whirlwind of hard work and miraculous experiences that made all the surprises worth it. From making it through college despite some poorly-timed quarter-life crises, to getting through med school and part of my residency before I was offered the chance to provide healthcare in Sierra Leone, to the adventure and heartbreak and beautiful fulfillment of helping underserved communities, I'd been incredibly lucky, despite a rough start in life.

That rough start had been part of the draw of my charity work. I'd wanted some distance from the life I had in the States, one that was so filled with sadness and painful memories even with the efforts my family had made to make me feel safe and welcome. It was a great career opportunity, but I'd really been more looking for adventure in accepting a role with the nonprofit organization I'd worked with overseas.

And maybe there was something else motivating me, too. Some mixture of a drive to make my parents proud—my deceased biological ones and my foster dad alike—and a need to stay away from Dwight's lingering guilt.

"Is this the house?" my Uber driver piped up, helping me break out of my head.

My eyes focused on the familiar street, and it took me a minute to gather my thoughts enough to say, "No, the next house down. Yeah, with the SUV out front."

I climbed out of the car and barely had time to tap the five-star rating on my phone screen before Dwight came rushing out of the house, beaming at me in that very dad-like way he had.

"There he is! My prodigal son, back at last!" He was laughing as he met me on the lawn, wrapping me into a big hug.

"Good to see you, Dad," I supplied automatically. He beamed at me as he started to help me with my luggage, leading me into the house.

It was the first time I'd called him Dad in a while, since we hadn't been able to talk much while I was out of the country. Usually, he was Dwight, or sometimes just a respectful "sir" that my biological parents had ingrained in me when I still just knew him as a close family friend. I'd started to call him Dad on occasion over the years, accepting the role he'd stepped into so willingly, but there was still some tension there, for me at least. Despite the love and gratitude I had for Dwight, I remembered my real dad too well to fully accept a new one. But Dwight McDonald was a good man and always treated me with just as much love and care as he gave my two foster brothers, and now he was kind enough to let me stay in his house again after an extended absence. At least until I figured out my next steps.

"It's so good to see you, Benny," my foster father gushed once he'd dutifully carried all of my luggage to the now-guest room that used to be mine. "I want to hear all about your adventures as soon as you're ready to tell them, but first, are you hungry? I've got leftover enchiladas in the kitchen—your favorite."

"That sounds great," I told him as my stomach rumbled as if on cue, and I followed him back through the spacious, bright home to the kitchen.

He happily chatted as he prepared my food for me, asking about my flight and telling me about how excited Logan and Nate were to have me back in town. It wasn't until I was shoveling microwaved Mexican food into my gaping maw like a madman that I started to sense there was something Dwight wasn't telling me. I made sure to chew and swallow my third heaping bite before I slowed down enough to ask him, "What's up with you? Anything new?"

Of course, I hadn't forgotten the surprise he'd hinted at when we last spoke, but I had downplayed it enough in my jetlagged brain that it had become something insignificant, somehow. That must have been why his next words could have knocked me straight off the stylish barstool I was sitting on.

"Well, yes, there is one fairly new development." He lifted his left hand, and I blinked in confusion for a second. He blurted out, "I got hitched!"

Sure enough, there was a plain gold band on his third finger. I was usually observant enough to notice that kind of thing. I blamed the many hours of travel.

"That's…." I started, then cleared my throat. "That's great, Dw—Dad. Who is she? Someone I'd know?"

"No, but you'll know her soon," he assured me. "Oh, you're gonna love her, Benny. Her name is Jodie." He practically had hearts in his eyes as he heaved a dreamy sigh. "She's moving in here soon. It's been so long since this house has had a woman's touch."

"That's… great," I repeated, though my brain was struggling to adapt to all of this. As far as I knew, Dwight hadn't even dated in the many years since his first wife, Logan's mother, died. And now he had a whole new wife. And she was… moving in?

He seemed to notice my reaction before I even registered having it. "Oh, don't worry, bud. There's plenty of room for you to stay here, too. It's just Jodie moving in, since her daughter and granddaughter are going to stay at the house they all live in now."

"I don't want to… intrude," I told him, even though I really had nowhere else to go at the moment. I hadn't exactly been apartment hunting while I was helping children with cholera. I knew it was a sentiment he wouldn't love, since he'd never quite gotten over the difficulties I'd had in accepting him and his other sons as my true family. It was just the resistance to change I'd always exhibited, even before life had thrust such a huge change on me with zero warning when I was just a scared adolescent.

And now there were even more new family members to adjust to years after the fact. The exhaustion I already felt threatened to heighten further.

"You could never intrude, Benny. You're family."

"But you're newlyweds," I retorted.

"Oh, pfft," my dad said, waving a hand at me. "Newlyweds, shmewlyweds."

"I don't have any other arrangements made yet," I told him as if he hadn't spoken, "but I'm going to figure something out soon. You and Jodie will enjoy some privacy, and I have to leave the nest eventually."

Maybe Logan or Nate could take me in while I looked for a new job, a place of my own, some stability I could count on.

"Well, speaking of my little wife…" Dwight shifted gears with a glint in his eye. "She and her granddaughter are just out back, enjoying the nice weather while little miss's mom's at work. You up to a little introduction, or would you rather wait until you've slept off that jetlag?"

I'd rather wait until I had a chance to get my feet back underneath me, but it might be another year before I felt truly settled. So, I stifled a sigh, let it turn into a yawn, and told my dad, "Yeah, no, it's fine. I can meet them now. Briefly."

I followed him out to the back patio, where an attractive older woman was seated in an Adirondack chair, her graying hair tied back in a ponytail. The second my dad stepped outside, her whole face lit up, kind and somehow familiar, though I was sure we'd never met before. My new stepmother, Jodie, came to greet her husband with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then she turned to me.

"And this must be Bennett!" she exclaimed. She came over to hug me, then, and when she pulled back from the contact, she looked at my dad again like he hung the moon. "Oh, he's so handsome. You're blessed with three beautiful sons, honey."

I resisted the urge to point out that only one of Dwight's sons was "beautiful" because of his DNA. Surely, this woman knew that already if she'd agreed to be tethered to my dad for life.

"Blessed is right," Dwight echoed her. He turned toward the yard, and I followed his gaze to see a small blonde child sitting cross-legged on the grass.

"Ella!" Jodie called to her, and the little girl twisted around to see us. "Come say hi to Bennett!"

I watched the little girl gather her toys from the grass. Then she carefully dusted the stray blades of grass from her pants with a dutiful focus that made me crack a sleepy smile. I'd been the same type when I was a kid, diligent and meticulous even in play.

She bounded onto the porch like any other happy, carefree child, though. I guessed she was five or six, probably school-aged but barely. She was much more in line with the regular developmental milestones than a lot of the malnourished, sick children I'd worked with in Sierra Leone, and the thought sent a pang through my heart, tenderness for her and for the kids I'd tried to help.

Her grandmother opened her arms, and the little girl ran into them, tossing her toys aside and grabbing a seemingly quick hug that lingered as she moved to the side. She was still hanging onto my new stepmother like a little barnacle when we were introduced.

"Ella, hon, this is Dwight's youngest son, Bennett."

"The doctor," the small voice piped up.

"Yes! Very good." Jodie ruffled the head of blond-brown curls that still clung to her side. The girl seemed hesitant about meeting a stranger, or at least about meeting me. "Bennett, this is Ella, my granddaughter."

"Hi, Ella," I said, coming closer. "I'm your new, uh… step-uncle, I guess."

Ella's face crinkled in confusion. "That's not real."

"It can be," I countered. Going back into doctor mode on instinct, I came to kneel in front of her, bringing our faces about level. "Families can look all kinds of different ways. Like your family was you, your mom, and your grandma?—"

"Grammy," both of them corrected.

"Your Grammy, then. The three of you are a family, even if it's not the same as a mom, a dad, and a kiddo."

"I know," she said, gaining confidence now. "Hector at school has two moms. And Adrian lives with his big brother."

"You must be pretty smart," I mused, part in an attempt to win her over, but just as much in genuine appreciation. I looked at the collection of toys she'd allowed to fall onto the deck, then. "Are these bugs?"

"Insects," Ella corrected.

"Right. Apologies."

"I'm gonna be an entomologist. That's like a doctor, but about bugs."

"Pretty cool. I like being a doctor," I told her, and I realized I saw another glimpse of my childhood self when I truly noticed her green eyes, so similar to mine, for the first time.

"Are you good at it?" she asked, and both of the grownups on the porch started to react as if she were being rude to a fellow child and potential friend, but I stopped them from interfering. "I like to think I'm a good doctor," I answered truthfully. "And I know we just met, Ella, but since you asked me that question, I have a feeling you'll be a really good one, too."

Her green eyes sparkled when she smiled—and hey, that was another thing we had in common.