"That'll be 15 dollars." The taxi driver says as he holds his hand out.
I give him the money, step out of the car and get my suitcase from the trunk. I turn around and there it is my childhood home. Right through those doors was my family I haven't seen in years. We used to be inseparable. My siblings were my best friends. But after my mom left us, we all fell apart. No one really knew why she left so my siblings and I just blamed it on each other. All the accusations and resentment built up so as soon as we all turned 18, we moved away. All except my little brother Brian who is still in high school. We left him to stay here in New York with our... dad.
I walk into the house. Everyone I hated a couple of years ago was here. It's just for the weekend I keep telling myself. I look past my relatives and see my older brother and sister Nick and April standing next to Brian holding a picture of my dad. They all looked so grown up.
"Jake!" Brian screams as he runs up and hugs me.
"Hey, Brian how ya been?" I ask.
"I wish Dad could have seen how big you've gotten," Nick exclaims.
"Dad's funeral is tomorrow so you can spend the night in your old room upstairs," April says.
As I bring my bag up to the room I see the marks on the wall we made as kids to track our height and reminisce on the fun times.
I go to my room and take a nice shower. Just what I needed after that long flight from Ohio. I then hear a knock on the door. When I opened it, April was standing there with a big smile on her face. I missed her smile. It was reassuring and always made me feel safe.
"Hey we're all gonna hang out in the backyard you should come. It will be like the old days," she says.
I go outside and all my siblings are sitting around a campfire just hanging out.
"Wow Jake, you finally grew out of your ugly phase," Nick says to me.
I laughed. We talked for hours under the beautiful night sky. The air was crisp and all you can hear is the crackling of the fire and the laughter of old friends catching up.
"Remember when dad set up a tent here and we camped the night," April said.
"And we played monopoly for hours until we gave up and called it a draw," Brian says in excitement. We all laugh. And then it gets silent.
"Do you guys think mom will show up to the funeral?" Brian asks.
"Is that old hag still alive?" Nick jokes.
"Don't talk about her like that. She was dealing with her own problems, that's why she left." Brian says.
"Brian she's not coming back buddy, she doesn't love us enough to show up," Nick says in a comedic tone.
"Stop saying that!". As Brian raised his voice everyone else got quiet. At that moment we all remembered why we left each other.

"Brian please stop waiting for mom, she's moved on. And this is our only night together, do we really want to fight?" April says. She sees a monopoly board and pulls it out. She holds it up in her hand.
"Up for round two? she says as she gestures for us to get closer and play.
We spent all night telling jokes. We lay under the glistening stars until we got tired from rolling the dice.
"We gotta keep up the tradition and call it a draw." Brian chuckles.
We all laugh. For a split second, it felt like I was reliving my childhood. It was almost like my siblings were my best friends again.

***

It was the morning of the funeral. As I put on my black suit Brian comes into my room.
"I don't want to sound cliche but I don't know how to tie a tie," he says.
We laugh.
"Out of everyone, I missed you the most," Brian says as I adjust his tie.
"Aw man, I missed you too," I say as I button up his jacket and dust it out.
It was a gloomy day. Clouds cover any trace of the sun. The funeral was long. I couldn't stop waiting for April to look up at me and give me her reassuring smile to make me feel safe. As the ceremony ends we all group up one last time knowing that we were all going to leave each other soon.
"I guess I'll see you guys at the next funeral." Nick jokes. We all laugh
A tear starts to run down Brian's face.
"Please come back sometime," he cries.
"It was just a joke bud," I say.
"No... you guys left me here. All I had was mom and dad. Well... mom... I guess she never showed up. And last night was the best night ever. I don't have any friends at school. You guys are all I have left now and I don't want to be alone again."
And that's when it hit us. Nick, April, and I did to Brian exactly what mom did to us. We left.
"Brian... you don't ever have to worry about being alone again," Nick says.
"Let's make a pact. We will come to New York once every month. For Brian!" April says.
"Not only for Brian," I say. "We need to stick together because you guys were... are my best friends. Dad would have wanted us to stick together. I always thought I lost my best friends the day mom left. But last night made me realize I never lost you guys. And if I ever feel alone again I will remember last night. That was the night I reunited with my best friends."