Kyle...

I watched the buildings and trees as we passed by, taking in the new environment. Even though this was where my mother grew up, it was my first time being in Maine. There were some similarities to DC, but it was definitely a different feel from New York, where I grew up.

Anthony had picked me up from the airport after some important meeting he had and he was now showing me around the area. Falmouth seemed to be one of the wealthiest places in Maine. How did my grandmother afford to live here as a single parent?

"And that's the high school we went to," he said, pointing to a building as we drove by it. "Had a lot of good times there."

In front of the school was a sign that said "Home of the Crimson Bears!", with a red Bear in costume on it.

"That's your team right?" I asked, remembering that he told me he used to play football for his high school.

"It is," he confirmed, "And I was a damn good player too."

"How good?" I asked, my interest had peaked. I've heard him mention it before, but he never went in depth.

"I had scouts calling my coach because they heard of me. I had sooo many scholarship offers from colleges I didn't know what to do with them," he said, seemingly lost in a happy memory.

"So you played in college too?" I asked, hoping it would be another thing we shared in common.

He sighed and seemed uncomfortable. Was this a hard topic to talk about?

"No, I didn't," he answered. "I was a Young, and our calling is politics and serving our country, not football," he said last bit annoyed. Looks like someone wasn't as happy with that life choice.

I didn't inquire any more, and the limo stayed silent for a good bit. But then his face lit up again when we drove past a park.

"Your mom and I used to sneak out here to be together all the time," he smiled, "We had this special tree that we used to sit under with our initials carved into it."

The few times my mother spoke of Anthony, there was always obvious pain in her face and voice. Thinking of him did not bring her any joy and she often spoke as if she wished she could forget.

But here was Anthony, talking about my mother, and there was a certain glow to his face. I have only been in contact with him for a few weeks, but I've never seen him react to anything or anyone like this.

I watched the glow fade into guilt. He was probably remembering that he ditched her to raise her kid without a dad.

He continued to point out significant places, a lot of which involved my mom. I had no idea that they were this close. Yeah, they had a whole child together, but the fact that he walked away gave me the impression that they weren't really in love. The stories he was telling me said otherwise.

After our little tour was done, we headed to his parents' house, which is where his family lived. I took note that the house wasn't too far from the park. It made sense why it was an easy place to sneak off to.

We arrived at a large black gate and within seconds it opened up to let us in. What I saw was not what I expected. The brick driveway was well-kept, and the house looked amazing, but it was small compared to what I was used to at my parents' house. It was probably best that I kept that to myself.

Once the limo was parked, I stepped out with my backpack, taking a look around.

"Welcome back Mr. Young," the large balding older white man that was at the gate came walking up the driveway, "I hope the conference was great."

"It was annoying but productive," he answered before calling me over to his side. "Rick, I'd like you to meet my son Kyle Wright," he said.

The old man smiled widely at me. "It's great to finally meet you, Kyle," he said, "You know I remember your mother."

"You do?" I asked.

"Mhm," he nodded. "She was such a polite, smart young woman. Was always so nice to me when she stopped by. Why your father dropped the ball on that one, I had no idea."

I chuckled while Anthony shook his head.

"You know exactly why," he said.

"That I do," Rrick answered the humor that was there now gone. A dark cloud seemed to loom over him. He then turned to me, his face as sincere as it could be. "I'm really happy that you're finally here."

"Thanks," I said.

"Let's go inside, and I'll introduce you to everyone else," Anthony said before turning and leading me inside down the brick path and through the double doors.

"We're here," he called out.

He led me through the foyer and into the living room area. The house looked pristine, decked out in almost all white furniture, with random greens and browns. I could hear my mom's petty voice in my head judging everything she saw.

Bridgette appeared from around the corner smiling widely.

"Kyle, welcome!" She said before pulling me into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Bridgette," I gave a small hug back.

"How was the flight?" She asked after pulling away.

"It was amazing," I said, "Thanks for the first-class tickets."

"No problem."

Three more people entered the room and they didn't seem as excited as Bridgette to see me.

"Kyle, this is my son, your brother, Aaron," he introduced the teen standing next to his wife.

"Hey," the boy said dryly at me.

"Hey," I gave a small wave.

"And these are my parents, Quinton and Sarah," he pointed to the older interracial couple standing behind the mother and son.

"Nice to meet you, son," the man said with a forced smile, his wife kept quiet.

"Nice to meet you guys too," I said. "I'm really looking forward to spending time here and getting to know everyone."

"We are too," Bridgette said, but she may be talking only about herself.

Aaron was definitely judging me as he looked over my outfit. I resisted the urge to look down at myself and fix anything out of place.

Quinton wasn't as excited as his daughter-in-law but he seemed somewhat welcoming, his wife on the other hand did not look very pleased. She gave the same judging looks as her grandson but it seemed more intense, like she hated me for some reason.

"Why don't your father and I show you to your room?" Bridgette said before she and Anthony led me down a hallway and up some stairs. We walked down another well-decorated hallway, passing some doors before we came to a stop at the one on the far end. She unlocked the door and allowed me to walk in.

The theme for this room was blue, my favorite color. Did they somehow know that? The walls, bedsheets, and carpet were in all different shades of blue. Even the dressers were a light shade of blue.

"Looks great," I said, "You know my favorite color is blue?."

Bridgette's eyes widened in surprise then turned to her husband with a smile.

"What?" I asked.

"That's my favorite color too," Anthony said. "This was actually my room. Once my parents gave me reign over what it looked like, I chose to make everything blue. Is it a bit extra? Sure. But it was my favorite color, so I didn't care."

"I wouldn't care either," I said, "I wish my mom had let me do this."

"She hated this room so she probably wouldn't have let you do it," he chuckled.

"Well, you get yourself settled in. Once you're done you can join us for dinner downstairs," Bridgette said.

I simply nodded and the two left me alone. I explored the room a bit, getting myself acquainted with everything. I found the bathroom, and it was the only thing here that didn't have a speck of blue in it.

Once I started unpacking, I grabbed my phone and entered the "Daddy Issues" group chat that Paxon created, and started a video call. Within seconds they both answered the phone.

"Hey man," Paxon, who was somewhere in his apartment, said, while Myles, at his job desk, gave a small wave.

"Hey, just wanted to let y'all know I'm here," I said.

That wasn't the only reason why. Part of me was freaking out about everything, and I needed my boys to help me take it down a notch.

"How's it going so far?" Myles asked.

"Uh, kinda ok," I said.

"Kinda?" Pax questioned.

"Well, the flight in first class was great. Anthony picked me up in some limo and he showed me around. It was actually cool seeing where my mom grew up," I said, "Then we got to the house and..." I made an uncomfortable face.

"They're horrible aren't they?" Myles asked.

"Bridgette was cool, as always. She seemed like the only one who was truly excited that I was here."

"Damn," I heard Paxon whisper.

"His son said a dry-ass "hi". His mother didn't even greet me. At least his dad had enough decency to force a smile and say something."

"This is gonna be bad," Myles said, "See why I said you shouldn't have gone there?"

"They all just met each other Myles, give them a minute," Paxon defended.

He was right, this was a very first time meeting. I at least had to get to know them and give them a chance to get to know me.

"Pax is right, I'm just gonna wait it out and see," I said.

"If you say so," Myles raised his hand.

We talked some more for a few minutes and then I left the room and went down to dinner.

It took me a while to find the dining room, but once I was there, Bridgette directed me to sit next to Anthony, while Arron sat next to her. His mother and father sat at the heads of the table.

It didn't take long for the maids to come in and drop plates of steak and potatoes in front of us. They had maids? I hope they're as cool as the ones at Grandma Debra's house.

"I hope you like steak," Bridgette said.

"I do," I said before digging in.

"You've had steak before?" Aaron asked.

The question took me off guard. Why would I not have had steak before?

"Yeah," I simply answered.

As we ate, conversations continued. I wasn't really a part of them. They were talking about politics and I had no idea what it was about. Just because I lived in DC before didn't mean I paid much attention to all the politics going on around me. I sat back and listened to conversations, nodding whenever necessary.

"Kyle," Anthony said, getting my attention, "Do you have a suit with you?"

"No," I answered then looked around nervously, "I didn't know I had to bring one?"

"It's ok," he brushed it off. "I didn't tell you you needed one anyway. We'll just go shopping tomorrow morning to get one."

"Ok," I answered, then realized I had no idea what this suit was for. "Uh, why do I need a suit?" I asked.

"The Winston Gala is happening in two days, and we're all going. Thought it would be good for you to see how we live life here," Anthony explained.

"Oh, ok," I said. "Well, I look forward to it."

Bridgette and Anthony smiled in excitement, Quinton seemed indifferent. Sarah and Aaron did not look pleased that I would be invading their family event. Actually, Sarah looked downright pissed about it. But she was holding her tongue, not saying a word. I had a feeling she had objected to me being here but got outnumbered. She may have lost but she wasn't going to pretend.

I looked on as the foreign conversations continued and ignored the glares Sarah was throwing my way. This was going to be an interesting two weeks.