The Anniversary
Echo didn't often find himself snooping in his mother's things. He was the good kid, the responsible one. Even Hunter bended the rules, finding some clever way to justify it. But not Echo. Maybe that made him a fun-buster sometimes, or a momma's boy, or whatever else they called him, but he didn't care. He loved his mom and would never, ever invade her privacy.
Except, right now.
He wasn't snooping, he told himself. He only wanted to quickly add something to "the box." It was an old shoebox filled with photos and miscellaneous mementos, only brought out once a year, on the anniversary of their adoption. It was a special ritual they all looked forward to, especially since their mom always added a new thing each year that captured whatever new adventures or memories they had.
Not long ago, Echo got to thinking about that box and how hard their mom always worked to make things special for them, from these little traditions to the day to day stuff like packing their lunches or cheering at their soccer matches. He thought it was about time they did something special for her, too. Sure, Mother's Day was only the following week, but she deserved a surprise on their adoption anniversary too, right? After all, they wouldn't have even been adopted if it wasn't for her...
So Echo clutched his little homemade card, filled with photos he had carefully collected of each of his brothers with their mom. He would just open the box enough to slip it inside and would then leave. That wouldn't be too criminal of him, right?
Gosh, he sounded just like the others.
He hurried into the small walk-in closet and quickly tried to push through her coats in the back, looking for the little decoupaged shoebox tucked away in the corner.
"Whatcha doing?"
Echo groaned as the not-so-quiet whisper of Wrecker came from behind. His brother was leaning against the doorframe while munching on a granola bar, looking only mildly curious at Echo's attempts to rummage through their mom's closet.
"Shh!" he hushed with an annoyed frown. "I'll tell you later, just go before Mom hears."
"She's outside," he said through mouthfuls of granola. "Talking to the police."
Echo had found the box, but paused with his one hand on it, looking at Wrecker confused.
"It's the new neighbor," came Tech's head, peeking from around the corner. "Captain Wolffe."
"No way, we have a cop for a neighbor?" Granola flakes spilled from the corners of Wrecker's mouth as he grinned in astonishment.
"I think he has kids our age," said Tech. "At least, Crosshair said he thought he saw kids our age."
Wrecker disappeared in a flash, eager to see for himself. Tech took his brother's place in the doorway and looked down on Echo with a far more curious look.
"What are you doing?"
Echo huffed as he turned his attention back to the box, sliding it out and into his lap. "I just... wanted to add a surprise for Mom for tonight," he mumbled. Tech watched as he cracked open the lid, set his envelope on top of the ever-growing pile of memories inside, and then shut it back again.
"Wait."
Tech came to crouch next to him and grabbed the box.
"What are you doing?!" Echo panicked as Tech took the lid all the way off and started pulling out all of the items. "We're not supposed to go through anything until we're together!"
"I'm not going through it," Tech waved at him dismissively, finally emptying the box and reaching for the card. He set it on the bottom of the box and then started refilling it with the other items. "See? That way it's really a surprise. We'll go through it like we usually do, and then at the end Mom will see your card."
Echo relented with an approving nod. That was a better idea.
Just as the two boys were pushing the box back in its spot, they heard voices just beyond the cracked door of the closet. Tech had thoughtfully pulled it almost-shut behind him, but the light was on and they both looked awfully suspicious crouched on the floor. As the voices grew closer - their Mom's and... someone else's - Tech offered the only possible solution.
"Hide!"
He slid under the coats alongside the box. Echo's eyes bugged out at him.
"Are you crazy?" he hissed. "We'll get in even bigger trouble by hiding!"
Tech mumbled some kind of response but Echo couldn't hear over their mother speaking on the other side of the door.
...no problem at all. Saves me yet another trip to thrift store.
Another voice wafted through, a man's they'd never heard before.
I can't even imagine how many clothes you go through with five. I struggle with just the two. Poor boys never have pants that cover their ankles.
Beth's chuckles grew louder as she approached the closet door. Echo groaned internally at the idea of hiding, but ended up scooting himself underneath the hanging clothes on the other side of the small closet just as the door opened. For a moment he could see Tech across from him, his eyes glinting mischievously behind his glasses. And then their mother's feet came into view. She stood on her tippy-toes for a few moments, presumably fumbling around with something on the top shelf. But then her heels came back down and she huffed.
"Actually, Captain, if you wouldn't mind reaching for it?" she called.
Echo gulped, and even Tech's eyes grew wide, as another set of feet came into view. Large feet, clad in shiny black boots.
"Just Wolffe is fine," said the owner of the feet, his voice much deeper and rougher sounding now that he was in the closet along with them. He didn't even need to stand on his tippy-toes to reach whatever was on the top shelf.
"It's easier to throw things up there than get them back down," their mom chuckled. "Thank you."
"No, thank you," the man said. Both of their feet turned to leave. "You're the one donating to the Wolffe boys' summer wardrobe."
More chuckles, which eventually petered out as they walked further away, until soon there was silence once more in the little closet. Echo and Tech shimmied out from their hiding spots together and stood facing each other for a moment. They didn't even need to say anything; it was clear the other was thinking and feeling the same way. So after a moment, they both let out relieved sighs, which turned into quiet giggles.
"I can't believe she didn't see us," said Echo.
"I know," agreed Tech. "We're lucky she came for something up high."
"Yeah...."
"So that was Captain Wolffe. I guess he does have his own kids."
"He sounded scary."
"Yeah. We should go out to meet him, though. Or else Mom will get suspicious and ask where we were."
"And then Wrecker will give us away."
The two boys crept out of the closet, sneaking a cautious peek into the hallway before emerging. The house seemed pretty quiet. Maybe everyone had gone back outside.
"We should have a story, just in case," Tech whispered anyway. Echo let out a little whine. "What? You were having fun just a moment ago."
"I thought we were done sneaking and lying."
Tech just shook his head at him. They approached the front door and he paused with a hand on it. "Just act normal and don't say anything. But if Mom asks, then we were in the backyard climbing the tree."
"She's going to see the card in the box later, you know," Echo pointed out, though Tech had already thrown open the door and was heading out. "She'll know we were lying."
"So?"
Echo didn't actually have a good answer to that, at least not one he could think of on the spot. So he huffed and just followed his brother outside.
It turned out they had just missed meeting Captain Wolffe by a minute; he'd been called away on some emergency. The others, especially Hunter, were simply beside themselves with how cool he was. Beth went inside to start dinner and the boys passed the basketball around, talking over each other as they tried to fill Echo and Tech in on all the cool details...
Like how the Captain had a gnarly scar across one side of his face and wore a prosthetic eyeball. Or how he'd easily made a three-point shot with the basketball when they offered it to him. Or how he'd flashed the lights on his police car when he drove away....
The Captain also had two sons who had come over for introductions, Comet and Boost. Though they were apparently not as cool as their dad. The only noteworthy fact about them was they'd said something about their "other" house, that they had a basketball hoop there but not at this new one, so they'd very much like to come over and play after school some time.
"Maybe they meant to say old house?" Crosshair offered as he dribbled the ball and went in for a layup.
"No, I heard him say other house," Hunter insisted, catching the rebound and passing to Echo. "Like, they have two houses."
"Wow, they must be rich," said Wrecker, who was preparing to block Echo's throw.
"Well, their dad is a police officer," said Tech. "I'm sure that job makes a lot of money."
"True," they all agreed. They didn't really know if it was true, but it sounded right, especially coming from Tech who just somehow knew these things.
"Do they... have a mom?" Echo ventured to ask.
The game sort of died down as they all thought about it.
"I don't think they said anything about a mom," Hunter eventually admitted.
"Maybe Mom asked," said Wrecker. He immediately nodded at his own idea. "Yeah, she would've asked. Moms always know about other moms."
As if on cue, Beth popped her head through the front door and called them in for dinner. Any further discussion of the cool new neighbor would have to wait. Now was the time for their special adoption anniversary traditions.
The first night Beth had brought the boys home, their actual home, all together as a new family... well, it was definitely a night. She sanitized the story quite a bit when telling the boys as they grew older. They didn't need to know she'd told her parents the wrong date of her trip back on purpose, because she was stubborn and wanted to get everything situated on her own. They didn't need to know about how she'd barely slept out of fear that somehow, someway, something would happen to them if she closed her eyes for even a second. And they most certainly didn't need to know about the tears that constantly leaked from her eyes, and the frequent prayers she uttered throughout the bottle feedings and outfit changes and crib set ups. How she knew she didn't know what she was doing. How she didn't know if she would ever figure it out.
Obviously she had, and that first night was just a rough start, a sharp learning curve that she quickly got over and found a good rhythm that only got better over time. And so any time the story was told to the boys, she focused on the positives. Making sure they knew their family was not a mistake, that the were loved right from the beginning. Immortalizing the weird Eggo waffle and fish stick sandwich she'd made for dinner that first night because it was all she had on hand, now a beloved tradition every year on the day. Adding trinkets to their little memories box to go through together, giving them a chance to choose what was memorialized in their own story.
This year, however, Beth knew it was time. Time to add to the stories a bit. Time to share the things that weren't as jolly, but still important. There'd been more questions from them over the last year. Things they'd hear or encounter at school. Ideas that would pop into their heads on their own. Questions about what makes a family, how babies were made, why they didn't have a dad. Those questions. She'd gotten by with simple answers for a while, but she could tell they were starting to grow restless with their own limited understanding of the world. Their curiosity would push them toward the truth, and better to hear it from their mother than anyone else.
Gathered around on the couch, bellies full of waffle-and-fish sandwiches (and some greens, too, of course) they started their rituals as usual. Bring out the box. Reverently open it. Clamber over each other for the right to tell the story for the next item pulled out. She let them have their fun, no need to take that away just yet. She had added the new photo on the bottom that would segue into her story and she'd take it from there.
Only, apparently the photo had somehow made its way into the middle of the items, as Crosshair pulled it out with a confused frown.
"What's this?"
The others swarmed around, excited by the thought of a surprise until they realized they were confused by it, too. Beth looked to see there were still a handful of mementos left to go through, like their first report cards or the old dreamcatcher that hung over the crib. There also seemed to be some kind of envelope on the bottom, in place of where this photo should have been. Odd....
"Who are these people you're with?" Hunter asked, taking the photo from Crosshair to inspect more closely.
"Wait, that's mom?" Wrecker peered over his shoulder. "You look so different."
Beth let that comment slide; she was well aware of how much she'd aged in 10 years as a single mother of five. She cleared her throat and scooted closer to them.
"Well, I was planning to save that one for last," she said slowly, trying to gauge if they wanted to fixate on the photo or save it for later. The five expectant stares she got in response confirmed. Fixate it is.
"That's me," she pointed at the young girl in the photo, donning a wrinkly Nirvana T-shirt and a mouth full of braces. Her finger moved over to the next person, a short but muscular girl who smirked at the camera like she knew a secret. "And that's my friend Arla. Echo's birth mom."
She could feel their heads suddenly snapping back and forth at the statement. She let it sink in for just a moment before moving her finger along to the other person in the photo. It was a large, tanned boy who looked very serious, but was also wearing socks with sandals and held his hands up in a casual peace sign.
"And that is her brother, Jango. He's your guys' birth father." She gestured to the other four boys.
Predictably, after the initial shock wave was processed, there were a lot of questions and feelings being shared all at once. Beth closed the lid on the box and shushed them all, making them sit back on the couch and hold each other's hands while she told the story.
"You all know you were adopted, which means you were born to other people, not me." She started with something familiar, something she'd said enough that had sat well with them all these years.
"When we were itty-bitty babies so we don't remember," said Wrecker in affirmation.
"And they passed away, so you became our mom," added Hunter.
She nodded. "Yes, that's right. I thought maybe I could tell you about them this year. Because even though you won't remember them, they are still a part of your story, and a part of our story. Without them, we wouldn't have ever become a family."
They all nodded at her eagerly and Hunter broke from the hand-holding chain for a moment to set the photo back onto their laps, so they could look at it while she spoke. Beth drew in a shaky breath. She'd been debating on what to say and how to say it for so long now. She really hoped she was making the right decisions and didn't confuse them or hurt them in any way.
"Jango and Arla Fett. They were my neighbors growing up, and my very best friends. They were almost like my brother and sister. They had another brother too, but he wasn't around much. It was mostly just the three of us. Arla was so sweet. She was strong and played lots of sports and all the boys liked her. And she was also really smart. She did her homework on time and read lots of books. She and I would stay up late sometimes and just laugh about the silliest things. I could tell her anything and I knew she'd keep it a secret."
"And that's my mom?" Echo asked with wide eyes, looking down at the photo of the girl who was entirely too young to be a mother at that point. "I mean, my birth mom."
Beth smiled. "You can call her whatever you'd like, darling. And yep, that's her. We were about sixteen in that photo I think? And then a few years later, right before we graduated, she fell in love with this boy from our math class. Jaster. He'd been there all year long but she only just noticed him right at the end. But lucky her, they ended up going to the same college together, and within a year they were married. And soon after that, they had Echo."
She was finding it easier to get through the details the more she went on. And luckily the boys hadn't interrupted too much yet, so she continued before she got nervous again.
"And then her brother, Jango, was a year older than us. He always looked like he was mad about something, but that was just his face. He was actually very nice. Very protective. Gave the best presents. He remembered everything about you, anything you told him, he was always paying attention. He'd check in on his friends a lot, make sure they were okay. Oh, and of course he played a lot of sports, too."
She felt like that was important to mention. The boys had always given her a hard time for not "being into sports" with them, despite the fact she still showed up at every soccer game and bought them whatever equipment they needed. She just didn't understand the terms or rules sometimes.
"He got married a little bit after Arla did, to a really pretty girl he met named Sheeka. She was the only person who could make him laugh. He'd always tell me and Arla jokes that had us in tears, but we could never make him laugh in return. But Sheeka, he never stopped smiling around her."
Okay, maybe it wasn't so easy to go through the details. Beth cleared her throat to stop herself from dwelling on the memory for too long. She was supposed to honor their memories, make sure their sons knew where they came from before it was too late. She could mourn on her own time.
"Anyway, they got married and were pregnant around the same time as Arla. Except, huge surprise, they were expecting quadruplets."
"Four babies," said Tech.
"Uh-huh. That was a pretty big deal. Doesn't happen very often."
"Wait," said Wrecker, the wheels almost visibly turning in his head. Beth braced herself. Now the serious questions would start coming. She'd decided she would answer them a little more honestly this time. No need to go into the really upsetting, but if they asked, then she'd let them know the basics.
"So... Echo's not our brother?"
"He is," she said calmly, looking each of them in the eyes. "You may have been born to different people, but remember I adopted you. You're my sons. You're each other's brother."
They all looked at each other and for the most part seemed to understand and accept it. There were a few other little questions after that, including a crucial clarifying question of who was technically born first and therefore the oldest. The revelation that it was Echo caused a divergence of conversation, so the one question Beth had been anxious about hearing didn't end up getting asked at all. That was fine. Surely it would come up later, but in the meantime, they seemed to be content with the details she had shared.
"Alright, alright," she finally cut back in once it sounded like the conversation was getting away from mere friendly teasing. "I think that's enough for now. We can talk about it later. It's still a school night. I need to see pajamas and clean teeth in ten minutes."
She stood but Echo jumped after her.
"Wait! We didn't finish the box!"
"We already know what's left in it," yawned Crosshair.
"But I put something in there for Mom," he said, grabbing hold of it anyway. He fished inside and pulled out that mysterious envelope Beth had noticed. It clicked with her that's why her closet light had been left on earlier, when she'd gone to get that box of clothes for their new neighbor.
She gave Echo a knowing look but didn't comment. He was her angel, he could get away with that one.
"What's this?" Beth pulled out a few photos from the envelope. Each one was of her and one of the boys. Some she remembered posing for, others looked like they had been cropped from larger group photos. The tears she'd forced back earlier from recounting her memories with Arla and Jango forced their way back into her eyes.
"This is really sweet, darling. Thank you."
She leaned down to hug him, and then quickly, one by one, she grabbed the others to join in the love. The evening had certainly gone better than she'd expected. Almost like her first night with them home. She'd started out with so much anxiety and fear, overthinking every little thing in anticipation of the worst. But by the end of it, she'd come to realize they were her sons, and she was fortunate to be their mother. Just like she was realizing again now.