Alexander strolled briskly into the elegant living room of his parents’ Mediterranean-style home in Pacific Palisades.
“Good to have you home for good, little brother,” Dreyden said when Kellen greeted him at the front door.
“It’s good to be here. Hey, I’ve been thinking that you need a roommate.” Kellen loved living in Atlanta, but he was enjoying his reunion. At the age of twenty-six, he had just recently completed his master’s degree in architectural engineering and was thrilled to be done with school and back in California with his family.
Dreyden chuckled. “I don’t think so. I actually enjoy living alone.”
“C’mon...it’s not like I’ll be around much,” Kellen uttered with a sly smile. “I’ve got a lot of catching up to do with the ladies.”
Kellen toured the main floor, in search of the rest of his family. He took the stairs to the second floor. His oldest brother, Ari, was the father of three children—a pair of fraternal twins, one a boy and the other a girl, and another son. He was with his wife, Natalia, in one of the spare bedrooms, trying to get the twins, Christian and Crystal, to settle down. Kellen had seen their brother, Joshua, occupied in the family room playing a game on an iPad. Hearing the sound of laughter, Kellen went back downstairs where he found his brother Blaze and wife, Livi, settling down in the family room.
Kellen walked to the kitchen, where his mother and sisters were busy preparing dinner.
“Get out of here, little brother,” Sage ordered, pushing him away.
“I see you’re still bossy,” he responded with a laugh.
“And you’re still a pest,” Zaire interjected. “Go play guest of honor. We got this.”
They were trying to be secretive about the menu, but Kellen knew they were up to something. He had a feeling they were cooking up something special.
Malcolm Alexander cleared his throat, commanding everyone’s attention. “Everybody come in here.”
Kellen ventured into the family room with the others. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Dad’s about to make a speech,” Sage whispered as she stood beside him.
“I feel so blessed to be surrounded by my children and their families,” Malcolm stated. “I’m so proud of all of you.”
Malcolm was the heir of the late Robert DePaul’s multimillion-dollar estate and chain of luxury hotel and spa resorts. Kellen was glad to see that his father had finally made peace with the discovery that his parents had kept the truth of his biological father a secret from him. For the majority of his life, Malcolm had grown up believing that Theodore Alexander was his father, but his mother had taken the truth to her grave.
“We love you, Daddy,” Zaire said.
He smiled. “I love all of you, as well. Today we are here to celebrate Kellen and his accomplishment. He graduated with honors.” Malcolm turned to him. “Your mother and I are very proud of you. There was a moment when we weren’t sure you were going to attend college, much less graduate school...” He suddenly broke into a grin. “But I’m happy to say that you proved us wrong.”
“I admit I partied a lot when I first went off to college,” Kellen confessed with a tiny smile, “but when you made me come home for a semester when I was a freshman—it changed my perspective, Dad. I didn’t see it back then, but it was probably the best thing you could’ve done for me.” He wrapped an arm around his mother. “I really appreciate your support and all those late-night talks, Mom.”
Barbara placed a loving hand to his cheek. “Your father is right. We are very proud of you.”
“Kellen, we’re all so proud of you, too,” Zaire interjected without preamble. “Now can we eat? I’m starving.”
Laughter rang out around the room filled with his family.
“C’mon,” Sage uttered. “She’s eating for two. When I was pregnant with Honor, all I could think about was food.”
Her husband, Ryan, nodded in agreement.
“Zaire, you don’t have to wait any longer, sweetie. Dinner’s ready,” Barbara announced when she returned from the kitchen.
Everyone followed her to the formal dining room.
Kellen not only felt good about being home, he was home for good and ready to take on the world—more specifically the Special Projects Director position for Alexander-DePaul Design Group. Kellen had had his eye on the employment opportunity since it posted. He was confident his father would give him the job.
“I see you made all of my favorites,” Kellen stated. “Thanks, Mom. I have to tell you that I’ve really missed your homemade biscuits, fried catfish and especially your collard greens.”
“Have you learned to cook anything outside of hot dogs and hamburgers?” Zaire inquired.
Kellen nodded. “I’m pretty good with breakfast foods. I can make some mean omelets.”
“That sounds good,” his younger sister said. “You can make me one for breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“Zaire, do you ever stay at your house?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, but when my husband’s out of town, I usually stay out here. Tyrese is leaving tonight for New York.”
Some unknown assailant had attacked Zaire over a year ago, and now that she was pregnant, her husband preferred that she stay with her parents whenever he was out of town. There were a few times when Franklin, the loyal and trusted head of security his parents had inherited after Robert’s death, stayed with her when she chose to remain home.
Seated at the dining room table, Kellen let his gaze wander around, landing on his parents and his siblings, before he sampled his food. “Mom...superb...”
Barbara smiled. “Thank you, dear.”
His gaze landed on Dreyden. Silently, he noted that his brother had lost weight in a relatively short period of time. When Dreyden had surprised him in Atlanta just a couple of months ago, he’d looked fine.
“Dreyden, what’s up with you?” Kellen inquired in a low voice after everyone settled down in the large family room after dinner. “I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t eat much at dinner. To be honest, you don’t look like you’re feeling well.”
“I’ve just been really tired lately,” his brother responded with a slight shrug. “We just finished tax season, so I won’t be working late as much.”
“Why don’t you take a vacation?” Kellen suggested. “Go somewhere exotic.”
Dreyden smiled. “I’ve been thinking about that myself. Maybe I’ll see a travel agent next week and plan a trip.”
“Do it,” he encouraged. “You need a break away from work.” Kellen was worried about his brother. He had never seen him look so pale or exhausted.
He rose to his feet.
“Where are you going?” Dreyden asked.
“I need to talk to Dad about the Special Projects Director position at the Alexander-DePaul Design Group. I applied as soon as it became open, but I haven’t heard anything from human resources.”
“Why don’t you just enjoy being with the family, Kellen?” his brother suggested. “Think about work tomorrow.”
“I’m excited, Dreyden... I really want this job. I’ve been waiting on something like this since before I graduated.”
“I can see that, but just give it a couple of days. It’s better to get the job based on your own merits and not because of your last name.”
“I’ve spent all of this time in school so that I can prepare myself for this position,”