The Sinclair Brothers ✔️

(61) Mere Strangers

Thanksgiving came and went. Makennah's feelings weren't hurt that the Sinclair's weren't able to celebrate due to Carolynn's father's passing. In fact, she was quite accustomed to lounging around all day and avoiding her mother. She couldn't remember the last time she gorged on a thanksgiving feast. She felt bad for the boys though who moped about, expecting Carolynn to throw something together last minute but it just didn't happen.

Plus, Grandpa Rothair's funeral and burial were planned for Friday. The family decided not to bury him on Thursday and infringe on friend's and family's holiday time.

After her appointment with Janine, Makennah wandered around the house, always keeping the papers in a sealed envelope nearby her so that she could hand them off when she was ready. Carolynn progressed from crying in bed to watching tv in bed which everyone considered a big stepping stone. The boys mostly kept to themselves and that left Makennah alone to entertain herself.

After her session with Janine, Makennah figured out she rather enjoyed the alone time because every time she thought about interacting with any Sinclair family member, she wanted to cry. She didn't understand. She couldn't comprehend it. She thought she got all of the tears out while in Janine's office.

It's not that she was sad. Just...content. Finally, she made up her mind and it was wonderfully freeing to come to terms with this new sense of stability inside the homey warming walls of the Sinclair household.

Makennah texted Grace, Penny, and Meredith right away to tell them about her decision. Each of them congratulated her and wished her well. Her heart warmed at their genuine responses. She learned she wasn't just adopting the Sinclair's as her permanent-ish family but also her friends.

When she got home, she laid around in her room for a little while and contemplated why she was so gun-shy about Theo and their commitment to a relationship. Both of them posted pictures on social media to announce their loyalty to one another, but that still didn't seem to seal the deal in her mind. She didn't regret saying yes to his achingly sweet girlfriend proposal, but a piece of her heart held back from giving him everything. Sadly, Makennah knew that he knew it.

Worst of all, Theo said that he loved her. That alone made her want to run for the hills. What if she never loved him back? What if their relationship was already doomed because of unrequited feelings? Obviously, she liked him. But she was afraid that she didn't even know what Love was.

The overthinking started to cause a headache deep inside her skull. It was her body's way of telling her that she had reached the end of the emotional rope for one day and couldn't ponder any other life altering revelations about herself.

To distract herself, Makennah gathered up her notebook, school books, laptop, and fuzzy blanket and took those things downstairs to sit at the kitchen island and work on some schoolwork that was assigned to her in her absence because of the funeral proceedings. Her room felt cold and alone. Somehow the kitchen offered something she couldn't quite name, but it comforted her.

Plugging herself into her work, Makennah lost herself in mindless tasks that evolved into a paper due in a week. Checking off each item on the list of things to do before school on Monday reassured her that she could still do somethings right. All the while, her eyes fleetingly dropped to the sealed envelope on the counter. When would she give it to Will or Carolynn? She didn't know.

"Hey, Kiddo."

As if she had been caught doing something wrong, Makennah's cheeks warmed with subtle heat from the fact she had been thinking about the legal guardianship and Will didn't even know the papers were signed.

"Hi," she said back, breaking focus with her paper on her laptop.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked, automatically going over to the stove and filling the tea kettle with water to heat up for his personal beverage.