Lately it felt like all efforts to keep the Johnson clan communicating was falling on himself and Maddie. Zach knew he had pulled his own shit and so voicing this thought would simply be the pot calling the kettle black, but he couldn’t help but think Charlie gained a kid, A freaking kid and suddenly she didn’t have time for the rest of her family. Dillion was an entirely different issue, one that was becoming more and more bothersome to Zach as the days drug on.
Whatever Maddie’s reasoning for dragging him to this forced family time event for Charlie didn’t really matter. His baby sister was trying and he was going to support the hell out of her efforts. A lot of people didn’t even have their family anymore, which only made Zach realize how goddamn lucky they really were – even with the losses they had suffered.
Flashing a reassuring smile down at Maddie when she tipped her back up to look at him, Zach didn’t say anything, instead he slipped an arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Kids weren’t exactly at the top of Zach’s favorite list, but this wasn’t about the kid. This was about keeping that connection to Charlie.
“Hey you,” he had an easy smile gracing his features, though the way Charlie looked around didn’t go unnoticed. Twenty bucks said he knew exactly who she had been looking for. “Just Maddie and I. Dillion’s still being an ass.” By this point he didn’t have a kinder word to describe his baby brother’s behavior. The kid needed to man up and start interacting with them again.
Dropping his arm from around Maddie’s shoulders, Zach stepped into the room and let his gaze settle on the mess that was his sister’s living space. “Why exactly does one kid have so many toys?” He wasn’t even sure there was floor underneath the vast array of toys Charlie seemed to have acquired since the little boy’s arrival.