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“Got everything?” Ethan asked for the 14^th time as they approached the airport. 

Tim nodded.  “It’s all in my phone.  Got your ticket?” 

“Yeah.”  Ethan’s eyes glazed over, and he buried his face in his arm to muffle a sneeze.  “”Hatshoo!” 

“Bless you.  Not catching a cold on me, are you?” 

Ethan wiped his nose with an ever present tissue from his pocket.  “Just a sneeze, Tim, relax.” 

Tim looked worried, but didn’t have time to say anything as Freddie dropped them off at their gate, and it was time to rush through check in and security, find their gate.  It wasn’t until they were on the plane that he could get a look at Ethan and be reassured that this wasn’t some sudden cold.   

“So why are we staying in a hotel anyway?” Came Ethan’s question as they waited for their rental car.   “I guess I thought we’d stay with your mom.” 

“Mom lives with my brother, Mark.  I mean, he’s got room, but he’s also got 4 girls under 5.”   

Ethan’s eyes widened for a second, then relaxed. “I like kids.  I’ve got my nieces, remember?” He pointed out. 

Tim looked down.  “Probably should have mentioned this earlier,” he mumbled, “but they’ve also got 2 dogs.” 

“Oh.  Yeah.  Hotel.” 

They got in the car and Tim set out for the hotel.  “You gonna be ok visiting there for awhile?  I figure if you need to, we can always step outside.  He’s got a huge lot.  We can walk around and be alone.   Get you some air.  I did tell them you’re allergic.  They’ll keep the dogs in the basement or upstairs and vacuum the main floor.” 

“I think I can manage.  Might need Benadryl, but I should be ok.” 

  After a short stay at the hotel to drop off their things and change, they were on their way.   Ethan looked with curiosity at Tim’s outfit.  Jeans, long sleeved tee, and a red and black flannel shirt.   “What are you wearing?”   

“Flannel!  You can get it in California, you know.” 

“I’ve just never seen you wear it.” 

Tim shrugged.  “Home clothes, I guess.” 

Ethan nodded, ducking down into his shoulder.  “Ahshoo!” 

“Bless you.”  Having been reassured that Ethan wasn’t sick, he chalked that sneeze up to one of his boyfriend’s many daily sneezes, biting his lip, knowing there were many more to come.  “Ready to go?” 

“Do I look ok?”  Ethan asked nervously, wanting to make a good first impression, knowing by dinner, he’d be a watery eyed, sniffly mess. 

Tim surveyed the black jeans and gray and blue sweater.  “You’ll be the most gorgeous guy in the room, even once your allergy kicks in,” he reassured. 

Ethan laughed.  “Let’s go.” 

Half an hour later, they were at Tim’s brother’s and standing nervously at the doorstep.   This was Tim’s first trip home since coming out to his brothers over a family zoom call.  At present, out of his 4 living brothers, only Mark was speaking to him.  His mom and sister had known for awhile and were just excited to meet Ethan.    

Tim rang the doorbell; Mark must have been hovering by the door, as it swung open seconds later and Tim was enveloped in a bear hug.    There were introductions and a hearty handshake for Ethan before Mark ushered them into the house.    

Tim’s mom was waiting in the living room, and again, Tim was swallowed in a hug.   She gazed up at him.   “It’s so good to see you.” 

“It’s good to see you, too, Mom.”  Tim introduced Ethan as Mark excused himself to get Tim’s nieces up from their naps, stating he promised, once “uncle Tim” got there. 

Within a few minutes, Tim’s nieces were entering the room, Mark bringing up the rear with the youngest, setting her down to crawl.    Tim began pointing out the girls and naming them off.  “The littlest one is Amelia, short haired twin is Anna, long haired twin is Alisa, and the one with the curls is Abie.   Girls, this is Ethan.” 

Ethan watched as they shyly greeted him, then as the twins pulled out toys while Abie sat in a chair with a book.  Amelia simply crawled around the carpet, babbling in baby talk.     

Tim took a seat on the couch, patting the seat next to him for Ethan to do the same.   Mark offered drinks, then took a seat himself. 

“We brought down the air purifier from Abie’s room, too. Thought it might help.” Mark said after a moment.     

Ethan looked confused for a second, and Mark continued.   “Abie takes after her Uncle Tim, unfortunately.  And being out in the country now…. We keep meaning to get a few more, but it hasn’t happened yet.” 

Ethan nodded, catching on.  Tim had told him how he’d had horrible allergies and asthma when he was young, and genes were a funny thing.   “Thanks.” 

Conversation started off awkward, but quickly flowed as they found neutral topics.   After an hour and a few scattered sneezes from Ethan, Tim noticed Ethan start rubbing his eyes and nose, biting his lip, and pressing his knuckle just under his nose, all tricks Tim had seen him desperately use in vain to keep from sneezing. He leaned over next to Ethan.  “Just sneeze, babe.  You’re not going hold it back that long.” He whispered.    

Ethan nodded, clamping his elbow over his face.   “Hatchoo!” 

“Bless you.”  Tim handed him a tissue, then on second thought, handed him the box that sat next to him. 

“Thanks.  Excuse me.”  He apologized.   

Mark glossed right over Ethan’s interruption, switching topics to how they met. 

Ethan blushed, looking at Tim.   

“The coffee shop I go to all the time,” Tim started.  “He was supposed to be studying at an outdoor place down the street…” 

“But my allergies were bad, so I left the group and went there until they died down.” 

“I thought he was cute…” 

“He offered me tissues…” 

“He asked me out…” 

“He said yes…” 

“And here we are.” Tim laughed, rubbing Ethan’s hand.   “Over a year later.” 

Ethan nodded.  “Here we are.”   

“He met Marisol in biology class freshman year of college.” 

Mark laughed.  “Walked right up to her on day one and asked her to be my lab partner.   Been together since.  I carried her in that class by the way.” 

Tim’s laugh was covered by an “AhShoo!” from Ethan. 

“Bless you.   She’s working late tonight.  Won’t be home until after 8.  Probably won’t see her until tomorrow.” 

Tim nodded.   Marisol put in long hours as partner in her law firm while Mark taught college biology part time and worked on his doctorate…the smartest one of them by far.   He was relaxing, the easier conversation was flowing, but stressing over each of Ethan’s sneezes and his pink, watery eyes.  

“Hachoo!”  Ethan sneezed for what had to be the 10^th time in the past hour.   

“Bless you.” Abie chirped, with Ethan thanking her with a smile.    

Tim attempted a surreptitious glance at his watch which wasn’t sneaky enough.  Mark noticed and stood up.  “I better go check on dinner.” He excused himself.    

Tim followed him to the kitchen and watched him check the chicken and vegetables in the crock pot.   “Is there time for me to take Ethan for a walk outside?” 

Mark laughed.  “Want to get him out of the house for a bit.”  At Tim’s nod, “at least half an hour.  You’ll be able to take the short trail.” 

Tim collected Ethan, an easy task as Ethan was really feeling the presence of the dogs on the floor below him and remnants of dog on the stairs and floor above him and led him outside.   They began wandering the trail on Mark’s wooded property. 

“This is nice.”  Ethan commented.   

“Yeah.”  Tim sighed in agreement.   

“Good to be home?” 

“I think so.”  The unspoken was that it would have been nice to see his other three brothers, but Ethan could tell Tim had relaxed and was having fun with Mark and his mother and was looking forward to seeing his sister tomorrow.    

They continued their walk through the edge of the woods, silence broken by occasional conversation and the decreasing frequency of Ethan’s sneezes.   Back at the house 20 minutes later, Tim opened back the door to slip back in. 

“I think I’ll sit out here a few minutes.”  Ethan told him.  “I’m just not ready to go back in yet.  Go help get your nieces ready.” 

Tim slipped in while Ethan took a seat on the back deck, enjoying a view that was completely different from his Southern California view.   The silence was different too, he thought, just before a sneeze burst out of him.  Well, except for that.  He heard the door open behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Mark. 

“Steeling yourself to go back in?” 

Ethan laughed.  “Yeah.” He admitted.  “Not that I’m not having a nice time, allergies are just getting in the way.” 

Mark laughed, nodding as the wind picked up again.   “It’s about 10 minutes to dinner.   Tim mentioned you had to do a few things before you ate, so I told him I’d come get you.” 

“Thanks.”  He paused.  “Nice out here.” 

“I imagine this is hard to come by back in California.” 

Ethan nodded.  “I can see why Tim misses home.”  He shifted uncomfortably for a second.  “Thanks for everything, by the way, for making this easier on Tim…”  He cleared his throat and looked down.    

Mark looked down at the same spot on the deck.   “He’s my baby brother –“ he started, then paused.  “Mari’s best friend is gay.” He blurted out.   “He’s, he’s one of the best guys I know.  Known him since college.   I’ve known and accepted and loved Daniel for years.”  He paused again.   “Tim’s my baby brother, man.  Losing one brother…that was enough.”  He nodded, rubbing his arms against the wind.  He offered Ethan a smile, easily returned.     

“Anyway,” Mark started, then cupped his hand over his nose.  “Sehhc…ehhCuhshoo, Cuhhshoo…Chushoo–uhhshoo!  Excuse me.”  He sniffled, nodding at Ethan’s blessing.   “Allergies.  Don’t  tell Timmy. I spent a third of his life tormenting him about them; can you imagine what he’ll do to me if he knew I had them now?”  

Ethan laughed.  “Deal.  And again, thanks.” His smile was genuine as they headed back into the house. 

Tim, after checking with Ethan, whose sneezing had quickly resumed its previous pace, let his nieces talk him into a movie after dinner.   Of course, by movie, the twins meant play dolls.    Ethan had passed on the dolls, feeling that with his allergies already in overdrive, sitting on the carpet might not be wise. He sat and watched the movie, chatting with Mark.   Halfway through the movie, Abie came over to him, timidly speaking his name. 

He looked over at her, started to answer, then ended up burying his head into his lap to sneeze at the last second.  “Sorry!”  He apologized, blushing. 

“Bless you.” She said in unison with Mark.   Then on her own, “will you read to me?” 

Ethan looked over at Mark, who had gotten up to pick up a sleeping Amelia out of the playpen.  “I’ve got to get this one to bed.   Can I get you some Benadryl since we’ll be closing out the night soon?” 

He gave Mark a nod.  “That sounds great.” He answered, wiping his nose.  To Abie, “as long as you don’t mind my sneezing,” he warned her. 

She thrust a book at him, and he began to read, stopping every few pages to sneeze, more to his annoyance. Mark was back shortly and it was bedtime for the girls.   Ethan gratefully took the Benadryl he was offered while Tim began saying his good nights.    

Finally, they were in the car, Ethan already drowsy.   “Mark and I made plans for breakfast tomorrow.   Marisol’s getting the kids to daycare, so it’ll be around 8.   I know that seems later for you, but with the time difference…it’s actually right on time.” 

Ethan cleared his throat.   “I think I might stay in…actually unwind for once.  And give the two of you some time alone.”  He yawned.  “You….Hatschoo! You guys haven’t had that in awhile.” 

Tim’s hand found Ethan’s in the dark car as he navigated back to the hotel.  Trust Ethan to know what was needed.   “Thanks.”  

When Tim arrived the next morning, Mark was helping Marisol wrangle the kids into the minivan.  Tim parked off to the side, watching the two of them laugh together, wondering if he and Ethan would ever have that…minus the dogs, of course.    

Mark strapped the last kid into the minivan before stifling a sneeze into tented hands.   Marisol shot him a concerned look as he mouthed back ‘I’m ok.’     

He motioned for Tim to get out of his car and follow him into the house.   Picking up dirty dishes from the table, he washed his hands.   “There’s an egg bake in the oven.  Another 20 minutes to go on that.   Morning didn’t go as planned.  No Ethan?” 

“He thought he’d give us time together.  And maybe take an actual vacation day…or part of one, anyway, and just relax.  So, uh, got any coffee?” 

“Always the same thing on your mind in the mornings.”  Mark laughed, a familiar, deep, hearty laugh that Tim had missed.   He handed over a cup. 

“Talk you into coffee on the deck?  I’d like to soak up as much home as I can.” 

Tim thought it was his imagination that Mark hesitated before enthusiastically agreeing to go sit outside.  He grabbed his coffee and led Tim out to the deck chairs.     

“Yyihhshhihh, HhihhYyihhshoo!”  Tim gripped his coffee mug with both hands, directing the two sneezes down at the ground, managing to only slosh a small amount of his coffee over the rim with the force. 

“Bless you.”  Mark sat down and set his coffee on the table.  “Sun still tends to gets ya, huh?” He shook his head, laughing.     

“Once in awhile.” Tim laughed.   “You got the attached earlobes gene.  I got the “sometimes lights makes me sneeze” gene.  At least yours is seen as cute.” 

“A cute sneeze is something no one will ever tell you you have.” Mark teased. 

“Don’t I know it.  Surprised I didn’t scare the girls last time I visited.” 

“No…just shared the cold you brought with you with everyone.  I’d prefer if you just brought them bags of sugar next time, please.” 

Tim grinned.  “You know I might.”  He cleared his throat.   “This is nice.” 

Mark softly agreed.  “I don’t get out here just sit often enough.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday are daycare days, but I teach Mondays and Wednesdays, hit the books as soon as they’re gone on Fridays.  Tuesdays and Thursdays…can be chaos.”  He rubbed his nose and took another sip of coffee.   

“Well, thanks for giving up your study time for me.” 

“I see you once a year, for like 5 minutes, in a crowd.  Some one on one is nice.” 

Tim nodded, staring out over the wooded landscape.  The silence was comfortable.  Mark had always been the quiet one out of the six boys.  Tim had also been quieter, but his asthma had kept him out of most of the wildness.  Mark sat out by choice, preferring a book.    

He noticed out of the corner of his eye, Mark brush his hand against his nose, head tipping forward.  He thought he heard a soft “hh’chht,” but couldn’t be sure.  Returning to the landscape, he watched the ripple of the leaves as the wind picked up.   If Mark was going to hide his sneeze, he wasn’t going to call attention to it.   

“It’s gonna be windy again.” He commented. 

“Yeah.  It’s been that way for awhile.   Wind, rain, wind, sun.  Wind’s been the constant.   I took the twins kite flying last weekend.” 

“Perfect weather for it.  I remember you doing that with me.”  He paused.  “Please tell me you didn’t explain the aerodynamics to a pair of three year olds.” He groaned, remembering. 

Mark laughed.  “Did I seriously do that to you?” 

“I was 8.  Didn’t understand a word.  You always were the smart one.” 

“Except for math.  That’s you.  I don’t know how you can look at a word problem and figure it out within seconds.” 

“Just part of the package.”  Tim laughed. 

“Gets you all the guys?”  Mark teased.   

Tim opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Mark’s sneeze.  “EhhKushhoo!  Sorry.  That was trying to come for awhihh–ihhhCuushuhhh.  Chuhhshoo!” 

“Bless you.  Sounds like it got something started.”   

“Feels that way.”  Mark groaned, steepling his hands over the lower half of his face.   “HeyyChuphh, Chushh….huhhKuhhh.”  He pulled a tissue out of his pocket for a liquid blow, once, twice, then finding no spot on the tissue for a third, sighed and crammed it back in his pocket. 

“God bless you.  You ok?  I’ve never seen you sneeze like that.”  Mark was typically a one and done sneezer, so to see six in a minute was concerning. 

Mark sniffled.  “Yeah.   I, sorry, I need to go in and blow my nose.  I didn’t bring enough tissues with me.” 

Tim raised an eyebrow at this but grabbed Mark’s coffee.   “Yeah.  Let’s go in.  Wind seems to be bringing something in that you don’t like.  Or doesn’t like you.  Or however that works.” 

Once in the kitchen, Mark grabbed a paper towel and blew his nose twice more under Tim’s concerned gaze. 

“Seriously, man, you ok?  Haven’t managed revenge for the cold I gave you last year, have you?” 

Mark laughed and shook his head.  “Allergies.”  He admitted.   

“Allergies?  Since when?”  Tim half believed him, half was pushing his cold revenge theory. 

Mark’s response was six more sneezes in back to back succession. 

“Ok.  Never seen you do that before either.” 

Another quick nose blow from Mark before he went to wash his hands and check on breakfast.  He looked at Tim and shrugged.  “I turned 40.” 

Tim raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘go on.’ 

“A month later, I started sneezing like this.  Couldn’t get near the cat without sneezing my damn head off.  Thought it was over when we rehomed her.” 

“I was gonna ask about Mimi.  Didn’t want to in front of the girls.” 

“I’m allergic.  Mari’s friend, Daniel, took him.  Anyway, like I said, thought I was done with it, then spring hit, and I was sneezing like this again.  This fall again too.  I got summer off, for the most part.”  He chuckled, bringing his elbow up. “HhehhKkshhh.” He reached for another paper towel.   

“So you got some Claritin stashed around here I can grab for you?” 

“I took it. Later than usual. Grabbed it right before we put the kids in the car.  Old dose wore off.  New dose needs time.  Like I said, it was chaos this morning.”  He squashed another sneeze into his paper towel. 

Tim grabbed the tissues from the living room.  “Here.  These feel better.  At least that’s what Ethan says.” 

“From the guy who hated tissues growing up.” 

“The sandpaper ones mom bought when we were kids.  Yeah.  Toilet paper was better.  Now that I can buy the good ones…” 

“I know.”  He took a seat at the counter with his coffee, motioning for Tim to sit. 

“So what happened this morning?   I could have come later…” 

“You could have come earlier.”  Mark laughed.  “One girl who wouldn’t take her neb, twins who wanted to dress alike, then changed their minds, then just wanted to play dress up, a baby required two clothing changes after breakfast, and a dog chewing the heel of Marisol’s shoe. While I’m making 4 breakfasts and trying to get myself ready.  Completely forgot the pill until Mari noticed how much I was sneezing.” 

He reached for a tissue as the oven dinged.    “Can you get that?”  His breath hitched.  “I’m gonna start uhhh…UhhChusshhtt.” 

Tim hopped up and grabbed the casserole, setting it on the stove, then awkwardly watched as his brother shudder as he attempted to force 8 sneezes into submission.    

“Bless you.” As Mark straightened up, watery eyed, he continued.  “You know it’s better to not fight them.  At least, that’s what mom always told me.” 

Mark laughed, picking up his used tissues and making his way for the trash.  “I remember. Now she tells me.  I got the pill in about 15 minutes before you got here, so bear with me for awhile.   With the weather changes, allergies have been crazy the last week or so…and getting the pill late…”  

“Doesn’t help. Ethan’s gotta eat pretty scheduled, but he’s slept in, gotten his allergy meds late, been in this boat.   Doesn’t help that he’s already pretty sneezy when he wakes up.  Allergies or not.” 

Mark chuckled.  “Never pictured you with someone allergic to dogs.   I know how much you love them.  You can’t even really play with these two, can you?  Without setting him off when you get back?” 

Tim shook his head.  “Not really.” 

“And there’s no puppies in your future.” 

“I’ll stick with the cat.”  He cleared his throat.  “And Ethan.   Dogs out there aren’t easy to have anyway.  Unless you want something tiny.”  He shrugged. 

Mark smiled as Tim found plates and forks for the egg bake, then took the square Tim offered him.   “Thanks, kid.” 

Tim glared.  “I’m 39.   When you gonna stop that?” 

“When you stop being my baby brother.”  This was said with a grin.   

Tim sat down, turning to face Mark, intending to start conversation about his new niece when Mark put his hand up.  “Hold on.  I want to get this out of the way first.”  He tipped his head up, reaching for a switch on the wall.   Eyelashes fluttering, he dipped his head down into a tissue Tim hadn’t noticed him reach for.  “Chuuushoo! EhhChesshh…UhKeshhehh.  UhhKessh–ahsshoo!”  Blowing his nose, he started a new pile of tissues.   “Hopefully that’s done for awhile.” He sniffed. 

“Bless you.  Didn’t know lights got you too.” 

“Only if the sneezes are already there.   Then it sometimes forces them out.  Wanted to get them out so we could talk.” 

Tim’s stomach flipped.  Of course he’d known this was coming…he’d just hoped his mom, Ethan…somebody, would have been there when it did.   

“Been quite a year since we last saw each other, huh? New baby for me…boyfriend for you.”    

Tim nodded, unsure where this was headed. 

“You know, I told you about Amelia.”  Mark’s tone was light, but his words stung.  “I shared sonograms, baby pictures; talked about Mari’s pregnancy, how the girls adjusted to their sister, what she was like…” 

Tim swallowed his suddenly dry eggs.   “I…” 

“Dammit Tim, we’ve talked with him there.  And you didn’t say anything!  Just, “oh, got some friends over, but I can talk for a minute.  You hid a boyfriend from me.  For a year!” 

“I didn’t know how you’d react.”  To be honest, Tim still wasn’t sure how Mark was reacting.  He didn’t seem angry, but it was clear he wasn’t pleased. 

A sigh.  “I know. I know.  Mom and I talked a lot about that. I guess considering how Dave, Luke and Pete responded…yeah…I guess you saw that coming, huh.” 

A nod. 

“Yeah, well, in case you haven’t noticed, in your 39 years, I’ve never exactly fit the same mold as them.”  Mark snapped, picking up his plate and walking to the sink, filling it with water.   Bringing the coffee pot back over, he refilled their cups.  “Steve know?” 

“He knew I was figuring things out.” Tim sighed.  “Nothing definitive.” 

“And?” 

“He didn’t care.  He wasn’t like them.  But then, you two were never alike either, either.” Tim pointed out. 

“Many of Steve’s choices…we weren’t alike in that regard.   But in many other ways, we were.  Just like you and I.   Just like the two of you.” 

“So, are you…what?  Cuz frankly, it’s a little hard to tell.  Did you keep talking to me only to cut me out in person?” He snapped. 

Mark stared.  “Is that what you think?”  His lips tightened as he sighed.  “Tim…I’m not…you’re not…neither of us is going anywhere.  I’m not treating you like them.  Not over the phone.  Not in person.”  He muffled two sneezes into the dish towel he was holding, grumbled ‘not now!’ then realized what he’d done and tossed the dish towel towards the basement door. 

“Dammit, Tim.   We’ve already lost one brother.   And from what I’ve heard, sounds like we could have lost you around that time, too!” 

Tim closed his mouth, pressing his lips together.  Mark never mentioned that time. 

“I don’t care who you date! If you date!  I care that after 39 years, you didn’t feel you could trust me…that you felt you had to fucking hide it.  For a year!  You couldn’t even introduce him as a friend.   You didn’t even plan to tell us, Tim.  Luke made a comment on the zoom chat one night, and you snapped.   You were gonna hide this as long as you could get away with it!” 

Mark took a deep breath and composed himself.  “I’m hurt.  That after all we lean on each other for, all your help with Abie, how close we’ve gotten since Steve passed, since you sobered up…that you couldn’t even consider trusting me.” 

Tim looked down for a long time. “Mark…” He took a deep breath.  “I was scared, ok.  Losing Steve almost destroyed me; you’ll never know how much you helped pull me out of that place.   I didn’t want to risk losing you.”  His voice tightened, and he looked up.  “I didn’t like hiding.  Don’t like it.  But, I stopped and look what happened.  I lost more family.  Can you understand why?” 

Mark nodded. “I’ve lost one brother, Timmy.   I’m not losing another.  That includes by choice.”   He stood across the counter from Tim.  “I don’t care.  You’re my baby brother.” 

Tim swallowed hard.  Not how he’d expected the morning to go.  “So..”I’m not a bad influence on your children?” 

“Wouldn’t be here if you were.”  Mark pointed out.   “Honestly, Mari’s best friend, Daniel…the one who took the cat, is a worse influence.  He’s always sneaking them chocolate…oh, and he happens to be gay.”  

“I get you’re scared.  And it’s a sucky-ass situation.  And the others,  Maybe they’ll come around, maybe they won’t.   But that’s their problem and their loss. You’re welcome here first.  I never see you.”  He caught a sneeze with his wrist and rubbed at his nose.  “Ugh, almost made it through this. I’m right on the edge of more again.” 

“Bless you.”  Tim said with a grin. 

“Don’t make them back off.”  Mark groaned. 

“You used to do it to me.” 

“Don’t think I won’t go out and buy a feather pillow just to hit you with.” 

“Maybe buy some more air purifiers while you’re at it.  Sounds like you’re the one who really needs them.”  Tim’s voice was a mixture of teasing and concern. 

“EhhKuhhChoo!”  Mark’s head snapped forward to meet his wrist, and he took the tissue and blessing Tim offered.   “You’re probably right.   Should we skip the feather pillow, or should I keep one around in case you get out of line?” 

Tim rubbed at his nose.  “Please no.  I’ll behave.” 

“Wash the dishes, then we’ll go get those air purifiers.  Think Ethan would wanna join us for lunch?” 

“I’ll text him after dishes.” 

 “You wanna wash or dry?” 

“Dry.”  He caught the dish towel Mark pulled out of the drawer and tossed at him, then crossed over to the sink, enjoying this moment of mundane normality with his brother.