I stop and face the mass of cameras, microphones, and recorders held high waiting for my response.

  “You have your story very backwards. You should really check your facts before you go throwing out ridiculous comments like that.” I turn to leave, but another voice calls out, asking, “What’s the real story? What are you trying to hide?”

  “I heard you paid to have the graduation here instead of the high school so you can have your entire family here. Is that true?”

  “Kayla, let’s go.”

  Sara wraps an arm around me and guides me away from the reporters. Inside, we’re swarmed by Talia’s friends, with their families hovering just behind them.

  “I can’t believe you rolled up here in that thing! Why didn’t you pick me up?”

  Talia laughs and beams in happiness as her friends make a big deal about her arrival.

  “Kayla Johann.”

  I turn and come face to face with the principal. I smile and hold out my hand to shake hands with her, but she doesn’t accept my hand. She just purses her lips in a disapproving way and her eyes narrow.

  “Try not to turn our ceremony into a circus. If they cry, take them outside so you don’t disrupt our graduation any more than you already are.”

  She nods towards our sleeping babies with a look of disgust and turns to leave.

  “Excuse me?”

  She looks back at me and raises her eyebrows in an unimpressed way. Sara wraps an arm around my shoulders again, squeezing my shoulder, as if to say, “cool it”. I don’t say anything so the principal walks away. I take a deep breath and try to get my frustration under control.

  Talia’s principal is a mean woman who thinks I’m a big scumbag. When I called the school to negotiate moving the graduation, she hung up on me. The school’s auditorium is too small to allow more than three tickets per student so most of the students wouldn’t have had even half of their families here to watch their graduation. I had to go above her and talk to the schoolboard to get the graduation moved. I paid for the venue and all of the expenses related to having the graduation here. Only the principal is mad about the change.

  Thankfully, Talia didn’t notice the exchange and is still smiling and laughing and looking like she’s having the time of her life with her friends.

  We stand around talking to her friends and their parents for a while, till all of the students have to go get ready for the procession. With Alek leading us, and Niko pulling up the back of our train, we make our way to our seats. Alek and Niko sit on the ends so they can create a barrier between us and anyone who gets too excited and tries to get too close and to protect us from unexpected threats.

  When the ceremony starts, the entire audience of families and friends stands up and starts snapping pictures of the train of cap and gown wearing senior class. Tears of pride prickle in my eyes as I watch my sister walk in and take a seat in the front row on the large stage.

  The principal stands at the podium for over ten minutes, droning on with a very boring speech that she no doubt believes is inspiring and motivational. Then we listen to a speech by an alumnus, which is much better and has some funny moments that earn him some laughter.

  At my high school graduation, the salutatorian and the valedictorian gave speeches, but to save on time, the school stopped doing that a couple of years ago. Which, I think is ridiculous. Why would they have an alumnus speak if they’re not going to allow the salutatorian to address their own peers? So, instead of getting to hear Talia next, the principal invites the valedictorian to the podium to give his speech.

  He’s a tall skinny guy with curly brown hair, thick rimmed glasses, and a sharp nose. He’s an attractive guy, and according to Talia, he’s very popular with the girls. He clears his throat and looks around with a broad smile.

  “So, we did it. We got through four years of forcing ourselves to crack open our books to study on the weekends instead of cracking open a six-pack and sitting around a basement talking about bullshit that doesn’t matter. Ok, maybe we did both, but look at us, we’re done!”

  Everyone laughs a little or whispers shocked and disapproving comments. He just grins and looks back at his classmates.

  “I think my entire class would agree with me that this is the biggest load of bullshit right here.”

  The principal and teachers look between themselves and start whispering. The principal perches on the edge of her chair, like she’s about to kick him off of the podium.

  “You see, I don’t deserve to be standing here and everyone knows it. My good friend, Talia Johann, should be standing here. The woman is brilliant and her grade point average is point thirty-one above mine. In case you don’t know, that’s pretty damn significant. So, I’m going to shut up now because I don’t want to hear myself speak, and I’m going to ask Talia to take my place. Oh, and so you don’t think this is some kind of ploy by a guy trying to impress a beautiful brilliant woman, I’m gay. Surprise!”

  The audience and the student body start whispering in shock and he just smiles broadly and walks over to Talia. They talk for a moment, and then she awkwardly walks up to the podium.

  “I, uh, wow.” She laughs a little and looks back at her class. “Steve, I don’t know what to say, but thanks. I come from a family that believes in pushing yourself beyond your limits to achieve greatness. Achieving your dreams takes hard work, dedication, and sometimes, disappointment. But the journey to achieving your dreams should be fun and enjoyable. I sacrificed the honor of valedictorian so I can have greater life experiences with my family. Perfect attendance is an admirable achievement, but my family believes in balance. Steve joked about cracking open books and a six-pack to get to this point. But the truth is, all of us need to find balance between work and fun. My mom reminded me of that today. In a few months, most of us will be starting college, getting jobs, or joining the military. More is going to be demanded of us than ever before. Finding balance is the greatest lesson I’ll take with me to college when I leave home and it’s the only word of advice that I think is appropriate to give to the rest of my class. We all know what is demanded of us. We all know what we have to do. We also know what we want to do, for the most part. Balance. That should be our goal. Thank you.”

  Everyone stands and applauds Talia. It’s probably one of the shortest graduation speeches ever but it was great. I’ve never heard Talia give life lesson speeches before. I feel really proud of her.

  After she is seated, the principal takes the podium again, and I can detect a bit of hatred and anger in her tone as she transitions into the award ceremony. The process of receiving their awards and diplomas is long, but it’s fun to watch. After they finish, I laugh a little. Talia has a stack of awards under her chair, much larger than all of the other students, including Steve, the school’s selected valedictorian.

  After the tassel ceremony, the graduates erupt with cheers, which is joined by the huge audience of families and friends. The loud clapping and cheering startles our babies awake and they start crying. Awenasa and Shannon bounce them and rock them, trying to calm them down, but they’re too upset.

  “Alek, can you let us out?”

  Alek stands and buttons his jacket, allowing the three of us out of the row. As the audience settles and sits back down, we reach the backdoor. We watch from just outside as the principal says a few final words of well wishes to the graduates and thanks the families for coming.

  “Talia did great, didn’t she?” My wives smile as they bounce the babies and nod. “Yes, she did. She was a true Johann up there.”

  Awenasa’s words make me smile really big. She leans in to kiss my lips with a loving smile.

  “Can I hold one?”

  Shannon hands me Malana and I give her a kiss on her red cheek and whisper in her ear, “Shh, my beautiful girl. This is a day to celebrate.” I kiss her neck and tickle her chin. Slowly, she quiets down to a small whimper. I smile and kiss her tiny puckered lips. “That’s my girl.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just throw money at everything to get your way, just because you’re a celebrity?”

  Malana starts screaming again, after being startled by the vicious scream from Talia’s principal.

  “Shut your little brat up.”

  I snap my head up and a deep menacing growl involuntarily crawls up my throat, sending the principal stumbling back several paces. The auditorium is emptying and several people heard her remark and are gathering around us, looking shocked and angry. Alek and Niko quickly get on either side of our group, with my family quickly getting behind us.

  “Her name is Malana and she is a sweet innocent baby, not a brat. Watch your mouth when speaking to or about my loved ones.”

  “I told you not to turn our ceremony into a circus. What did you do? How much did you pay Steven Brigham to give your sister the honor of valedictorian?”

  “She didn’t pay me anything.” Steven breaks through the crowd and faces off with the principal. “I told you in your office that I don’t want to be valedictorian. Talia deserves this and you know it. You wouldn’t accept my rejection so this was my only option to make it right.”

  “You did not have the right to reject the honor of valedictorian. We decide who receives the honor. This will not be the end of this. I will see to it that…”

  “Torrance, enough. Come with me. Congratulations to both of you. Kayla, thanks again for paying for the graduation ceremony. It was very gracious of you to do.”

  Mr. Ivanov, the man I dealt with to rearrange the graduation, takes the elbow of the principal and leads her away from us.

  “I’m not going to miss that crazy bitch.” Steven turns with a laugh and faces me. He holds out a hand to shake, so I adjust Malana in my arm and shake his hand. “She’s cute. And she knows scary when she sees it.” He laughs again and tickles Malana’s tummy. “I’m sorry my rebellion caused you to suffer the wrath of the dragon.”

  “It’s ok. Thank you for honoring my sister’s accomplishments today. So, where are you headed after this?”

  “U-Penn for robotic engineering.”

  “That’s cool. Manufacturing robots, or artificial life, take over the world type of robots?” Steven laughs as he unzips his gown and loosens his tie. “Probably more practical than science fiction, but I think every nerd secretly dreams of creating a human-like robot. And according to Talia, we need to find balance in work and fun while working towards our dreams, so maybe I’ll create an army of proxy Steve’s one day.”

  “That’s a scary thought.” Steve looks at Talia and laughs. “Yeah, I agree. One of me is scary enough.”

  “Hey.” Steve looks down at Talia as she nudges him in the ribs with a smile. “Were you serious about your surprise on stage?” Steve nods and loosens his tie even more. “Yeah.”

  “But you always have a girlfriend.” He laughs and shakes his head. “No, I always have a beard.”

  “Beard?”

  “Yeah, a fake girlfriend. Don’t worry though. I never used them. It always had mutual benefits.”

  “Why did you do that? Why not just be yourself?”

  “It’s hard enough getting through high school when you’re a big nerd with glasses and less athletic talent than a ninety-year old with artificial hips.”

  “I guess that’s true. Hey, do you and your parents have dinner plans? We’re going to Morimoto’s in Philly. You should come with us. A bunch of people are meeting us up there.”

  “The famous Iron Chef place? Seriously?” Steve spins around to look at his parents, both of whom smile, and his father says, “We’d love to. We can rearrange our plans for another night.”

  Talia gives Steve and several of her friends the address in case they lose track of our limo while we’re caravanning up to Philadelphia. Then we fight our way through the masses to the safety of the limo. Talia falls back in her seat with all of her awards sitting next to her and she smiles really big.

  “How many extra people did you invite?”

  “Uh, maybe like five more?” I laugh and shake my head as I pull my phone out. “How many in total with their families?” Talia sits with her fingers out, silently counting as she tallies everyone up. “I think twenty.”

  “Talia! I hope they can accommodate all of them.”

  I call the restaurant and ask for the manager. Talia nervously bites her necklace charm while I talk out the details with the manager. When I hang up, I exhale hard and shake my head with a laugh.

  “You’re really lucky, you spoiled brat.”

  “Thanks for doing this.”

  “Since you invited so many extra people, we’re going to give you your graduation gift now. It might be awkward for you if we give it to you in front of all of those people.”

  “Sounds intriguing.” Talia hops forward with an excited smile, looking very anxious. “So, what is it?”

  Awenasa pulls a folder out of the diaper bag, and Talia’s excitement increases and she releases a goofy laugh as she reaches forward to accept the folder from Awenasa.

  “This is a deed for a house close to my college campus, isn’t it?” All of us laugh hard and shake our heads. “No, brat, we didn’t buy you a house.”

  “Ah, damn. Oh, my god! Do I get to go to all of these places?” Talia pulls out all of the travel brochures and starts flipping through them. “You can pick one and we’ll send you and five friends for two weeks.”

  “Seriously? You guys aren’t coming and the family isn’t coming?”

  “We can’t because we have work, but if you want the family to go, then…”

  “No!” Talia looks around with bright red cheeks. “I mean, I love all of you, but I’m an adult now and this is like, you know, my first time to be an adult for real.” Our parents smile and pat her legs. “We understand, angel.”

  “So, five people. That’s going to be kind of hard. Wait, does Ashley and Jacob count as family since I’m friends with them?”

  Madison looks over at me with a big smile. I really wanted to ask Talia to pick them to bring with her so Jacob could be there to help look after her, but Madison told me I need to allow Talia to decide on her own. I’m really glad I listened to her.

  “They’re both, but I know they’d love it if you bring them.” Talia smiles at Madison before she continues to look through the brochures. “So, that’s three left. I have four more in mind, but two of them may be iffy. When do I have to let you know?”

  “As soon as possible so we can make the travel arrangements.”

  “What if I don’t fill all five slots? Can that get me a second vacation?” We laugh hard and Talia grins in a proud way. “You really are a con-artist, you know that?”

  “I’m just logical. So, it’s a deal, right?”

  “Who are you taking on both trips?”

  “Probably Ashley and Jacob. Most of my friends have a busy summer scheduled. Angie should be able to come on at least one if we go in June.”

  “Ok, con-artist. We’ll send you on two trips.”

  “Sweet. Ok, Belize is a definite. You put this one in here because you felt guilty for not taking us, didn’t you?”

  “It was our honeymoon, weirdo.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Oh, Thailand! That would be awesome. We need to bring Jacob and Ashley back home in the limo with us later so they can help decide where to go. I don’t think I can decide. I want to go to all of these places. Oh, Barcelona! Why did you give me so many options? This is so hard.”

  “Well, if it’s too hard, we can pick for you.”

  “No! I want to pick.”

  All of us laugh and Talia just grins as she fans all of the brochures out over the floor to look at all of them.

  “Ok, I have an idea to solve this problem.”

  “Why do I get the feeling that your idea involves us sending you to all of these places over a period of time specified by you?” Talia grins at me and shrugs a shoulder. “Well, it is a pretty reasonable idea.”

  “See, con-artist.”

  “You love me, so I know you’ll see things my way.”

  Everyone laughs again and Talia gives me a cocky proud smile before bending down to scoop up all of the brochures. With one final look at the stack, she slips them back in the folder and places it on top of her stack of awards. She looks at Sara with a big smile and tilts her head to the side.

  “So… What did you get for me?”

  “Nothing. I decided I couldn’t compete with their gift to you. So, instead of being outshone, I just didn’t enter the competition.”

  “Competition? What competition? This is about showering your poor little sister with rich gifts to make me feel good about my graduation. Come on, let me have it.”

  “I’m telling you, I didn’t get you anything, kid.” Talia puckers her lips in agitation and crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Fine. Awenasa, can you hand her the other folder?”

  Talia jumps forward with a happy laugh and rips the folder out of Awenasa’s hand. As she flips it open, she releases a loud shrill excited shriek. All of us cover our ears and the babies start crying.

  “Shoot, sorry. Is this for real?”

  “It is, but you have to come home for the summers and continue to take trips with the family. You can’t become an independent hermit in your own apartment in Massachusetts.”

  “Wait a minute. What if I meet someone like Kayla did? She went to college and moved out with her girlfriends and never came home again for more than a week at a time.”

  “You’re not allowed to meet someone.” Talia scoffs at me and crosses her arms over her chest. “What?” Our parents laugh and wrap their arms around her. “Your sister just worries about you getting hurt, but she wants you to be happy.”

  “Get over it – you’re always going to be our baby sister, no matter how old you get. We’re always going to be looking out for you.” Talia smiles at Sara before looking at the folder in her hand again. “This place is really nice. Is it furnished?”

  “No, you’ll have to exercise your adult skills and go shopping to get all of your furniture and home essentials. The gift card in there should cover everything.” Talia gasps and rips the folder pocket in her excitement to find the gift card. “How much is…? Oh, wow. You guys are the best sisters in the world!”