Challenge (Harris Brothers, #1)

by Amy Daws

A while later, the nurse returns and her mouth drops open at the sight of my completely packed room. Dad is in a chair that he pulled up next to my bed. Vi is sitting at the foot with Hayden now tucked up next to her. Gareth and Booker are sandwiched shoulder-to-shoulder on the window ledge, and Tanner slides himself up off the floor at her entry. Everyone has coffee in hand except me. “It’s time.” She smiles awkwardly and stands back from the door. “I’ll walk down with him,” Dad says right away. “No, Dad, I’m good. You can go to the waiting room with everyone else. I’ll be fine.” “Are you sure? I can walk down with you,” he says again. “Or I could,” Vi adds, her clear blue eyes touching me with motherly softness. I shake my head with a laugh. “No. I’m good you guys. I promise. Go get more coffee. I’ll see you all afterwards.” After a handful of awkward hugs, Tanner comes in last and whispers, “You’ve never looked uglier.” I punch him in the ribs before he pulls away, smiling as the wind gets knocked out of him. “You’re pretty much insulting yourself there, Twin Genius.”

This is Camden Harris getting ready for surgery and his entire family is crammed into his surgical waiting room. I love this passage so much because this is truly what the Harris Family is all about. No boundaries. All in, all the time. They are beautifully dysfunctional and even at the end when Tanner calls his brother ugly, it shows that even in serious moments like this, the family can all share a laugh. I love full family scenes!