“Totally my pleasure,” he grinned.
I peeled back the paper cup and took a bite.
“Eww!” Allyssa squealed. “That was totally the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in — I don’t even know…”
“See, I’m not the only one who thinks frosting is gross.”
“Not that,” she corrected. “You totally just chowed on that cupcake after he horked all the frosting off. Are germs not a thing to you?”
Dominic looked nervous, but he wasn’t fidgety yet, so that was a good sign. I shrugged off her comment. “Yeah, but we have social skills together, and he licks spoons and stuff.”
“I do not,” he started to defend, then relented. “Oh wait. Yeah. Sometimes I do that.”
“You guys are gross,” she shook her head at us, all disgusted.
“It’s no different than kissing,” Ryan slid himself into the conversation.
Dominic paled, and began to fidget with the back of his chair, but mostly his leg began a steady bounce. I stuck my foot out, kicking it into his leg. “Oops, sorry,” I pretended like I hadn’t completely done it on purpose. He stopped tapping and resorted to gripping the edge of the desk.
“Still gross,” Allyssa stuck to her guns.
I took another bite. “No, this is way different than kissing.”
“Been a while?” Ryan asked.
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make a jab or not, but I didn’t really care. “No,” I said taking another bite. It was true, I’d seen Julian yesterday.
“Atta girl,” he slow punch tapped my arm.
“You’re such an asshole,” I laughed at him.
“Atta girl,” he slow punch tapped my arm again.
“You want the last bite?” I offered what was left to Dominic, mostly to pull him out of the ball of nerves he was winding himself into.
It worked. He release the desk from his death grip, took the cupcake from me and stuffed it into his mouth.
“I hope you enjoy having mono,” Allyssa chided.
“Ah, Dominic, I should have licked it first, so Allyssa could be super grossed out.”
Dominic chuckled, but he wasn’t fidgeting anymore and that was really all I cared about. He offered me the paper wrapper and I pretended to lick it.
Allyssa squealed and looked away. Dominic and Ryan laughed. And I laughed with them.
4th period, AP English Literature, Mrs. Wall talked about A Visit From Saint Nicholas, by Clement C. Moore. How it had changed and evolved over the years, how it shaped Christmas traditions, how and why it had come to be mostly known as The Night Before Christmas. And I’ve probably made this sound way more interesting than it actually was but — Sorry, Mrs. Wall — it just wasn’t.
The short schedule meant Lunch wasn’t next, and 5th Period’s Independent Study was basically pointless, but I went to hang out with my fellow library studiers anyway. So, basically just Adria. She was under the table we usually sat at with headphones on and a paper on her chest that said: “Am power-napping. Disturb at your own peril.”
“Is this what I’ve been missing out on all this time?”
I turned to see Dominic standing behind me. “Pretty much.”
“Hmm. We don’t even have time to go out,” he griped. He settled into a chair and kicked his feet up onto the table. “So, you got Christmas plans?”
We’d already discussed Christmas plans in great detail, but it had all been over text. “Uhm, yeah.” I slid in to the seat across from him. “I’m gonna go see my mom. Hey, don’t be weirded out, but I got you a Christmas present.”
He scowled at me. “Why?”
“The gift answers that question. It’s in my car, I was gonna go get it before Life Skills but if you want we could go get it now, then you can put it in your truck so you don’t have to lug it around or whatever.”
“Lug it around?” he looked worried.
I shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess. Where are you parked?”
“South lot.”
He followed me to my car, and I handed him my brown paper wrapped gift with the words: ‘It’s a big book’ written on it in big black letters.
He smiled at it. “Kinda gives it away, doesn’t it?”
“So does holding it,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s true.” He slipped a finger under one of the folds and ripped it open to reveal the big heavy book inside: A Spanish English visual dictionary. He burst out laughing.
“Now, you can look up any Spanish word you want to know, even if I’m not around.”
He flipped through the pages, still chuckling. “I don’t think anyone’s ever given me a gift just for being consistently annoying.”
“I got the biggest and heaviest just to return the favor.”
He laughed some more. He has the best laugh, and hearing it is one of the all time greatest sounds in the world.
“You know, this is actually really cool,” he traced his fingers over the images and words. “Thank you.”
“De nada.”
“Oh, I know that one, it means, you’re welcome.”
“At this rate we’ll have you fluent in just a couple hundred years.”
He laughed again. It made me happy to see him happy, but the best part was that he was so relaxed around me. I hoped it would stick. He put the book in his truck and we slowly made our way back to the school.
“See you in a few,” he said as he held open the door for me.
I nodded. “I wonder what foods is gonna be on a shortened schedule. Microwave popcorn? Ooh, I hope it’s a speed bake-off.”
Dominic chuckled.
“That’s probably too cool for school though, huh?”
“Probably.”
6th period was in Spanish. Nothing new there. We sang songs in Spanish. Feliz Navidad would be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. It’s just so catchy.
7th period, no bake-off, no microwaves. Ms. Young had made a few billion sugar cookies and we got to decorate them. We could decorate as many as we wanted but we could only eat one. The rest were going to be sold at a concessions stand at a winter festival the school was putting on, on Saturday.
“It’s a decorate-off” I grinned at Dominic.
“Dibs on the cookie I know you’re not going to eat,” Kayley said.
“You going to the winter festival thing tomorrow?” Dominic asked.
“No. I’m on a plane to visit my mom. You?”
“I think I’m supposed to, but I’m working.”
“I’ll be there,” Kayley sighed.
“Really?” I eyed her.
She lifted a shoulder. “Mrs. Meyerson said it would help improve my citizenship grade, so I basically have to be there.”
“Meyerson’s easy,” Dominic said. “I’m guessing your crap grade is from talking?”
“Yes. And it’s so stupid because I was talking about the assignment,” she rolled her eyes and huffed, indignantly.
“Uh-huh,” I chided. “Next you’re gonna tell us it only happened one time.”
Kayley stuck her tongue out at me.
Dominic chuckled, but kept his eyes on the cookie he was piping icing onto. “Get her talking about herself. Ask her about her grandkids or any of the little things she has on her desk. She loves talking about herself and her interests so be prepared for an earful, and then just tell her that you love getting to know people. She’ll ease up.”
“For reals?” She looked doubtful. “Seems too easy.”
Dominic shrugged. “Worked for me.”
“Worth a shot,” I chipped in.
Next on the schedule was lunch combined with an assembly. For people who ate school lunch this looked like a sack lunch of a sandwich, chips, veggie sticks and a drink. For those of us who brought lunch, it looked like whatever we brought. I brought a sandwich, veggie sticks, an apple and a banana, because I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, and some water. For people like Dominic, who went out, they had the option to buy a sack lunch or go without, bu
t I offered to share mine with him, and because regular every-day Dominic had been replaced by this new and different holiday-edition Dominic, he accepted the offer.
We grabbed seats near the back and watched performances by the theater group, the choir, and the dance team. Dominic kept making off-handed comments about how awesome assemblies were when you were actually here to see them. When it was over we wished each other happy holidays, Kayley started hugging everyone, lamenting about how she wasn’t going to see them until next year. She even hugged me for some reason, and Kimber, and she hugged Dominic twice. It was during the second hug with Dominic, when I saw her mouth the words, ‘he’s so yummy’ that I understood why she was hugging everyone — she’s an opportunist.
We drove home and I finished packing, and then Uncle Tate drove me to Julian’s. We got a car to the airport and just before I boarded, I got a text from Dominic.
DW: Have fun in Ireland. Take lots of pictures. Miss you already.
I missed him too. More than he would ever know. More than the simple “See ya” I waved before climbing into my car. I should have found an excuse to hug him. Or maybe all I needed was guts. I made a mental note to make an actual note to add ‘become more opportunistic’ to my new years resolutions.
・❀・❀・❀・
Ireland isn’t exactly the other side of the planet, but as long as it took us to get there, it might as well have been. We took a red-eye flight to New York, with a stopover long enough to see some sights, do some shopping and be thoroughly worn out in time for our next flight to Dublin. And even though I was beyond exhausted and used to sleeping on a bus, I didn’t sleep very well on the plane.
Might have had something to do with being 30 thousand feet away from the ground, over an ocean. And that weird high pitched airplane noise that serves as a constant reminder of just how freaking fast the chunk of metal with seats I’m sitting in, is hurdling through the air. And how all that led to me dreaming that the wings fell off the plane and we were basically a bullet zipping through the air — passing within inches of all the things until our inevitable impact into Ireland. Highlights along the way included the Statue of Liberty, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon, and Parkwood High which was now a giant many storied building. We were flying too close to really be able to see anything more than blurs as we screamed by, but I knew what everything was because dreams are awesome like that.
Just before our bullet plane crashed into a map of Ireland I nervously turned to Dominic, who was sitting across the aisle from me and said, “I guess I won’t be loaning you any more pencils.”
In the next instant we were standing and he was pulling me into his arms. “Hey, it’s okay,” he soothed with a smile and the back of his fingers across my cheek. “I’ll loan you my pencil.” And then he leaned in, slowly, his breath heavy, his eyes wanting, and just before our lips touched, I closed my eyes — and woke up.
That covered the first hour of trying to sleep on the New York to Dublin part of our journey. The rest of the time, which was only a couple hundred hours or so, was spent changing positions a few thousand times, and reviewing and analyzing every detail of my weird dream. Mostly the last part. Especially the last part.
Ugh! Why did I have to wake up before our lips touched? And why was Dominic leaning in to kiss me in the first place? And why couldn’t I stop freaking thinking about it!?
We arrived in Ireland in the middle of the night, even though Julian insisted that it was actually just early morning. I tried to figure out the time difference so I could argue the time it felt like, since it was definitely the middle of the night back home, but I was too tired to calculate even simple math, so I just grumbled and told Julian to stop being so chipper so early in the morning. And then I griped about how I was so tired I couldn’t even do simple math, and how I wasn’t ready to be awake, and about the time I mentioned that my growth was probably actively being stunted by all this sleep deprivation, Julian put a coffee in my hand and said, “Darling, you know I love you, and I know you’re not a morning person, but could you please shut the fuck up?”
I nodded and sipped my coffee. It was creamy and strong and sweeter than usual. Normally I’d be buzzing after coffee this strong, but as tired as I was it’d probably just make me feel awake.
There was a car waiting for us, and a driver who’s accent was so strong I was having a hard time believing he was actually speaking anything even similar to English.
It was all good as long as he was talking to Julian but then he turned and said something to me. And I said, “What?” Because what else could I say? And he repeated what he’d just said and I understood none of it, so again, “What?”
“She’s not awake yet,” Julian said on my behalf.
Irish Guy laughed. It was the first thing I understood.
According to Julian the car ride was an hour. I remember being sad that my coffee was gone about two minutes into the ride and then Julian announcing, “We’re here.”
What was in that coffee? I should mention there was still no sun at this point, and there wouldn’t be for some time. Wintertime, this close to the pole, it was closer to 9am before the sun made itself known to Ireland.
Mom and Erik met us at the door with broad smiles and lots of hugs. Still in pajamas though, because like I’ve been saying, it was the middle of the night. It was actually almost 7am at this point but whatever. They showed us to our rooms and let us get settled while coffee and breakfast was made.
Settling in, for me, looked like face planting onto the bed and falling asleep again. I could hear Julian showering as I drifted toward dreamland. It didn’t last nearly long enough, before Julian rolled me over and sat me up. “You really didn’t sleep at all on the plane did you?”
“No,” I frowned.
“Don’t make that face, Darling.” Julian kissed my forehead. “Put on a smile, we’ll get you some more coffee and you can catch up on your sleep with an early bed time. Promise. In the meantime, go wash up and I’ll get an outfit for you.” He pulled me to my feet, pointed me in the direction of the bathroom and smacked me on the butt hard enough to make me yelp and jump.
“What was that about?” I turned back, rubbing my hand over the tingling handprint on my tushy.
“Wake up tap. Quick, use the adrenaline before you pass out again.”
“You couldn’t just kiss me, like normal?” I huffed.
“Different circumstances, Darling,” Julian leaned in and gave me a quick peck. “I didn’t want you to close your eyes and fall asleep again.”
I scowled at him then turned back to the bathroom — and he smacked the other cheek, just as hard as he’d smacked the first one.
“The hell, Jules?”
“Go,” was all he said, already unzipping my bag and pulling out clothes.
After waffles with fruit and whipped cream, a small mountain of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, three cups of coffee, and some serious hints of daylight. I finally started to feel like I was going to survive the day without falling asleep standing.
And I was awake enough to notice that Mom had put on some weight. And maybe Erik had too a little bit, but Mom definitely had. And I couldn’t help but think about the massive amounts of food I’d just shoveled into my belly.
“Okay,” Mom put her hands on the table. “You remember the surprise I was going to tell you about?” Julian and I nodded. “Well, I’m glad I waited to tell you because I just found out a few days ago that it’s not just one surprise, it’s two.”
Julian gasped next to me. “Oh my what!? Really?”
“What?” I looked back and forth between the three of them, all smiling like goons. “What’s the surprise?”
“I’m pregnant.”
I was totally awake now. “Omigawd, are you serious? For reals?” As she nodded I got up and nearly tackled her in to a hug. “Mom that’s amazing! It’s wonderful! It’s the best news ever.”
Julian was right behind me to hug her and tell her “Congratu
lations!”
“Didn’t plan it,” she sighed. “Not even sure how it happened, but it did.”
“Are you excited, though?” I blurted. “Is Erik excited?” I turned to Erik. “Are you excited?”
“Thrilled. Ecstatic, overjoyed, elated, overwhelmed.” The smile never left his face as he spoke. “I’m feeling all the things.”
I turned to Mom as my brain snagged on something. “What’s the other surprise? You said there were two.”
“That’s the other surprise,” Mom let out a quick breath. “There are two.”
I shook my head, I still wasn’t getting it.
“She’s having twins, Kat,” Julian connected the dots I’d missed.
My brain exploded. I just sat there with my lower jaw in my lap, like I was waiting for someone to park a car in it.
“Angie made that same face when she found out,” Erik laughed.
And then we were all laughing.
“Does Aunt Josie know?” I asked.
“No,” Mom answered. “She would have blabbed. We wanted you two to be the first to know. I’ll call her later and let her know.”
“Mom, this is amazing. I’m so happy for you. You married the best guy, you’re living in a country you’ve always wanted to experience, and now you’re having twins. It’s kind of perfect. It’s the life you always should have had.”
“Katarina,” Julian frowned and slipped his hand into mine.
Mom shook her head at me. “Kit-Kat, I’ve always had the life I was meant to have — the one that brought me you, and Julian, and Erik, and now these new little loves. It’s all been a gift and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.”
“Same here,” Erik chimed in. “I’d sort of accepted that my focus on my career had probably cost me the chance of having kids. Then I met Angie, and she brought you and Julian into my life, and it was everything I never thought I’d have. This is my family, right here,” he pointed his finger around the table at us. “I didn’t need anything more than this, but happy doesn’t have stopping points, and neither do families.”
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