Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

by Hayden Hunt

  “Do it!” he pleaded. “Unload everything you’ve got into me, baby! I want your warmth, please!”

  That was more than I could take. My balls tensed up and I gave him everything I had. I moaned as I came the biggest load I’d ever had.

  When it was done, I felt faint for the second time in twenty-four hours. I, uh, hadn’t been exercising as much as usual lately, and it took a lot out of me to hold him down like that.

  But it was so worth it. I flopped down on the bed next to Peter. I was sweaty and huffing, but that didn’t keep Peter from curling up and cuddling next to me.

  “Babe, I’m all gross!” I told him.

  “So? And I’m not? Uh, you literally came inside me. Neither of us are at our most hygienic. But fuck it, you’re going to have to leave soon. A little sweat won’t keep me from enjoying my first morning with you.”

  “Ugh!” I groaned. “You’re right, I totally have to leave soon, shit.”

  “I know, so let’s enjoy each other while we can.”

  I looked over at his alarm clock to see it was already ten. “Well, while we can isn’t very long. I really want to get home before Jake wakes up.”

  “Okay, okay.” He let go of me. “I understand… At least we had a pretty wonderful morning, huh?”

  “Yeah, morning sex for our first time. A little unique,” I said as I sat up.

  “That it was.” He kissed my hand before I left the bed to grab my clothes.

  “Thanks for a fantastic night,” I told him.

  “A great night of, uh, fainting?” he asked.

  I laughed. “Well, it didn’t start off great, but it really was wonderful. I can’t remember feeling this good in… I don’t know how long. So thanks for that.”

  “Any time, my dear. Whenever you can swing it.”

  “Yeah, well, we’ll have to try and make this a more regular occasion. I think Ashley won’t object to getting paid to sleep at my house for an extra six hours.”

  “I sure wouldn’t.” He winked.

  Again, he made me laugh. “Okay, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Yeah, talk to you later,” he agreed. “Make sure you get home safe.”

  “Will do,” I assured him.

  When I got home that morning, I was relieved to find that Jake was barely waking up. I knew that if he had woken up without me here while Ashley was still around, he would have given her hell about it.

  I was paying her when he jumped up out of bed and came running to the living room.

  “Ashley’s still here?” he asked excitedly.

  “Yep,” I said awkwardly, trying to avoid any more questions.

  “Uncle Luke, Doctor Rushmore called!”

  I jerked my head toward him. “What? How do you know that?”

  “He left a message on the answering machine! He wants to talk to you right away.”

  I felt a pit in the bottom of my stomach. For some reason, I just knew this wasn’t good news.

  I glanced over at Ashley to confirm, and she gave me a disappointed nod. “He called late last night. I was going to tell you but I completely forgot about it by the time I was putting Jake to bed.”

  “Oh… no, that’s fine,” I told her with a fake smile.

  I wouldn’t have wanted to know last night anyway. It would have only stressed me out on one of the best nights of my life.

  I paid her quickly, allowing her to leave an obviously awkward situation.

  “Thanks so much for your help, Ashley.”

  “No problem! Anytime you need me, I’m available.” She smiled. “Bye, Jake!”

  “Bye, Ashley!” He waved before she left.

  Then he immediately turned his attention to me.

  “Are you going to call Doctor Rushmore back?” he asked quickly.

  “Yeah, of course. I’ll call him right now.”

  I called but I wasn’t able to reach Doctor Rushmore. He was in with other patients, but the hospital receptionist told me he wanted to speak to me in person at my earliest convenience. I thanked her, and then told Jake what she said because he would not stop questioning.

  “Can we go right now?”

  I wanted to say no, mostly because I didn't feel ready to face whatever came next, but I couldn’t. I had to deal with this now. It was going to eat at me if I didn’t.

  “Yeah, go get dressed,” I told him.

  He squealed with happiness while I sank down on the couch and waited, since I was already dressed.

  I should have showered, and I should have changed out of the clothes I was wearing yesterday, but for the life of me, I couldn’t bring myself to. I couldn’t do anything. Not until I knew what was going on with Sabrina.

  When we got to the hospital, I went straight to Sabrina’s room and waited. The receptionist said she would let Doctor Rushmore know we were here.

  It felt like hours that we were waiting, but it was only about twenty minutes. When Doctor Rushmore finally came into my sister’s room, he had a nurse with him.

  “Hey there, Jake!” He feigned excitement. “How would you feel about getting some ice cream down in the cafeteria?”

  “Ice cream?” he said excitedly before turning to me. “Can I go?”

  “Uh, yeah, of course,” I told him. I was surprised ice cream was such an easy distraction for him, but I’d take it.

  “Okay, Nurse Jamie is going to take you down with her. We’ll see you in a bit, buddy.”

  He excitedly grabbed the nurse’s hand, completely oblivious to what was actually going on.

  But I wasn’t. I knew that if he didn’t want Jake in the room, this wasn’t good news. And my heart sank.

  “What is it?” I asked as soon as they were out of the room.

  “I don’t have anything definitive to report for you, but I needed to have a serious talk with you about the expectations of Sabrina’s condition.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “So what about her condition?”

  “Well, at this rate, we’re not confident that Sabrina is going to get back to where she was prior to the accident.”

  “And you’re… how sure of this?” I asked.

  “Well, if I’m being honest, not very, because we haven’t actually been able to test her cognitive abilities. She isn’t often awake. There is always the chance that she can come out of this with very extensive physical therapy, but it’s not likely.”

  “Oh…” I whispered.

  “I’m so sorry. But I think it’s time to start making arrangements. For how you want to handle her care, what you will be doing with Jake, that kind of thing.”

  “Handle her care?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we’ll keep her in the hospital for another month just in case she shows improvement. But if not, we’re going to have to transfer her to a care facility. A place that will be better suited to deal with her daily needs.”

  “Oh… wow,” I whispered again, unsure of what to say.

  “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in. And there are no decisions to be made now. As I said, we can’t even be sure right now what is going to happen or how far she will be able to recover. This isn’t the time for decisions, it’s just the time to be thinking about decisions.”

  “Okay… thank you,” I said quietly. “Should I tell Jake this?” That was a decision I should have been making myself, I knew, but I couldn’t think right now.

  “I think it might be better to wait until we have some more concrete evidence on what to expect.”

  “Okay.” That was my own relief, that I wouldn’t need to discuss this with Jake right now. Honestly, I had no idea how I even could. I didn’t know how I was going to handle anything right now.

  “If you want to talk to me about absolutely anything, I’m a phone call away. I’m here for any of your questions. Again, I’m so very sorry, Luke.”

  “Thank you,” I told him. “I appreciate it.”

  He nodded. “I’ll give you so
me time with your sister. I told the nurse to keep Jake for half an hour so we could talk and you could have some time to yourself.”

  “Thank you,” I told him. “I really appreciate it.”

  I knew I could definitely use the time to compose myself.

  He left the room, and before I even knew what hit me, I was crying. I had hardly cried since the accident, and now that I knew I may never get to talk to my sister again, it was all pouring out of me.

  I was bawling in this hospital room, so much so I had to gasp for air every few minutes. And then I did something I hadn’t considered since the accident…

  I had a serious conversation with my sister.

  “Look, Sabrina, you can’t do this, okay? You just can’t! You have got to pull through. Jake needs you, I need you. I don’t know how to do this without you. You’re my only family, my only friend, and I can’t handle losing you.”

  I stood up and grabbed her hand as I wiped away my tears.

  “Sabrina, I don’t know if you can hear me. I’m not sure how much you can register in the state you’re in… but if you hear me, take my words to heart. You have got to do your best. Fight this. I know it’ll be a hard road. I know that even if you’re more responsive tomorrow, you’ll have to do a ton of physical therapy. It’ll be a long road, but at least me and Jake will be here to get you through it! We’ll be your cheerleaders, you know we will. Sis, I’d do anything for you. I will do anything for you, anything to help. So just do this one thing for me… get better. Get back to who you are… eventually, one day.”

  This was so pointless. I knew I was talking to a shell of a person. But I had to say it. It had been so long since I was able to talk to my sister and I had to feel like I was speaking to her again. Even if it wasn’t real. Even though it’d do nothing.

  Saying my piece actually made me feel better, in a weird way. I knew it didn’t make a huge difference in the actual outcome, but it made me feel like I was actually doing something. I knew I wasn’t, but the illusion right now was enough for me.

  I spent the rest of my time in her room trying to compose myself. I didn’t want Jake to see me crying. I knew he’d know something was wrong; he was a perceptive little boy. I wanted to hide him from this pain for as long as I could.

  Eventually, if Sabrina didn’t come back to us, he’d have to deal with it. For the rest of his life, he’d have to deal with it. So for now… I’d give him as much as happiness as possible.

  To my relief, Jake didn’t seem to notice that I’d been crying, though the nurse gave me a sympathetic glance. He just went right to talking to his mom again.

  I sat there and hoped he wouldn’t ask me about how she was doing or what the doctor said. I couldn’t lie to him, I wasn’t capable of that. I would if I had to but even to six-year-old, it may be obvious.

  I sat there an hour after that, allowing Jake to interact with his mom as much as possible. I couldn’t leave. I didn’t know how many more happy visits like this he had left.

  When we finally did leave and arrive back home, I put on Jake’s favorite television show and zoned out on the couch. I did my best to watch the show and avoid thinking about literally everything.

  Eventually, I got a phone call from Peter, which was a relief. I needed to talk to someone about what happened. I didn’t know why I didn’t think to call him earlier. I guessed my mind had been pretty blank.

  “Hello?” I answered once I was in the kitchen and out of earshot from Jake.

  “Baby, hey, did you make it home okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I did,” I told him.

  “Did Jake know you were gone?”

  “Nope, didn’t suspect a thing…” I said softly.

  “That’s great! Look babe, I have kind of a big favor to ask.”

  “What is it?” I asked, actually grateful for something else to think about.

  “Well, my family is doing lunch at my Grandma’s house on Monday and I’d really like you to come.”

  “Really? Meet your family? Like, your parents and everything.”

  “Yeah, if you’re up to it! They know I’ve been dating someone and they’re really eager to meet you.”

  “Oh… Well, okay. Yeah, I guess that’s fine,” I said, although I was a little bit nervous.

  “Oh, I’m so glad! I know it’s kind of a lot, meeting the family for the first time, but they’re going to absolutely love you! I cannot wait for you to meet them.”

  “Yeah… Yeah, that should be fun,” I said as I tried to think of how to segue into a conversation about Sabrina.

  I didn’t need to find a segue, though. Because Peter knew me too damn well.

  “Is something wrong, babe?” he asked.

  “Uh, nope.” I found myself lying.

  I didn’t know why. I trusted Peter. I wanted to get this off my chest but… I couldn’t bring myself to verbalize it. I didn’t know, maybe it made it too real.

  And maybe this was a conversation that was better had in person, anyway. Where he could hug me and comfort me and be there for me. If I told him this devastating news now, he was just going to hate the fact that he was too far away to help me and wouldn’t even be able to see me until Monday.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Positive,” I insisted. “I am completely and totally fine, really. I’m good.”

  “Okay…” he said, a little skeptically.

  He wasn’t buying it.

  “I think I’m still just a little worn out from last night, you know.”

  “Oh, all right, yeah. That makes sense. I guess I’ll just let you go get some rest then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, that would be good,” I said, though I really didn’t want to be left alone at all.

  “Okay then. I’ll see you on Monday? I’ll text you my grandmother’s address.”

  “Yeah, Monday, I’ll be there.”

  “Okay, I love you.”

  “I love you too, talk to you later.”

  I regretted not telling him as soon as I hung up. Damnit, why didn’t I just say something? I needed to say it. And now I was feeling lonely all over again.

  I just needed to get through this weekend. Then I’d see Peter, get to meet his family, and tell him how I felt after.

  But I wouldn’t pretend I wasn’t a little scared to do so. Meeting his whole family, especially when I was in this mental state, wouldn’t be easy. I wanted to make a good impression…

  It was easier to be stressed about meeting parents than it was to be stressed about Sabrina, though. So I at least had that going for me.

  I was still holding high hopes that she might be okay.

  9

  Peter

  “So, he’s really cute, right?” My Grandma asked me.

  “Grandma!” I chastised.

  “What?! I just want to know! If you’re dating him, he must be cute, because I’ve got the best looking grandkid there is.” She pinched my cheek lovingly as I set the table.

  “Yes, he’s cute. Very cute.” I couldn’t help blushing a bit.

  “And is he nice? Is he a good guy?”

  “Yes, the nicest, Grandma. You’re going to love him. He’s absolutely the sweetest.”

  “Good. As long as he treats you well, my dear.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “I’ll get it!” I said eagerly, hoping it would be Luke.

  It wasn’t, though. It was both of my parents.

  “Oh, it’s you guys,” I said.

  “Well, don’t be too happy to see us!” They laughed.

  “I’m sorry, I just thought it was Luke. Of course I’m happy to see you,” I said before hugging them both. “How are you guys?”

  “Fantastic, eager to meet this new boyfriend of yours,” my mom said.

  “I’ll go help your grandma set the table,” my dad said, heading back to the kitchen.

  She definitely did need help. I had come early to help her cook lunch. She wanted to make this whole big fall feast with
turkey, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and stuffing. It wasn’t quite as big as her Thanksgiving feasts, but it was still way too much food for the four of us.

  But that was how my Grandma was. When she was hospitable, she went way too far with it. But I knew better than to argue with her by now.

  She did need help, though. She wasn’t sick any longer but her body was still recovering. And as determined as she was to stay as active as possible, my Grandma’s body was slowing down considerably in her old age.

  I’d never say that to her, though. You couldn’t tell my Grandma that she couldn’t do something. She would not respond well.

  “So, when is he going to get here?” my mom asked me.

  “Any minute now.”

  “I’m so excited!” she squealed. “You haven’t brought home a real boyfriend since… Oh my God, have you ever brought home a serious boyfriend?”

  “Don’t think I have. But let’s not try to scare him off with our excitement, mmkay?” I joked.

  “Oh, you know I can reign it in! But I really can’t wait to meet him.”

  Then the doorbell rang a second time.

  “Oh, that’s him!” I said excitedly. “Okay, quick, go into the kitchen. I don’t want to overwhelm him by introducing you the second he walks in the door.”

  “Okay, okay. See you in a second.”

  I motioned with my hands, shooing her away before I opened the door to see Luke standing there.

  “Hey, baby,” I said happily.

  But Luke didn’t look so happy. I chalked this up to the stress of meeting my family for the first time, though. Once he got comfortable I was sure this was going to be great.

  “Okay, my family is back in the kitchen. She went a little overboard on the food, sorry, she does that,” I told him.

  “I’m sure it's all going to be lovely. Where is everyone?”

  “In the kitchen! I think they’ve already got the table set and everything. Come on.” I took his hand in mine.

  “Hey, babe, after lunch I really need to talk to you,” he whispered as we went to the kitchen.

  “No problem, we can meet back at my place,” I said right before we stepped into the kitchen.

  I was hoping they’d be less awkward, but as soon as we turned the corner, my family was staring at us with ridiculous grins. I tried to ignore this.