None Other Than You

by Samolu Pearl

  He starts to pull away and, without even thinking about it, I lean forward on my toes and kiss his cheek. Both Teigan and my eyes lock, our faces full of surprise. "Merry Christmas I whisper before bolting inside.

  What the hell was I thinking?! I'm staring at my feet, my back against the door, and wondering what is going through his head right now.

  "Delaney Rose Knight, you need to get dressed! I just got back and Allen is on his way. Go upstairs and shower first, you sort of smell dear."

  "But we usually open presents first." I whine.

  "Not today dear. Shower, get dressed, and we'll open presents after." I grumble as I trudge upstairs, but take my shower gladly. Apparently sleeping next to someone underneath a fleece blanket is extremely hot. I feel like I have dried sweat all over my back.

  After a relaxing shower I rummage through my closet for some decent clothes to wear for today. I know mom wants us all to look our best. I finally decide on a satin, brown, low cut top that I know she will like. I grab my best pair of jeans and wriggle into them before drying my hair. I leave it down and head downstairs.

  In the time I had been upstairs, Sarah, Brent and the triplets had arrived, as well as Allen. I find Dan, Sean, Eleni, Brent, the triplets and Allen crowded in the living room and I can hear Sarah and my mom in the kitchen. My feet barely hit the floor at the bottom of the stairs before my mom yelled in my direction.

  "Delaney! Wake your brother up! You're the only one who can get in the door when it's locked!" I roll my eyes and march back up the stairs. I pound on Ryan's door and no one answers. Walking back to my room, I shuffle around in my backpack for my wallet and pull out a card.

  I walk back to Ryan's room and pound on the door again. Still no reply, so I jiggle the card in the door to unlock it. I open the door and poke my head in. I know Emma dropped Ryan off while he was still drunk so who knows how clothed he is exactly.

  "Ryan?" I glance at the bed and immediately notice the feet at the bottom of the bed; two pairs of feet. "Emma?!" I shout in surprise.

  Two bodies sprout from the bed, the closest to the edge falling off and hitting the floor with a dull thud. Emma stares at me from her perch on the bed, her expression startled and her mouth hanging open.

  "What-"

  "I can explain." Ryan croaks from the floor. I'm glad to see them both decently clothed.

  I put my hand on my hip. "Merry Christmas to you too, Brother. Now explain."

  Emma speaks up. "I brought him home and had Eleni shove him in the shower with Dan and Sean last night and by the time they stumbled out they were fairly sober and Ryan kind of asked me to stay with him so I did."

  Ryan and I both stare blankly at her for a moment. "Okay then." I respond slowly. "Well Emma should get home before her mother freaks out. And Ryan, you need to shower and get dressed before mom shoves some Roman Candles in your stocking instead of candy."

  I give Emma a meaningful this-is-so-not-over look before walking out of the room. I walk downstairs into the living room and sit down on the couch. I wiggle my bare feet in front of me, avoiding contact with three of the people in the room that I know are extremely angry at me.

  "Ryan's awake, Mom."

  "What was all that noise?" She shouts from the kitchen.

  "You know Ryan, he's hard to wake up."

  I slide onto the floor with Brent to play with Maura, Adler, and Anthony and their new toys. A few moments later, Emma and Ryan tumble down the stairs, earning very interested looks from the occupants of the living room. Everyone stares wide-eyed as the couple awkwardly stumbles out the door.

  "What…. Just-" Dan mutters as he turns towards the window to get a look at them on the porch. Sean follows suite. I stare at their backsides poking out from the couch and stifle a snicker. They look like five year olds.

  "I can't see anything." Sean whines. Brent and I laugh at their stupidity.

  "I'm glad I'm married to one of the normal people in this family." Brent says as he picks Maura up. I laugh and watch as he plays with his daughter. At least one person in this family was able to have a successful relationship I muse.

  All eyes are on Ryan as he walks back into the house. He surveys the looks we are all giving him and shrugs. "What?" And walks dutifully up the stairs to shower.

  Why couldn't I get out of my sleeping arrangement that easily?

  Sean and Dan are still staring out the window at the snow, still falling easily and beautifully from the sky. Brent is playing with his children and Mom and Sarah are chatting happily away in the kitchen (oblivious to what just happened with Ryan).

  I'm starting to think this day won't be as awful as I thought it would be when I learned we be spending it with the Teigan's and the Kingsley's.

  "Why is everyone in our family such whores?" And then Eleni had to open her big mouth.

  "Eleni!" Dan, Sean, and I all shout, turning towards her in astonishment.

  "What?" She says, shrugging nonchalantly in her turtleneck sweater. It's just like her; conservative and constricting. "Dan and Sean will sell themselves out to any pretty face that will bed them, Duke can't seem to keep her hands off the boy across the street, and Ryan has always taken after his older brothers. Congratulations, we are a family of sexually obsessed animalistic creatures."

  "What about you, Eleni?" Dan says, walking towards his older sister.

  Eleni stands to face him. "What about me, Daniel?"

  "What about your relationships, huh? You can't hold down a guy for more than a month, Eleni and we all know it."

  "Nice of you to bring up such family problems on Christmas."

  "Nice of you to be in our faces every day of our lives about every single thing we do wrong." The living room is silent except for a slight gurgle from one of the babies.

  "Kids! Sort out the presents, will you?" Mom walks into the room, wiping her hands with a rag. "We've almost got breakfast in the oven and then we can open them while it cooks." She takes a look around the room and frowns when she sees Dan and Eleni's confrontational stance. "Is everything alright in here?"

  I nod and smile in answer for everyone. "Yeah mom, we're fine. We'll sort out the presents." She studies my face closely for a moment before meandering back into the kitchen.

  "Just leave it alone, just for today, Eleni." Sean says from his seat by the window.

  Eleni glares thoroughly at all of us before storming upstairs and locking herself into the bathroom.

  "Aren't you glad you joined our little family, Brent?" Dan says, bending down to sort out the presents underneath the tree.

  * * *

  I shiver a bit as we walk across the street in the snow. It's still falling slowly, but the air is brisk-perfect for a Christmas morning. I feel like I'm smack dab in the middle of a herd of sheep meandering across the street. Not only is my family making their way slowly across the pavement, but the Kingsley's as well.

  We reach the house and before my mom can even lift her hand to knock, the forest green door swings open to reveal Mrs. Teigan. Her bright red satin shirt is festive and bright, as is her smile.

  "Joan!" She squeals, coming forward and embracing my mother in a hug. "So good to see you again. Come in, come in!" She stands by the door as everyone ushers in, cooing over how attractive Dan and Sean have turned out to be and how adorable Maura, Adler, and Anthony are.

  "Delaney! You look absolutely lovely. Darren is in the kitchen if you'd like to help him finish up with the cookies." I walk past Teigan's mom, a look of shock on my face. Is there a reason she had to point out his location and subtly push me into a room alone with him?

  I walk into the kitchen anyway to find Teigan spreading icing on some freshly baked sugar cookies. At the other end of the counter sits a girl I've never met before, munching on one of the newly frosted cookies.

  "Don't blame me if mom throttles you for eating a cookie before everyone gets here." Teigan says, not even trying to swat the cookie away from the girl.

  "How is she going to notice one c
ookie missing." The girl says. "Besides, they are here." She nods in my direction and takes a bite of the cookie Christmas tree as Teigan swirls around to face me in the door of the kitchen.

  "Hi, your mom sent me back here to help you…" I say lamely. Teigan smiles and walks up to me, sliding his arm around my face and bringing me forward.

  "Nice to see you, Duke." He grins down at me and then up at the girl. "Duke, this is my sister, Jessica. Jessica, Duke." Jessica nods in my direction.

  Her mouth full of cookie, she mutters something that sounds like "nice to meet you."

  "Though it may not seem like it, she's older than me by three years and is away at college most of the time."

  I study Teigan's sister closely. She has the same mischievous glint in her eye that I so often see in my brothers'. It makes me smile. Jessica is a very pretty woman, obviously taking after her mom. Her hair is jet black, like Teigan's and his father's, and is currently hanging in long, loose curls around her heart-shaped face. Her eyes aren't the enchanting dark blue pools of her brother, but a startling light blue shade. In a light blue top, her eyes are drawn out as the focus of her face.

  "So," Jessica says once finished with her bite, "I remember you when you were a little girl. I used to push you on the swings."

  I smile slightly. "Sorry, I don't really remember."

  She waves her hand in my direction. She stands up to walk closer to me and I realize Teigan's hand is still around my waist. "I'm going to go help with everyone in the living room. Have fun finishing up with the frosting." She winks at me before edging around the two of us and exits the room.

  "Wha-"

  "That would be Jessica thinking like Jessica, Ace. Ignore her." I look up into Teigan's eyes as he smiles down at me. "You going to help me, still?" He asks.

  "If you want." His smile brightens and his hand pulls slowly away from my waist and back to the counter. Even with his hand gone, I can still feel the warmth from where it had lain a moment ago.

  "So how bad was it when you went back inside this morning." Teigan asks, handing me a knife and setting a tub of frosting in between the two of us.

  I shrug one shoulder. "It could have been worse." We're stay silent for another few moments, the sound of laughter, talking, and one laughing baby as we frost trees, bells, stars, and stockings. "Emma stayed with Ryan last night."

  Teigan stops frosting and turns to look at me. "Really? He asks, surprised.

  I nod and continue with my pink star. "Yeah, I went in to wake him up and the two of them were in the bed together. Until Ryan fell off that is." Teigan chuckles at this.

  "Did they…?" He speculates.

  "Oh, no. I don't think so at least." My face scrunches in concentration. "I don't know." Now I'm going to panic. Emma wouldn't do that, would she? Ryan wouldn't have forced that on her. I mean, he was still partly drunk and Emma can be easily persuaded to do things.

  "Slow down, Ace. I can see your mind racing." My eyes flick up to Teigan's. His hands are placed on either of my shoulders and his gaze is, once again, intense. My stomach clenches into knots.

  "But what if-"

  "I highly doubt anything happened. There's plenty of time to ask Emma for the details later, but for now…" His eyes search my face for something, just like earlier, "For now, it's Christmas. Enjoy it with the people you love."

  I nod, feeling an extra churn in my stomach when the word 'love' tumbles out of his mouth.

  * * *

  Three hours, five cookies, one piece of cake, four Hershey's kisses, and two presents later I find myself standing against the wall at the back of the living room. From the Teigan family I received a book about the best dancers of the twentieth century and a gift certificate to my favorite bookstore. From the Kingsley's I received a dark blue and silver scarf stitched by Mrs. Kingsley herself, and a movie I mentioned I liked.

  All the gifts have been exchanged and Maura, Adler, and Anthony are all asleep in the corner. This time, on a normal Christmas, Dan, Sean, Ryan, Sarah and I would be out on the front lawn having an extreme snowball fight.

  This year, the childhood stories are being passed around the room.

  Right now my mother is sharing to the Teigan's and the Kingsley's about the time Dan decided to wrap Sean up and stick him under the tree all night once he'd fallen asleep. Sean is such a deep sleeper he didn't wake up until Eleni screamed upon finding one of the packages to be snoring in the morning.

  "Hey, Ace." I glance to my side as I see Teigan beside me. He leans against the wall, his arm touching mine, and smiles at our families in front of us. My heart speeds up at the contact. I keep my eyes in front of me.

  Our parents are all getting along well, along with everyone else. There hasn't been much of a dispute all day. (Though part of this is because Eleni has curled up in the corner with a magazine.) Dan and Sean have been entertained by Jessica, who is just as unpredictable and spunky as they are. The three of them have spent the morning playing tricks on everyone.

  Emma and Ryan have been sitting together the entire day. I haven't been able to talk to Emma all day, but I'm pretty sure nothing serious happened last night, though I can see a silver charm bracelet adorning her wrist that she keeps touching when Ryan isn't looking.

  "They're getting along well aren't they?" Teigan says. I take a glance at him, my heart speeding up once again. His shoulders are drawn up as though he's tense.

  "Yeah. Something wrong?"

  He turns towards me in surprise?" What? No." As though realizing he was tense, his shoulders relax. In doing so, Teigan moves closer towards me. "Um… I wanted to… uh."

  I laugh lightly. "Spit it out."

  Teigan glances at the family. I glance at them as well. Everyone is completely enthralled in Brent's tale about one of his childhood Christmases. "Come with me?" I look back to Teigan and then down at the hand he has stretched out. I glance up at his eyes. Teigan is staring at me, his eyes finding mine and, melting any hesitation that may have come to my mind disappears, I grab his hand.

  With a glance at our oblivious families, Teigan pulls me out of the living room, through the kitchen, and into the backyard. He guides me through the snow towards a tree lit up with white Christmas lights. The snow is still falling gently from the sky as it has done all day, but the light is waning in over the top of Teigan's home. The tree glows and sparkles in the snow and dim light.

  I smile at Teigan's form in front of me, guiding me towards the tree. He seems so eager and it makes him seem much less arrogant-and I'm finding I like the non-arrogant Teigan.

  We stop in front of the tree and Teigan pulls me to stand directly in front of him. He's wearing his 'Teigan' grin just for me, and wearing it well. In the dim light I can still make out every striking feature of his handsome face, made even more beautiful in my eyes by the snow and the sunset.

  "So what did you bring me out here for?" I ask slowly, my curiosity getting the better of me.

  Teigan, still sporting his grin that makes my heart skip, reaches into the pocket of his pants and pulls out a long, thin, wrapped box. He offers the box to me. "Merry Christmas, Delaney." He whispers as I take the box into my hands.

  There isn't much distance between the two of us, and, perhaps because of the cold around us, I am hyper-aware of the heat his body is radiating.

  "I didn't get you anything. I'm sorry." I mutter sincerely. I hadn't expected this. I honestly would have tried to get him something.

  Teigan brushes it off. "Don't worry about it. Just open it. Please." His voice is hurried as though he can't wait for me to see what is wrapped inside the box,

  I start carefully unwrapping the small gift. Teigan's feet shuffle in my line of vision as I look down at the box and I grin slightly.

  "You take too long to open things."

  "It's my gift, isn't it?" I laugh lightly to myself and hear him sigh. He's begun to dance on the balls of his feet.

  I finally get the box out of the carefully wrapped silver paper and slowly peel
the lid off the black box to reveal the gift inside.

  I gasp upon seeing it. Slowly bringing my fingers up to the box, I trace my hand of the contours of the gift. A simple silver chain lies on soft, white padding, sparkling slightly in the fading light of the sun and the trees decorations. At the very bottom of the chain is a pendant the size of a dime. The pendant is diamond; I'm sure of it, in the shape of a Rose-silver metal creating the lines of petals around the outside and inside of the stone flower.

  "It's beautiful." I whisper, marveling at such a wonderful gift from a boy I barely know. I look up into his cerulean eyes. My breath catches in my throat at how stunning his face looks. His eyes are lit up at my reaction to the gift and he is looking at me so intensely…

  My mind races back to the kiss I left on his cheek this morning. I find myself wondering what it would be like to kiss his lips, the lips that are constantly trying to make me understand I have to face my problems-not run from them.

  "Can I put it on you?" My eyes are drawn back up to his eyes-I hadn't even known I had strayed from them-and I look at him blankly.

  "What?"

  "Can I put the necklace on for you?"

  I look back down into the little black box at the beautiful gift. "This must have cost you a fortune." I muse. I frown at the thought. "How much did you spend on me, Teigan?"

  "It was no where near the price of the gifts I got for my sister and mother." Teigan's hands are fidgeting at his sides.

  "You're avoiding the question." I state stubbornly.

  "Look, Delaney, I just wanted to get you something perfect. Something that was just right… just for you." Teigan's hand drifts underneath my chin and his fingers gently tilt my head to look up at him, his eyes searching mine for an answer.

  "I can't accept this." I whisper, gently closing the box and pushing it into his hand before walking briskly back towards the house.

  "Delaney-"

  "I can't take it, Teigan."

  "Delaney, please-"

  Back inside the house the noise is louder than ever and the warmth makes me realize just how cold it had been outside-and how warm I had been simply standing next to Teigan.