by MF Isaacs
“Mommy says I’m a good helper. I’m this many,” she proudly displays four fingers “and my brover is this many.” She uses her second hand to pull and hold down her pinky finger, displaying three fingers for her brothers age.
"Your Auntie told me how smart you are. I bet you could help me convince her to say yes. What do you think, you want to help me pretty girl?” She was a shrewd little thing and took her time looking me over.
“Maybe. Yet me fink about it. I’ll yet you know.” And just like that she walked away.
I couldn’t help but laugh, she was just like her Auntie. I stood up next to Natalie and quickly told her my thoughts about what she was teaching that little girl. “It is clear she takes after you. Heaven help all the little boys who want to kiss her on the playground.” At those words, she smiled my favorite of all her smiles. I was quickly learning to decipher the difference between them all. This one was the most honest and came from her core.
Her sister stepped up alongside us, at which point Alec practically jumped from Natalie to his mom. “Hey Sis. Why don’t you introduce Curtis to everyone, before mom does it for you?”
“Hey Caroline. Why didn’t you tell me that everyone was here? I thought it was just the normal Christmas Eve cookie making. I feel a little bad for Curtis, this isn’t what he signed up for.” Apparently, Caroline didn’t feel bad for me because she just laughed.
“It is the Saturday before Christmas, so we had our normal friends and family Saturday before Christmas get together. Quit stalling and introduce Curtis so we can get you two some food.” She patted my arm in good luck as she walked away.
“Okay, let’s do this. I’ll introduce you to my mom, dad and brother-in-law first. Everyone else is family friends and Greg’s family.” Taking initiative, she grabbed my hand and basically pulled me along behind her to where her mom was standing with her dad not far away. “Hi Mom, Hey Dad. This is a friend of mine Curtis Morrison. Curtis this is my Mom and Dad; Angela and Tim Huggins.”
Her Dad reached his hand out to shake mine, “Hi Curtis. Welcome to the craziness. I’m sure Nat will take you around to introduce you to everyone. In the meantime, make yourself at home and grab something to drink.”
I quickly thanked him and turned toward her mom, before I could extend my hand to her she was hugging me like her life depended on it. I could see Natalie shaking her head as she watched her Mom grope me. “Mom, let him go. You’re going to freak him out. If he freaks out, I’m leaving because he’s my ride home.”
Angela released me enough to tilt back and look at my face. “Can I get you something to drink? We have beer, wine, mixed drinks?”
Before I can answer, Natalie is offering me the choice of bottle water or a variety of sodas. I took the water and thanked Angela for the offer. Ignoring her mom’s attempt at pushing alcohol on us, Natalie told her mom, “I didn’t realize today was the family and friends party. I was expecting the normal Christmas Eve cookie making event.”
“Oh yea, I guess we should have told you before you brought along a new person. No offense Curtis, I am glad you are here. It’s just this is a big crowd to deal with the first time you visit.” She wasn’t kidding, there was at least twenty people spread throughout the kitchen, dining, and living room. There was no fricking way I was going to remember the names of all these people.
I was busy looking around the open concept room when Natalie touched my arm to get my attention. “Hi Greg. This is Curtis, Curtis this is my brother-in-law Greg. Ellie and Alec’s Dad.”
He was the same tall, skinny guy who had taken the bags of presents from Caroline when we first arrived. “Hey man, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for allowing me to crash the party.” He shook my hand at the same time an older couple walked up, clearly intending to be introduced.
Thankfully, Natalie took care of the introductions there was well; turns out they were Greg’s parents: Gary and Alison. From that point on, I couldn’t tell you a single name of anyone she introduced me to. Several tried to engage me in conversation beyond where I am from and what I do. I was suddenly very thankful for the plans to student teach at the first of the year. During one introduction, Natalie told me, “This is Jennifer and Roger, Jennifer and my mom have been best friends since grade school. Roger and my dad have worked together for years. They have three kids, Melissa is a year older than me and a year younger than Caroline. Their son Roger is a year younger than me and Jay is two years younger.” She turned back to the couple as she asked, “Where are they?”
Jennifer answered, “Melissa is with Allen’s side of the family. Roger had to work late and Jay has been doing his own thing ever since he moved into his own place.”
Natalie carried on a conversation with her about her kids. When Jennifer mentioned the apartment complex that Jay lives in, I quickly realized he was the same Jay that played the part of the bonus friend for Marissa and Rick. I was thankful that Jay did his own thing, it saved me from having to explain how I know him to a bunch of people I’m meeting for the first time.
As soon as there was a pause in their conversation, I asked Natalie to show me where the bathroom was. She tried to point, but when I rested my hand on her lower back and asked her again to show me, she caught my drift. As soon as we were in the hallway far enough away that we couldn’t be heard by everyone, I explained the connection I had to Jay. God forbid he show up, while I’m there, I didn’t want Natalie to be surprised that I knew him.
In that quick confession, Natalie gave me the reassurance I needed to believe that my past wasn’t going to come back and haunt us. “Thank you for telling me.” Then she was up on her toes giving me a quick soft kiss on the lips. I froze like a clueless teenager until I heard the giggling noise from behind us. Sure enough, little Ellie was standing there with her hands over her mouth trying to be quiet.
I quickly used the bathroom while Natalie hung out in the hallway with the kids. As soon as I was done, the big group was getting ready to do their Chinese gift exchange. Natalie and I hadn’t brought gifts for the exchange, something Caroline had expected and had extra gifts so we could participate. I haven’t laughed that hard in years. I ended up getting a throw blanket and Natalie got a cool set of mason jar glasses. Once the gift exchange was finished, everyone started taking off. I stood with Natalie and said good bye to all the new faces.
As soon as the crowd was down to just her immediate family and Greg’s parents, the kids got to open a couple of presents. I loved that she sat on the floor to help each one cut the ribbons. Caroline announced to the kids that it was bedtime; if they stayed up any later, Santa wouldn’t make it to their house. Natalie helped her sister get the kids into their new Christmas pajamas, and once again I found myself watching her interact with them and wishing it was our kids.
When Natalie returned to the living room after tucking the kids in with her sister, my desire to have her was growing uncomfortable in my pants. Caroline brought me back to the present when she asked what our plans were. She mentioned that we could use the pull-out couch, since Greg’s parents were staying in the guest room. I hadn’t planned to spend the night, I think Amy McMann would have my balls if I wasn’t there tomorrow morning to open presents. On the other hand, I wanted to spend the night with Natalie and if she wanted to stay here I would do so. I looked to her to see what she wanted to do. I released the breath I was holding when she announced, “Oh we aren’t staying. He has to get back to his family.”
Just like that we were gathering up all the gifts addressed to her. I made sure both her mom and sister knew I wouldn’t let her cheat and open the presents before morning. Greg’s mom started to say something about how we shouldn’t be spending the night together, we needed to hold onto our virtue, blah, blah, blah. Natalie quickly ushered me toward the front door before the crazy lady could carry on any further. When I glanced at Nat’s mom and sister they both rolled their eyes, telling me in that simple gesture to ignore her.
I left Natalie to say a private
good bye as I put all the gifts into the car and started it so it would be warmed up by the time she climbed in. With all the other cars gone, I pulled up closer to the house so she wouldn’t have to walk down the street in the cold. When she saw me pull up, she made her way down the front walk. I jumped out and opened the door for her, I waited while she buckled up before closing the door and quickly rounding the other side. I could see her family waving from the front porch and returned the gesture before climbing in behind the wheel.
NATALIE
Gold fucking star for him. My family and extended family, by way of lifelong friendships, are not an easy group to join and he did a remarkable job of fitting right in. There has never been such a smooth addition to the group. Might be that a couple of the key pot stirrers were missing, regardless I am so happy with how things went. It was cute that he was worried about Jay showing up. I didn’t have the heart to tell him right then and there that I was worried about Melissa and her now husband Allen showing up. At least he didn’t go there with Jay, like I had with Melissa and Allen. Melissa has never been honest, in my opinion, about the effect those tequila nights have had on her relationship with Allen. He certainly hasn’t stopped trying to revisit them, despite my repeated attempts to tell him it wasn’t ever happening again. Watching their relationship allowed me to be honest with myself, I was okay being the extra but I would never be okay adding someone to my real relationship. Am I a hypocrite, abso-fucking-lutely and I am totally okay with that admission.
Once he navigated back to the freeway, he took hold of my hand and quickly pulled it to his lips for a kiss. “I didn’t even ask you if you wanted to stay the night there. I could have come back to get you tomorrow night if you wanted to stay.”
“No, I hate their pull-out couch and once Allison has had that much wine, it is best for my sister’s marriage that I not be around her. One time she was so drunk she could hardly walk, mind you I’d had a few glasses myself, but I told her about dancing topless on the bar when I was in college. She almost had a heart attack, it took my brother-in-law a half hour to calm her down enough to get her to go to bed. She is one of those crazy, save yourself for marriage kind of people. I swear she thinks my sister and Greg were virgins when they got married. Not only that, her husband has had a million affairs and it takes everything in me not to say something every time she gets like that.” I risk glancing at him as I pause my rant, I can see the corners of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “What are you smiling about?”
“You, Hot Stuff. I am smiling about you. You are so fucking cute. I love listening to you talk about anything and everything. I am also laughing because Steve and Hannah were virgins when they got married.” He can’t be fucking serious.
“Get the fuck out. No way.” I’ve been around Steve enough at work to feel like I have a pretty good read on the guy. But Curtis is nodding his head trying to convince me that he isn’t lying. “I can’t believe that. I mean I guess I can for Hannah, she is only 18 right?”
“Yeah, I think her Birthday is in February. Steve’s decision to wait had a lot to do with guilt. He was trying to cash in his V card the first time he found out that our older sister was being abused. Hind sight, that fucked him up pretty good. Now, I am not saying they weren’t intimate at all, I am just saying they waited until their wedding night to finally fuck; totally his words not mind.” He laughed, I am sure because he recalled the conversation. I laughed because I could totally hear them having the conversation.
“Then there is Sierra, she gave it up to Calvin their first night together. Actually, I am pretty sure it was back there in your home town. He met us there for the football game.”
“I’m not sure if this will make you feel any better, but I am pretty sure he knew he was going to marry her before that night. I met him for the first time before you guys got to town. He came in and told me he wasn’t ready to buy the ring yet but that he needed to learn about them so he could make an informed decision as soon as he was ready to buy it. Most guys start with gemstone rings but he went straight for the engagement rings.” I suddenly had the urge to rest my head on his shoulder, if only the center console was smaller. Instead I pulled our joined hands into my lap and turned my head so I could watch his profile as he drove. “Have you ever been in love? Did you love Callie; or Will; or even Jimmy?”
He didn’t answer right away, but he also didn’t recoil his hand from my hold. “Jimmy, no. I missed his friendship, and honestly that is the only reason why I was willing to try something with him. I am thankful that I didn’t, because even now when I think back at things we did, my stomach gets upset. My stomach never once got upset at the things I have done with women, even though I did them with zero intention of anything other than getting off sexually. Sounds horrible, but it’s true.”
“I understand.” I waited him out to see if he would answer the question regarding Callie and Will.
“I can look back at the relationship with Callie and Will separately and together and say without a doubt that I didn’t love either one of them. When I was in the relationship, I thought I loved them. I watched my twin brother fall head over heels in approximately 5 minutes, and I watched the way Sierra and Cal danced around each other while they built their relationship. Seeing that, I knew it wasn’t what I had with Callie. I wanted it to be, but I knew in my heart it wasn’t.”
“I understand that too. I think a lot of people get caught up in the idea of being in love. I think that is a huge factor in the divorce rate.” We rode in silence for a few miles before he spoke again.
“One more thing on that, then we can move onto something more fun. There are things in my life that I haven’t shared with anyone. It’s not about anything sexual or past relationships or anything along those lines. But it is something that Sierra, Steve, and I decided we would only tell one person. The three of us met the day Sierra got engaged, and both she and Steve decided they were ready to tell Calvin and Hannah. At the time, I was with Callie and Will but wasn’t willing to share it with them. I text them both while I was in the bathroom, letting them know that I wanted to tell you. I know it sounds crazy because you haven’t even agreed to be my girlfriend, but you have given me more in the way of friendship than anyone other than Sierra and Steve.” He kissed my hand and rested it in his lap when he was done.
“I know you want to tell me and I want you to, but can you wait until we aren’t driving in the car. I want to be able to see your face when we you tell me. Okay?”
I was worried he would think I didn’t care but it was the opposite, knowing that he wants to tell me something so big, makes me want to be able to touch him when he tells me.
“That’s a great idea Hot Stuff. So, that leads me to ask the next question. Will you please spend the night with me? I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable position with the McMann’s, but I will tell you this, both Amy and Luke made a point to tell me that you were welcome anytime. You already know that Cal doesn’t give a shit and that Steve is the only one who may or may not have an opinion about it. The nice thing about Steve, he and Hannah are all moved into their new house. I believe we’d actually have the whole basement to ourselves.” I was so horny and this man has been beyond fucking perfect all damn day. Let’s be honest, I would want him regardless of whether he was perfect, it’s been a long damn time since I’ve gotten laid. I bought rechargeable fucking batteries because I was wearing them out in BOB. I’m not sure I’m happy with them; fully charged they don’t last but two uses.
Suddenly feeling a little shy, I tell him the truth, “I would love to stay with you.” With that admission, we rode in silence; both lost in the thoughts of what was to become of the night ahead. Traffic was light so we made good time.
When we arrived at the McMann house, we quickly unloaded the gifts and saw that everyone was already in bed for the night. He took my hand and led me to his bedroom downstairs. I’d been there before; this time was different. This time the intention was clear and I was staying
because we wanted this, not because I fell asleep during a movie.
As soon as the door closed, he locked it and pushed me up against it. Without any further warning, his mouth was assaulting mine and I fucking loved the feel of his tongue as it claimed mine. His hands were tangled in my hair as he pressed his pelvis into me, letting me feel exactly what was happening within his pants. I couldn’t stop my hands from roaming up and down his torso. My hands traveled down his rippled abs, around the back to the corded muscles to his firm ass, and back around the front to the sexy v that dips into his pants. After a minute of exploring, I started to lift his shirt so I could have direct contact with everything I had just touched. He withdrew from kissing me but only long enough to pull his shirt off while kicking off his shoes. When I started to remove my own clothes, he tried to stop me, but he couldn’t find the hidden side zipper of my pants. Instead of removing my clothes, he stepped away from me and removed every last piece of his own. Holy fuck, seeing him completely bare for the first time stole my breath. I had never been with someone this beautiful before. I had never had a man with a body like this. For two seconds, I wanted to say ‘I changed my mind. I need to hit the gym for a month and then I’ll be ready to get naked with you.’
He walked toward me in all his naked glory, his cock stood proudly as it should. He stroked it until he was close enough to touch me. His eyes never left my face, he took hold of my chin and directed me to look at him. “Look at me Babe. You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen. I can’t wait to worship every fucking inch of your naked body. Don’t hide it from me.” Just like that he was back to kissing me with every ounce of passion he possessed.