by Dani Hoots
“So,” he began. “Can’t believe you two are getting married.”
“I don’t particularly want to hear your comments, Sam.”
He shrugged. “Wasn’t going to make comments, I was just stating a fact.”
For some reason I didn’t believe him. He was acting weird, weird even for him. He kept glancing over at Clare. I still wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t use to me bringing girls home, as anyone could see why, or if it was something else. But honestly I didn’t want to know, because it probably was a stupid reason that he would make just to cause chaos.
This was going to be a long weekend, I could already tell.
“So,” I said. “How’s the job?” I had no idea what job he was currently at, as he switched jobs frequently. He seemed to get fired more often than he applied to jobs.
“It’s doing good. The boss really liked me at this place. I think I might stick around for a bit longer. What about you, have you been searching for any jobs for after graduation?”
“I already told you that the place I interned at is offering me a full-time job after graduation. I will start right after our honeymoon.” I pulled Clare’s hand up and kissed her fingers. She blushed.
“Where are you two going?”
“London. We both have always wanted to go. And we are going to hit up some of the theaters, right Tom?” Clare answered.
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Hmm.” Sam rubbed his chin. “Heard there’s a lot of clubs in London, lots of dancing. Do you two like going out and dancing.”
That was a weird question. I could feel Clare stiffen at the question. I simply shook my head. “No, we aren’t much for dancing, we mostly just like going to the theater and events like that. Not much for partying.”
“Ah. It’s a wonder how we are so different then. I love going to dance clubs. But to each their own, I suppose.”
This conversation was just getting weirder and weirder, I swore. But that was my brother, if he didn’t say things to try and keep me on my toes then I would be afraid that something was severely wrong with him.
“Well, I suppose you two are tired. You should probably get some rest.” Tom stood up. “Sleep tight.”
As our parents did, he headed up the stairs. I let out a sigh. He was an odd one. I turned and smiled to Clare. “Well that went well, can’t wait for morning.”
She smiled but didn’t say anything. Something seemed to be bothering her but I had no idea as to what exactly that was.
The sun peaked from behind the blinds and lit up my room. It had been a very, very long while since I woke in my old bedroom with a girl snuggled up next to me. And with my parents home, nonetheless.
I looked over at Clare, as her head was gently leaning against my bicep. I wanted to wake up like this every morning, although not in my parents’ house. I’d rather wake up in my own house, of course, where no one could bother us.
Clare started to stir and her eyes flickered open. She smiled as she saw me looking at her.
“Good morning,” I said.
She stretched a little bit. “Good morning. You’re bed sucks.”
I laughed. “Really, that is what you have to stay?”
She nodded. “Yup. Feels like a bed made of bricks.”
I let out a laugh. I wanted to say that’s what other girls have said but that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say. I rolled over to face her and kissed her forehead.
“What was that for?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Can’t a guy kiss his love if he wants to?”
She made that cute little face, as if embarrassed and touched but doesn’t want to admit it. “I suppose.”
I kissed her on the lips, my hand caressing her bare stomach as her pajama shirt had been riding up. Her skin was warm and she flinched as my hand was a bit cold.
"Geez, how can your hands be so cold?" She pulled her shirt down.
"I don't know, probably because they were outside the covers."
"Well, maybe I will just take the comforter with me as I get up." She stood up and took the covers with her.
"Hey! It's freezing!" I said as I tried to grab the comforter back.
"Nope," she said. "You get to be cold."
She hurried off to the bathroom. I always loved having my own bathroom growing up instead of sharing one with my brother. Who knew what he did in there.
As she took a shower, I grabbed some old clothes I had and changed into them. I would just take a shower after breakfast, I figured, as the hot water would probably be gone after Clare finished her shower. She liked doing that in our apartment as well. But I let her spoil herself. She deserved it.
After she got ready, we both headed downstairs. I could smell the bacon, eggs, and pancakes being prepared by my mother. She was a fabulous cook and I was thankful for all the home-cooked meals growing up. Some of my friends only had pop tarts and hot pockets for meals. Disgusting.
We all sat at the table, passing around the coffee and orange juice. It was delicious, just as always. I definitely missed this being off at college. Clare and I tried to cook as much as we could, but that wasn't very often.
Clare grabbed a little bit of food, as she wasn't much of a breakfast eater. She preferred a breakfast smoothie with all her vitamins and protein stuff. Tasted nasty but it did keep her healthy. She was a bit of a health nut, I had to admit. At least this weekend she was going to eat whatever was available, as it would be rude not to do so. Though I had a feeling she would want to go out for a run later today. I wasn't looking forward to that.
"So, Clare, does your family have sit down breakfasts like these?" My mother asked. I knew I had told her about Clare's family and that they didn't talk anymore. She either forgot or was just being rude about it.
"Oh, no we never did. I don't talk to them anymore so I wouldn't know if they did now," she answered. Clare hated talking about her family, I knew. It had been very stressful for her growing up and I was glad I could make it better for her now.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Tom, why didn't you tell me that?"
I wanted to say that I had told her, but didn't want to start that fight right now. She would simply claim that I hadn't and win the argument no matter if she was right or not.
"Sorry mom."
"Well, then does that mean you pay for school all on your own? That must be tough."
She shrugged. "Yeah, at first I had to work practically full time and then go to school full time as well. But I managed as it is almost over and we are graduating soon. Tom has been a big help as well, he is a great guy."
"That he is," my mother said. "Just wished his brother would follow his example."
"Hey," Sam said. "I help ladies all the time."
Mother slapped him in the arm and he laughed as we finished breakfast. We were complete opposites, my brother and I. I would never treat a girl the way he does, nor would I ever have respect for a girl who would fall for his lies.
Breakfast was finally over and I decided it would be nice to take Clare down to the lake. It was only about a mile walk away and it was a nice crisp day out today. She agreed as the rest of the family was going to go buy groceries for Thanksgiving dinner. My aunt and uncle were coming over, along with their two kids so there would be a total nine. Thanksgiving was always at our house, I swore, and mother would stress over nothing each year. Which was why I would always walk down to the lake while things calmed down.
I was so excited for Clare to be here and to be able to show her the things I grew up with. I hoped I wasn’t bringing up bad memories of her own family as I showed her around, but I wanted to show her all the things we could do together now, and the things we could do with our children. I had gotten a job near the university, so I knew we would be staying there for a while, but it didn’t mean we could make trips up here at times.
Grabbing Clare’s hand, I smiled. I was so lucky to have her and was so glad that we were going to spend the rest of our live
s together. She seemed to be happy as well, as she peered around at the dense forest.
“So you grew up in the same house then?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yup, I have been there for quite some time. We moved there I think when I was five. Been our home ever since.”
“Wow, that is a long time. And your father is a manager right? At a clothing store in town.”
“Yup. Has been since I can remember. He’s probably going to retire in the next few years. He was a really good investor as well, so has money saved up on top of his retirement plan.”
“How smart of him,” she commented, kicking a rock that was on the path into the ferns. “And your brother?”
I shrugged. “Who knows with him. He just kind of does whatever until he’s fired or quits. He can’t keep a job to save his life. That’s why he still lives at home. My parents are nice about it, but I have a feeling they will be kicking him out sooner or later. He is a few years older than me, after all.”
“Did he go to the same college as us?”
I glanced at her. Something seemed to be bothering her but I wasn’t quite sure as to what it was. I shrugged it off as nerves about meeting my family. “No, he didn’t go to college. He visited a few times, partied a lot while staying with me, keeping me up all night. Hasn’t been back for a while since, well, I told him no.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Something the matter, babe?” I asked. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”
She shook her head. “No, no. Just wanting to learn more about your family.”
“Well, all you need to know about him is that he's useless and a player. The women he has gone out with or had a one night stand with all had low self esteem. I always feel sorry for them. He’s such an ass to them.”
“Then you two are complete opposites, huh?”
I nodded. “Yes. I wouldn’t be caught dead being like him. I always hated it when teachers got us confused or called me by his name. We were nothing alike.”
“I bet that would get annoying.”
“Indeed.”
We came upon the lake and I watched as Clare’s eyes brightened. I wondered if she had ever gone out and done something like this. Knowing her, she probably never had the chance.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said as she stepped forward towards the glistening water. “How could you have kept this from me after all this time?”
“Well, I mean, we have to have our secrets to surprise one another with every once in a while don’t we?” I laughed as I kissed her hair. She sort of froze, then laughed with me.
“Yeah, I suppose we do.”
We spent some time there and eventually lunch time came around and we needed to head back to the house. My mother was making Reuben sandwiches when we got back. She made the best Reuben sandwiches I swore.
Clare was mostly quiet as we sat by the T.V. watching Jessica Jones. I noticed that she didn’t look over at my brother, who was also looking away from her. My stomach was starting to hurt.
Had they known each other?
We had Mexican food for dinner, as it was always a tradition of ours to have Mexican the night before Thanksgiving. Why that was, I really didn’t know. For some reason mother just always liked serving that and I wasn’t one to complain about a home-cook meal.
After dinner we convened in the living room. Mother had made some hot cocoa and I had filled mine with whipped cream. This was the best thing about coming home, I swore. My parents could be annoying, sure, but the food was totally worth it.
“So,” mother began. “Tell me about the wedding. Have you decided colors and themes?”
Clare nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking purple and green for colors with purple carnations. I love carnations.”
“And they are cheaper than most flowers too, that’s good,” my father added. I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, we want to save some money. It’s going to be outdoors. We aren’t sure as to where yet,” Clare said.
“Why don’t you have it at the lake? Tom was telling me that you really liked it out there. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about a venue, just have to rent out some tables and chairs, other wedding stuff.”
Clare’s eyes grew. “Are you serious? I would love that!”
I was hoping to have the wedding in the city, but the way Clare’s eyes grew, I couldn’t help but not care it was all the way out here. I hadn’t seen her so happy in a while, as she seemed to be wary about this trip. “Well I guess that settles that, huh?”
“What about the dress?” My mother asked. “Do you have a dress yet?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do. Some friends and I got together and went dress shopping.” She pulled out her phone. “See, this is it.”
“Oh my god that is so beautiful! Tom, don’t look it’s bad luck to see the wedding dress.”
I rolled my eyes as they talked about the dress.
“I know, I have a really beautiful necklace that might work, come let me show it to you. Then you will have something to mark off your list.”
Clare followed my mother up the stairs, leaving me with my father and Sam.
“Well, we have a while.” Father grabbed the remote and turned on some football. “Might as well watch something.”
That was my father for you, he wasn’t one for small talk. I looked over at Sam whose attention was also absorbed in the game. I wanted to ask him if he had ever seen Clare before, if there was something he wasn’t telling me, but at the same time I really didn’t care to know. It was probably nothing, it was probably all in my head, but it was eating at me.
That night, as I laid next to Clare, I couldn’t sleep. I felt like there was something that she wasn’t telling me, as if she was trying to hide something from me.
“Hey Clare,” I whispered. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah, what is it?” she asked.
“There’s something bothering me. I feel like you are hiding something from me. You won’t look at Sam, as if you feel awkward around him. What is it? Did he say something to you?”
She was silent for a moment, then finally said something. “I’ve seen him before. I’m pretty sure he came to the club I used to work at…”
“Oh.” What were the odds, really? That he would go to the same club that she used to work at. That he would have seen my fiancé in those revealing outfits.
“Please don’t be mad at me, I was going to tell you after we left. I didn’t want things to be awkward at Thanksgiving tomorrow. I swear I was going to tell you.”
“I’m not mad at you, I knew that you were an exotic dancer, that doesn’t change anything.” I kissed her forehead. “Does he recognize you?”
She shook her head. “No, he shouldn’t anyway. I always kept the mask on.”
I held her close. “I know babe. Don’t worry, I love you and will always love you.”
She snuggled up close to me. I was definitely happy to be with her, but I couldn’t get the thought of my brother seeing her like that out of my mind.
But at least he didn’t recognize her.
Thanksgiving was finally here and I couldn’t wait for the turkey to be ready. I had been smelling it all day, along with the pies, yams, scalloped potatoes, Brussel sprouts, only to name a few things. I was so hungry that I had already snaked on a few rolls.
Clare helped my mom with the cooking, as she usually looked like a headless chicken about this time. I always tried to help her but then would mess something up and get my head chewed off. So my mom doesn’t ask me to help cook any more, even though I had gotten a lot better.
Uncle Bart and Aunt Jackie showed up, bringing yet another side dish. They always made green bean casserole, which was disgusting and mother always made me eat it. I hated it but at least there was plenty of marshmallows to cover the rotten taste.
We were finally sitting around the dining room table, Me next to Clare and my father, Tom across from me. Mother was on the other end along with my uncle and aunt and two cousins.
>
“I can’t believe you are getting married, and so young,” Aunt Jackie commented. I sighed. I knew she was going to be like this. “You have your whole life ahead of you, are you sure you want to make such a big decision?”
I gave her a fake smirk. “Yes, yes I do. I love my fiancé and nothing will change that.” I gave Clare a quick peck on the cheek. She blushed.
“Well I hope you’re both fine on finances. I mean, if you want to have kids, believe me they cost a lot.”