by J. Benson
He removed his shoes and I immediately did the same.
I followed him through the entry hall and into a living room filled with toys and overstuffed couches.
Taylor began to say something to me, when a toddler came running at top speed and crashing into my knees.
"Whoa!" I cried, catching her awkwardly. I wasn't used to being around children, and I wasn't sure how to handle the situation.
"Hey, monkey! You've got to watch where you're going!" Taylor scooped her up, balancing her on his hip. Taylor looked completely at ease holding a young child; like it was something he did every day without thought. And it probably was."Zoey, this is Emma. Can you say hi?" He asked her.
She waved her chubby little arm slightly, and I noticed that her other hand was tightly clasping a cookie.
"Okay, maybe later." He smiled and set her down on her feet. She pushed past us and continued on her way, running through the house in the direction she had started off in.
I noticed there was another boy on the sofa, busily playing video games. He hadn't notice us come in, and he hadn't yet looked up from the television screen. His thumbs and hands were moving quickly and expertly over the game controller clutched in his hands.
"Hey, Seth. This is Emma." Taylor motioned to me.
He didn't look up from the television. "Hi, nice to meet you." He mumbled.
"Hi." I breathed shyly.
"Sorry. That thing is rotting his brain." Taylor smirked. "Ignore him."
Another blond child came running through the living room. He looked no more than five years old. When he saw me, he stopped and pointed his toy gun at me, and yelled "Pow! Pow!"
I smiled. He was cute--all bright blue eyes and peering out from beneath a mop of blond curls.
"Hey! Don't shoot my girlfriend!" Taylor laughed, and took the gun away. The kid shrugged and went running through to the other room.
Taylor dropped the gun onto the couch next to his other brother. "That was Stephen." He laughed. "It's kind of always this crazy. Come on this way." He took my hand and led me into the kitchen.
A very pretty woman with long blonde hair was standing at the stove stirring a pot, and having a conversation with a man who was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. I assumed these were Taylor's parents.
"Mom, Dad? This is Emma." He beamed proudly at me and I was suddenly conscious of his hand still holding mine.
"It's very nice to meet you." I smiled politely.
"It's nice to meet you, honey! We've heard so much about you!" his mother fussed over me, she crossed the kitchen in one swoop and embraced me tightly. I stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do. I couldn't remember the last time my own mother had hugged me, and now I was being embraced by someone else's.
I finally raised my arms and lightly hugged her in return. "Umm... dinner smells lovely, Mrs. Green." I replied, hoping that I didn't sound quite as awkward as I felt.
"Please don't call me that! You make me feel old. Call me Dana, please!"
"Okay," I smiled as she released me.
Taylor's father was there suddenly and reached out a hand to shake mine. "Wonderful to meet you at last." He smiled. "I'm William."
Taylor's mother swooped back to the stove. "Honey, do me a favor and tell your brothers and sisters that dinner is almost ready?"
"Sure, mom." Taylor was grinning broadly. "I want to show Emma around anyway."
"Um.... Is there anything I can help with?" I offered awkwardly. I couldn't cook at all and in the kitchen I would probably be less useful than a fish out of water, but I was trying to be polite.
Taylor's mother smiled. "No thanks, dear. I've got it under control."
Taylor's father laughed. "She won't let me help either, don't worry."
Dana playfully swatted her husband with a dishtowel.
I smiled. Taylor's parents were sweet and cute. They seemed like generally loving people.
"Come on," Taylor urged, pulling me from the kitchen. This time we went back through the dining room, which had already been set for dinner. I didn't have time to count the plates. I was already overwhelmed.
We moved into the front room, which was a formal seating area. There was another man there, who looked much older than Taylor. He was sitting on the sofa playing an acoustic guitar. I recognized him as his older brother Ethan from the day Taylor had jumped in my car and talked me into driving him home. For the life of me, I couldn't remember his name.
"Hey, Ethan. This is Emma." Taylor introduced me.
"Hi." I smiled, awkwardly waving with my free hand.
"Hey," He stood and shook my hand. He reminded me of his father immensely, and I felt shy again. He grinned at me.
"Nice to meet you."
"Mom says dinner is almost ready." Taylor mused.
"Great, I'm starved!" His older brother sat down on the sofa again, adjusting the guitar on his lap.
"Come on," Taylor said to me. "More people to meet."
"More?" I demanded in disbelief. I was already feeling overwhelmed.
Ethan snickered behind me and played a flourish of notes on the guitar.
Taylor led me up a handful of stairs to the second floor. There was a long hallway of what I could only guess was a row of bedrooms.
"How many more?" I asked curiously. My hand was in his again, and I was starting to relax a little.
"Two. I've got two sisters left." He smiled. He knocked on one of the bedroom doors before pushing it open."Jessa? Ava? This is Emma." He introduced me to two girls who were playing on the floor with Barbie dolls.
"Hi!" Both girls cried.
"Hi!" I smiled. One was a pretty blonde about twelve, and the other was slightly younger with light brown hair. Both girls looked adorable in similar dresses with their hair in sloppy braids. They looked as though they had braided each other's hair without help from anyone else. They were adorable.
The room they were in was littered with dolls and doll accessories everywhere. The walls were painted bright pink and two twin beds with matching pink frilly duvets were pushed into opposite corners. Above one of the beds was the name Ava, and above the other was the name Jessa. The room was girly and set up like a princess' room.
"Want to play dolls with us?" The youngest asked. "You can be Sunshine."
"Maybe later." Taylor answered for me. "Dinner is almost ready. You'd better hurry downstairs before too long, okay? Make sure you wash your hands too."
"Okay." They chimed.
I smiled and followed Taylor from the room.
"Wow." I mused.
"I know. It's overwhelming. But as soon as the younger ones go to bed and the house is quiet it’s... eerie. I guess you get used to it." He laughed.
"I'll bet. But I mean you're so good with them. You get along so well."
He laughed. "We fight like everybody else. But we also get in trouble for it too. My brothers are my best friends. Which is weird, I guess."
"It's nice though. It almost makes me wish I had siblings." I shrugged lightly.
He opened the door at the end of the hall and turned on the light. I recognized the room as a boy's room, but it was far too clean.
"This is my room." He announced.
"It's nice." I smiled, and noticed a pile of Lego blocks on the desk.
"I share it with Seth." He followed my gaze. "Those toys aren't mine." He added quickly.
"Right. Sure they aren't." I teased.
"Come on." He took both my hands and led me to the bottom bunk, and pulled me to sit next to him.
I glanced around the room noticing a full sized keyboard set up in one corner. There were stacks of sheet music on the bench, and each book seemed like it was arranged perfectly according to an organizational system I didn't fully understand. Before I could ask if he played, he interrupted me.
Taylor lightly tucked my hair behind my shoulder. "You aren't too overwhelmed are you?" He asked worriedly. "This isn't too much too soon?"
"No, no! It's okay.
" I smiled. "It's nice. Your family is really sweet. Actually I don't feel even half as nervous as I was feeling before I came."
It was an odd feeling that was spreading through me. I felt like I was actually home. I felt welcomed and loved here. Which was something I didn't even feel back home at my mother's house in New York.
"Good." He laughed. "Sometimes I think they're enough to scare people away."
"No. It's different, but in a good way."
He leaned forward suddenly, catching me off guard. His lips brushed mine. I closed my eyes and leaned forward to meet his lips with mine.
Within seconds, his usual gentle and tentative kisses became more ravenous. His mouth opened against mine, and I was instantly distracted. My hands dug into his hair and his arms moved around my waist, pulling me to him at the exact moment his lips began to push me back toward the bed.
His lips left mine so we could each gasp for breath.
"Taylor...." I murmured as his lips moved to my throat. "Your parents... they're downstairs..."
He ceased his kisses almost immediately. "Right... sorry."
He pulled me into a sitting position, but his hands remained on my sides. He was looking down between us at the pattern of the bedspread, and I could see the faint pink rising in his skin.
I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek lightly.
He laughed softly. "Sorry. I've just been thinking about kissing you like that for a long time."
"Maybe some other time. When we have more privacy..." I rested my cheek on his shoulder.
"I could barricade the door..." He offered. "We'd miss dinner, but I think it would be worth it."
I laughed softly, shaking my head. "And disappoint your parents? I don't think so." I teased.
We were interrupted by a knock at the door and without warning, Taylor's brother Seth walked in, striding in without any sense of the fact that we might have required privacy. I was secretly thankful that he hadn't walked in a few minutes earlier.
"Oh gross!" He cried, seeing us. "You guys weren't making out on my bed were you?"
Taylor helped me to my feet, though it wasn't entirely necessary.
"No, we weren't making out on your Batman sheets!" Taylor shot back.
"Um... hello? They're Star Wars sheets." Seth looked annoyed. "And mom says dinner is ready so get your butt downstairs!"
Seth stomped out of the room.
"That was just too cute." I laughed, walking past Taylor toward the door.
He grasped me suddenly around the waist and pulled me back against him. He leaned over my shoulder and kissed my cheek playfully.
"Come on, we'd better hurry down there before there's no food left!" He took my hand again and led the way.
Chapter 33:
Family Dinner
I soon found out that Taylor wasn't exactly kidding about there not being any food left if we were late for dinner. By the time we wound our way back through the massive house and reached the spacious dining room, every chair at the table was filled except two. Large bowls of food were being circulated around the table in no particular order. Directions and requests were being shouted around the table.
There were so many different conversations going on at once, I was instantly lost before I even sat down.
I managed to catch the food being passed, simply because Taylor intercepted other passes and held the bowl or plate for me to help myself to. He smiled shyly at me as he flooded his own plate with large portions. At one point, Taylor grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes from his brother Seth's hands and held it out to me.
Seth vehemently protested, and pouted.
"You have to be fast if you want to eat." Taylor informed me. "Don't be shy. You can't be if you want to eat around here."
I smiled lightly. "That explains so much about your character." I teased.
I wondered briefly where he kept all the food he ate, but when I looked at his brothers, I realized it must run in the family. Ethan was reaching for a second helping of mashed potatoes and Seth was devouring his own food as if he were partaking in some kind of contest. Even their father was shoveling food into his mouth like he'd never eaten before.
One of Taylor's sisters leaned across the table toward me, catching my attention. Her spoon was still clutched in her chubby little hand.
"Did you ever take any dancing lessons?" She asked eagerly in a hushed whisper.
I smiled. She was way too cute. "When I was your age I took ballet."
Her entire face seemed to light up. "I take ballet! I want to be a ballerina when I grow up! I have a whole bunch of tutus in my room!" She said eagerly, her eyes turning huge and bright.
I smiled, "I bet you'd make a fantastic ballerina. You know I used to live just down the street from one of the most famous ballet schools in North America."
"Really!? Did you ever go?" She asked excitedly.
I smiled. "I used to go with my parents all the time to watch shows." I hoped no one would detect the hint of sorrow in my voice. "I saw so many very pretty ballerinas. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful and a beautiful ballerina when you get bigger." I smiled, warmly.
"Want to play dolls with us after?" the other sister asked.
"Maybe some other time, Jessa." Taylor spoke beside me. "Emma and I have plans for tonight."
Both girls’ faces fell.
"Some other time, I promise." I smiled reassuringly at them.
"Mama, can I go watch cartoons now?" Taylor's youngest brother asked.
"Two more bites of broccoli, son." His father spoke somewhat sternly. "Real bites not pretend bites, Stephen."
The boy nodded, somewhat dejectedly.
I smiled to myself. This sounded exactly like something my father used to say to me, when I was his age.
"Son, what are your plans for tonight?" Mr. Green asked, pointedly to his eldest son.
"Uhh... well we're supposed to have a band practice at John's around eight. I think we were going to hit a concert downtown a bit later." Ethan replied.
"What kind of concert?" His mother asked, spooning mashed potatoes into her youngest child's mouth.
"Oh you know, the usual. Hard core gangster rap. Lots of swearing and women abuse." He teased with a smirk.
Taylor laughed dryly beside me.
The girls were finished first, and Jessa helped Stephen take his plate into the kitchen, following Ava's lead.
Seth and Ethan had finished their second helpings before I had even finished my first.
I had a feeling that Taylor was eating slower to match my pace which felt turtle slow in comparison.
His parents were still eating, but his mother finished feeding the toddler and lifted her from her high chair. She wiped the kid down thoroughly with a cloth her husband handed her, and patted the kid's backside before sending her on her way in the direction of the rest of the children.
She sat back down with a heavy sigh.
"So you moved her from New York, hmm?" Mr. Green asked carefully.
I nodded, but straightened in my chair and prepared to be interrogated. "I moved in with my gran just before school started."
"Her grandmother is Mrs. Hatfield around the corner." Taylor chimed in eagerly.
"I know that, son. Small neighborhood, remember?" Mr. Green smiled warmly.
I smiled, glancing toward Taylor who was blushing slightly.
"What do your parents do?" Mrs. Green asked.
I sucked in a deep breath and held onto it. "My mother is the dean of humanities at NYU. She teaches literature courses." I supplied. "She mostly teaches quite a bit."
"And your father?" Mr. Green inquired innocently.
"Dad!" Taylor scolded, with a slight horrified tone in his voice.
"It's okay." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "My father was a doctor. He had his own practice... He passed away about two months ago. Cancer." I supplied.
"I'm sorry to hear that, honey!" Mrs. Green looked about to cry.
"It's okay." I
nodded and forced a smile. "He was sick for a long time... it was better to end his suffering, right?" My voice betrayed me, cracking under the emotion.
"That's right. He's in a better place." Mrs. Green sympathized. She reached across the table and lightly pat my hand. It was a warm and loving motion, and somehow it instantly made me feel better.
"Umm... come on, Emma. We should get going..." Taylor urged.
I wasn't entirely done my dinner, but at the moment I was no longer hungry.
"Do you need help cleaning up?" I asked his parents, then said to Taylor. "Maybe we should stay and help."
"No, no. You kids go on and have fun." Mr. Green winked. "Cleaning up is my job anyway."
I smiled, and bid them a soft goodbye as Taylor practically pulled me from the house.
Once we were outside he heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Emma." He admitted.
"What for?" I demanded in confusion.
"For them bringing up your father... I warned them in advance that it was a touchy subject. I begged my mom and dad not to ask you about him, and they both promised they wouldn't.... I'm sorry. I know how difficult it is for you to talk about." He lightly rubbed my arm through my coat.
I smiled. "It's okay. I have to get used to it some time, you know? Besides, the sooner I get over it, the sooner I forget."
His eyes studied my face carefully. "Emma, you can't forget someone who meant so much to you. You're supposed to remember the good times, and cherish the time you actually got to spend together." He soothed gently.
I sighed. "I know... I just wish it didn't always come up in conversation with us."
He threw his arms around me, despite our bulky coats. I let him embrace me for a few minutes before I interrupted. "We're going to miss the movie."
"So we're a little late." He grinned at me, but took my hand anyway. He held open the passenger's side door for me and I climbed in, folding my skirts around my legs. I finally noticed the bracing cold against my bare legs.
Taylor climbed into the driver's seat and expertly backed out of the driveway.
"Emma, tonight..." He began, "Thanks so much for everything. You were really great with my family. I mean, most people think we're like Brady-bunch kids and it's a little overwhelming. You seemed so... at ease."