The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven
Page 45
“It’s been over two weeks since I’ve seen you last,” I said panicked, still holding on.
“Is that all?” he chuckled.
I untangled my arms to look at him. “It’s too long.”
He cupped the sides of my face. “You’re right. Any amount of time spent away from you is too long,” he said, gently pressing his lips to mine. I sighed and lay back on the blanket. Tristan leaned on his elbow, gazing lovingly at me while I stared up at the bright, starry sky.
He surprised me with a bouquet of forget-me-nots. “They’re beautiful,” I smiled.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, brushing my hair off my shoulder. He pulled one of the flowers from the bouquet and started to softly caress my skin with it. Tristan dragged the flower across my hand, working his way up my arm, over my shoulder, and across my chest. I bit my lip, blushing. The feel of the soft, silky petals against my skin were giving me chills. He continued by sweeping the flower down my nose, cheek and breasts. He then replaced the flower with his lips, giving me goose bumps.
Tristan carefully pushed down the strap of my dress, kissing the exposed skin. Sliding his other hand behind my neck, he guided me down gently onto the blanket beneath us. Then he climbed on top of me and found his way to my lips. One hand was tangled in my hair while the other glided up my thigh, pushing up my dress. My heart was racing and my skin was getting hotter with every touch. I slipped my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to me. He kissed me passionately, pressing his body against mine. I moaned at the pressure of his weight on top of me. My entire flesh was covered in goose bumps. I brushed a hand across the bare skin of his lower back. He let out a moan himself at the gesture.
I had to pull away to catch my breath. “Tristan I –”
“Yes,” he breathed.
“I…” was back in my room.
“Son of a bitch!”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but mom does have her moments.”
“Dean?” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. He was leaning in the doorway. “What do you want?” I grumbled.
“Ho, Ho, Ho,” he said, holding out a small wrapped box.
“This couldn’t wait?” I asked, annoyed and pissed that I woke up from my dream right when things were getting good, but of course, isn’t that what always happens?
Dean, taking it upon himself to enter without my permission, came over and sat down on my bed. “Open it,” he said, handing me the present.
“What is it?” I asked a little frightened.
“Just open it,” he said rolling his eyes.
I tore into the present and opened up the box. Inside was a men’s silver watch. The face of the watch was encrusted with diamonds and had a purple heart dangling from the band. I looked at Dean confused. Why in the world would he give me something like this? Before I could open my mouth he said, “Turn it over.” On the underside were the initials T.W.M. “The watch was Tristan’s and the heart charm –”
“Josie’s,” I finished for him. I recognized it almost right away. When we were little Josie and I got charm bracelets and we picked out a charm for each other. I picked out the heart for Josie and she got me a shamrock. “How’d you?” I asked, wondering how he got these things. I remember losing my bracelet years ago and thought Josie had lost hers too.
“A little finessing and my natural charm,” he smiled proud.
“You didn’t steal these did you?” I asked cautiously. Dean was many things, but I never pictured him to be a thief. With Dean though, you could never be too sure.
“Come on, give me some credit here,” he said insulted. “I thought maybe you would like to have something of theirs to keep with you so I asked Tristan’s and Josie’s parents if there was something of theirs to give you.” He pointed to the watch. “This is what Tristan’s mom gave me and Jade told me I could look around Josie’s room and pick what I wanted. I remember when you guys got these bracelets and how upset you were when you lost yours. So I knew this would be the perfect thing of hers for you to have. I couldn’t find the bracelet itself, but this was lying on top of her jewelry box.”
“Thank you Dean. It’s perfect,” I said, embracing him in a hug.
“You wanna go downstairs and sneak a peek at our presents?” he asked with a sly grin.
“Dean, I’m not five. I don’t need to peek at my presents.”
“What if I told you there was a really big present downstairs with your name on it?” he said, trying to entice me. I contemplated for less than a second before I was off my bed, grabbing my slippers and sweater, and heading downstairs with him.
We tiptoed down the steps careful not to wake anyone. I stopped by the kitchen first to help myself to the left over cookies and a large glass of milk. Then I joined Dean in the living room where he was already shaking gifts to see if he could guess what was inside. “What are you two up to?” I jumped, almost spilling my milk.
When I turned around I was surprised to see Xander standing behind me. I thought for sure it was our dad by the sound of his voice. Xander laughed when he saw my face. He was the only one who could imitate our Dad’s voice. “That wasn’t funny,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him as he stole a cookie from my plate.
“Here to guess your presents too?” Dean asked Xander.
“Grow up you guys,” he said rolling his eyes.
Dean looked around the pile of presents for one with Xander’s name on it. “Hmm, I wonder what this is,” he said, lightly shaking the box. “Could it be that new IPad you were hoping for?”
“Give me that,” Xander said, taking the gift. Dean and I laughed knowing Xander couldn’t resist.
Our little guessing game didn’t last long. Mom busted us. “What are you kids doing?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
“It was Ella’s idea,” Dean and Xander said in unison.
“Hey!” I scoffed at them.
Mom just laughed and took a seat next to me. “Boys, I know better,” she said, stealing a cookie. “You’re supposed to be a good influence on your sister,” she chastised. I stuck out my tongue at them when she bent over to take a sip of my milk. “I saw that Ella.”
“Saw what?” I acted all innocent.
She just shook her head. “I guess since it is tradition, you each can open one present now, but I get to pick which one,” mom said, getting up and searching through the presents. Every year on Christmas Eve our parents would let us open one present, but we were never allowed to pick which one.
Mom handed Xander and Dean their presents then handed me mine before sitting back down. Inside the small box she gifted me was a heart shaped locket. “It’s a family heirloom,” my mom said. It opened up like an accordion showing three pictures on each side. My mom leaned in close. “This picture here,” she pointed to the one in the middle. “Is your great, great grandparents.” The picture next to it was one of my dad and mom holding me as a baby and the other one was of Xander, Dean, and me when I was two. I flipped it over and in the middle of the other side was a picture of my mom and dad on their wedding day, one of my grandma Bea and me and one of Josie and I. “I added this one,” she said, pointing to the picture of Josie and me.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you mom.” My mom helped me clasp the locket around my neck. It fell low on my chest so that when I looked down I could see it.
My mom pointed to the locket. “Now you’ll always have us with you. Always close to your heart,” she smiled. I gave her a warming hug, sat back, and lay my head on her shoulder while I watched Xander and Dean open their presents. They also received family heirlooms. Xander got our great grandfather’s cufflinks and Dean got his watch.
Afterwards, we all settled into the couch, and had a fight over which Christmas movie we were going to watch. Xander and Dean wanted to watch a Christmas story, but mom and I wanted to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation, which was a classic if I do say so myself. Of course mom and I won. I cuddled up to my mom as we watched our favorite Christmas movie.
My dad woke me up early the next morning. “Good morning,” he said softly, careful not to wake everyone else up. He cautiously stepped over Dean who had made his way to the floor during the night. I pulled up my feet giving my dad room to have a seat on the couch.
“Morning dad,” I said, just now realizing my mom was up as well when my dad handed her a cup of coffee.
“Merry Christmas,” he said, handing me a mug of hot chocolate. Clearly he still thought of me as his little girl.
“Merry Christmas Dad,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. He flinched slightly before he relaxed and threw an arm over me. My dad and I hadn’t been very affectionate lately so I wasn’t surprised by his reaction, but no matter what happened he was still my dad and I still loved him.
When the boys woke up, my mom made us breakfast, and then afterwards we opened up all our presents. When we finished, I went upstairs to shower and get ready for an early dinner. The McNaughton’s had finally returned home and were going to join us for dinner along with Danni and Hadley.
For dinner I decided to wear the new sweater dress my mom had gotten me. It was cream colored with short sleeves and a cowl neck. I paired it with my new tan, knee high boots and locket. I tried taming my hair the best I could by pulling it half up. When I was finished battling with my hair, I went downstairs to find the McNaughton’s had already arrived. Jake took off on a running start and jumped into my arms. I picked him up and hugged him tight not realizing how much I missed him. “Merry Christmas Jake.”
“Merry Christmas Ella. I missed you,” he said, causing a small tug at my heart strings.
“I missed you too,” I replied, squeezing him one more time before I put him down. Jake pulled me over to his parents and I greeted each of them with a hug.
“You look beautiful, as usual,” Mrs. McNaughton said. I thanked her before Josie’s dad asked how I was.
“Better,” I smiled weakly. Seeing them here without Josie was weird to me. I reminded myself to stay strong and not lose it in front of them.
“I just wanted to let you know I talked to Josie and she’s happy where she is,” Josie’s mom, Jade, smiled.
“You talked to her?” I asked, wondering if Jade already had a few before she got here.
“Yes. My psychic Jacinda –”
“Jade.” Mr. McNaughton interrupted. There was an undertone to his voice that warned his wife not to continue with this conversation, but she ignored him by waving him off and pulling me aside. Jade went into this whole story about her and her psychic having a breakthrough and breaking the barriers between the worlds.
She truly has lost it.
I guess everyone grieves in their own way.
Dean distracted Jade with a drink and I mouthed the words “thank you” in reply. Dean and I then took Jake into the living room so he could open his presents we had bought him. Xander got him a new baseball mitt and cap while Dean and I each got him a new video game. I got him one of latest baseball games while Dean got him some zombie killing one. I yelled at Dean and told him that wasn’t an appropriate game for a six year old, but of course he could have cared less.
Shortly after, Danni and Hadley arrived and joined us in the living room. As soon as Jake spotted Hadley he froze. You could almost see the glow around her as she sashayed her way over to me in her cute, puffy, Christmas dress. I picked her up, pulling her onto my lap. “Merry Christmas Ella!” she cheered, throwing her tiny arms around me.
“Merry Christmas Hadley. What kind of goodies did Santa bring you?” She listed all the things she got as Jake stared at her in awe.
“Boom!” Dean yelled. “I just took you down Jakey.”
“I think his interest is on something else,” I giggled. “Jake, you remember Hadley.” He barely moved. He just watched her like he was mesmerized.
“Oh man Jakey boy, I think we need to have a chat,” Dean said, catching on. I just rolled my eyes.
“D-do you wanna p-play?” Jake stuttered, offering Hadley a remote and stealing Dean’s. I laughed making Dean narrow his eyes at me.
“We so need to talk about the bros before hoes code,” Dean said, feeling rejected.
“How about we play a different game, one where you don’t get points for dismembering body parts.” I searched through the other games until I found one we could all play. “How about Just Dance. Girls versus boys?”
“You’re on. Come on Jake, we’ll show these girls how it’s done,” Dean challenged.
Eventually everyone else joined us in the living room and in the game. We kept to girls versus boys. It was the most fun I had in a long time and of course the girls won.
Chapter four
After the game we all gathered around the table for dinner. We bowed our heads as my mom led us by saying grace. “Amen,” everyone said. I was just about to dig in when Xander stood up. “Before we eat, I’d like to make an announcement,” Xander said, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Last night,” he paused and looked at Jasa. “I asked Jasa to marry me and she said yes.”
My jaw dropped as I looked around the room at everyone’s expression. Dean nearly choked on his wine while Danni looked horrified not believing what she just heard. Everyone else cheered happily. I didn’t know what to think. I managed to get out congrats just as my mom and dad welcomed Jasa to the family.
Dean and I exchanged looks. Apparently he was as surprised as I was at Xander’s announcement. I looked back at Danni who forced out a smile and congrats through gritted teeth. I was definitely going to have to pull her aside later and find out what was going on there, but first I’d talk to Xander. This was so unlike him. They haven’t even been dating that long and Xander never made rash decisions like this. I remember it took him a week to pick out his outfit he was going to wear for his graduation which I thought was ridiculous because you wouldn’t even see it under his cap and gown.
Not wanting to destroy everyone else’s joyful mood, I plastered on a smile and pretended everything was fine. Danni pretty much stayed silent throughout the rest of dinner while my mom spent most of the time discussing wedding plans with Jasa. Every now and then I would catch Danni and Xander exchange looks, making me wonder even more what was going on there.
Once we were finished, the boys retreated to the den to smoke cigars and celebrate while Jade, my mom, and Jasa continued to talk wedding stuff. My fake smile was making my face hurt so I opted to take Jake and Hadley into the living room to play some video games. After Jake and Hadley were settled, I went back into the kitchen to help Danni clean up. “Okay, so what’s up?” I asked Danni.
“What?” she said, acting like nothing was wrong.
“Don’t act like you don’t know. I saw your face when Xander announced he and Jasa were getting married,” I said, challenging her to lie to me again.
“Ella don’t be silly. I’m happy for them,” she replied, downing her glass of wine.
I took the glass from her and hid the bottle, then I made her face me. “Danni, seriously, you looked like someone just stabbed you in the heart. What’s going on?”
“Danni, what are you doing?” my mom asked, interrupting before I could get some answers out of her. “It’s Christmas, come sit down with us. Today is your day off.” My mom tried to pull Danni out of the kitchen thinking she was in there cleaning up, but I knew she was in there to hide.
Taking the hint as a good distraction, Danni picked up one of the sponges, and started to clean the dishes. “I don’t mind.”
“Well I do,” my mom said, stopping her. “Come on.” She tried to pull Danni back into the dining room, but she wouldn’t budge.
“I just remembered I told Hadley I’d take her for a walk and show her all the lights,” Danni said.
“Nice save,” I thought to myself.
“Oh my goodness. I had totally forgotten about that. Ella, why didn’t you remind me?”
“Um, because I didn’t think we would go considering…” I broke off not wanting to dampen the mood.
I followed my mom into the den where I found my dad smiling happily. He embraced my mom in a hug and gave her a sweet kiss before they exited the den and walked back downstairs. I followed them clueless as to what was going on. “Ella, you should put a coat on, it’s gotten quite chilly out,” my dad said.
“Wait, what?” I said, looking at him befuddled.
“You want to go outside and see the lights, don’t you?”
“Well yeah, but…” I bit my tongue realizing it was not wise to press my luck. Clearly my dad was in a good mood and my mouth, if not kept closed, would probably spoil that. So I did what he said and grabbed my coat. “I highly doubt I’ll need this though. I mean come on, we live in California. It never snows let alone drops below sixty degrees.” My mom stopped me at the door forcing me to wear a hat, scarf, and gloves. “Mom, really, I’m sweating in this stuff. There is no need –” I stopped short when she opened the door letting in a gust of cold air and…snow?
I gasped at all the feathery, light, white stuff that was drifting in from the outside. I ran passed everyone and out into the cold air. I lifted my head up to the sky and spread my arms wide, smiling. I spun and spun catching giant snowflakes on my tongue. I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t the first time I saw snow, but it was the first time it snowed here, and on Christmas. I was brought back to reality by the sound of giggles coming from Jake and Hadley. I looked to see them smiling and playing in the several inches of snow that had accumulated on the ground. “It’s snowin’ Ella, it’s snowin’!” Jake cheered, picking up piles and throwing them in the air.