by Geri Watson
"Definitely still weird."
Zack sniffed the air. "Oh! Mom's making cinnamon rolls!" He sniffed again and sighed happily. "And ham...bacon...eggs...fresh rolls. Mmmm."
"You're a regular bloodhound, Zack," Tristan quipped.
"Say what you want, Kathy is the best cook ever." He hopped up off the bed. "I'm going to go see if she needs a taste tester...later!" Zack exited quickly, heading toward the kitchen.
"Morning," Star said as she wrapped her arms around Tristan.
“Morning," he repeated, "Can I leave my cage now?"
Star giggled. "Yes. But you have to pay the toll first."
In response, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly. "So... your Dad isn't going to come after me with a gun or anything is he?"
"No. God, what has Zack been telling you while you were in here?" she chuckled. "They know you're here and they can't wait to meet you."
"Hm. Somehow I don't know if I'm so sure about that. If some kid snuck in to see my daughter in the middle of the night, I'm not so sure I'd be thrilled to meet him." He raised his eyebrows. "Would you?"
"I don't know. Never thought about it before." Star grabbed Tristan's hand and tugged him out of the room. "Come on."
The smell of breakfast filled his senses as they walked into the kitchen. He had to admit it did smell delicious. Star's father stood up upon Tristan's arrival from his chair and stepped toward them. He was about 6 feet tall, blond military cut and well built. He obviously still kept in shape even though he was retired. Tristan snuck a glance over at Zack, who nodded toward Star's father. Looking her father in the eye, Tristan stuck out his hand.
"Tristan Montgomery, Sir. Thank you for letting me stay."
Her father had an amused expression on his face and grasped his hand, firmly shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Tristan. Star told us some interesting things about you." He sat down and motioned toward the empty chair across the table. "Have a seat."
Tristan sat down, his heart rate accelerating from being nervous. Under the table, Star grabbed his hand, and he relaxed a little.
"Takes a real man to admit when he needs a woman," her father directed toward Tristan.
Paling, he looked over at Star and back at Captain Levine. "Yes, sir."
"Zachary?" her father questioned.
"Sir?" Zack replied from his position next to her mother, a bite of roll in his mouth.
"What did you say to this boy to make him so petrified of me?" he guffawed. "He looks like he's going to either pass out or throw up."
"Nothing! I swear." Zack stifled a laugh and covered his mouth, pretending to cough.
"Daddy!" Star groaned.
Tristan looked down embarrassed, and Star squeezed his hand and shot a glare in Zack's direction.
"Relax, Tristan. It's Christmas, and my daughter couldn't be happier that you're here. Besides, it appears you have some major ambition if you're Pre-Med and an EMT on the side," he said calmly.
Feeling more at ease, Tristan smiled as Star's mother came to the table and Zack set the rest of the food in front of them. "Breakfast smells great, Mrs. Levine."
"Thank you, Tristan," she smiled at his compliment. "You can call me Kathy." She had a warm smile. It was clear that Star was a carbon copy of her mother. The only differences were the hairstyle and the age. It was very apparent that she took care in her appearance and figure. He guessed that might have been a family trait since Star was in such great shape as well.
Tristan nodded as he watched Zack anxiously waiting until Captain Levine had prepared his plate and then as he filled his own, piling it up high. Star smiled and shrugged at Zack's actions, then passed Tristan the plates of food so that he could serve himself. Once Star and Kathy had helped themselves, the only sounds were of knives and forks scraping against the dishes occasionally. Zack got seconds as soon as his plate was empty. Apparently, he wasn't kidding about how he felt about Kathy's culinary skills.
As Tristan looked around, he noticed that Christmas music was playing through the surround sound speaker on the wall. The house was decorated with small Christmas accents in every corner. It was a gorgeous house with antiques and modern pieces placed throughout it. He felt at home here with them, which was a feeling he'd never experienced with his own family. That was a comforting and scary feeling at the same time.
After breakfast was finished the five of them sat back in their chairs. Captain Levine asked Tristan what it was like working as an EMT and about his classes. Tristan answered honestly and told Captain Levine that it was an invigorating experience to be even a small part in saving someone’s life. Her father then asked what Tristan's parents did for a living, and he told them about his father’s Doctors Without Borders and his mother’s Red Cross work.
Tristan expressed that it wasn't something he'd be interested in, but that he was glad people like his parents did those jobs because the world needed more selfless people. Nodding, Captain Levine agreed and said that he knew the military worked closely with those organizations and also knew the good work that they did.
After patting his stomach, Zack got up and started to help clear the table. Star got up and rubbed Tristan's shoulder then helped Zack out with the plates. Kathy asked Tristan if he had any other family in Seattle. He told them about what his brother did for a living and a little bit about what Arthur was like. Feeling a little guilty, he looked down at his watch and noticed that it would be about 8 AM in Seattle.
"Would you excuse me for a minute? I'd like to call home."
Star's parents nodded in response, and Tristan got up from the table and walked back into the spare bedroom down the hall. As nerve-wracking as meeting her parents had been, it went a lot smoother then he had thought it would. He was grateful for that. Now he had to make this phone call and hear the wrath from home. Tristan hadn't contacted them since he'd walked out the door. He debated if an email would be easier and decided it would be better for him to face the music and get it over with. He dialed the house number and waited for someone to pick up on the other end.
"Tristan! Thank God you're alright," Art's voice came on the line. “We haven't heard from you in two days! Where the hell are you?"
"I'm in Virginia, and I'm fine," Tristan answered stoically.
"Virginia? What in the world is in Virginia?" his brother ranted. "It's Christmas! Mom and Dad are here, and you walked out! How could you just walk out on your family like that?"
"Are you done?" Tristan asked.
He heard his brother sigh exasperatedly. "Explain yourself, please."
"First off, I'm not all that happy with you for ratting me out to Mom and Dad. I wasn't doing anything illegal, who cares if I started going out? You were the one bitching that I slept in the library," Tristan complained.
"You wouldn't talk to me, and you weren't acting like yourself. All those books you were reading...it's not like you to obsess over anything like that. It's like ever since that girl dumped you, you've been a mess. A social mess, but still a mess compared to your normal idiosyncrasies," Arthur explained.
"You wouldn't understand, Art. I'm in love with her. That's not exactly a feeling you're familiar with, now is it? How would I go about explaining that to you?" Tristan questioned.
"So you went to Virginia to track her down, is that what you're doing?" Art asked, calmer than before.
"It's what I did," Tristan corrected him.
"And?"
"And actions speak louder than words. I'm here with Star and her family, who are pretty nice by the way." He looked over at the door and then sat down on the end of the bed.
"You're crazy, Tristan. How did you even get a flight out there?" his brother asked, astonished.
"Well, I had to change planes four times. It took me until almost midnight last night to get here." He scratched his head.
"When are you coming home?" Art rejoined.
"I'll be home when she goes back," Tristan answered like it was obvious.
It was quiet on
the other end of the phone and Tristan could imagine his brother shaking his head. He didn't expect Arthur to understand why he had done it. His brother’s frustration just confirmed that assumption. He guessed that his parents had given Arthur a hard time for not being in better control since he was left in charge. It was ridiculous for them to do that anyway, considering Tristan was an adult and responsible for his actions. He didn't need to be chaperoned. That was one more area that his parents had missed the boat on. "Sorry if they're making things difficult," he apologized.
"They're acting like you ran away from home." Tristan heard the heaviness in his brother's voice and figured it had been pretty bad.
"Art, do they even realize I'll be 22 in May? I swear they act like I'm still a freshman in high school."
"Well, considering they missed that whole fun teenage experience with you since they were traveling, I'm guessing they still have you pegged at 14 or 15 in their minds."
Tristan closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's ridiculous."
"That's Mom and Dad," Art affirmed.
"True. Tell them I'll be back in about a week I guess." Tristan rested his head in his hands.
"It would be better if you told them that yourself," his brother said sternly.
"Aw, come on Art. It's your fault they came home anyway. Don't do this to me," he whined.
"You got me into a hell of a lot of trouble with the way you left, Tristan. I didn't ask for that," Art argued back.
Taking a deep breath and rolling his eyes, Tristan prepped himself for their reactions. "Fine. Put them on."
"Merry Christmas, bro. For the record, I'm proud of you for going after what you wanted," he said more softly.
"Thanks. Merry Christmas, Art. Put the tyrants on."
He heard Art put his hand over the receiver and say something to them. They must have been nearby trying to listen in on the call. How mundane.
"Tristan Gareth Montgomery don't you ever scare us like that again," his mother’s voice came on the line.
"Geez Mom, no need to throw the full name dig in there. I told you where I was going." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"You did nothing of the sort. I didn't know you were flying to the other side of the country after her!" she sounded miffed.
So they had been listening. "I'll be back."
"Your father's been worried sick. Couldn't you have called before now?" she tried to guilt trip him.
"Mom. I know it was you that was worried and not Dad, so don't even try that line on me. And no, I couldn't have called until now because I was in five airports from the time I left Sea-Tac until I got here late last night," he explained.
His mother sighed. "At least you're safe. Be polite and make a good impression. God knows what those poor people think of you showing up like some sneak in the night."
"I will. They're good people. We ate a big Christmas breakfast together like a real family this morning." As soon as he said it, he flinched. He hadn't meant for it to come out like that, but it had.
"Oh," was her only response.
"Um." Tristan swallowed, uncomfortable for making his mother feel bad. "I've got to go. Tell Dad I hope you both have a good Christmas."
"Sure Tristan. Love you." She sounded really down.
"Love you too," he said quickly and hung up. Tristan dropped the phone beside him and rubbed his face, collapsing backward on the bed and groaning in frustration. Not a good thing to make your mother feel like crap on Christmas, Tristan. He wished he had a better handle on holding his tongue. Think before you speak, he repeated to himself.
CHAPTER 21
Star and Zack were in the kitchen doing the dishes. She was scrubbing the pots and pans, and he was drying them as she finished. They had been quiet for the past few minutes except for the rushing water and the clanging of the dishes as Zack put them away. She thought about how cute Tristan had looked all nervous in front of her father. Her parents had gone upstairs to talk about something; her guess was Tristan. At least they hadn't been embarrassing like Art had been when she'd met him.
Zack threw the towel over his shoulder and leaned past her to make sure they were alone. "So Mr. Romantic seemed to hit it off well with the good Captain."
"You think so?" Star started on the next pan in the sink.
"Well, he seemed impressed with him anyway. He sure wasn't that nice to me when we met." he set a pan in one of the bottom cabinets.
"Zack, when Dad met you, the first thing out of your mouth was 'Wow I can totally see why Star's so hot, your wife's a real piece of work Cap'n’.'" she laughed.
"What? It was a compliment," he said innocently.
"And you wonder why you're single," she sarcastically responded as she finished up the last pan and handed it to him.
"Ouch," Zack mock grabbed his chest. "You wound me."
He smacked the back of her thigh with the dish towel as she turned to walk away and she spun back around and punched his shoulder. They continued to play fight until Zack picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She struggled, feeling the blood rush to her head as he carried her down the hallway. Tristan stopped dead in his tracks with a surprised expression on his face after coming out of the spare bedroom and meeting the image of a laughing upside down Star. His stunned reaction turned into laughter a few seconds later.
"Do you often get thrown around like this?" he asked, turning his head sideways to get a better look at her.
"Only when she deserves it," was Zack's reply. He shifted her weight, but didn't let her down or turn around.
"Hm. I see," smiled Tristan. "She looks pretty vulnerable right now if you ask me."
Zack laughed, and a foreboding feeling fell over Star. "She's pretty ticklish, Tristan."
Her eyes widened, and she started to squirm. “Don’t you dare!" she threatened Tristan with narrowed eyes.
"Zachary, put her down," came a stern voice from the stairs. Captain Levine descended and laughed once he got a better look at the three of them and then walked wordlessly into the living room.
Once Zack set her down, Star glared at him and then swatted Tristan for good measure.
"Hey! I didn't do anything!" Tristan complained.
"Yeah, but you were thinking it," she mumbled as she straightened her sweater.
"She's got you there." Zack smiled.
She looked up to see Tristan shrugging innocently.
"How are things at home?" she changed the subject.
"Uh, well… if I was still young enough to be grounded I think it would be for eternity," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yikes. Didn't you tell them you were leaving?" Star asked.
"I'm guessing no if they're that pissed," cut in Zack as he rested his hands on the railing of the staircase.
"No, I did tell them what I was doing, I didn't give any details…such as where I was going or how long I'd be gone," Tristan admitted as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and looked up at the ceiling.
Star winced. "Yeah, that would have set my parents off too."
Tristan looked back at her. "You don't know my parents. Your parents seem normal and nice.... mine are more absent and uninterested normally."
"That sucks," voiced Zack.
"You'll understand when you meet them...if you meet them. It all depends on if they feel like sticking around or not," Tristan explained to them with a shrug.
"His parents are hoity-toity," Star tried to explain further, looking over at Zack.
Zack raised an eyebrow. "You rich or something?" he directed towards Tristan.
In response, Tristan pursed his lips and eyed Star. "Or something."
"Well your house alone is something out of a high-class magazine Tristan, don't look at me like that." Star raised her hands in defense.
She didn't know he'd get all upset over her saying his family had money. Then again, maybe it was a little uncouth of her to announce it like that flippantly. Tristan continued to eye her to the point that she got
uncomfortable and averted her eyes. Zack adjusted his stance on the bottom step and cleared his throat to break the tension amongst them. It didn't seem to work, and Star shot an apologetic glance in his direction.
"Excuse us," she said to Zack as she grabbed Tristan's arm, pulling his hand out of his pocket and into hers. He trailed behind her and back into the spare room, and she shut the door then turned to face him. "What's the deal with the dirty look?" she implored him.