FAMILY
I didn’t wake up until we were pulling into Sunnyvale Court. I was in the back seat of Kota’s car, with Nathan in the front passenger seat.
I sat up a bit, having slumped against the door, and yawned.
Nathan turned toward me. His hair was a reddish mess on the top of his head. His eyes had tired shadows under them. “The turkey get to you?”
“I think the kids got to her,” Kota said. He yawned, and stretched his back. “I think they got to me, too.”
I twisted my neck to get out a kink, looking at the dark and empty diner as we passed. There was a sign near the door, big enough to be seen from the main road, announcing that they would be open in the morning, wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
The rest of the street was quiet. The sun was kissing the tree line, ready to sink down below the horizon, and driveways were either crammed with cars or completely empty.
After such a long day, being on this familiar road was welcome. I’d enjoyed Thanksgiving but I wanted to quietly enjoy the rest of the day in peace, curled up in Nathan’s bed.
Now that it was over, and I remembered all that had happened, I could see doing it again next year. I would prepare better and know what to expect.
The car was quiet as Kota pulled into his own family’s driveway. He parked the car in the far corner and then turned off the engine. He took out the keys, and kept them in his hand as he turned, looking back at me.
I rubbed at my eyes and sighed. I’d thought I would merely be enjoying a good Thanksgiving dinner with Kota and his family, and possibly with Nathan and a few of the other boys. Instead, it had been busy and chaotic. My face felt windblown and I imagined my hair was a mess.
“I’m a bit gross,” I said.
“We can wash up before dinner,” Kota said.
I looked at Kota’s house. Lights were on inside. “Is this Thanksgiving part two? Or three?”
“Yup,” Nathan said. “Time to eat whatever Erica made. She knows we go do charity work most of the day.”
“Is she expecting me?”
“Of course,” Kota said.
I tried to comb my hair back, wondering if she’d see me coming in the door before I had a chance to clean up. Then I realized Mr. Blackbourne’s jacket was still around my waist. “Ugh,” I said, tugging at the sleeve. “I stole his jacket.”
“He’s got more,” Nathan said. He had gotten out but then paused, leaning in. He looked at me, still sitting in the car. “I’m hungry again, but I don’t want to overdo it.” He looked at Kota. “Stop me if I reach for more potatoes? Or a roll? I shouldn’t have any rolls.”
“I think you did enough of a work out at the game to warrant a second roll.” Kota said with a chuckle. “Are we ready for this?”
I shook my head, although to be honest, I was hungry. I was tired, too. I fought with myself over whether to go to sleep or be polite and eat first.
“Yeah,” Kota said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this, either.” He got out of the car and then moved over to open my door. He looked in on me.
I had no energy to even reach out for him. My muscles wanted me to relax in the back seat and go back to sleep.
He reached in for me and then held on to my arm. “Come on, sweetie,” he said. “Just a little further.”
I found some energy and let him support me as I got out. I leaned on him as we walked toward his house.
Nathan followed quietly behind us. “Sang,” he said. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just so tired. I shouldn’t be. I didn’t play in the game that much.”
“You’re very much an introvert,” Kota said. “Too many new people probably zapped your energy.” He patted me on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Victor gets the same way. That’s why he didn’t really play in the game. Loud team sports really aren’t his thing.”
I really did feel zapped. Once we were at the door, Kota turned the knob and opened it, letting me walk in first.
The smell of turkey hit me on a waft of warm air. It was a delicious mixture of other foods as well, and it startled my stomach into waking up.
“Kota?” called Erica from the kitchen. “Is that you?”
“We’re here,” Kota said, walking ahead of me. I lingered behind, looking at Nathan. I was nervous even though I shouldn’t be. Erica was nice, but this was a family occasion, and I was just the girl up the road. Wouldn’t she ask about my family?
I thought about my sister and how she was alone today. Shame filled my heart then. I’d spent so much time with the boys, that I’d forgotten about her, and that she was probably by herself on a day for families.
Kota moved to the threshold between the hallway and the dining room. He paused there, blocking my view. “Mom,” he said. “We’re kind of dirty from a football game. Is it okay if Sang goes upstairs to shower and change? Nathan and I can take turns in the downstairs bathroom.”
“Sure,” she said. “You all hurry, though. Dinner’s ready. We were just waiting on you.”
“Let me just go show her where everything is,” he said.
It was amusing to me the way he said it, like I was so rarely in his bedroom, and had no idea where things were. Maybe it was still better his mother believed that. As much as Erica trusted Kota, it probably was still too much to ask every time I spent the night.
The boys and I clamored on up to Kota’s room. It was odd to be given permission to enter a boy’s room by a parent. My stepmother used to have a fit if I even spoke to a boy. The stark contrast between her and Erica still had me in such awe about her. I liked her a lot.
Upstairs, Nathan collapsed onto Kota’s bed in a heap. “I am so tired,” he said. “The kids were more interested in playing airplane landing on top of Silas than the game. My arms are like noodles.”
“And you were worried about gaining weight? I’ll be surprised if you’re not under by the end of the weekend.” Kota rolled out his computer chair and sat heavily into it. He leaned back, stretched and then proceeded to take off his shoes. “You should grab some clothes and go shower. I’ll come downstairs in a minute.”
Nathan got up quickly. “Okay. I’m going to pass out early tonight. I hope we don’t have to have that meeting tomorrow. I might jog.” At the door of the closet, he slowed, looking at me, and then at Kota.
I waited, assuming he was about to say more. The tired smile changed to a worried, tight expression.
Before I could ask him what was wrong, he shook his head and then collected some clothes for himself before he raced down the stairs.
I untied Mr. Blackbourne’s jacket, placing it carefully on the window seat. It was wrinkled and dirty now. I’d have to ask Kota how to clean it properly so I could before returning it to Mr. Blackbourne.
I looked out of the window, toward my old house. There was a light on in the downstairs living room. “My sister is by herself,” I said. I didn’t want to ask for her to come over now and impose upon Erica, and I wasn’t so sure Marie would come over anyway, but I felt guilty for forgetting about her. “Maybe we should bring her some food later.”
“Hm?” Kota said, collecting his shoes and socks and putting them in the closet. “What do you mean? She’s not by herself.”
I stared at the house although I only saw the light in the window and nothing else. For a split second, I wondered if he meant my stepmother had returned to join her. Would she return without them telling me about it? “How do you know? Who...”
He fished in the closet. “Derrick came by the diner earlier. I gave him a box of food, and he was going to go over to your sister’s house. He and Danielle joined her for lunch.”
My lips parted and I sucked in a breath. At first glance, the house appeared as desolate as I’d often felt inside when I used to live there. A car no longer parked in the drive at the end of the day like before. The open garage doors, with nothing inside, made it appear almost abandoned. The only hint that someone did live there was the light and the trampoline in the back yard.
But then I noticed the basketball sitting just under the basketball hoop hanging over the garage. Had it been there before? “He took time out to bring her food? Do his parents know?”
“He visits her a lot more now,” Kota said. He held on to two pairs of pajama pants and T-shirts and stood beside me, looking over my shoulder. “They had to go with their families sometime in the midafternoon, but when I checked on her earlier, he was back and hanging out with her in the kitchen.”
“You...checked on her?” I asked, surprised. “With the cameras?”
“Only the main rooms,” he said. “I promised you I’d keep an eye on her in case she needed anything since she’s by herself. I just checked in twice today because I’d been thinking of the same thing: of inviting her over. Only she wasn’t alone. Derrick was with her.”
I had asked him before to do this, but it surprised me to hear, still, that he continued. I saw Marie on occasion at school, but she usually ignored me. While I occasionally worried about her, she seemed content to be by herself, queen of the house now that no one else was around.
Old, haunting memories of my stepmother’s words unleashed in my brain. I couldn’t help it. Derrick, a boy, was alone with my sister in the old house. Would that be trouble? Derrick seemed fine, like he wouldn’t pressure her to do anything she didn’t want. But they were teenagers, like us...
Kota reached for my shoulder, massaging it gently. “Sang,” he said. “I didn’t mean to snoop. I was just...I know you worry about her.”
Slowly, I turned toward Kota with my head bowed slightly. “No, no,” I said. “Not that. I just wasn’t sure about...I don’t know. It’s silly. I’m here with you alone.” I’d meant to say I didn’t want to hold a double standard, or something like that. Who was I to be concerned, when I slept in the bed with Nathan, and occasionally the others, nearly every night?
Kota’s eyebrow rose. He reached around me to drop the clothes on top of the window seat. He put both hands on my shoulders and held me there, studying me with those determined green eyes of his. “Let’s not worry about her,” he said. “She’s not in any danger, and no matter what we do, she’ll make her own choices. Derrick might be good for her.” His hands massaged my shoulders. “Today was fun, wasn’t it?”
He was probably right. I tried to forget about Marie for now. If she really wanted to see me, or have me come over, she would have come along or called. She never did. She’d made it pretty clear that she wanted her own independence, away from me and seemed happier without me. “Exhausting. You do this every year, too? What happens tomorrow?”
“We sleep it off tomorrow,” he said. “And through the weekend. Hopefully no emergencies will crop up. Although the diner will be really busy, I think. Luke and North and some of the rest of us might put in shifts.”
“I should, too,” I said. It was only fair.
“If you’re up for it.” He leaned in and very gently kissed my forehead. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you comfortable sleeping over at Nathan’s house?” he asked.
This caused a stir inside me. I sensed there was something deeper to what he was asking. I pulled back a little to look at his face. “Of course. What do you mean?”
He wore a tense smile, looking uncomfortable for asking. “I just...are you okay with it?”
“Yes,” I said. “Nathan’s house is fine.”
“I just know you and he... I mean we’ve all pretty much shared a bed. I trust him, but...girls need privacy. I was just wondering if you were feeling awkward now that it was a regular thing.”
“It’s fine,” I said again, trying to not burden him with worrying. A normal girl might have suggested she needed her own space. Only I didn’t want that. I wanted someone, any one of them, in the room with me. I hated to say it, but I’d grown used to it.
“We can get you your own room,” he said. “We can set up that waterbed, and make that master bedroom your room.”
I shook my head rapidly at the thought. I didn’t want Nathan’s dad’s room. Even if he wasn’t there, it was too awkward. It was bad enough I used his bathroom. “What if he came back? And it would be weird to sleep there. I don’t think I could be comfortable with it.”
“I know you go to shower in there,” he said. “It’s okay if you say you need your own area. Nathan won’t mind at all.”
I hesitated, suddenly wondering if this had been a topic of discussion between them. He and Nathan must have noticed I was avoiding using the shower. Had Nathan talked to him about possibly giving me my own area?
Maybe I was all wrong about the way they were looking at me lately. Perhaps it was concern, not jealousy.
My main concern was that Nathan might have thought I didn’t like living there, so close to him, and wanted space. “Oh, it’s not really an issue. I’m fine sharing the space. It’s just sometimes I like a bath,” I said quickly. “I’m not uncomfortable around him. Is he…uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s not that,” he said. He touched the corner of his glasses as if considering his words. “If...if you prefer, you could come sleep here sometimes.”
Did Nathan need time alone and I was intruding? Had Nathan talked to Kota about needing his room back?
“I’d worry about Erica coming in,” I said in a quiet voice, lowering my eyes. I wanted to talk about this, but with dinner downstairs waiting for us, and being so tired, it didn’t feel like the right time. I forced a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “Kota, I’m so tired, I could fall into bed right now. Maybe we should talk about this later?”
“You’re probably right,” he said. He leaned in, kissing my forehead. “Sorry. Don’t fall into bed yet, though. Come downstairs and eat something. Then you can sleep.”
I felt bad for deflecting his questions, but I feared I’d let something slip if I continued. To make up for it, though, I leaned in before he pulled too far away. I kissed his cheek quickly. “Let me go get cleaned up,” I said quietly.
He nodded and his cheeks started to turn a little red. He reached down and cupped my face, kissing the same spot as I’d kissed him. Then he touched my forehead with his own, his eyes really close to mine. “Don’t be nervous around me,” he said quietly.
I didn’t have a response to this, so I didn’t say anything. I was nervous for a lot of different reasons. I was so concerned about his feelings, about the others’, about how new his relationship with me was. Even as we’d gotten to know each other, it was all still new. We had yet to really kiss on the lips yet. Was he still waiting like he’d been told? The others had raced ahead, in their different ways. Some had broken the rule.
I’d forgotten to ask Mr. Blackbourne about the rule, and if it still meant something. Shouldn’t they tell them all how silly it was?
The only one left, though, was Kota...and Mr. Blackbourne.
And then I thought for a fleeting moment about Mr. Blackbourne. Compared to the others, we were moving at a snail’s pace. No kiss on the cheek even. I would never dare rush things with him.
Which left Kota, who seemed eager for me to kiss him and move the relationship forward, he was simply waiting for me to make the move.
I thought about the last time I’d kissed his fingers, his cheek and other areas, when it had become...a very long moment of kissing.
If I started something with him now, I’d be blushing too much going downstairs and face his mother...or Nathan.
After a long moment, I cleared my throat, backed away from him and collected the clothes that he’d put together for me and headed toward the bathroom. “Your mom won’t mind if we’re in pajamas?”
“Are you kidding?” he asked with a small smile as he headed toward the stairs. “She’s probably been in pajamas all day.”
♥♥♥
Erica was in her pajamas: a big bulky shirt and long red plaid flannel pants. She was downstairs in the dining room after I’d showered and dressed.
Erica took one look at me and nodded in approval of my clothes: a pair of my own pajama pants Kota had brought over, and one of his green T-shirts. I was rather shapeless for the moment, but it was comfortable.
“Looks like we’re all ready for a slumber party,” she said, putting a crock of gravy on the table. The entire table was made up with a small turkey, green beans, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, stuffing, buttered rolls and gravy.
Jessica sat at the table with her feet picked up off the floor and her knees close to her face. Her glasses reflected the light from the chandelier above the dining room table. She, too, was in pajamas, wrinkled, like she’d been in them all day, too. “I’m so hungry,” she said.
“Then we should eat,” Erica said, brushing her palm over her daughter’s head. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Just tired,” Jessica said.
“You’ve been laying around all day, watching TV,” Erica said.
“All the Christmas movies are starting,” Jessica said and put her feet on the floor. “Can we eat?”
Erica smiled at this, and then looked at me. “Are you having a nice Thanksgiving?” she asked.
I nodded. Erica stepped away from the table, and went back into the kitchen.
I couldn’t imagine a better Thanksgiving.