81: Disturbing News

Marie

     Today is Christmas, and I wake up to my cellphone ringing. Xavier!

      I say his name excitedly when I answer.

     "Uh, Happy Christmas," he says awkwardly, and I laugh and say it back before we switch to French.

     "Did you have a good Christmas?" I ask.

     "It was okay. I'm more happy that Ben had a good Christmas. He's felt ignored even if he won't say it," he answers, talking about our little brother.
     Greg, my dead ex-step-father that spoke to me in my dream, was Ben's father, and he looks just like him. This bothers Dad because Greg was his mortal enemy, but he tries not to take it out on Ben. It bothers Mom because he's a reminder of how she loved Greg. That Ben has started showing signs of having a personality similar to Greg's hasn't helped matters.

     "Tell me what happened," I request, knowing from X-man's tone that there's more he's not telling me.

     "Well, I sort of had all of the attention for a while from Mom and Dad."

     "Continue."

     He laughs nervously, and I get suspicious. "It's not a problem anymore, but… I got Lee pregnant." He says the last bit in a rush.

     "WHAT?!" I yell into my phone as I sit straight up in bed. "How can that not be a problem?!"

     "Because she lost it last night," he answers me quickly.

     I can't decide how I should feel about that. On one hand, I feel sad for Lee, his girlfriend, to lose a baby. On another, I'm furious that Xavier got her pregnant in the first place. They're sixteen! On yet another hand, I'm somewhat relieved that she lost it, and that makes me angry at myself. I'm also angry at myself because I can't help but selfishly think that my little brother lost his virginity probably before I did.

     "The doctors," he continues, "say it wasn't an actual baby, that it was some kind of mutation like a mole or something like that." He pauses, "She's living here now after that fiasco with her mother. That woman kept me from seeing her for weeks, but Lee came home from the hospital with me this morning. She's been crying all day."

     "She's living there now?" I ask in disbelief. What an awful Christmas for her.

     "Yes, I don't know for how long. She acts like she doesn't want to go back to her mom because her mother was going to send her to a boarding school and move away completely after the baby was born. I would have never let that happen, but even more surprising was how she stood up to her mother. I hope that woman realizes that if she wants to fix her relationship with her daughter, she has to give her some space."

     My head swims as the information pours out of my brother like he's been holding it all in from everyone else. That, and he sounds so grown up.

     He continues, "I didn't get to see her for weeks, and now, I don't know how to handle the constant crying!" His voice sounds desperate.

     "You can hold her while she cries. She needs to cry, Xavier," I gently recommend.

     "But, I hold her, and she keeps crying! So, it doesn't help," he tells me, defeated. "I don't know what to do, so I gave her your room, making sure it was spotless first."

     People call me a 'neat freak.' If they knew Xavier, they'd know I'm nothing, nothing compared to him. I wouldn't be surprised if he went over the same places three or four times in case the previous times didn't get it clean enough down to the microscopic level. I learned to be so neat so to not have him constantly bothered with things being the tiniest bit dirty. The only time he'd allow himself to be a mess was if he was so absorbed in painting that he didn't notice.

     "It is still so fresh in her mind. You have to let her cry," I repeat.

     "Okay," he sighs. "So," he asks, changing the subject, "how have you been? Have you started giving SimFu lessons yet?"

     "I… no," I answer simply, hesitant about telling him about Jesse and how I almost taught him. "People have asked, but I don't think I'd be a good teacher."

     "That's crazy! Of course you would be! You should do it."

     "I'll think about it," I answer noncommittally. My phone beeps. "Dad is calling too," I tell Xavier after I check. "Go comfort your girlfriend."

     "Okay, and you have a good Christmas."

     "Thank you; I'll try," I say, smiling, and I press the button to switch over to Dad.

     Hearing his deep voice over the phone gives me a pang of homesickness. We exchange pleasantries for a while. I ask him about Mom's pregnancy; he asks me about my job.

     "It closed?" he asks in surprise when I tell him about the bar.

     "To be rebuilt. Bryce is still paying me anyway. Oh! Speaking of that. There's a little house I can rent from a friend, and I wondered if that would be okay with you. It should be cheaper."

     "Is it in a safe location?" he asks in his 'dad' voice.

     "Yes, of course. I even know everyone that would live around me," I answer in a convincing tone. Dad has been helping me pay for my little apartment, so he has a say in whether or not I should move.

      He tells me he and Mom hope to visit in a few weeks before Mom gets too far along in her pregnancy. They want to see if I've settled in nicely. He says he'll take a look at the place then.

     "Oh! Great," I say, trying to sound thrilled when instead, I'm worried about Dad's reaction to Jesse.

     "And, Marie… there's something I need to tell you. At first, I thought that I shouldn't, but now I think maybe you should know."

     "What?"

     "Dawson and Cristina are engaged," he says guardedly.

     "Oh," I say with mixed emotion. Did Erin know and not tell me on purpose? Then, I think of Jesse and brighten. "That's fine, Dad. Honest. Besides, it doesn't matter to me anymore," I say happily.

     "Oh?"

     "Yes."

     "Why is that?" he asks innocently, but I know from experience what he's doing.

     What do I tell him?!

     "Be…cause I have a boyfriend," I say and try to sound happy and not nervous.

     "You do," he states in a questioning way.

     "Yes."

     "What's he like?" he asks.

     I tell him how Jesse manages a store and has a big group of friends. I don't tell him Erin is Cristina's cousin, however. He hears about how I've become best friends with one of them in an offhand way.

     "Manager… How old is he?" Dad questions.

     "Twenty-six," I answer slowly. I already know what he's thinking.

     "Really? Well, then, I'm even more wanting to come and visit. I'd like to meet him," Dad says, and I picture him with his more-sinister smile.

     He says he'll call back when he knows for sure when he can come. The only thing preventing them from travelling is that Ben, Xavier, and (I guess now she's part of it) Lee are in school.

     We hang up, and my face drops into my hands.

     My phone rings again. Jesse.

     "Hello, Jesse," I say, still having thoughts of him and Dad meeting.

     "Merry Christmas. What's that tone for?" he asks, concerned.

     "Tone?"

     "Yeah. You sound worried."

      He got that from "Hello, Jesse"?

     "I don't mean to sound worried," I say truthfully but not telling him everything.

     "Well, okay. Anyway, come over. I want you to open your presents," he says happily.

     "More than one?!" I ask in a panic.

     "Yep! And I'm not telling you what they are, so get your cute butt over here." I can picture him grinning.

     "Okay," I smile a small smile, deciding not to tell him about Dad today. It can wait. Instead, I go and get on my new, used scooter to drive over to his place.

     Once there, Jesse pulls me off my scooter, barely giving me enough time to park it, and hugs me tightly like he hasn't seen me in months.

     "Finally. Just the one I want to spend Christmas with," he says before lovingly kissing me.

     This makes me think of something, and when he pulls back, I ask, "What about your family?"

     His face clouds over. "Nope," he answers and acts like that's all the answer I'm going to get.

     I bite my lip to keep from asking him if he thinks they miss him, whoever they are. The look on his face tells me that they're probably still alive somewhere and he's angry with them. Every time I've tried to get him to talk about them, he cleverly changes the subject and distracts me.

     I take my turn changing the subject somewhat by saying, "And we have Pamela's this afternoon." My boss's sister. That'll be awkward at best, but Jesse's more than once mentioned how he considers them his family.

     His expression brightens, and he says, "Yep, but that's not 'til later." He pulls me towards his house, saying he wants me to open my presents. I'd already put his on his little table (he didn't want a tree), and I'm surprised that he's more excited about me opening my presents than wondering what his is. I got him a watch.

     When I walk inside, I see three presents on the dining room table.

     "Jesse…" Now, I feel bad. He got me more.

     "Don't worry about it. The biggest one was a last minute thing. Open that one first."

     The present sits in my lap as I sit in one of the chairs. In it, I find a couple of crop tops and short shorts. When I look up at him and see his grin, I can't help but laugh.

     He keeps grinning as he shrugs and says, "Yeah, well, I thought I'd add more of what I like to your wardrobe." Then he encourages me to open the next one.

     "Not until you open yours," I demand, and he does. It's a diver's watch that he'd once looked at in a catalogue and said it was the best.

     He smiles, but then he mildly chastises me as he says, "This costs way too much for what you make."

     I quickly turn my face to the side in a miffed way and stay quiet.

     "Thank you," he says in a deep voice, gently grasps my chin, and kisses me sweetly.

     My insides melt, and my hands reach up into his hair to hold him to me so he'll keep kissing me. To keep from hurting his neck, he gets down on his knees in front of me, and his hands hold my head in place.

     He groans and says, "Open the other two, Marie, before you make me change my plans."

     I smile and do, but it's a little more difficult because he doesn't move. His thumbs play with the insides of my thighs while I open the next present: lingerie. I blush and immediately put the lid back on the box to his chuckling.

     "Now the last one," he requests quietly, and I pick up the small, narrow box.

     He got me a diamond tennis bracelet.

     "You," I say breathlessly, "you said I spent too much, Jesse." I put the box back on the table and my face in my hands.

     "No, I didn't spend too much," I hear spoken softly from just behind my hands.

     I start shaking, and the reminder that Dawson is engaged runs unbidden through my thoughts.

     Jesse can't afford that! How does he even afford his house with his probable salary? If he had that saved, he shouldn't have spent it on me.

     "Do you not like it?" he asks, a little worried.

     "I don't need it. It's too much."

     He gets quiet, and when I pull my hands away, I notice they're moist. True to form, he reaches up and wipes my cheeks.

     "I don't know why I'm crying," I quickly say, my heart aching.

     "Because I pushed again. It's okay, Marie. We can put it aside for later if it's too much right now. I just wanted to get you something really nice."

     "No, no, it's fine. I like it. It's just…"

     I thought I was okay with this. I don't need to feel sad. I have Jesse. I love Jesse!

     "It's what?" he gently prods.

      No, I can't tell him this. He'll think that I'm upset the bracelet isn't an engagement ring. I don't need to be engaged to Jesse. I still don't know enough about him, his parents, for example.

     He's waiting for me to say something.

     I choose a lesser worry to mention. "You shouldn't have spent that much on me, someone you haven't known long."

     "I wanted to. I wanted… Well, I wanted… to do more," he says slowly and carefully, "but I didn't."

     Strangely, relief floods through me, and I bury my face into his shoulder and neck, finding comfort I need. After a moment, I finally say, "It's beautiful, Jesse. Thank you."

     "Well then, you're welcome, little lady," he says in an exaggerated, cowboy-type accent, making me smile even though he can't see. Then, his posture changes subtly before he turns his head and says into my ear, "And I'd like to see it on you… Just that and nothing else."

     My eyes widen, and I lift my head up to see his sultry expression before he kisses me. Without another word, he takes me upstairs, and we make love.

     And I don't care that Dawson's engaged.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just to answer the question about the hint to which I alluded earlier: Marie kept me from having her tell Jesse about her dad (and other family) visiting. That's the surprise I meant. *Candace Flynn-like giggle* That's a fun chapter I wrote ages ago. I originally planned on having her tell him in this chapter, but she artfully skipped around it. She surprised me by making her "not" hurt by Dawson getting engaged a bigger deal.

Also, I've released the poses for this chapter here.