Page 03
"Nope," Jamie uttered as he unlocked the door; he could have sworn he heard footsteps moving quickly away. "You know eavesdropping is wrong, right? Thought you should know about not doing that, Rhonda," he said, noting how his mother stopped in her tracks at being caught.
"I wasn't listening in, Jamie; I was just coming to get the two of you up is all so we can all have breakfast together," Rhonda said, keeping her back to her son, so he wouldn't see the grin on her lips at what she had heard. Not the blowjob part but the fact that Krissy was trying to talk him into staying for longer.
"Uh-huh," Jamie muttered, not believing a word before walking into the bathroom.
"Morning, Mom, Dad, pretty Suzie," Krissy said, walking into the dining room in her robe as Jamie brushed his teeth, seeing that loving smile of Suzie's as she beamed up at her, her little legs kicking as she did.
"Morning, sweetheart," David greeted as he lowered the morning paper he was reading.
"Did you have a good sleep?" Rhonda asked, not bringing up what she had just heard.
"Before Jamie gets out of the bathroom, I have something to ask you two. Would you mind if we stayed for another week and a half before we have to go back before school starts?"
"Of course, honey, you know you're more than welcome to stay; in fact, you can just move back in and leave Jamie down there... ow!" David hissed when Rhonda kicked him in the shin, who nodded to Krissy, who was wearing a displeased look on her face. "Sorry, Kris, I just think you can do better than Jamie."
"Odd coming from a man who couldn't keep it in his pants." Jamie's voice drifted down the hall as the hints of bacon called to him. "What would you know of whose better or not when you can't keep to your own vows, hmm? Morning Squirt," Jamie said, ruffling Suzie's hair, who puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"Jamie, please don't start. It's too early in the day," Krissy sighed.
"What? He's the one that started running his mouth off first; I'm only responding in kind," Jamie answered, pointing at David without looking at him while his eyes stayed on Krissy. "I've been rather pleasant to date; you have to agree to that, yes?"
"True," Krissy admitted. "Dad stop bad-mouthing my... man," she said, catching herself from saying husband, not missing Jamie's smirk at that. "Or you can forget about us staying here for the next week and a half," Krissy warned before heading off the rest room. Not seeing the angry glare, Rhonda was burning into David's body, who held his hands up in defeat.
"Jamie, what are you thinking of majoring in school?" Rhonda asked, watching her son shrug. "You have to have something in mind, don't you? I would have thought if you two plan on marrying, you would have thought about what would bring you the best pay to support your wife." The way Jamie glanced up as he cut up his pancake as the butter melted into the syrup that covered them gave her the idea he had one or already decided he was just keeping her in the dark. "Can I ask, how are you paying for it?"
"Dad." Was the only thing he said before taking a bite of his buttermilk pancakes. Noting how Suzie was looking at the plate of bacon like she wanted another piece, how her face lit up when he set it on her small plate. Tilting his head up when he felt a pair of lips on the top of his head, watching how her blue eyes shimmered as they stared at one another. Silently telling him that he did care about their sister if he could discern her desire from a glance.
"Krissy, you must know what Jamie will major in, right?" Rhonda asked, hoping her son wasn't wasting his future.
"Accounting," Krissy said truthfully as she lowered herself into the seat beside Jamie.
"Like your father?!" Rhonda stated, her eyes cutting into her son, whose face was like stone as he just stared at the wall in front of him as he chewed his bite.
"Yes, like my father," Jamie repeated in a cold tone. While it was true a terrorist killed his father, nonetheless, his father wouldn't have had to flee to England if it wasn't for the lies they had spread about him to the world where it was nigh impossible for his father to find work when he was let go from his job in New York. It didn't matter if his father was innocent; it didn't matter; his father never once laid a hand on him out of anger or some twisted perversion. No. They all took it as gospel, and he lost his father because they all believed the lies of his mother. When the truth came out, it was too late; their apologies meant shit to him; he had told them as such when they tried to appease their consciences.
"What about you, Krissy?" Rhonda inquired, unwilling to push Jamie when he was in that kind of mood. She didn't want to ruin their morning.
"Thinking about teaching," Krissy said honestly.
"Oh?! Do you know which grade you were thinking of teaching?" Rhonda asked, taking a vested interest in her stepdaughter's life. She noted David's interest as his eyes were on his daughter.
"Maybe seventh or eighth grade," Krissy said as she took a sip of her orange juice. Flashing Jamie a smile when he passed the plate of bacon to her. Reaching below the table, lightly rubbing his left thigh, silently telling him she was thankful that he was keeping his tongue in his mouth for her.
"Come on, Squirt, cartoons," Jamie said, unbuckling Suzie from her highchair, who hopped in it at the mention of cartoons. That was after he had cleaned her hands with a wet washcloth. Resting her left cheek on her brother's left shoulder, seeing her mouther smiling warmly at her as Suzie wore a smile as Jamie carried her into the living room.
As Saturday passed into the next, when Krissy's grandparents came over for lunch, Jamie just smirked cruelly at the short leash David's mother had Ken on when they walked up the driveway. Soon his own grandparents arrived, seeing their happy faces as they climbed out of their car. Suzie's voice filled the air as she ran around the front yard as Jamie played with her. Greeting his grandparents for the first time in years, seeing the spark in their eyes when he did, telling them his mother was in the kitchen if they wondered. That was before Suzie jumped in front of him with a huge smile and tagged him before giggling as her little legs carried her away. Jamie scooped her up in his arms when she got dangerously close to the road. Only to turn back towards the house, seeing his mother and David just watching him. It wasn't hard for him to note his mother's love-filled eyes nor David's approving look at the fact that he took Suzie's safety seriously.
"Come in, honey, lunch should be ready soon; why don't you take Suzie and wash up," Rhonda said, feeling David pressing her into his right side as his hand rubbed her right shoulder.
"I don't know; you ready to go in?" Jamie asked, looking down at Suzie, who had a thoughtful look on her face that only a three-year-old could achieve before nodding. Hearing Krissy talking with her grandparents and his own as he walked into the house. Helping Suzie wash her hands as she stood on the step stool his mother had placed in there for her, chatting away with Suzie as they made soap bubbles with her little hands. Her laughter was infectious as she stared up at her older brother.
"I love you," Suzie sighed as she hugged his legs, hoping he was going to stay forever and ever. Never leaving her all alone again.
"Love you too, Squirt," Jamie responded, rubbing her back before leaving the bathroom.
"Jamie, would you put Suzie in her high chair for me while we get the food to the table?" Rhonda asked, carrying the bowl of green beans to the table. "Thank you, honey," she said, flashing Jamie a smile as he picked Suzie up and offered no resistance when he placed her in her chair. Peering back at the two of them, a warmth seeped into her heart at the sight of the two of them as David's voice could be heard from their kitchen. While she might never have a close relationship with her eldest child, she was just glad that Suzie and Ben would have what she had carelessly harmed. Wrapping her arms around David's waist, pressing her right cheek against his back, who stopped craving up the roast she made as she held him.
"So, how are you doing, Jamie?" Reina, David's mother, asked as their Sunday lunch got underway.
"Fine, how's living with that?" Jamie replied, pointing at Ken, who glared at him when he smirked. "Has he stepped out again?"
"No, he has not; thank you for asking; he knows he will have nothing if he does," Reina said politely since they were at the dinner table. "He's chaffing being under my lash, but it's either that or he'll be poor until the day he dies," she stated, noting how her son wanted to say something yet was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.
"Good, seems fitting for a man who cheats," Jamie praised, noting his mother's and David's eyes on him.
"It does, so any thoughts on school?" Reina asked before taking a bite of her roast.
"Going to UNC Wilmington in the fall," Jamie supplied.
"Oh? I hope you excel in your studies, Krissy; any thoughts of where you might want to go?" Reina spoke, looking over at her granddaughter, not paying attention to Rhonda's parents when they had a knowing look at what that school meant. She didn't know why the name of that school would conjure that look, nor was she going to find out.
"Going to the same school as Jamie," Krissy said, placing her hand lightly on Jamie's forearm. "Got something to say, grandfather?" she asked, trying not to sneer at the man when Ken grumbled beneath his breath. "Thought so," Krissy stated when Ken remained silent, withering beneath her gaze. "I'm going to study to be a teacher," she spoke, returning her gaze back to her grandmother.
"That's a hard job to take on, Ellie here," resting his age-spotted hand over his wife's, "was a teacher until she retired," Xander, Rhonda's father, said, smiling at Krissy.
"If you need help dealing with the teacher's union, you just call me anytime," Ellie said, yet her eyes were on her grandson. It was good to see Jamie had let go of his attitude unless it was warranted.
Throughout the rest of the visit from the grandparents, Ken was rather subdued with two awfully painful elbows in his ribs from Krissy; Jamie kept his witty, sarcastic retorts to himself. Although he knew they were zingers, at least he thought they were, given how Ken's high and mighty attitude had all but vanished like a fart in the wind. That didn't stop Jamie from smiling cruelly at Ken with how Reina was treating the man in front of everyone like he had treated everyone before his cheating ways came to light. Jamie even walked his grandparents out to their car. While he wasn't ready to welcome them fully back into his confidence, given how they sided with his cheating mother, nonetheless, he could tell how happy they were at that small gesture; even his mother was ecstatic by it.
"Yeah, I might be a punk, but at least I'm not a cheating, lying, two-bit old douche," Jamie retorted when Ken called him a punk beneath his breath as he and Reina passed him as they walked to their own car. "At least I know how to keep my junk where it belongs; the same can't be said about you."
"Make sure you remember that young man," Reina said after having a hearty laugh at her husband's expense.
"Have you seen your granddaughter? She'll kill me," Jamie joked.
"You better believe it," Krissy said from the porch, crossing her arms below her breasts, smirking at Jamie when he turned to look at her.
The rest of the week was mostly uneventful for Jamie and Krissy, other than seeing Missy off with her mother's car packed full of her belongings, ready to depart for their trip out to California. Where Missy's mother would be staying once she had got their apartment packed up and shipped home with her brother's help. Missy's mother already had a job lined up for her; she just didn't want to be so far away from her daughter, so Missy would be staying in the apartment she had already rented so she wouldn't miss any of her college classes while her mother and uncle drove the U-Haul across the country. Missy and Krissy had spent a lot of time talking about her time with Steven; even after he had returned to Washington, he just wouldn't leave her mind. Missy had told Krissy she had given him her phone number and hoped he would call, which he had done several times since his return home.
Krissy could tell how much her being away from the man Missy cared more for the man than Missy was letting on or that she might not even realize at the moment. It was the same way she felt about Jamie whenever they were apart for more than a day. While Krissy could point it out to her friend, she knew Missy had to come to terms with it on her own. She couldn't see the fascination with a man twenty years older than her, but if it worked out for her friend, she would be happy for Missy. Then it was time for Dafne to leave for her own adventure into her adult life. It was a sad day for Krissy, with all her friends gone from the hometown they all grew up in. Everywhere she looked, her memories would flare of the places the four of them went, the laughs they shared, the conversations they had, falling into Jamie's arms when they were back home. How she loved how he held her as she moped at how life was changing everything they knew. She just hoped that throughout the years, she and her friends would still be friends and that the distance between them didn't make them drift apart.
With a very tearful goodbye on Rhonda's, Suzie's, and Krissy's part on the day, they had to leave to return to North Carolina so they, too, could get on with their own lives. Suzie just wouldn't let Jamie go as she smeared her snot and tears on his pants legs. Telling him not to go, not to leave her anymore, that she was going to be so sad being all alone. Asking him if he loved her and why he had to leave her.
"Suzie, remember what I told you when we left two months ago?" Jamie asked, feeling Krissy's light touch on his left shoulder as he knelt in front of her; as she shook her head that she didn't. "We have to go; our school is there, but that doesn't mean we won't be back to see you. We'll see you when Christmas break comes around. It's not that far away, just a few months."
"Y-you promise?!" Suzie muttered through her sobs.
"Promise."
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Suzie exclaimed, throwing herself into her brother's chest.
"I know, but you're going to have to be the big sister for Ben. Who knows who might try to take him," Jamie said, seeing Suzie's defiance showing as she placed her hands on her hips and huffed.
"I'll protect my brother like you've protected me," Suzie nodded firmly, looking up when she felt a hand on top of her head only to see her mother standing beside her.
"We all will, honey," Rhonda said lovingly, smiling down at her daughter. "Jamie?" Watching how he got to his feet, seeing so much of his father in him as he eased into his adulthood. "I know we have much to overcome; I know I've said sorry so many times about how David and I went about things between your father and me; I'm just hoping that while you're away that maybe you're anger with us will lessen some. I'm not saying we have to have the relationship I so wish for, but maybe we can at least speak to one another without me having to find out everything about your life from Krissy. I would really like to know about what you're doing and what's going on in your life from your own lips.
You don't have to answer now, just something to think about on your drive home." Without warning, she wrapped her son in a warm, tight embrace, knowing the months with him out of her life would be so hard on her. She knew it was going to be the same with Krissy for David. "I love you, Jamie; I know Darriel would be so proud of you right now if he was still alive, and I know he loved you with all his heart. I'm so sorry you couldn't see him as much as I know you wanted. I will always hate myself for that. Shh," she whispered when she felt his tears soaking into her shirt as the pain of his father's loss was still buried just beneath the surface. Stroking the back of her son's head as she held him just a little tighter, knowing this was the closest they'd been in many months.
"Jamie," holding out his hand to his stepson, "you keep Krissy safe for me, will ya? No, telling what kind of men are at that college, would hate to hear something happened to her," David said, speaking in an even tone as they looked each other in the eye. "And you were right those months ago; I wasn't sorry about what happened between me and your mother. I am sorry for what we did to your father and that he was taken from you. I know nothing I say will make you believe me, but I am. I never wanted anything to happen to the man, yet I can't help but think if we hadn't done what we did, your father would still be here to see you off and not standing in front of the man you hate."
"Interesting, you can be honest for once," Jamie said offhandedly before turning to look at Krissy. "You ready?"
"Mmmhmm," Krissy nodded, giving Jamie's arm a nudge and a nod to her father's outstretched hand, telling him to shake it. She could see the sigh in his eyes before he gave David's hand a firm, quick shake before turning around and heading to his car.
"Be safe, honey!" Rhonda called out to her son, who just gave her a wave over his shoulder, knowing that was a huge step compared to when he first had left home. The three of them waved as Jamie pulled away from the curb and started his long trek back down south.
Four years later...
"You want to what?!" Jamie, now twenty-two, said as they were alone in his grandparents' home after the celebration of their graduation ceremony. Rhonda and David, along with Krissy's relatives, were already in the air to their northern homes.
"You heard me," Krissy, now twenty-three, said smartly. "I want to move home. I'm so damn tired of lying to my family about us." Holding up a hand when Jamie began to speak. "I know I was the one that agreed to it because I got to be with you, and not a day goes by that I have regretted the choice to marry you out on that very beach," she spoke, pointing out the rear, glass sliding door. "Baby, I love you with all my heart, but I want to go home."
"Why? I thought you loved being here?"
"I do, I love your family, and they've been so kind to me and welcoming. But I can't stand being away from my dad anymore. I want to see Suzie grow up; I want to see Ben as he grows into a man, not some voices on the phone! Honey, I know how you would react when I thought about this four years ago; that was why I didn't bring it up then. But baby, you've softened a little bit since then. Are you saying you can't stand to live in the same city as them? I know you may never really grow close to them; I get that. But can't you see it in your heart to come with me?"
"So you're going to do it regardless if I go or not, huh?" Jamie spoke, his jaw clenched in annoyance.
"What?! No! Never!" Krissy said, shaking her head vehemently.
"Then what are you saying?"
"I want to start our family, but I want my family around when we do. I'm not saying your family wouldn't be there for us because they have been; we wouldn't still be together if it wasn't for them with what happened two years ago," Krissy said, referring to the two people a man from her class, and a woman Jamie knew around campus that were trying to drive a wedge between them because each had a thing for each other. They didn't know then that the two of them knew each other and were working together to break them up. Someone had thankfully informed them in time before the damage couldn't be repaired. Then they worked to bring down the two that were out to destroy them. Jamie had to be pulled off the man when he tired to have what wasn't his to take. Who was now serving five years for attempted Ra*e. Jamie had to hold her as she bucked and swung and kicked the air to get at the woman who was spreading around the rumor she had slept with Jamie when she knew that Jamie was out on the ocean with his uncle. After that, the rest of their college life was pretty dull. "But I want to do that where we have so many memories. I want to show our baby the place where I started to fall for you. Where we had our first kiss, our second, and so on."
"And how do you expect to find a job so late in..." Sighing loudly when Krissy looked away, "You already got one lined up, don't you?" Jamie asked, looking at her pointedly.
"Don't be mad, Jamie, but your grandmother Ellie helped me; she put in a good word for me with the school board there," Krissy said, a little ashamed that she had gone behind her husband's back like she had.
"Is that why you just had to go home a month ago?" Jamie asked, remembering how Krissy had come running into the house and hastily started to pack her bag. Watching how her cheeks were growing red, his back thumped hard against the back of the couch as he crossed his arms, not pleased that his wife couldn't or didn't tell him her plans. "So you just do a round about on me, leaving me out of a very important part of our lives, and you what, think I was going to be happy once this all came out? How would you feel if, say, I got a job offer all the way on the other side of the country, huh, and didn't tell you a damn thing just took off, where everyone knew what the hell was going on with me other than you," he said, trying not to raise his voice.
"I know, baby, I know; I'm sorry. You're right. I should have told you, but I wasn't thinking..."
"Obviously," Jamie grumbled.
"Please, honey, can you let me finish before you yell at me?" Krissy asked weakly, staring down at the tops of her feet.
"Fine, continue," Jamie said, waving his hand for her to continue.
"You're right; I would be just as pissed as you are now if it was me that you just ran roughshod on me like I did. I now you're going to be mad at me for a bit, I get that, and I deserve it. But you know I wasn't gone long, only a day, then I was on the road back to you," Krissy stated, knowing he was mad that she just took off in their car and left him stranded for two days until she returned. Noting how he still wasn't pleased by that, "Anyway, I met with the school board, showed them how well I had done in school up to that point, but we still had our final exams to go," seeing how his finger was tapping his left bicep as he waited for her to get to the point, "well, I thought the interview went well, and I came home..."
"So they knew about your plan, didn't they?" Jamie asked accusingly, referring to Rhonda and David.
"Yes," Krissy said weakly. "I had to have a place to get ready, and I didn't want to just rent a hotel room for a few hours." She knew he was not pleased with her as Jamie pinched his nose and sighed.
"So I assume you got the job; that is why you're telling me all this, isn't it?" Jamie inquired, staring hard at his wife.
"I did," Krissy admitted.
"Seems I have no choice in this since you decided that this is far more important for your own self than to inform me of this life-changing decision. Just know if there ever comes a time where I'm offered something so huge, you can be damn sure I'm not going to tell you until it's too damn late to object to it," Jamie said, getting up from his seat and walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Krissy asked worryingly.
"To get some fucking boxes since my wife didn't give me a choice in deciding where we're going to fucking live," Jamie hissed before slamming the door behind him, causing Krissy to jump in startlement.
Krissy sank down onto the couch, knowing this was not how she had hoped their conversation would have gone. Then again, it was sort of in line with how Jamie would have reacted to it. She just hoped she could make it up to him. She had no wish to have her husband at odds with her, and she wasn't about to lose him either. Not after everything they've been through. She would not lose her husband because she was too hasty in securing her livelihood. At that moment, she swore to herself that she would never once again allow her impatience to rule her mind and put a strain on her marriage.
"Hey, Dad," Krissy called her father's cell phone when she knew when they would be landing back in Torrington.
"From the tone of your voice, I take it Jamie was not happy?"
"No," Krissy answered sadly.
"I told you, honey, you should have told him before you raced up here."
"I know, but I was so eager to land that job that telling him didn't even register in my mind," Krissy said, her big toe nudging the throw rug that the coffee table sat on.
"I'm guessing you didn't tell him you'll be living here for a bit, right?"
"No." Her chin dropped to her chest at her father's disappointing sigh.
"Kris, I love you, but that's not something a person waiting to be a wife should do to their spouse. I know Jamie thinks the worst of me; I can't blame him, but I would hope Rhonda and I had set a better example for you than when your mother and I were married."
"But what can I do to make up for it?"
"I don't know, that's something you have to figure out on your own. You know Jamie better than I do. But it will take a bit for him to get over you just going over his head. He does know you got the job, right?"
"He does... now," Krissy admitted.
"Well, at least that's something," feeling her father's disappointment all over again when he released a long sigh, "listen Kris, you need to tell him everything before you even begin to hit the road. If you don't and just spring it on him in the car, you might not like the long ride."
"I will, I promise, when he gets back..." Turning her head when the front door opened, her heart sank when it wasn't Jamie but Hugo and Marla. "I have to go, Dad; I'll let you know what's going on; tell Suzie and Ben we'll see them soon."
"I will, love you, Kris."
"Love you too, Dad."
"What's wrong, Krissy?" Marla asked; over the years, she and Hugo got to know the woman that was sitting on her couch in melancholy, so she knew Krissy was on the verge of tears.
"I messed up, and Jamie is really upset with me," Krissy said, not seeing Marla patting Hugo's left arm, who nodded and headed off to their bedroom to give Krissy and Marla some privacy.
"Tell me what's going on with you two?" Marla asked in a caring tone. Pressing her lips together as Krissy recounted what she did, the conversation she had with Jamie, and how he just stormed out the door. "Krissy, you know what you did was very selfish, right?" To this, Krissy slowly nodded her head. "You know selfishness kills a marriage."
"I know, but I was just so excited to get a job in our hometown that I didn't think about the ramifications it would have on Jamie and us," Krissy uttered, smiling when Marla slipped her hand into her. She was really going to miss Jamie's grandparents, along with the rest of his family. Yet she knew she and Jamie had to branch out on their own and make it on their own as a married couple.
"You know, if you two start having kids, you can't just think about yourself anymore; your child or children has to come first."
"I know; I swear I'm not going to make this same mistake again, I swear!"
"Good." Krissy's head snapped around so fast that Jamie thought it was going to come flying off. The bundle of cardboard boxes fell from under his arm as Krissy threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck.
"Please, forgive me, Jamie; I didn't mean to make you upset. I didn't think this would make you at odds with me," Krissy said, trying not to tear up. Pressing her body into his when she felt his arms wrapping around her. Ever since they first got together, she's always felt so complete whenever she felt his arms around her. "I know I messed up with you and kept you from being a part of this; please don't give up on me."
"Honey, we've been together for nearly five years now, after what that douche tried to pull on you, and you eating it up," seeing the shame in his wife's eyes, "it's going to take a lot more than you taking a roundabout behind my back to do all this. Am I upset? Yes, no denying that you did overstep in our relationship. If you think I didn't know you were homesick, I would have to be blind not to notice," Jamie stated, seeing Krissy's cheeks heat in bashfulness. "Just don't do it again; you have stated we are a team, and what happens when one of the team does their own thing without telling the rest of the team?"
"The team fails," Krissy answered honestly. "I promise it won't happen again," she said in all seriousness. Not seeing how Marla was smiling at the two of them from her seat.
"I'll leave the two of you then, and Jamie, go easy on her; you're both young, bound to make mistakes, just don't dwell on those minor mistakes that it harms your relationship," Marla said in a grandmotherly voice before walking to her bedroom.
"Yes, Grandma," Jamie nodded, knowing it was his grandparent's wise council that helped them out in the early years of their marriage.
"You two don't stay up too late," Marla said as she entered her and Hugo's bedroom, hiding the sadness she felt that her grandson and granddaughter-in-law would be departing from their lives. Nevertheless, she knew this day would come when they would fly their nest just like Jamie's father had done to strike out on his own.
"Jamie..." Her breathing grew long, knowing she was going to have to tell him, "I want to tell you before we leave that when I was there, I talked to them, and they said it was fine for us to move in for a little bit until we can find our own place after our honeymoon."
"Yeah, kind of figured you did," Jamie stated, catching Krissy off guard.
"Will you be okay with that?"
"Can't say, but it's probably cheaper than staying in a motel for however long it will take to find a home for us," Jamie said with a shrug of his shoulders as he carried the boxes toward their room. While they might have acquired a few more things due to the years they've lived there, it wasn't that much that they had to rent a U-Haul; he was sure they could get it all in his SUV.
"Jamie, can I ask why did it take you so long to get a few boxes?" Krissy asked from behind him as she followed after him.
"Went to say goodbye to Uncle Sal, Aunt Sam, Martin, and the kids, but we can't leave for two days," Jamie said with a serious look.
"Why?"
"Sam wants to throw us a going away party unless you want to call her and tell her why you have to be up there so quickly," Jamie said, giving her a questioning look.
"Nope, two days is okay with me; Rhonda and Dad will be fine planning the wedding without us for a few more days," Krissy said, so very happy that Jamie was coming with her. It never sat right with her when they were apart from one another.
"So, when do you think we should tell them?" Jamie asked as he taped up the bottom of the box.
"Why wait? Let's do it when we arrive. All we're going to do is renew our vows and take that honeymoon you promised me," Krissy said, smirking coyly at Jamie as she helped to pack up their things.
As the day arrived for their departure, both Jamie and Krissy were wrapped in his family's warm embrace. Sal, having become a surrogate father for Jamie, gave him some very wise advice when he set out to start his own life. Sam just held Jamie like it would be the last time the two would see each other. It wasn't; however, that didn't stop her from thinking that. A little moisture gathered in his eyes at his grandparents' parting words, telling him he looked so much like his father when he was Jamie's age when he told them he was moving up north for the job he had landed when he got out of college. Promising to come back as often as they could before they climbed into their car and departed back to the northern climes where they were raised.
It was closing in on six pm that evening when Jamie pulled his SUV to a stop by the curb. They barely got out of the car before Suzie, now seven, came barreling out of the house, shrieking to the high heavens at the sight of her older siblings. Ben, now four, waddled out behind his sister, who had taken up to sticking by her side like glue. Who was quickly picked up by David so Ben didn't run into the street.
"My, Suzie, didn't know you've gotten so strong," Jamie said as his little sister squeezed the life out of him.
"You're staying for good, right?" Suzie asked, peering up at Jamie.
"For a while," Jamie admitted, seeing her sadness flooding her eyes. "But then we'll be living somewhere... ow!" Jamie hissed when Krissy slapped his left shoulder.
"Don't tease her; that's mean," Krissy stated, getting a 'Yea!' out of Suzie.
"You know that's spousal abuse, right?" Jamie retorted, grinning madly at Krissy when he noted how Rhonda and David stopped in their tracks and had rather unpleasant looks on their faces.
"You'll live," Krissy stated, smirking at her husband, getting her own hug from Suzie. Noting how Ben's hand latched onto Jamie's right leg, she noticed how Ben would orbit Jamie whenever they came back home to visit. At first, Jamie would brush Ben off when he was just a babe, given how Rhonda would try to get him to hold his brother. It was when she and Rhonda forced him to hold their half-brother, and soon Jamie was treating Ben just like he did with Suzie before they had left for Wilmington.
"I think you two need to come in and tell us what's going on, now," David barked with a displeased look on his face as his eyes couldn't look away from the gold ring on Jamie's ring finger. Something he knew was never there when they would visit during their school breaks.
"Yes, I thought we agreed you would wait, but let's speak of this inside and not out in the open," Rhonda said, incensed that her son had hoodwinked Krissy into something.
"Come," Suzie said, taking hold of her brother's hand, smiling up at him, knowing she had so much to tell Jamie about everything that's been happening with her. Looking back as Krissy held her hand out to Ben, who was happy to take it as they followed after David and Rhonda. She wasn't about to let go of Jamie's hand as she led them into the living room. Not now, not when she knew Jamie and Krissy wouldn't be leaving ever again. Before Krissy could lower herself down beside Jamie on the couch across from her parents, Suzie climbed onto it and snuggled up to her brother, who wore a huge smile as she peered up at him.
"You two want to explain?" David asked heatedly.
"About?" Jamie muttered, rolling his left hand.
"Don't you get smart young man; you know full well what he's asking?!" Rhonda intoned, glaring at her son. "What did you do to get Krissy to marry you?"
"Nothing," Jamie answered, wearing a coy smirk.
"I've had enough of your snarky attitude! I will get this marriage annulled!" David shouted, surging to his feet. A cold chill ran down his spine as his daughter's eyes flicked up at him while her leg lazily kicked as it rested over the other.
"You can't, if you try to take my husband away from me, you won't have a daughter any longer, am I clear, father?" Krissy spoke in a hard-edged tone. "Dad, Rhonda, we're sorry, but we've been married for four years now. I'm sorry we've kept it from you, but you two obviously don't understand how I felt about Jamie back then or how I still feel about him, so we hid it from you."
"You've what?!" Rhonda and David yelled in unison.
"We're married; surely you're hearing hasn't gone out yet, surely now," Jamie stated, poking fun at the two of them.
"I can't believe this! Krissy, tell me he didn't force you into this!" David said, pleading with his daughter to tell him that this was all a joke. That this was just one of Jamie's sick pranks, he would have done just to irk him and his mother.
"Do you think I'm so weak-minded that I'm so easily led into something?" Krissy asked testily. "I understand you're upset, Dad, but if you disrespect my husband again, you can forget about coming to our renewal," she threatened.
"Now, now, let's all just take a breath for a moment before we say anything we might regret," Rhonda said, trying to defuse the situation. However, the taunting grin on Jamie's face was not helping matters.
"You would really choose him over your own father?!" David asked, a little shocked that his daughter gave him that ultimatum.
"I'm not the one that will be doing the choosing, Dad. That would be you; whether you like what we've done isn't the point. We were both over eighteen, both legal adults that could do what we saw fit, and I saw fit to marry the man I love. Now that you know, I don't have to tiptoe around the fact that I had to hide our marriage from the family," Krissy responded, sighing in her mind that her father just couldn't accept the fact that she and Jamie would be together for all their lives if she had it her way. Her arm moved over Suzie's head and rested along Jamie's shoulders or as much as she could reach from her spot. "This is how it's going to be, Dad; either accept it and be happy for us or you can forget being a part of our lives. The same goes for you too, Rhonda," she said, her eyes flickered over to her stepmother.
"Now, wait just one minute!" David spoke, getting rather hot beneath the collar at his daughter's audacity to dictate how he was going to act in his own home. "I will not put up with this in my house!"
"Alright," Jamie said, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't really want to stay there if he could help it, and it seemed that David just gave him the out he wanted. "Remember you chose this," he stated, holding out his hand to Krissy.
"Jamie, David, let's just wait a moment," Rhonda uttered, getting between the two of them. "I think David's just letting his emotions get the better of him, isn't that right, dear?" she asked pointedly as she stared David down.
"No, I've put up with his shit for years now; I'm not going to do so any longer!" David snapped.
"You can't say I didn't try," Jamie said, peering over at Krissy, who wore a disappointed look on her face at her father's lack of respect.
"I know you did, just didn't think my father would be like this. Don't worry, Suzie, we'll come back and see you," Krissy said, bending down, hugging her little sister, and placing a kiss on Suzie's right cheek. Her back snapped up when the front door slammed shut, not realizing that Rhonda had rushed to it and forcibly closed it, keeping them from leaving.
"No! No one is leaving! David get over your shit," Rhonda snarled at her husband. She was not about to lose this chance to keep her son as close to her as he would allow. "I'm not allowing your attitude to estrange me from my son," she said, seeing a strange look in Jamie's eyes when she said that. "We're going to work this out; whether you dislike the fact they're married isn't going to change a thing. All you're going to do is keep her away from us," Rhonda stated, waving her hand at the two children she had with David. "Is that what you want? For your other children to never see their brother and sister again because you're having a hissy fit about what they legally did when they were out of this house? Who didn't need our permission to do a damn thing since they were well over the legal age? So when did this happen?" she asked, ignoring her husband's angry stare as she peered over at the two of them.
"A week after we arrived at Hugo's and Marla's place," Jamie answered truthfully, flashing Krissy a smile when his mother just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head.
"So then all that you told was just a lie?"
"Pretty much," Jamie replied.
"And why did you feel the need to lie to us?" Rhonda asked, looking between the two of them.
"Seriously?" Jamie spoke with an arched eyebrow. "Do I need to remind the two of you how the two of you were acting back then? Also, you two had to go and get that woman involved." Jamie wouldn't say Krissy's mother's name ever again, not after he learned it was her hand in what happened two years ago. He's never told Krissy about it and thought it better to keep it from her so she would at least have some form of a relationship with her. Although, if he thought back over the past two years, Krissy's calls or texts to her mother weren't all that numerous. Shaking the thought from his mind, whether or not Krissy knew of her mother's involvement in the event two years ago wasn't important at the moment. "If you think I'm just going to stand by and allow you or anyone to stand between me and my wife, you don't know me very well." It wasn't hard to note Krissy's bashful, loving look when he said that.
