Autumn Leaves
Chapter 9
"Hi, Mr. Robbie."
"Hi, Daddy!"
Dad just smiled at the two kids as he opened the front door to let us in. I really didn't feel like going in, but since we were dropping Vinny off too, Eli and I both felt it was a good idea to get him settled.
"Oh, the kids are- Eli, what happened to you?" Mom came out of the kitchen, frowning when she saw my boyfriend standing there on crutches.
"I got hurt at my competition."
He was pretty good at using crutches, but this wasn't shocking as he'd broken many bones in his life. Even in the years we'd been together, I'd put up with many calls from the ER, when he needed some cash for the visit and didn't want his parents to find out about it yet. I'm dating a twelve year old, I know.
"Eli broked his leg," Thisbe told my father who frowned.
"Broke, Thisbe," he corrected as she rushed to hug my mother.
"Hi, Ms. Vicky," she greeted, giggling slightly. "Look! Vinny came to spend the night too."
"I see," she said though her stare was now on me. "Why don't you go show him your room, huh? Put your stuff up, okay."
"Is Hollis here?"
"No, sweetie."
"Good," Vinny said, rushing up the stairs after her. "I get to be the man of the house then."
"Vinny," Thisbe complained as they climbed the stairs. "My daddy's here."
"I can take 'im."
"Oh."
"Uh, is there a bathroom downstairs?" Eli hopped further into the house, as awkward in the house as he usually was. "I don't think I can climb the stairs. I can, I mean. I do for my apartment. It's just a lot of-"
"Yes, there is." My mother pointed towards a hallway. "Down there."
Nodding at her and then smiling at me, he hobbled off to the bathroom. Mom watched him for a moment as Dad shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable.
"He's quite good with those, isn't he?" Mom looked to me finally. When I didn't say anything, she spoke again. "Auden, honestly, you-"
"Don't talk to me."
"Excuse me?"
I swallowed hard, not meeting her eyes as I stared at the ground. "You didn't even call me."
"You said-"
"On the anniversary of the day I lost my daughter, you didn't even call me."
"What would calling you have done, Auden?" she asked after a moment.
"I don't know." I met her eyes now, wanting to see her face as I hurt her. "Karen came back from her trip just to talk to me."
"I'm about tired of hearing about this woman, Auden."
"I don't care. She's there for me. Her and Heidi." I just kept talking for some reason, though I knew I was only hurting her feelings. "Wish I could say the same for you."
Mom's glare was a dark one. My father, sensing a conflict, patted me on the shoulder. I thought that he was going to leave, but he just stood next to me, staring at my mother.
"Victoria," he said slowly, watching her. "Auden has brought up some serious points."
"Serious, Robert? Honestly, you cannot-"
"This isn't me, Victoria. This is our daughter. When Hollis has a problem, you listen. Why won't you listen to Auden?"
"Not this again. We are not going to rehash this." Her glare was on him now. "I do not favor Hollis over Auden."
"You-"
"How are you going to claim that I am favoring one over the other when you do the same thing? Blatantly so at times."
"In what way do I-"
"Stop it." I shifted away from my father. "Stop fighting."
"Auden-"
"No. Honestly, knock it off." I frowned as I saw Eli coming back into the room. "This isn't even about Hollis anymore. This is about how neither of you thought to call me that day. How could you? I mean, honestly, people that I'm not even related to at all care more than the two of you. Does that not bother you? It should. It really should."
"Is everything okay?" Eli was leaning on his crutches, watching me, not even really noticing my parents. "Are you ready to go, Aud? 'cause we can. Right now."
"It's like you guys want me to just stay out of your lives," I told them finally, ignoring Eli. "I can just so you know. I'm thankful for you paying for my college, but I can drop right now and you guys can go on without me. Eli's family loves me. Heidi loves me. I have other people in my life that can be there for me."
"You know that we don't want that, Auden," Mom finally said, watching me. "I just wish you'd stop making everything so dram-"
"Victoria," Dad said, shaking his head. "If that's…how she feels then you have to accept that."
I could tell he was out of place, maybe even more so than Eli. He wasn't a very emotional person. By that I mean he's not into tapping into other people's emotions. He mostly focuses on his own. He's very self-centered. I was more in shock than anything else that he was in my corner for once. Finally. It had taken years, but now it was happening.
"Okay, we're ready to play."
We all glanced up as Thisbe and Vinny came running down the stairs.
"We wanna go play outside," Thisbe told my mother. "We're really good at tag."
She took a deep breath before asking, "With just the two of you?"
"Uh-huh. I tag him, then he tags me, then I tag him. Our games don't ever end."
We all just watched the two of them for a second. Then Vinny went over to Eli and tried to kick one of his crutches.
"Stop that."
"No. Fall down."
"Vinny, knock it off."
"Stop." Thisbe shoved her friend slightly. "Eli, we wanna go play now."
He glanced at me. "I'll take them out front, huh? When you're done in here, just come out there and we can leave."
"You mean, you ain't gonna spend the night?" Vinny asked as Eli took them outside, having to have Thisbe open the front door for him. "Eli?"
"No, Vinny."
"We're gonna be here all alone?"
"Auden's parents are here."
"But I'm still man of the house, huh?"
"Vinny."
After they were gone and it was just my parents and I again, Mom took in a long breath before closing the distance between us.
"Auden," she began slowly, watching my face. "Just tell me what it is that you want me to do so that we can move on. Please."
"There's not anything you can do," I told her after a moment.
My father had fallen silent once more, but I knew that he felt he'd already overexerted himself anyways. I mean, he usually wouldn't have anything to do with this kind of conversation. At least he was in my corner for once, even it was only just for the moment.
"Then what do you want, Auden?'
"I don't want anything, okay? It's not something that you can just fix by acting a certain way."
"Then why are we even talking about it? And what is it anyways?" She shook her head at me as if she was disappointed. And I'm sure she was. She didn't put much stock in emotion unless it was either her own or in fine literature. It must be hard for her, having to acknowledge the fact that I have feelings. Or more over that she actually is involved in them.
"Nothing, alright? Just never mind. If it's that unimportant to you, then never-"
"I'm sorry," she finally told me. It wasn't until she said it that I realized it was what I'd been waiting for. "Alright? I am, Auden. I'm sorry that things have gotten this bad between us. Honestly, I wasn't even aware they were for the longest time. But if you feel that something's broken and I'm the one who broke it, then I apologize. Sincerely."
I just stood there for a moment, watching her face. Sorry. My mother was sorry. Was she truly though? Just from looking at her, I was almost certain that she was, but I also knew that I would have to answer for this later. She just wanted to fix things now and get back to normal, but once things were settled down again, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be in trouble. She'd never mention it again, I know, but it would come out through her actions just like with everything else. I was weak for needing this apology which was bad enough. Here I was though, forcing her to hand down this apology. It had to be the worst thing for her, the weakest thing.
"I'm sorry too," I whispered though if you asked me what exactly it was I was having to apologize for, I'd have told you I had no idea. I didn't. What was I apologizing for? For getting along well with Heidi? Karen? For finding acceptance where it was given?
This seemed to heal whatever wound my mother had been harboring as she then moved to wrap her arms around me, giving me one of her signature bone-crushing hugs. Now that we had done this, I knew she'd consider whatever hatchet she thought we had buried and go back to life as usual.
"There," Dad said then, clapping me on the back as Mom let me go. "Was that so hard?"
I didn't know if he was asking me or her, but I knew either way that the answer was yes. It was hard. For both of us. What had we gone through all of that for anyways? Nothing would really change. On the surface, sure, but definitely not beneath. I'd gotten a few things off my chest, but at what cost?
"What's for dinner?"
"I thought that was dinner?"
"That was a post car ride snack, Auden."
I rolled my eyes as Eli laid down on the couch, leaning his crutches against one end. Closing the door behind me, I continued further into his apartment.
"Do you want to just do pizza?"
"No."
"Is there something in here for me to make?"
"For you to make?"
"That's what I said, Eli."
"There's hotdogs."
"No." I went over to the fridge and opened it, not shocked to find it mostly bare other than beer. "No hotdogs."
"We could go over to my parents," he suggested. "Eat with them."
"Eli," I complained as I went back into the living room to further discuss the topic. "The whole point of sending Vinny down with my sister was for your parents to be alone."
"They're not alone. They're just down one person. They still have Steven there."
"Steven works night shifts. They're as alone as they're going to get. You should let them enjoy it."
"Auden, even without Steven, they still have Jake."
"No they don't."
It was an understatement to say Jake scared me when he came out of the hallway, a towel around his waist and a beer in his hand. Understatement of the whole year. I swear.
"God, calm down. Everything's covered," he said, frowning as I jumped and gave a little scream.
Eli, who'd shifted to lay down before, pushed himself up on his elbows now, staring at his brother. "What are you doing here? Naked?"
"In a towel," Jake corrected, taking a swig of the beer. "Besides, I told you that Dad kicked me out. I'd been staying with Wallace, but since you guys took Vinny down to her parents, I thought I'd stay here. I figured you'd stay the night there. Sorry. God."
"Is that my beer?"
"Maybe."
"I think the more important issue, Eli, is that he's in the apartment," I said, frowning. "Go put on your clothes, Jake."
"Bah."
"Now."
"Your chick is too uptight," Jake grumbled to Eli who just laid back down. "I mean seriously."
"Were you drinking in my shower?" Eli asked, frowning.
"Maybe."
"Now, Jake," I repeated, pointing. "God. Where were you going to sleep? In our bed?"
"Eli's bed. Not yours. You don't live here."
"And neither do you."
"God, weren't you the one that wanted me to move in?"
"I didn't want you to, no," I said, shaking my head. "I told Eli he should let you. I never said anything about you lurking around here when we're not home."
'When he's not home. For the last time, Auden, this isn't your home."
"For the last time, Jake, go put on clothes. And it's more my home than it'll ever be yours."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes!" I could tell that he was only being this way because he was drunk. I was sure that there were many other beers that accompanied the one he was cradling at the moment before we showed up.
"Knock it off," Eli said. "Both of you. Jake, go get dressed. And if you can't behave afterwards, you can go sleep out on the streets for all I care. And Auden, just leave him alone. Come sit with me."
I glared at Jake who gave me a nasty look right back. He backed down though and headed back down the hallway. The second he was gone, I went to go sit on the couch with Eli, his head in my lap as he stretched out.
"You're right. He can't use that room."
"What I've been saying," Eli mumbled, closing his eyes. "Can you turn on the TV?"
I just nodded, moving to do so for him. "What do you wanna watch?"
"Don't matter. In probably an hour or so, I'll go get us something to eat."
"You mean I will."
"Yeah, yeah."
When Jake walked in a few minutes later, he was in a pair of jeans, but had left off the shirt. I didn't complain, as this was usually how he and Eli walked around the apartment. I had planned on ignoring him, but he spoke. It was to his older brother though.
"Eli?"
He grunted, mostly asleep by this point.
"Can I see you for a minute? In the kitchen?"
"Is it about beer?"
"No."
"Food?"
"No."
"Auden?"
"…Maybe."
"Screw off, Jake," he told him, not even opening his eyes. "Or better yet, bring me a beer and then screw off."
He went off into the kitchen and returned with a beer for his brother, though he didn't leave. Instead, he said, "I want to play videogames?"
Eli opened his eyes to glance up at me and gauge my reaction. When he got it, he shut his eyes again.
"Have at it."
Jake took the remote from me and set the television to the settings he needed before sitting down on the floor to play the PS2. If I'm dating a twelve year old, his brother is eight. I swear.
"Thanks so much for helping out, Auden."
"It's no problem," I assured Heidi as I took my place at the counter. "Really."
"I mean, I didn't even think about store hours when I set up my date, you know? I was just thinking about how Thisbe's gone is all."
"Uh-huh."
"I mean, yeah, I thought that it was weird, him wanting to go to breakfast, but I forgot that Cara had taken off and I was the only one working. It's so hard these days to keep my schedule straight, you know?"
"Uh-huh."
"I just like him so much. Heath. He's such a good guy. You met him once, I think. Remember? When we went to pick up Vinny from-"
"Yes," I told her. "I remember."
"Well, you know, I just haven't had much luck these days. Since Jack, I've just been dating such losers."
And Heath was a step up?
"Uh-huh."
"And I just-"
"Uh, Heidi, wasn't the point of me coming to watch the counter to give you time to get ready for your date? And then, you know, go on it?"
"Oh, I know. I was just-"
"You don't want to be late," I reminded, hoping to get her out of my hair. It was the next day and I had offered to watch the shop for Heidi for a few hours. Well, not so much I offered as she asked me and I agreed. Same difference though in Heidi's world, I'm sure.
"You're so right." She smiled at me one last time. "We're honestly never busy during winter, Auden. Rarely ever. So just hangout here, okay? And Eli can come help too, if he wants. I'm sure he does."
Considering Eli was at the moment passed out at his apartment with his brother after a night of videogames and binge drinking, I found that highly unlikely.
Once Heidi finally left, I found myself bored out of my mind. I would never admit it, but I'd grown to enjoy our talks. Kind of. Only when I had nothing else to do. Like now. I brought a book with me of course and I had my phone, but still. Working the counter at Clementine's is bad enough. Doing it while they're slow is torture. I swear.
I was completely alone for the first hour and only got two customers the second. They were locals and I'm sure I was supposed to know them as they knew my name and enough to ask me about Heidi and the Stocks, but I truly had no idea who they were, Still, I was polite enough that I'm sure they had no idea of this fact.
It wasn't until noon that I saw anyone else. And even then, it was just Eli and his brother. They were both clearly hungover and in horrible moods.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Since when is it so light in here?" Jake asked, moving to sit down on one of the stools next to me, not answering my question.
Eli didn't answer it either as he simply said the word up to his brother before taking the stool he'd previously occupied.
"That bad, huh?"
Eli just shook his head at me. "I think I'm sick."
"Oh grow up."
He sat his crutches to the side where they were quickly seized up by Jake who took to play with them. I thought about telling him how dumb that was and about how everyone says playing with crutches typically leads to you using them, but then I realized I really didn't care. Not in the slightest.
"How's work been?" Eli asked me after a moment or two.
"Boring," I said, watching his brother. "How's being hungover?"
"I'm not. I told you, I'm sick."
"I haven't been feeling well either, actually."
He nodded. "I know. I heard you this morning in the bathroom."
"Dookie?"
"Shut up, Jake," I said, frowning at him. "I just threw up. Nothing serious."
"I think we have stomach viruses or something," Eli said, holding his stomach.
"Or you're just a drunk and I just ate something bad."
"Babe, we ate Last Chance last night."
"I know. My burger probably wasn't cooked all the way."
"Bah! You sound like a tourist."
"What is up with the two of you and that noise? Bah. That's annoying."
"Bah," both brothers said at once. I just shook my head before laying it down on the counter.
"You still feeling sick, babe?"
"Not really. I have a headache is all. I think I just threw up whatever it was. You know, got it out of my system."
Eli stroked my hair gently, all of us falling silent for awhile. Then Jake had to go and fall.
"Ow."
"You knew better," I said simply as Eli kissed my head. "So shut up."
He stayed down there on the floor, Jake did. I thought about making him get up, but he just sprawled himself out, not speaking. I knew if a customer walked in, it'd look bad, but I thought the chances of that were slim.
"Okay, Heidi, I picked up Thisbe's Christmas present like you- Oh. Kids. You're here."
I frowned as Karen and Joseph came into the store. She had been the one talking though and kept right up as her husband went over to their youngest son and kicked his side gently.
"Heidi gave us the money to pick up Thisbe's gift," Karen went on as her husband kicked Jake again. The man just groaned, not speaking otherwise. "We had to get Vinny's anyways. And the other kids. Taylor and Jordan. And then Erica too. Not to mention-"
"Have you been drinking?" Joseph kicked his son again before looking at Eli and I. "The three of you?"
"Just the two of us, Dad," Eli said as I sat up fully, yawning slightly. "Jake was over when I got home last night and we just hung out or whatever."
"Hung out? Your brother looks sick."
"I'm sick," Eli told him. When his dad turned his stare back to him though, he shut up. "'least I feel that way or something."
"What's wrong with you then?" Joseph looked at me. "Huh?"
I don't know why I felt the need to answer him. He wasn't my father. Still, I did, not able to keep from stuttering for some reason.
"I-I'm just not feeling well today," I told him, looking at Karen. "You were talking about buying presents?"
"I just wanted Heidi to know. Where is she?"
"On a date."
Karen went over to her husband and took his arm, pulling him away from their son. She gave him a sharp look.
"What, Karen?"
"I told you to wait in the car anyways. Why don't you go do that now since you can't stop arguing with people?"
"Who have I argued with here?"
"What are we doing right now?"
He jerked out of her hold, frowning heavily at her. "I don't even know why I came with you, Karen. All you've done today is-"
"Do not yell at me, Joseph Stock," she said in a low tone, staring him in the eyes. "I mean it. I am your wife. You will not talk to me that way."
He swallowed visibly before looking off. When he looked back at his wife, he didn't have such an irritated look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Karen," he said, coughing slightly at the end. "I'll…I'll go wait in the car."
"Good. I'll be out in a minute."
After he was gone, Karen sighed before addressing me. Even though Eli was older than me and Jake, it was clear that she considered me more mature.
"Joey's been in a bad mood all morning," she explained. "Steven and he got into an argument over something."
"Oh."
She nodded before going over to her youngest. "Are you alright, Jake?"
"I wanna come back home. Can I come back home?"
"Of course, honey."
He sat up, smiling at her before looking at us. "Auden and Eli yelled at me yesterday."
"He was in our apartment when we were out," I said, frowning at him.
"It's Eli's apartment, Auden, Not yours."
"Shut up." Eli frowned at him. "It's hers too if I say it's hers. And I do say it's hers. So stay out of my apartment without our permission from now on. And stay out of my beer."
"You boys need to stop drinking together," Karen told the brothers as she helped her youngest to his feet. "I mean honestly. And what are your crutches doing all the way over here, Eli?"
"Jake was playing with them."
"Was not."
"Was too."
She just rolled her eyes, going to lean them against the counter so he could reach them if he needed to. "Well, come on, Jake. I'm sure your father's steaming in the car."
"He's mean," Jake mumbled, following along behind her.
"Tell Heidi to call me, Auden," Karen said over her shoulder. "I would have just called her, but she never answers. That's why I came here. Tell her to pick the presents up at my house. Okay?"
"Sure," I said, laying my head down once more.
"And if you need some medicine for whatever's wrong-"
"I'm just not feeling well. That's all."
"Alright. Goodbye. See you later, Eli."
After they were gone, I went back to resting and Eli went back to stroking my head.
"Your family grates on my sanity."
"Yeah," Eli sighed. "All the best ones do."
"I don't want you to go back home."
I smiled at Eli as he kissed me gently. "You could always come with me."
"I got work, baby."
"Me too."
He snorted, shaking his head before burying it in my neck. "I'm injured though."
"You have a broken leg. This isn't something new for you."
"Still. I want my baby here to take care of me."
I shifted on our bed, sighing slightly. "You'll be fine. I'm sure your mother'll be over here checking on you every day."
"Not every day."
"No, I'm pretty sure it'll be every day."
"Mmmm."
I stroked the back of his neck gently, sighing slightly. "Eli."
"Hmmm?"
"Has anyone called my parents? To see how Vinny's doing?"
"He calls before bed," Eli told me. "He told Mom and Dad that he was having fun. Mom talked to Robert too. He said that Vinny's been behaving."
"I doubt it."
"Yeah."
"Mom's probably just trying to make the best of it so she doesn't have to admit that Karen does a better job of taking care of children."
"Ouch. I thought you and your mother made up?"
"Mmmm."
"Well, it's fine with me if you guys didn't. I don't particularly like her either."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"When I was a kid, my favorite animal was a snake."
I blinked. "And?"
"You said you wanted me to tell you something you don't know."
"You're hilarious."
"Thank you."
We were lying in bed at this point after a long day of working at Clementine's. I was leaving in the morning, heading back to my apartment. I still had work after all. Just because I was out of school for break didn't mean that I could just waste all my time in Colby. That didn't stop Eli from thinking I should however.
"So what is your family doing for Christmas?"
Eli shrugged. "Probably just staying at home like usual. Vinny's gonna spend it with his mother though, I know that."
"Really?"
"Yeah, since Steven got Thanksgiving."
"So I guess that means Thisbe will be with Heidi and her boyfriend."
"Why does it mean that?"
"She won't want to be over at your parents house with no other kids there."
"Erica," he reminded.
"I think they're going to Kevin's family. Aren't they?"
"I don't know."
"That's just what I thought."
"Regardless, Heidi will probably want to come anyways. You know she likes coming to our family stuff."
Our family. I kissed his chest gently. "I love you."
"Ha. It's you that's saying it too much now."
"Oh, whatever."
"I love you so much, Auden." He stroked my head. "You know that?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Good." He kissed my forehead. "And I don't care what Jake says. This is your place too."
"It sure wasn't before, when we were disagreeing."
"We were arguing. You know that doesn't count." He smiled softly. "What's yours is mine and all that junk."
"We're not married."
"Not really, no."
"Eli-"
"Just be happy for a moment, huh? Just let me have this moment."
"What would our wedding be like anyways?"
"Why, Auden, you're sounding more and more like a girl every second."
"I just was thinking is all."
"It wouldn't be big," he told me. "Unless you want-"
"No. I don't know that many people anyways."
"Just our families."
"Maybe just yours. I don't think mine will like the wedding much."
"My family and Heidi and your sister. That work better?"
I giggled. "Yeah, it does."
"And Wallace."
"And Maggie."
"Adam, if I can get him to come down."
"Leah."
"Esther."
We both looked at each other as we said the same thing.
"No Jake."
That made us both laugh now as we cuddled against each other. I was very conscious of the fact Eli was injured as I moved against him.
"Heidi wants Thisbe to be the flower girl," I told him once we were all settled. "And Vinny to be the ring bearer."
"That'd be cute, sure, but what about Erica?"
I shrugged. "I was just telling you what Heidi said."
"They could both be it."
"Yeah, that'd go over well."
"It'd be what we have to do."
"What about Jordan then?"
"Jordan's too old for that kind of stuff."
"Yeah, until he sees his cousin and brother both get to be in the wedding."
"Mmmm… He's been taking piano lessons."
"And?"
"And I was thinking that he could, you know, learn how to play a real simple version of that bride song they play."
"Here Comes the Bride?"
"That's the one."
I gave him a little shove, smiling. "I guess that could work. My mom would hate it, think that I was ruining my wedding."
"He'd be real happy, us letting him be the pianist."
"Yeah."
"Then Taylor could be your Maid of Honor."
I blinked. "And you took it too far."
Kissing my head again, Eli said, "Maybe we should just elope."
"Yeah. That's what I was leaning towards too."
"…Like right now?"
"What?"
"'cause I just heard you say you wanna elope."
"No," said slowly, staring at him. "I said that if we were going to get married, we should elope."
"That might have been what you meant, but it was not what you said."
"Shut up."
"It wasn't."
"Well, it doesn't matter because we're not getting married right now."
"Yeah." Eli shut his eyes, sighing. "My mother would kill me, you know? If I eloped?"
"I thought your parents eloped, Eli?"
"They did."
"So why would they be mad at us?"
"I dunno. I just think she'd want to be involved or whatever."
"That'd really kill my mother, you know? Your mother helping me plan the wedding?"
"Dr. Victoria West gets jealous too easily." He kissed my nose this time. "So when will your parents get married again anyways?"
"I really don't think they plan on ever getting married. Not any time soon anyways. They're happy just how they are. Why mess with that?"
Eli shook his head. "It's still weird to me that they can hate each other so much yet still be together."
"They don't hate each other," I said, stressing the word hate. "They just get jealous of each other frequently."
"That's my exact point. I'd never get jealous of you."
"That's because we have vastly different goals."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So what are your goals, Auden?"
"To be successful."
"What are mine?"
"To get married to me and have a family."
"Oh? That's my goal?"
"That's your goal."
"You're very full of yourself, you know."
"Yeah," I sighed, leaning against him. "I know."
"Jake never bought me anything this nice."
"Shut up. It's just a couch."
"A comfortable couch." Maggie settled in on the cushions. "So anyways, tell me everything."
"About?"
"About Colby! And your parents. God, I haven't seen mine in ages."
"You're going down there for Christmas, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"My boyfriend-"
"Maggie, you haven't seen your mom and brother since the summer. You spent Thanksgiving with this guy."
"Yeah, I know."
"You have to at least see them," I said, going into the kitchen to get us some drinks. "Spend some time with them."
"Ryan's just so-"
"Amazing. I know. I get it."
"Oh, like I don't hear about Eli all the time."
"Because you ask."
"Well, Auden, you could try asking about Ryan from time to time."
I had just gotten home from Colby when Maggie called, wanting to come over to dish. Her words, not mine. So anyways, I let her, figuring I had nothing better to do until work. And besides, Maggie and I hadn't seen each other in weeks.
"So anyways," she said as I came back into the room with sodas and sat down next to her. "Tell me what you've been up to."
"Nothing, really. I mean, Karen and I made up over Thanksgiving, but I think you already knew that."
"I did. What else?"
"I saw my mom and dad."
"And? What happened?"
Sighing, I took a sip of my soda before speaking again. "Mom and I talked. Kind of."
"So? Is everything all patched up?"
"Not really. Sort of."
"What did you guys say?"
"Just that she's sorry for letting things get this bad between us and I said sorry, but I'm not really sure for what. And then Dad acted like he facilitated the whole thing. At least it's over though, I guess."
"What did Eli do?"
"He was outside with Vinny and Thisbe. They're staying with my parents for a few days."
"Mmmm."
"Oh, and Eli hurt himself at his last competition."
"What?"
"You didn't know?"
"Who would have told me, Auden?"
I gave her a look. "He just broke his leg. Nothing new."
"Did you sign his cast?"
"Maggie-"
"Did you?"
"We're not five year olds."
She giggled slightly. "Did you have to pay for his visit again?"
"Not this time. He was able to."
"He needs, like, heath insurance or something."
"He needs to stop getting hurt is what he needs. I can't afford to help him these days."
"Either that or one of you needs a real job."
"That's the plan," I told her.
"So what else did you do?"
"Nothing. God."
"Really? You did nothing the whole time?"
"Eli and Jake got drunk, Jake and I argued, Joseph was in a bad mood at one point, and Karen bought Thisbe's Christmas present or something. Nothing noteworthy."
She slumped back against the couch. "Well, that's disappointing."
"What did you do?"
"Really just spent all my time with Ryan."
"Of course."
"I don't know why you don't like him," she said, all huffy and stuff.
"I don't dislike him," I told her. "I just don't like how obsessed you are with him."
"Well excuse me for having a little fun now and again."
Maggie stayed over for awhile before leaving me so that I could get ready for work. We promised to talk again before Christmas, to go over plans if we were both going to be in Colby at the same time. I had my doubts though, as Maggie usually threw herself full on into a new boyfriend. She and Ryan had just gotten together in November. Everything was still fresh in their relationship.
I give it till New Years.
"How did it happen?"
"Joey was trying to get the decorations out of the attic on his own," Karen told me as I came into the house. "None of the boys would help him."
"Why not?"
"Eli has his broken leg, you know. And then Jake just didn't show up. And Steven went out with his friends. I told him that I really didn't need the box, but he insisted-"
"I just pulled something, Karen," Joseph called over from the couch. He moved to get up, but winced before laying back down. He had a heating pad under his back and was clearly trying to soothe himself. "It's not that big of a deal."
Eli came in behind me on his crutches, frowning. "Dad, I would have gotten up there and gotten the boxes if you needed someone to. You know that."
"You're hurt, son."
"And now so are you." Eli frowned, hobbling over to his father's side and staring down at him. "I'm going to kill Jake and Steven. Where are they anyways?"
"I don't know, Eli," Joseph sighed, closing his eyes. "What are you kids doing here anyways?"
"Mom called and asked us to come over," Eli said, still standing by his father's side. "Auden just got in town an hour ago. Mom said that you wouldn't go to the-"
"I am not going to the doctor. If that's what the two of you are here for-"
"The chiropractor. Something."
"I'm fine," he grumbled, shifting on the couch with another wince. "And I thought you were going to drive down and get the kids today?"
"Heidi went to get Thisbe and Vinny," I told him, glancing at Karen. "Do you still need stuff out of the attic? I can do it. It's not hat big of a deal."
"It's fine, honey. I told Joey that I didn't need him to-"
"Stop talking about it, Karen."
She rolled her eyes. "You've been in such a bad mood recently."
"I am in pain."
"Then let me take you to-"
"Enough, Karen."
I could tell she was holding back because he was hurt. She just sighed loudly before heading off into the kitchen, saying something about how she had to finish making dinner. I'll give it to Karen. I don't know if it's because she's retired or she's always done it, but dinner is always made in her house. It's very rare that they eat out.
"Did Mom give you a pain reliever or something?" Eli was still staring at his father. "Dad?"
"Yes." He sighed loudly. "You two don't need to be here. I'm fine."
"What makes you think we're here for you, huh? Maybe I'm here to help Mom with dinner."
Joseph opened his eyes at that, staring at his son.
"Maybe Auden's here to help Mom with dinner," Eli revised, nodding at me. "Auden."
I rolled my eyes at him, but did go ahead and head into the kitchen because I didn't feel like being around Joseph when he was in such a sore mood.
"You said Heidi was getting the children?" Karen asked as I came into the room.
I just nodded, going to take a seat at the kitchen table. She was just making spaghetti after all. Not much assistance needed there.
"Yeah. She wanted to talk to Dad about something. I'm not sure what. And plus I wasn't getting in until late anyways."
"Do you know what time she went? Or when she's getting in?"
"No. I could call her, but-"
"She never answers."
"Yeah."
When Karen finished what she was doing over at the stove, she came to sit down across from at the table. Sighing, she shook her head slightly at me.
"Joseph just had to bring the boxes down. I told him to wait. It wasn't something I needed right that instance or anything. I just wanted the Christmas plate box down and the box with the Christmas throws. It wasn't urgent."
"He just likes to please you," I told her.
"I know. And then he got upset with the boys for not showing up."
"I would have done it, if-"
"When the two sons that live with us rent-free are told to show up to help their father do something, I expect them to do it. There are a lot of boxes and things up in the attic. I don't like Joseph having to struggle through those. They're grown. They can help time to time."
I agreed with her of course. Joseph and Karen did a lot for their sons. I thought it reflected poorly on them for not showing up.
"How was work, Auden?" she asked, wanting off the previous topic apparently. "Good?"
"Slow."
"Mmmm."
"I didn't get a lot of tips," I told her, shrugging slightly. "Still, every little bit helps, I guess."
"Are you going to be in Colby for Christmas?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Will you spend it with us?"
"Yes."
"That's good," she said, smiling at me. "I figured that you would want to be with your parents."
"No, I don't think they're doing anything for that," I told her. "We usually don't."
"Well, I know you used to spend it with us, I just wanted to make sure is all."
That was the end of our conversation as it was then the doorbell rang. Standing, I went to go answer it, as both guys were incapacitated at the moment.
"Auden!" Thisbe threw her arms around me before moving to go by me and into the house. "Eli!"
Vinny was right behind her, quickly rushing to his grandfather's side. "I'm home, Grandpa!"
Joseph just groaned, peeking his eyes open. "You are, aren't you?"
"Hi, Mr. Joseph," my half-sister greeted after hugging Karen and Eli. "I'm here too."
"I see."
"What's wrong?" Heidi came into the house, shutting the door behind her. "Joseph?"
"I just hurt my back is all. No biggie."
"Are you hurt?" Thisbe rushed to his side to take her place next to Vinny.
"Grandpa?"
"I'm fine, kids."
"Did nobody get you a blankie?"
"Or a pillow?"
"Or a stuffed animal?"
The two little kids rushed to do these things all at once, both wanting to please the man. Thisbe and Vinny loved Joseph very much. He was very indulgent with their wants and needs as oppose to Karen who was typically very stringent.
"There you go," Thisbe said, getting a blanket from the corner of the room. She threw it over him the best she could as Vinny returned from the hall, where he'd gone off to get the pillow and stuffed animal.
"Here, Grandpa." He laid the pillow behind his grandfather's head and the stuffed tiger on his chest.
"Are you okay now?" Thisbe kissed his cheek. "Do you need juice?"
He just reached over, wincing slightly as he ruffled each child's hair. "I'm much better now kids. Thank you. I have water though, Thisbe."
She just nodded as she went back to stand with her mother, nuzzling her head against her. I'm sure she was tired and ready to go home. After a long few days away from Colby and then a long car ride back, I'm sure both kids were worn out.
"Do you guys want to stay for dinner?" Karen asked finally, looking to Heidi who had sat Vinny's duffel bag on the ground. "Or-"
"Oh, no," she said with a shake of her head. "It's probably best if we just get going. Thisbe's very tired."
"Of course. I'm sure Vinny is too."
"No," Vinny said, frowning at his grandmother. "I'm a big boy. A man."
"Even men take naps, boy."
"I'm not a boy, Grandpa!"
Sighing, I told Vinny that tired or not, Thisbe was going home and he had better say goodbye to her. That effectively ended the argument as he went to hug my sister.
"Why did you hug me?" Thisbe asked, stiff in his hug.
"'cause that's what men do when their girls are leavin'"
She shoved him before giving him a hit to the shoulder. "I'm not your girl."
He just rubbed where she hit before walking off over to Karen. "Grandma, I'm hungry. Can we eat now?"
Heidi told Thisbe not to hit her friend anymore before calling out goodbye to all of us. Thisbe went to go tell Joseph, Eli, and Karen goodbye one more time before leaving. Did I care that I was left out? Slightly, yes.
"Come on, Auden," Vinny said, letting his grandmother go. "You can come get me juice."
"Oh, can I do that?"
"Uh-huh."
Smiling, I walked into the kitchen with him, Karen following.
"Vinny, you can eat your dinner in the living room with Grandpa and Uncle Eli only if you promise not to make a mess," Karen told him as she went to go fill two bowls full of spaghetti. "Alright?"
He nodded, taking his cup of juice and bowl before going into the living room. Karen took the other bowl and I got the last one, both headed into the living room as well.
"Sit up, Joey. Can you?" His wife handed him the bowl. "Or are you even hungry?"
"I am," he assured her, trying to sit up the best he could. Vinny, who was on the ground in front of the couch, looked up at his grandfather, frowning.
"How'd you get hurt, Grandpa?"
"Just trying to do too many things at once, boy."
"Man."
Joey shook his head. "Man."
"Here, Eli," I said, handing him the bowl I had. He wagged his eyebrows at me.
"This gonna become a normal thing? You bringing me my meals?"
"I only did it because you're hurt and I didn't want you having to walk into the kitchen."
"Yeah right. Sure." He leaned back in his father's chair, smiling. "Bring me a beer while you're at it, huh?"
I wanted to snap back at him, but I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't offend Karen and Joseph.
"I'm just playing," Eli told me when I took to just glaring at him. "Seriously."
"I know." I headed of into the kitchen then, going to get my own food. Karen was soon behind me. Since the boys had taken up all the space in the living room, we went ahead and sat at the kitchen table.
"I think I'm going to have to end up taking him to the doctor," Karen told me, glancing behind her into the living room. "I'll give him till the morning. He'll get muscle relaxers and pain pills. That's what he needs. Joey just hates the doctor is all. He hates medication."
"I could go out and buy him some Icy Hot or something."
"That's alright," Karen said. "He wouldn't use it anyways. It took me an hour to get him to use the heating pad."
"Maybe he'll feel better in the morning."
"I hope so."
After dinner, I stayed to help Karen clean up before leaving with Eli. Before heading home though, we both made Vinny promise to be good for his grandparents and told him if he wasn't, he'd be in trouble when we got back.
"I think I'm going straight to bed," Eli told him once we made it into the apartment. "I have work early in the morning."
"Oh."
"Did you wanna do something tonight?"
"No," I told him, going to sit on the couch. "I'm just not going to bed yet is all. I'll be out here."
"Come lay in bed with me," Eli said, frowning. "Come on, Aud."
"I'm not tired, Eli."
"And? Come lay down with me. Get on the laptop. Something."
"I want to watch TV."
"There is nothing on TV that you can't find illegally posted online these days. Now come on."
Sighing, I got up to follow Eli into the bedroom. He immediately crashed on the bed, not even worrying about stripping down for the night. I changed into some nightclothes before laying down with him, sighing.
"Thought you wanted to play on the computer, baby?"
"I never said that."
"Get it, will ya? We'll watch a movie or something."
Sighing, I got up to get it for him before getting back in bed. "What do you wanna watch?"
"Horror movie."
"Eli."
"I do. What? You scared?"
"Horror movies are dumb."
"You think all movies are dumb."
"Not all. Just most."
"Don't worry, baby. If you just admit that you're scared, I'll hold you," Eli told him. "Or don't admit it. Whatever. I've got you anyways. My baby."
"Do you though? Got me?"
"Always," Eli said as he logged into his laptop.
"Always," I repeated back as I settled into his chest. Always.
