Chapter 29 – Revealing

Adventures of the Melee

Nolan 17, Lissa 17, Ryder 13, Olivia 10

Annabelle 5, Victoria 5, Lucas 3½

April 30

Before Nolan drove through the gate, he stopped at the mailbox. College admissions letters had been trickling in slowly and he was eager to see if more had arrived. So far, he had been accepted to Suffolk and Stanford.

"Hop out and grab the mail, Ry," Nolan directed.

Ryder rolled his eyes and disputed, "Why me?"

"Because I'm taller and stronger," Nolan teased. "Push him out the door, Liss."

"This is between the two of you," Lissa quipped as she held her hands up in front of her chest. "Besides, he's taller and stronger than me."

As he stepped out of the truck, Ryder threatened, "Just wait, Nolan. Someday, I'll be bigger than you and, oh…you will have hell to pay."

"Whatever…give me the mail," Nolan, holding out his hand, instructed his brother. Lissa leaned onto Nolan's arm and peeked at the return addresses as Nolan sorted through bills, ads, and magazines. At the bottom of the pile, he discovered letters from University of Washington, Boston College and USC. "Should I open USC first or last?" he asked Lissa.

"First!" she eagerly encouraged. As Nolan ripped open the envelope, Lissa wiggled in her seat and squealed, "What's it say? What's it say?"

Letting out an audible sigh, Nolan looked up at Lissa with a frown. As her shoulders sagged, Lissa was ready to cry. Nolan slowly turned his frown into a wide grin as he hugged his girlfriend and announced, "I'm going to USC, baby!" Lissa let out a piercing scream of joy as Ryder covered his ears. The letters from Washington and Boston fell to the floor ignored. The young couple, completely forgetting about Ryder's presence, began celebrating by making out.

"Aaahhemm," Ryder offered as he cleared his throat. "Helllllooooo? Could we drive up to the house now, lovebirds?"

With his lips still attached to Lissa's, Nolan opened just his left eye. He gave his little brother a dirty look and began to pull away from his girlfriend slowly. Without a word, Nolan drove up to the driveway and stopped, announcing that he and Lissa were going to go celebrate and would be back for dinner.

"Is your homework done?" Ryder grilled with sass.

Nolan leaned over Lissa, handed Ry a water bottle, and taunted, "Do you have to leave so soon, Ryder? I was just about to poison this for you."

"Ok, ok, I'm going, ass*# ," Ryder grumbled as he hopped out of the car. With a high-pitched and silly voice, he added, "Bye, Larissa." She shook her head and smiled as she waved.

With enthusiasm, Lissa asked, "Where are we going?"

"I have no f^#$* clue," Nolan laughed as he backed up. "I just want to be alone with you." With the truck still running, Nolan leaned over and kissed Lissa again.

"You're pretty ecstatic, huh, college man?" Lissa giggled.

Sliding flat onto the bench seat, Nolan began unbuttoning the sweater and shirt of Lissa's school uniform. Lissa did likewise with Nolan's dress shirt after loosening his tie. Losing track of time and their location, the two were completely focused on one another until a firm rap fell on the window. Tilting the back of her head toward her shoulders, Lissa mumbled, "Oh crap. What's he doing home?" Nolan, continuing to lie on top of Lissa, glanced up and discovered Owen looking down his nose at the couple. A smug grin and raised eyebrows communicated his exasperation.

Nolan grinned with charm and sat up to roll down the window. Lissa remained lying down with her hands over her face.

"Hey, guys," Owen grinned sarcastically. "What's up?"

Lissa, in her nervousness and discomfort, found Owen's choice of words hilarious. While her mouth didn't sound with laughter, her stomach's quick up and down motion spoke on her behalf. Nolan nudged her leg with his foot trying to get her to stop.

Running his hand through his hair, Nolan attempted to be nonchalant, "Not much, really. Well…except there were some acceptance letters in the mail today."

"Yeah? I'm home for a couple hours between surgeries. Why don't you come inside and show me?" Owen suggested with folded arms. He knew he couldn't stop Nolan and Lissa from having a physical relationship, but that didn't mean he had to make it easy or comfortable for them. Before walking away, Owen shrugged and added, "Oh, Larissa, you might want to button up your blouse."

Lissa cringed and tightened her body into itself. "Oh my God…I can't believe that just happened." She hurriedly buttoned up her shirt and the lower buttons of her sweater.

Huffing out a breath of air, Nolan rounded his eyebrows and shook his head as he threw off his tie and buttoned his shirt, "He's messing with us. Just ignore him." Pecking Lissa on the cheek before hopping out of the truck, Nolan pointed out, "At least I wasn't up your skirt." Lissa's mouth fell open imagining the scene and her hands once again covered her face. Given the choice, she would have remained in the truck for days to avoid facing Owen.

When Lissa slunk inside, Owen and Nolan were sitting at the Dining Room table. Lissa attempted to slide upstairs unnoticed, but soon heard Lucas behind her. He ran up and wrapped his arms around her legs, "Wissa!" Amelia, Olivia, and the twins trailed in behind him.

"Nole received some big mail today, Mia," Owen shared. "Lissa, c'mon over and join us," he added as he patted the chair next to him. Bending down to pick up Lucas so her legs were free to walk, Lissa focused on the little redhead in her arms to avoid making eye contact with Owen.

As she arrived at the table and sat next to Amelia, Lucas poked his index finger on the upper buttons of Lissa's shirt and loudly wondered, "Why is yo buttons messed up?"

Turning eight shades of red, Lissa shrugged as she realigned the buttons she'd hurriedly mismatched, "Hmm…how about that."

"Yeah, Larissa, why were your buttons mismatched?" Owen inquired as he leaned back in his chair, tilted his head, and folded his arms.

Amelia surveyed the scene as she observed Nolan and Lissa avoiding eye contact with Owen and squirming in their seats. "Lukie, go hang your backpack up," Amelia urged. As soon as Lucas jumped down from Lissa's lap, Amelia questioned, "What's going on?"

Grinning knowingly, Owen explained, "Nothing. The kids were just… umm… celebrating Nolan's big news."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, Amelia raised one side of her lips in a sly smile. "I'm not following…"

Under her breath, Lissa swallowed hard and mumbled, "I'm going to be sick." She wrapped her arms tightly around her body wishing she had the super power of invisibility.

"Nolan?" Amelia questioned after hearing Lissa.

"USC accepted me!" Nolan celebrated.

Her whole face lighting up, Amelia jumped up and hugged her eldest, "That's fantastic! Nolan, I'm so happy for you." Looking back at Owen, Amelia asked curiously, "What were you saying about celebrating?"

Taking in a big breath, Nolan confessed, "Liss and I were… well… kissing and stuff when Dad drove up."

"And stuff?" Amelia nodded with a motherly grimace.

"Whatever, Mom," Nolan huffed. Turning to face Owen, Nolan added, "It's not like we were testing the suspension, Dad. Lighten up."

Horrified, Lissa stood up and ran to the bathroom to throw up. Her nerves had won the battle.

"Oh, Nolan! Did you really need to spell it out like that? Not an image I need in my mind," Owen groaned.

Still attempting to fully put her finger on the pulse, Amelia folded her arms and wondered, "Owen… are the kids in trouble or are you just making this situation painfully uncomfortable for them?"

Shrugging, Owen countered, "It's not like their every move can be controlled, Mia. I just wish their foreplay didn't take place in my truck or in the driveway."

"I'd be much more comfortable in my room. We can avoid the truck and driveway," Nolan offered sarcastically with a petulant grin.

Owen lowered his chin and bored his eyes into Nolan, "Don't. Push. It. Son." In response, Nolan smiled precociously.

Lowering her voice, Amelia leaned toward Nolan and asked her periodic question, "Are you two…"

"No, Mom. We're not boinking. And if we were, we'd use protection, ok?" Nolan grumbled as he stood up and took a slow step away from the table.

Letting out a large sigh, Amelia surmised, "Well, then… how about we all take a minute to recalibrate? Let's meet back here in 10-15 minutes to celebrate the USC news." Nolan hopped up the stairs two at a time to check on Lissa while Owen and Amelia remained in the Dining Room.

Glancing at Amelia through the upper corner of his eyes, Owen grinned mischievously. Smiling in response, Amelia glanced at the ceiling and quietly offered, "You are a snot, Owen Hunt."

Looking stunned and dropping his chin toward the floor, Owen gasped, "Me?"

Amelia slipped between his chest and the table, kissing Owen's hand, then arm, neck, and cheek. Stopping by his ear, she whispered, "You just wanted them to squirm, didn't you?"

Letting out a puff of air, Owen confirmed quietly, "Damn straight. If they're going to be opening shirts and running their hands on each other's naked skin while parked in our driveway, I'm not going to ignore it. If they want privacy, they can go find their own on call room."

"I want to find an on call room. Should we see what's available?" Amelia teased as she nibbled Owen's ear.

"Ha!" Owen burst out. Continuing to chuckle, he blushed and glued his hand onto Amelia's rear. "Maybe after my surgery, hmm? Are you coming back to the hospital today?"

Raising one shoulder to her cheek, Amelia glanced to her side and playfully stated, "I wasn't planning on it, but… give me an astrocytoma or a glioma and you just might convince me."

"I love it when you talk dirty," Owen chuckled with a sultry tone as he wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her.

~~~~~~~~~``'

The big college news was a welcome way to end the month. The last few weeks had been a time of positive but exhausting forward motion. During April, Nolan and Owen had met with an attorney so Nolan would have an overview of the fund and how it would cover his education costs. Previously, all Nolan knew about his trust fund was that it helped with customary expenses throughout his childhood and covered his private school tuition.

Set up to intentionally grant Nolan growing responsibility, the attorney shared a rough timeline with them. At 18 or upon acceptance to an educational institution beyond high school, whichever came first, the manager of the fund would be able to distribute a lump sum up to $100,000. The money, or a portion of the money, would be given to Nolan only after consultation and joint agreement between Nolan, the attorney, and Owen, the manager of the fund. Blake and Kayla's intentions were to ensure that none of their children went wild with a huge sum of unmanaged money. Just the same, they had wanted to provide for a car, day-to-day living costs, and other typical expenditures. In addition to the initial payout, the trust would also cover costs associated with tuition and related higher education expenses for both Nolan and, if married, his spouse.

Upon graduation from college or other higher education or upon marriage, whichever came first, another large portion of the fund would become available through a monthly allowance. At age 25, Nolan would manage 1/3 of the remaining balance of his trust. At age 30, he would manage an additional 1/3 as long as certain criteria were met regarding Nolan's management of the initial 1/3. At age 35, he would manage the entire trust fund unless active addiction, mental illness, or other life realities necessitated management by someone else. In the case of Ryder and Olivia, Nolan was named as the backup manager. In Nolan's case, Ryder would serve in that role if the need arose.

The complexity of the trust and the various spreadsheets left Nolan's head spinning after each session. At the end of the last session, Nolan asked point blank, "What is the total value of the trust right now?"

"Each trust – yours, Ryder's, and Olivia's – is a separate entity. Each one is worth just over five million dollars," the attorney stated as if he were placing a coffee order. "Of course, that total could increase or decrease depending upon the trust's investments."

Nolan nearly fell off the conference room chair when he heard the amount. A part of his heart raced as he imagined all that the fund could provide. Another part felt terror as he anticipated managing the fund in the future. More than anything, Nolan was simply stunned.

After the last meeting with the attorney, Owen let Nolan know that he and the attorney had agreed that a portion of the $100,000 disbursement from the trust could pay for a car up to $35,000. Using Owen's broker, Nolan chose a black Jeep Wrangler. Without knowing a specific date, Nolan knew the rig was scheduled to arrive in late April or early May.

College acceptance letters, high school graduation, a new car, and a continuing and deepening love life filled Nolan's reality. Only one question stirred in his mind: how soon after their upcoming birthdays would he ask Larissa to marry him? Eighteen was so young, but he already felt as if he'd waited a lifetime. Internally, he could hear the voices of Kayla, Blake, Amelia, and Owen all advising him to wait at least until his 20s. His hormone-ridden heart fought with reason once he knew he could easily provide for a family through his trust fund. Yet, the one time he really needed to discuss something, he didn't have the courage to verbalize his thoughts to anyone else.