The bed was shaking and so was Eddward.
"Daddy, pleeeeasse."
He hated to beg, but for his daddy, he'd do anything.
A growl resounded in his ear as strong hands gripped his hips and rotated them forward and then back again. He could only wrap his arms around the redhead's shoulders and hold on tight. The ecstasy building within him had him on the edge and he was about to go over. He just needed one more touch...one more kiss...one more roll of his hips...
*BOOM*
Eddward shot up and Marie jumped into his arms. Their bed was shaking as was everything else in the room.
"Shit!," May screamed from her room.
"Grab your hardhats, girls!," Eddward yelled as he picked up a still shaking Marie with one arm and did his best to find his footing as he scrambled out of the bed.
He snatched their hard hats off the dresser and went to the door. When he opened it, he peeked out and saw May sitting on the floor in the doorway of her room, hard hat on her head, pillow to her chest, shaking like a leaf in March.
"Jesus fucking Christ, I hate this state," Marie said with a shudder as she crawled into Eddward's lap.
Eddward put their hardhats on and held her close as they rode the early morning earthquake out.
Fifteen minutes later, everything was still. But they had a mess to clean up. Half the books were off the bookshelf in the living room and Eddward didn't want to think about the mess in the kitchen.
"I give that one a 3.14," Marie sighed as she stood and held her hand out to Eddward.
"Pie?," he asked incredulously as he grabbed her hand and she tugged him up.
"Why I do believe I will," she grinned as she stepped gingerly into the kitchen.
"How bad is it?," he asked as he came to stand behind her.
All three young people stood in the doorway to the kitchen and sighed. Eddward had suggested that they just get nice plastic ware because it would hold up better in an earthquake and the the entire state of California was prone to them. But that meant their tableware had a lighter weight to it than glass, ceramic, and China and when earthquakes hit, everything would fall out of the cabinets.
Over time, a few pieces would chip and even crack from not only hitting the tiled kitchen floor during earthquakes but general use, so all dishware was examined for defects, then put in the sink and dishwasher for washing as they had been on the floor so they had to be re-cleaned before being put away.
Working as a team, they managed to salvage everything, then Eddward loaded up the dishwasher and started on the dishes placed in the sink while the girls cleaned up the living room. After everything was made right again, Eddward checked the clock and saw that they had two hours before they had to be up to go get their mother's from the airport. So collapsing back into bed was the next item on the agenda.
Just as he was about to doze off again, Marie asked him if he was alright.
"I'm fine, why?," he asked, somewhat irritated because sleep.
"I just wondered because you were moaning and and shaking before we felt the earthquake hit," she said quietly.
Shit.
"I guess I've got a sixth sense about them or something," he whispered as he pulled her closer. "Sorry if I worried you. I'm fine. Really."
"Okay," she grinned as she nuzzled her face into his neck.
The light scent of her favorite peach scented shampoo wafted under his nose as she got comfortable and he missed him even more. Since they were kids, Kevin made sure that his mom's car had a peach scented air freshener in it. So many afternoons and nights were spent hiding who they were to everyone but each other in the backseat of that car.
Eddward would never smell peaches the same way again because of it.
"So you're bringing him home to meet the 'rents, huh?," Kevin grinned.
"Yeah," Nazz said shyly. "I meet his peeps at Thanksgiving so we're coming home for Christmas, then headed to Hawaii for New Years."
"Noice!," Kevin said impressed with his best friends holiday plans.
"I know right? The Hawaii thing is an early birthday present, though. He figured I'd only really enjoy it when I could actually relax on it, you know?"
"Yeah," Kevin nodded.
With Nazz's birthday in mid February, it was hard for the girl to get away to do anything fun because school would never be out long enough for her to enjoy anything longer than the President's Day break. Snow days and the occasional ice storm meant holing up until a thaw came, and by then it was back to school til spring break.
"So we'll be home as soon as school lets out tomorrow, but we need to have the party next weekend, though."
"Why?," Kevin asked in shock.
He was so used to her Christmas party being on Christmas Eve that moving it was tantamount to trying to move Everest. You just didn't do it!
"Because my parents want us to come to the family thing that they go to that night. It's grown ups only and apparently, I'm a grown up now."
"HA! They just want Chris to meet everybody," Kevin laughed.
"I know," Nazz whined. "I hope they don't eat him alive."
"Ya love him?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then you ain't got shit to worry about," Kevin said firmly. "Y'all do y'all's thing and fuck whatever one else says."
"Easy for you to say!," Nazz pouted.
"I get it, Nazz. I really do, but c'mon. Like you are gonna let your Aunt Susie's opinion about anything stop you for doing what you want to do.
"I hate you," Nazz sighed and Kevin laughed again because he knew that she knew that he was right.
"You love me, but I gotta run and take this final," Kevin said as he grabbed his jacket and started to walk to the door. "I'll see you in a couple days."
"You've got it, dude! Good luck!"
"Thanks! Later!"
A week later, Christopher Moore was meeting all the people Nazz wouldn't shut up about. Kevin helped make a few introductions as he had already met him a few months before.
But the mood in the room changed when Nazz pulled out the big box.
"Why do y'all look like you've lost your best friend?," Chris asked as he took the box from his girlfriend and put it on the middle of the living room floor.
"Because we did," Rolf said quietly.
"What?"
Nazz sighed.
"You know I told you all about what happened with Double D and May and Marie, right Honey?," she asked as she came to his side.
"Yeah."
"This," she said as she pointed to the box, "is the Christmas present they send every year."
"Oh."
"Yeah," Kevin said as he pulled out his pocket knife and started to cut through the tape keeping the box closed and started passing the gifts around.
Chris was surprised that he even got a gift but Kevin told Sophia about Chris coming to meet everyone, and she must have told Eddward because the future computer and mobile app programmer had made sure to get him a few small gifts; a snow globe of a surfing snowman, Marie had made him some seashell art on canvas and May had added a couple of her favorite paperback books.
When he looked the books over, he asked, "How did she know?!," in delighted surprise.
Ed looked at the books in his hands and smiled.
"Those are her favorites. I guess she thought you'd like them, too."
"Oooh," Sy said, "those are good! She gave us the other series that author did last year."
"I like her. She's got good tastes," Chris grinned and the cul-de-sac fell in love with the man who stole Nazz's heart.
"She's good people," Ed sighed.
"But things aren't good here?," Chris asked quietly.
Everyone shook their heads.
"That sucks," he pouted, then he grew thoughtful.
"What's on your mind, Baby?," Nazz asked as she refolded the hoodie Marie sent with a screenprint of some very original art on the front of it, her fingers barely tracing over the near invisible signature in the right hand corner.
"Just thinking about how to get y'all back together is all. I know they can't come here, but can y'all go there?"
Kevin shook his head.
"Sophia says it's not worth the risk to even try."
"How big is this Dominic's family?"
"Not very," Johnny said, "But it's Tiffany's family that you've got to watch for. They're everywhere."
Jimmy nodded.
"When we went to see my grandparents for Thanksgiving, I saw two of her cousins working at the airport. One is desk agent for Delta and the other is a TSA officer."
"Fuuuuuuck," Chris said as he ran a hand down his face. "Yeah, unless you drive, I don't see it happening."
"She's got a uncle who works at Enterprise and they're the only car rental place in town," Ang said as she handed Sy a drink and plopped herself in her lap.
"So let me get this straight, she's got family with their hands in just about everything that you need to get out of town and they're answering to his beck and call."
"Basically," they all told him.
"Fucking eh, man," Chris groaned. Then he sighed in thought again. They all stared at him as he nodded and said, "You may not be able to leave and they may not be able to come back home right now, but there are way too many cooks in the kitchen and someone is about to burn something soon."
"What do you mean?," Kevin asked.
"Someone in this family, is gonna screw up eventually and then things will fall apart. And when things fall apart, the law can make things right again. I'm not saying that they'll be able to come home, but you may be able to go see them."
"Are you sure?," Kevin asked urgently.
"I'm sure that something has to give here eventually and when it does, you will see your friends again," Chris said, his reassuring grin giving Kevin all he needed to keep holding on.
On Christmas Day, Sy got the gift that would change her life.
"These are good for a year," Randy said as he handed two medical cards to both young women. "You're responsible for copay's and med's, but this should help you guys out a bit more and keep you out of Urgent Care and get you better care then the clinic."
Looking the cards over, Sy saw that the insurance company was one known for having doctors that specialized in treating transgender patients.
"I don't know what to say," she said quietly.
Since she came out, Sy and Ang had been busting their tails saving every penny they could to help her start her transition from the man she looked like on the outside, to the woman she knew was on the inside. And it was expensive. This gift from Angela's parents was a legit life saver.
"Say that the next time you get beaned upside the head playing catch with Kevin, that you'll go to the ER instead of trying to walk it off," Randy laughed as he flipped his mocha pancakes and checked on his peppermint glaze that would top them.
Sy, who wasn't much of a emotive person, did something that shocked them all.
She blamed it on the dose of estrogen Ang made her take that morning.
Angie said it was love.
Coming behind the man that she had only known as Mr Jackson, she hugged him and said, "Thanks, Dad."
He gently patted her hands with one of his own as he flipped a pancake and coughed.
"No problem, kid," he grinned as tear fell out of his eye, landed on the pancake and sizzled away.
