PART 10
Pacey
On the last night of our "reunion" we all gathered around a fire that Dawson and I built in the backyard. Dawson and Gretchen's daughters were at the Leery's asleep in bed for the night. Marco was at Andie and Jack's father's house asleep.
Between our nightly get-togethers and everyone's daily routines with family, the two weeks that everyone had been in Capeside flew by. The Witter family reunion had gone smoothly and Gretchen and I were still in disbelief over it. Andie and Jack had been to visit their mother in the hospital and had spent the two weeks at home with their father. Jen's wedding plans were almost all done with Grams' help.
"This feels like déjà vu," Andie said as we all settled in around the fire.
Dawson chuckled. "Yeah, we do this sitting around a fire thing a lot."
Joey was sitting beside me and she looked over at me with a smile. I leaned in to kiss her knowing that we were both remembering our important moments in front of fires. They were our private moments, most of them only things we knew about. Like the night I watched her sleep in front of the fire. It was the night I fell in love with her but I'd been unable to really admit it to myself until some time later. Months later, after I'd kissed Joey and things had become really awkward between us, we'd gone to Dawson's Aunt Gwen's house for Spring Break. It was in front of a fire again that Joey had finally been able to admit she felt for me what I felt for her. She let me know with the most amazing kiss. A kiss I had been waiting for my whole life.
"Ah yes," Jen said remembering. "That horrible Thanksgiving when my mother came to visit."
"And my parents finalized their divorce," Dawson said. We all laughed at that memory because in the summer of the following year, Dawson's parents were remarried.
"Our Dad ditched us for yet another business trip," Andie said glancing at Jack.
"And you and Pacey were still in that awkward post-breakup stage," Jack reminded her.
"God," Andie said with a laugh. "I forgot about that."
"You kept asking me if he ever talked about you," Joey said to Andie.
I chuckled softly to myself as I thought of the no-strings-attached sexual relationship Jen and I had been trying hard to have that Thanksgiving. I decided not to mention it since I wasn't sure anyone other than Jen, Joey and I knew about it.
"I guess we all had some crazy stuff going on back then," Dawson said.
"And at the end of the night we all gathered around a fire and made each other feel better," Joey said.
"Yeah, Dawson fed us some cheesy line about it being 'an honor and a privilege' to have all of us to turn to," Jen joked.
Dawson laughed. "Geez, Jen, you have it memorized."
"I know. I think that is exactly what you said," Joey said as though she was trying to remember.
"Yes, it was," I said surprising everyone. "And then Joey ragged on Dawson for being so cheesy. Saying something like she couldn't wait for the Oscar acceptance speech, we'd all be in tears."
All of us burst into laughter after that. We were laughing at the memory and at the truthfulness of the statement. It was true even many years later.
"We all love you, Dawson," Joey said with a smirk. "Especially me, you know that. But you have to admit you have always been and still are the biggest cheeseball around."
"Oh, god, tell me about it," Gretchen said. "You should've seen him when I had all the kids. And when I told him about this one," she said rubbing her belly softly and rolling her eyes.
"Hey," Dawson said with a big goofy grin on his face. "You guys are supposed to be my friends. And you," he said pointing at Gretchen, "are supposed to be my wife."
We all laughed. Dawson too.
"Hey," Andie said excitedly. "I just thought of another time we were all gathered around a fire like this."
"That time at the Potter B & B when that critic came for the weekend to review the place. What was his name again?" Dawson said trying to remember.
"Fred Fricke," I said with a laugh.
"Oh, god, don't remind me," Joey moaned.
"Aw, honey, everything turned out okay in the end," I teased her.
"Thank god," she said with a smirk. "Or else Bessie, Bodie, Alex and I would've all ended up in the poorhouse. Thank god I had.have such good friends." We all smiled at each other around the fire after that. There was a quiet moment before Andie spoke again.
"Didn't we go around the room that night and talk about smells?" she said it with a chuckle probably realizing how silly it must have sounded.
"Yeah," Dawson said remembering, "everyone talked about a smell that had been important in their lives. I, as could only be expected, said phenylene diamine which is a chemical used to process film."
Jen rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, the film geek lives on."
"If I remember correctly, Jen, your favorite smell was mothballs. So, maybe you should just leave Dawson alone on that one," Joey said with a sarcastic smile. We all laughed as Dawson and Joey slapped each other five.
"Mothballs?" Tom made a grossed out face as he questioned Jen.
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's a long story. Remind me to tell you so you don't go on thinking I'm weird the way these guys want you to."
Tom put his arm around Jen and pulled her closer to him.
"I remember that Grams built the fire," Jack said.
"She took right over and showed the men who was boss," Jen said proudly.
"Grams is definitely the boss," Jack agreed.
Staring into the fire, I thought of the story Grams had told all of us that night about she and her husband. How they spent every night in front of the fire reading to each other and falling asleep in each other's arms. I smiled to myself as I thought about Joey and I. We'd picked up the tradition of reading to each other when we spent the summer on True Love sailing down the coast. There weren't really any other forms of entertainment when you were in the middle of the ocean so we'd decided to read. We'd pick up different books whenever we stopped in a port and usually finished them pretty quickly. Eventually, it became something we loved to do together. Even now at times when things weren't so busy, we'd read to each other before bed.
"These two weeks," Andie said softly breaking the silence, "have gone by so fast."
We all nodded in agreement.
"It's been a great two weeks, though," Jen said. Even though I knew that comment coming from Jen had surprised us all, no one said anything.
"This was a great idea, Jo," I said pulling her closer to me.
"Yeah, it really was," Dawson agreed.
"Let's do it more often," Jack said.
"Definitely," we all seemed to say it at the same time and it made us all laugh again.
A little while later, Dawson and I put the fire out. Inside we all said our good-byes, hug and kisses were distributed, tears were shed. It was a bittersweet moment made that much sweeter by the notion that we'd see each other again in just a few short months for Jen's wedding.
Joey and I stood in the doorway, holding hands and watching everyone leave. When we couldn't see the cars anymore, Joey turned and pulled me into a hug. I could feel her crying and it made it harder for me to hold back my tears.
Finally she pulled away from me and greeted me with a smile. "I remember your favorite smell. Do you remember mine?"
I smiled and creased my brow at her.
"Yours was snow," she said matter-of-factly.
"I can't believe you remember that."
"I remember everything," she winked at me.
"That's my line," I laughed.
"Apparently not anymore," she said sarcastically.
I kissed her softly and whispered into her lips, "Bacon."
She pulled away quickly. Her eyes were wide open and she had a huge grin on her face. "You do remember," she said with puppy dog eyes.
"Of course."
"I don't know what I was thinking. Of course you remember."
I chuckled. "Let's go to bed."
"I want to check on Ryan first."
I nodded and followed her into the nursery. We stood over our son's bassinet for a few moments before Joey moved to put her arm around me.
"I hope someday he grows up and has good friends like we do," Joey whispered to me. "I really cherish those friendships, especially yours," she said with a quick smile, "and I'm so thankful that I have those memories to carry with me throughout my life."
"Me too," I said kissing the top of her head.
As I settled into bed beside Joey, I kept thinking that memories were such a precious thing. You could carry them in your heart for your whole life and never forget anything important that way. Joey and me, Dawson and Jen, Andie and Jack we had so many to hold onto. Andie was right when she said we were lucky. And Roberto was right when he talked about the family we'd all created. It was a family that grew bigger and better each day with spouses and children. Only through the birth of my own child, a newfound relationship with my parents, and a solid. loving relationship with Joey could I come to understand just how important it was to have a family. Family and life, friendship and love-it all really was a miracle.
On the last night of our "reunion" we all gathered around a fire that Dawson and I built in the backyard. Dawson and Gretchen's daughters were at the Leery's asleep in bed for the night. Marco was at Andie and Jack's father's house asleep.
Between our nightly get-togethers and everyone's daily routines with family, the two weeks that everyone had been in Capeside flew by. The Witter family reunion had gone smoothly and Gretchen and I were still in disbelief over it. Andie and Jack had been to visit their mother in the hospital and had spent the two weeks at home with their father. Jen's wedding plans were almost all done with Grams' help.
"This feels like déjà vu," Andie said as we all settled in around the fire.
Dawson chuckled. "Yeah, we do this sitting around a fire thing a lot."
Joey was sitting beside me and she looked over at me with a smile. I leaned in to kiss her knowing that we were both remembering our important moments in front of fires. They were our private moments, most of them only things we knew about. Like the night I watched her sleep in front of the fire. It was the night I fell in love with her but I'd been unable to really admit it to myself until some time later. Months later, after I'd kissed Joey and things had become really awkward between us, we'd gone to Dawson's Aunt Gwen's house for Spring Break. It was in front of a fire again that Joey had finally been able to admit she felt for me what I felt for her. She let me know with the most amazing kiss. A kiss I had been waiting for my whole life.
"Ah yes," Jen said remembering. "That horrible Thanksgiving when my mother came to visit."
"And my parents finalized their divorce," Dawson said. We all laughed at that memory because in the summer of the following year, Dawson's parents were remarried.
"Our Dad ditched us for yet another business trip," Andie said glancing at Jack.
"And you and Pacey were still in that awkward post-breakup stage," Jack reminded her.
"God," Andie said with a laugh. "I forgot about that."
"You kept asking me if he ever talked about you," Joey said to Andie.
I chuckled softly to myself as I thought of the no-strings-attached sexual relationship Jen and I had been trying hard to have that Thanksgiving. I decided not to mention it since I wasn't sure anyone other than Jen, Joey and I knew about it.
"I guess we all had some crazy stuff going on back then," Dawson said.
"And at the end of the night we all gathered around a fire and made each other feel better," Joey said.
"Yeah, Dawson fed us some cheesy line about it being 'an honor and a privilege' to have all of us to turn to," Jen joked.
Dawson laughed. "Geez, Jen, you have it memorized."
"I know. I think that is exactly what you said," Joey said as though she was trying to remember.
"Yes, it was," I said surprising everyone. "And then Joey ragged on Dawson for being so cheesy. Saying something like she couldn't wait for the Oscar acceptance speech, we'd all be in tears."
All of us burst into laughter after that. We were laughing at the memory and at the truthfulness of the statement. It was true even many years later.
"We all love you, Dawson," Joey said with a smirk. "Especially me, you know that. But you have to admit you have always been and still are the biggest cheeseball around."
"Oh, god, tell me about it," Gretchen said. "You should've seen him when I had all the kids. And when I told him about this one," she said rubbing her belly softly and rolling her eyes.
"Hey," Dawson said with a big goofy grin on his face. "You guys are supposed to be my friends. And you," he said pointing at Gretchen, "are supposed to be my wife."
We all laughed. Dawson too.
"Hey," Andie said excitedly. "I just thought of another time we were all gathered around a fire like this."
"That time at the Potter B & B when that critic came for the weekend to review the place. What was his name again?" Dawson said trying to remember.
"Fred Fricke," I said with a laugh.
"Oh, god, don't remind me," Joey moaned.
"Aw, honey, everything turned out okay in the end," I teased her.
"Thank god," she said with a smirk. "Or else Bessie, Bodie, Alex and I would've all ended up in the poorhouse. Thank god I had.have such good friends." We all smiled at each other around the fire after that. There was a quiet moment before Andie spoke again.
"Didn't we go around the room that night and talk about smells?" she said it with a chuckle probably realizing how silly it must have sounded.
"Yeah," Dawson said remembering, "everyone talked about a smell that had been important in their lives. I, as could only be expected, said phenylene diamine which is a chemical used to process film."
Jen rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, the film geek lives on."
"If I remember correctly, Jen, your favorite smell was mothballs. So, maybe you should just leave Dawson alone on that one," Joey said with a sarcastic smile. We all laughed as Dawson and Joey slapped each other five.
"Mothballs?" Tom made a grossed out face as he questioned Jen.
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's a long story. Remind me to tell you so you don't go on thinking I'm weird the way these guys want you to."
Tom put his arm around Jen and pulled her closer to him.
"I remember that Grams built the fire," Jack said.
"She took right over and showed the men who was boss," Jen said proudly.
"Grams is definitely the boss," Jack agreed.
Staring into the fire, I thought of the story Grams had told all of us that night about she and her husband. How they spent every night in front of the fire reading to each other and falling asleep in each other's arms. I smiled to myself as I thought about Joey and I. We'd picked up the tradition of reading to each other when we spent the summer on True Love sailing down the coast. There weren't really any other forms of entertainment when you were in the middle of the ocean so we'd decided to read. We'd pick up different books whenever we stopped in a port and usually finished them pretty quickly. Eventually, it became something we loved to do together. Even now at times when things weren't so busy, we'd read to each other before bed.
"These two weeks," Andie said softly breaking the silence, "have gone by so fast."
We all nodded in agreement.
"It's been a great two weeks, though," Jen said. Even though I knew that comment coming from Jen had surprised us all, no one said anything.
"This was a great idea, Jo," I said pulling her closer to me.
"Yeah, it really was," Dawson agreed.
"Let's do it more often," Jack said.
"Definitely," we all seemed to say it at the same time and it made us all laugh again.
A little while later, Dawson and I put the fire out. Inside we all said our good-byes, hug and kisses were distributed, tears were shed. It was a bittersweet moment made that much sweeter by the notion that we'd see each other again in just a few short months for Jen's wedding.
Joey and I stood in the doorway, holding hands and watching everyone leave. When we couldn't see the cars anymore, Joey turned and pulled me into a hug. I could feel her crying and it made it harder for me to hold back my tears.
Finally she pulled away from me and greeted me with a smile. "I remember your favorite smell. Do you remember mine?"
I smiled and creased my brow at her.
"Yours was snow," she said matter-of-factly.
"I can't believe you remember that."
"I remember everything," she winked at me.
"That's my line," I laughed.
"Apparently not anymore," she said sarcastically.
I kissed her softly and whispered into her lips, "Bacon."
She pulled away quickly. Her eyes were wide open and she had a huge grin on her face. "You do remember," she said with puppy dog eyes.
"Of course."
"I don't know what I was thinking. Of course you remember."
I chuckled. "Let's go to bed."
"I want to check on Ryan first."
I nodded and followed her into the nursery. We stood over our son's bassinet for a few moments before Joey moved to put her arm around me.
"I hope someday he grows up and has good friends like we do," Joey whispered to me. "I really cherish those friendships, especially yours," she said with a quick smile, "and I'm so thankful that I have those memories to carry with me throughout my life."
"Me too," I said kissing the top of her head.
As I settled into bed beside Joey, I kept thinking that memories were such a precious thing. You could carry them in your heart for your whole life and never forget anything important that way. Joey and me, Dawson and Jen, Andie and Jack we had so many to hold onto. Andie was right when she said we were lucky. And Roberto was right when he talked about the family we'd all created. It was a family that grew bigger and better each day with spouses and children. Only through the birth of my own child, a newfound relationship with my parents, and a solid. loving relationship with Joey could I come to understand just how important it was to have a family. Family and life, friendship and love-it all really was a miracle.