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Chapter 3Katie made her way up the steps that that led to Eli's apartment, with each step her mind raced with what the following week would entail. Jessie would be so excited, and Katie couldn't wait to see the look on her girlfriends face when she saw Eli.
Just as she rounded the corner about to knock on Eli's door, it swung open. There Eli stood with Elyse in his arms. "God you're quick." He joked, and motioned Katie to come in.
"I'm excited, and when I'm excited the adrenaline rushes through my body." She said, slightly winded. "I took the steps two at a time."
Eli laughed. "What's got you so excited?" He asked, even though he was sure he knew the answer to that.
"I ordered your ticket today, well yours and Elyse's." She answered, taking Elyse out of Eli's arms and cooed at her for a moment. "So, now I feel like… I don't know… I can't wait for Monday. Your family, is going to be…" She saw the look on Eli's face; she could see he was becoming a bit… "What is it, don't even tell me you changed your mind, cause I swear to God Eli, if I have to drag you on that plane myself I will. I am not leaving here without you."
"That's not it, well not entirely. I'm going… I just… I mean, how… how am I supposed to do it." Eli asked sighing. "Do I gather them all together at one time, or do I go to them separately, and if I go to them separately who do I see first, my mom, considering all the stuff she's been through, or my dad, considering the way I left things with him?"
"Well I think together is a good idea, but I also think doing it separately might be a good idea. So I'm really not sure how to answer that."
"And how much do I tell them, do I spring Elyse on them right away… or do I let them get their anger out first, then introduce them to her." Eli ran his hands over his face in frustration.
"Well… maybe, go to your parents and Jessie first. Then…"
"How the hell am I supposed to get those three together, without it seeming weird, or… I mean how can I not invite Lily."
"True. Well then, your parents, Jessie and Lily first, and then you can see the rest of the Manning clan and your friends."
"My friends, I'm not concerned about seeing, they all know where I am and…"
"They do?" Katie asked slightly shocked. She knew for a fact that Rick and Jessie both had asked Coop, and Wink if they had heard from Eli, and not just once but numerous times. "Your parents…"
"I know, were up their butts asking if they had heard from me." Eli sighed, again. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Everything had become so complicated lately and it was stressing him out completely. "For a while they didn't know, so it's not as if they were lying. Then once they had heard form me I asked them to keep it a secret."
"I wouldn't have done it. I would have gone straight to your parents. I mean seriously how could any of your friends look into your parents eyes and boldface lie. How could you ask them to?"
"Like I said Katie, they didn't know where I was for the longest time. They only found out recently, and they did try to convince me to go home. I wasn't ready yet, and they understood that."
"Still…" Katie began only to be cut off by Eli.
"Still nothing." Eli stated simply. "My friends are loyal, and I wasn't ready to face my parents or have them know where I was, so they kept it quiet." He could still see the annoyance in her eyes. He understood why she felt the way she did, since she probably seen his parents faces on a daily basis, and knew how much they missed him. "If Jessie asked you to keep a secret, even if you thought it was something that shouldn't be kept would you keep it?"
Katie thought about it for a moment. "Honestly, it depends. If her decision was hurting other people, I might not."
"Well until you're put in the situation, don't judge my friends."
"I'm not judging them Eli, I just don't understand how anyone could keep a secret after looking in your sisters eyes and seeing how much she missed you."
"They probably can't read my sisters eyes as well you." Eli said. "Which makes me wonder something." He could see Katie stiffen slightly at his words, which pretty much confirmed what he was thinking. "What exactly is your relationship with Jessie?" He asked, suspecting once again, there was a little more going on between them than a simple friendship. He didn't think his sister was gay by any means, but he could definitely sense that Katie had more than friendly feelings towards her.
"What do you mean?" She questioned as she shifted Elyse in her arms. She avoided Eli's eyes, and concentrated solely on his daughter. "We're friends."
"Still sticking to that story I see." He joked, "Are you sure, cause I kind of sense…"
"What? What do you sense? There's nothing to sense, we're just friends." She reiterated once again, she would not be the one to reveal their relationship. Jessie had to be the one to tell him.
"Okay."
"God I miss Katie." Jessie whined. "There's like absolutely nothing to do when she's not around." She added as she flipped through the television stations once more.
"Well maybe if you just selected a channel already you wouldn't be so bored." Grace answered, her voice filled with annoyance, since the better half of the past hour had been filled with channel surfing and listening to Jessie whine.
"You know you don't have to be here Grace, you could have very easily gone with Dad and Lily."
"And listen to their sadness about another holiday Eli wouldn't be here, no thanks." Grace commented.
"Grace…"
"Jessie, don't… I just can't deal with it right now." Grace glanced over towards her stepsister, hoping that she would let it go.
"No, I won't just stop. What is really going on? I mean, lately you just seem, I don't know… Like you don't care anymore that he's gone. That you don't miss him."
Grace looked down at her hands nervously. "I don't."
"You don't? You don't what?"
"I don't miss him. I've gotten to the point that I can't waste my energy on someone that doesn't give two shits about me, or about anyone else, but himself. So I stopped missing him. I just accepted it. In a way, Eli doesn't exist for me anymore. I know that's probably hard to hear, but he wasn't my brother, he was barely my friend. So I came to realize that I couldn't allow myself to be consumed with anger and sadness anymore, it wasn't healthy. I know it's different for you, your parents, hell even my mom… but for me, he's just another person that's not in my life anymore."
"Grace…" Jessie started, noticing for the first time that the sadness that has been embedded in Grace's eyes had some how changed.
Grace stood up off the couch. "Tell my mom and Rick, that I went over to my dads. I want a holiday that isn't filled with sadness for a change."
Jessie watched Grace walk away, and at that moment Jessie knew Grace was fooling herself. That the anger, and sadness she claimed to have let go remained fully intact. She did miss Eli, even if she wasn't willing to allow herself to admit it anymore; she missed him now more than ever.
Katie made her way towards the front door of her aunt's house. It was Thanksgiving Day and she had been assigned to be the honorary greeter of the day. So many relatives that normally wouldn't be sharing the day together had decided to get together this year, since her and her mom were in town. "Eli, you came." Katie exclaimed after opening the front door.
"Well you kind of made the invitation a must, so… and I figured we had nothing else really going on. Plus, it will be nice to have an actual family meal, even if it's not my own family."
"Well I'm glad that you did decide to come. I hated hearing that you two had nowhere to go."
"Well it's not like she would of known the difference, it's just like any other day to her. Strained peas, and…"
"True." Katie laughed. "So come in, and I'll introduce you to everyone."
"Okay. Is there a place I can put her stuff down first?" Eli asked motioning towards the diaper bag.
"Sure, right this way." Katie answered and led him down the hallways towards the room she was staying in. "You can just place everything on the bed."
Eli placed the carrier down on the bed and then tossed the diaper bag next to it. He began to unstrap Elyse from the carrier and picked her up to remove her jacket. "So, this is your aunts house?"
"Yeah." She answered as she led him out of the bedroom.
"It's nice. Cozy." Eli said looking around as they made their way back down the hallway and through the living room. "Kind of place I imagine Elyse and I having someday."
"Yeah, me too. I always loved this house, and imagined that one day I'd have one just like it. It's so inviting, and friendly. It immediately makes you feel at home."
"Yeah, it definitely does that. I don't think I've felt this at home, since… well since I was home… back in Illinois."
"Well you'll be back there soon enough." Katie said with a smile before entering the kitchen.
"Mom, Aunty, this is Eli. Jessie's brother. Eli this is my mom Janice and my Aunt Nicole, the two rugrats over there," Katie said pointing to the two boys fighting in the corner, "are my cousins Josh and Thomas, and my uncle John is the one over there glued to the television."
"Nice to meet you." Nicole and Janice said in unison.
"Yeah, you too. Thanks, for um… having us." Eli said nervously.
"Well we're glad to have you." Janice said. "So how old is your daughter?"
"Elyse here is six and a half months old." Eli answered proudly, looking down at his daughter with the brightest smile on his face.
"She's beautiful." Janice said as she began cooing at the little girl. "She has your eyes."
"You think?" Eli asked. "Everyone usually tells me she looks nothing like me."
"I can definitely see a lot of you in her. So where's her mother, I thought she was…"
"Mom." Katie said loudly. "I told you…"
"She um, she left… right after Elyse was born, so it's just us." Eli answered, his voice a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Oh, I'm sorry… I just, Katie, I must have missed that part."
"It's okay." Eli assured her. "I'm used to having to answer that question."
"Mom, we're just going to watch some television in my room before the other guests arrive, okay?" Katie said noticing how uncomfortable Eli was getting with subject at hand.
"Okay sweetie. And Eli I'm sorry again for…"
"Not a problem Mrs. Singer, really." Eli answered sincerely before following Katie out of the kitchen and back to her bedroom.
"Lily do you need any help?" Jessie asked noticing her step mom acting more neurotic than usual. Instead of just Eli just missing this for this holiday meal, Grace was too and that was just making matters worse.
"No, sweetie. I'm good I think. I just…" Lily stopped herself. "Actually, do you think you could set the table for me. I think we're down to just us, your dad and Zoë. Judy is spending the day with Sam and his son, and well you know…"
"Sure." Jessie made her way over towards the cabinet and began grabbing the plates.
Jessie began placing down the plates around the table, followed by the glasses and the silverware. She kept watch on Lily from the corner of her eye, and could see how upset she was over Grace choosing to have dinner with Jake instead of with them. It reminded Jessie just how her own mom must be feeling. "Lily. Um, can I um… ask you a question? I know this may seem like a weird request, and by all means if it's too weird, you can say no… but I was thinking, after all you and my mom kind of get, well after her accident you two seem to… I was wondering…"
"You want to invite her Jessie?" Lily asked, having a feeling that was what she was trying to ask. She watched the young girl nod her head yes. "Well Jessie, I don't have a problem with it, I mean how many times have I had Jake and Tiffany over, but you might want to check with your dad."
"You won't mind, though. Really? I mean, it's your house, and your…"
"Jess, Thanksgiving is supposed to be about family, and with your brother gone, and Grace deciding too… I think if it will make you feel better about being here, than I'm all for it."
"No, Lily. I'm not saying that I didn't want to be here. I do. I just can see how empty this day feels without Eli and Grace being here, it just makes me realize that my mom must feel even worse than we do."
"Call her Jessie. It's really okay."
"Okay. Thanks Lily." Jessie said, placing down the last fork. Then she walked over towards Lily and engulfed her in a big hug and said thanks again.
"Jake, sweetie. You're sure that Lily wants us all there?" Tiffany asked.
"That's what Jessie said. She doesn't want a holiday without Grace, and Grace wants a semblance of normalcy this year, so I guess that means…"
"That we're all heading over to the Sammler residence."
"What?" Grace asked over hearing Tiffany and her dad. "No, I don't want to be there. I mean come on. All they're going to talk about is Eli non-stop, and how much they miss him. I can't deal with that."
"Grace, no they won't."
"Yes Dad. They will. It's all they ever talk about anymore. Each holiday is the same. I wish Eli could be here. I wish he would just call us. I hope he's okay." Grace said, mocking her moms' voice.
"Grace that's enough. Maybe you just don't get it. Eli is Rick's son, Jessie's brother, and he's gone. Of course they're affected by it. It's…"
"Yes Dad. He's gone! I'm still here though. Do you know how much it sucks to have everything revolve around Eli, how much it pains me to hear how much they care about him and miss him. Cause you know what, I do too. I live with it daily. I still hear Eli's voice in my head telling me he was leaving, and I still feel the guilt for not telling Rick until it was too late. I just can't deal with it anymore. He left. It was his decision. It's not fair. I just want things to be normal again. Why can't anybody understand that?" Grace screamed, while tears fell from her face.
Tiffany looked over to Jake, who had Maddie in his arms. "Jake maybe we shouldn't go, maybe we should just stick with going to the restaurant for dinner."
"No. We're going to Lily's."
"Dad, please. Just this once, let me have a day that doesn't revolve around Eli. Please!" Grace begged.
"Jake." Tiffany began, only to be silence by Jake.
Jake walked over to Tiffany and handed her Maddie. "Go get her coat on, we're leaving in a few minutes."
"Jake, come on. Look at her. She obviously needs…"
"Tiff, honey. Please just go get Maddie's coat on. Grace needs to be there today, if she wants a normal family day, then she's going to get it, but she's going to get it with her mom and sister present." Jake said sternly
TBC…