Chapter 4
It was Christmas Eve morning and Collin and Jess were finishing up the last few details for the party before everyone got there. "When is everyone supposed to be here?" Collin asked Jess.
"I told them they could start getting here around 10." Jess said.
"So we have an hour to make this place look wonderful, even though it already does." Collin said impressed at what they had already done.
"Yeah it does, but we always have to make it better don't we?" Jess asked smiling at Collin.
"Like always. I think we need more lights and streamers." Collin laughed
"Collin! If we put anymore lights in here we'll burn the apartment down." Jess joked.
"No we won't. But we should decorate the cake." Collin hinted since the cake wasn't decorated yet.
"I agree with that." Jess said smiling at Collin as he pulled her close and gave her a kiss.
"This is going to be the best Christmas party ever." Collin commented as Jess walked over to where the cake was.
"Yes it will." Jess agreed. She began icing the cake and Collin walked over to her and also began icing the cake. Once they were done they had a little extra icing and Jess turned around and put some icing on Collin's face.
"Hey!" Collin yelled surprised. He then did the same thing back to Jess. After 15 minutes of covering each other in icing they were on the floor laughing at each other. "You got a little icing on you." Collin stated the obvious to Jess.
Jess just looked at Collin. "You think? Well you do too." Jess teased back. Jess just rolled her eyes as she got up and went to go change into different clothes that weren't covered in cake icing. "You might want to change your clothes." Jess suggested, imitating what Collin had just said to her about the icing.
"Thanks, I'll get right to that." Collin said as Jess walked away.
Once they were both cleaned up they went back in the kitchen to finish decorating the cake. It was a red cake with light green icing and Jess decorated it by writing Merry Christmas on it. She also drew little Christmas ornaments around the outer edges of the cake. "Wow Jess. That looks amazing." Collin complimented her after he saw the cake when it was finished since Jess wouldn't let him see it until she was done.
"Thanks." Jess said smiling proud of what she had just finished. While they were talking they heard someone knock on the door. "I wonder who's first."
"I'm guessing Nicole and Antonio." Collin guessed. "Or it might just be Nicole."
"I'm thinking Nicole and Antonio." Jess said as she went and answered the door.
"Merry Christmas!" Nicole said smiling.
"Hey Nicole." Jess said. "Merry Christmas to you too."
"Jess, it looks great in here." Nicole said admiring how wonderful Jess's place looked.
"Thanks Nicole." Jess said.
"How long did it take you guys to do this?" Nicole asked them.
"We were up until about 1 last night and then we got up at 8 and worked on it until now." Jess stated.
"Well, all of that work paid off." Nicole said as she walked to where Collin was waiting. "Hey Collin."
"Hi Nicole." Collin said.
"Where's Antonio?" Jess asked Nicole.
"He called me and told me that he'll be here around 11 because there was something that he had to do." Nicole said.
"That's strange. I wonder what he has to do on Christmas Eve." Jess wondered.
Everybody had already exchanged gifts at the office yesterday but they still brought gifts for Chloe and Michael. "Where should I put these?" Nicole asked referring to the gifts she had from her and Antonio to Chloe and Michael.
"Um, you can put them right under the tree." Jess suggested.
"Ok." Nicole said as she went to put the presents up.
"So are you excited about going to Indiana tomorrow?" Nicole asked Jess.
"I am beyond excited." Jess half shrieked.
"I'm kind of nervous." Collin said.
"Really? Why?" Jess asked him curiously.
"I'm meeting your family for the first time." Collin reminded her.
"They'll like you, I know they will, especially Doug." Jess insisted. Collin just smiled at Jess.
While they were talking they heard someone at the door. "I'll get it." Jess said since she was the closest to the door.
Jess opened the door and Brad was there. "Well, hello Jess." Brad said.
"Hello to you Brad." Jess said. "Come on in."
Brad walked in and looked around. "Wow, this is great." Brad said. "Hey Collin."
"Hey Brad." Collin said.
"You two did great on decorating this place." Brad repeated still pretty amazed.
"Thank you." Jess said. Nicole and Brad also talked to each other.
It was about 10:30 now and they knew Antonio was going to be late but they were wondering where Pollock was. "He'll be here. You got to think, he has two kids." Nicole joked.
"Yeah, true. I'll know how he feels soon." Jess joked.
About that same time, someone knocked on Jess's door again. "I bet that's him." Collin said.
"I'm sure." Jess agreed as she got up to answer the door. "I'm so glad you're here sir." Jess said once she answered the door and seen Pollock, Janice, Chloe and Michael.
"I'm glad I could come Mastriani." Pollock said. Chloe and Michael were excited to be there and they were proving it too.
"Hi Janice." Jess said.
"Hey Jess. You look great." Janice told Jess.
"Thank you." Jess said smiling.
They all went to the dining room where everyone was waiting. Everyone said their hellos and all. "Where's Cortez?" Pollock asked noticing Antonio wasn't there.
"He's going to be late. He told me he'll be here about 11 or so." Nicole told him.
"That is strange for Cortez to be late, especially to something like this." Pollock wondered also. He and Janice also complimented Jess on how great the place looked. Jess loved that everyone liked it so much.
They all just sat down and talked while Chloe and Michael checked all of the decorations out. They were waiting for Antonio to get there and then they would start serving the lunch. They had to be done with everything by 8 since Collin and Jess's flight to Indiana was at 10. All of the flights on Christmas Day were full so they had to take one that night. But Jess was still happy that she was going to surprise her mom and Doug. A little after 11 Antonio finally got there. "Hey Antonio." Nicole was the first one to say anything to him.
"I'm finally here." Antonio said. He smiled at Nicole since she had said hey to him.
"Where were you?" Nicole asked him.
"I just had to go out and get something. Nothing major." Antonio lied hoping that no one would notice.
"Right." Nicole mumbled not really believing him.
"Are you all ready for lunch?" Jess asked smiling. She had hid the cake so no one could see it until it was time to serve it.
Everybody agreed with Jess and they started to help set up everything. Before long, they were all eating one of the best Christmas lunch's ever. Everyone complimented Jess on how good everything was. Jess was flattered at how much everyone liked everything.
"Who's ready for cake?" Jess asked. It was about an hour later and Chloe and Michael were dying to open their gifts but no one would let them yet.
"We are!" Michael and Chloe yelled excitedly.
"I figured so." Jess laughed as she walked over and got the cake. She brought it over and everyone was amazed at how detailed the cake looked.
"That's amazing, Jess!" Nicole admired at how wonderful the cake was. Jess just smiled at Nicole's compliment.
"How about you cut the first piece sir?" Jess asked Pollock.
"I'd love to." Pollock said smiling as he cut the cake for Chloe and Michael.
"Uhh, Jess." Antonio said to get Jess's attention while they were all eating the cake.
Jess looked over at Antonio. "Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Antonio asked her.
"Sure." Jess said as she stood up. Antonio also got up and they walked out of the room. Nicole was curious and wanted to follow them to see what was up but she decided not to.
"What's up?" Jess asked Antonio once they were in a separate room.
"This is why I didn't get here until 11 today." Antonio said as he pulled out the ring he had bought and showed it to Jess.
"Antonio that's beautiful." Jess said in amazement.
"You really think so? I'm going to ask Nick to marry me today." Antonio told Jess.
"Are you serious, Antonio?" Jess asked somewhat surprised. "I know she'll say yes."
"I sure hope so." Antonio prayed. He then put the ring away and went back to where everyone was at.
"So, Chloe, Michael, are you ready to open your presents." Jess asked them.
"Yea!" They both yelled at the same time almost bursting with excitement.
Jess just smiled at them. "Alright then, come on." Jess said as she went in there with them to get their presents and bring them back to where everyone was.
They opened them pretty quick and loved everything they got. They also thanked everyone for everything. Collin and Jess just looked at each other and smiled because they knew soon they would be getting presents for their new baby.
"So, Jess. Where are you going to put the nursery at?" Nicole asked her to start up another conversation.
"We are actually looking for a house to buy before the baby's born." Jess said.
"Really?" Pollock asked a little surprised.
"Yeah. We had been talking about it since we found out that I was pregnant and now we know for sure that we want to get a new house." Jess explained.
"That'll be nice." Antonio said.
"Yeah, but we still got a long way to go." Collin said. "We've looked at several houses so far, but still haven't decided."
"You will soon enough." Pollock told them.
"I hope we do. It takes a long time to get the nursery just right." Jess said.
"What type of house are you thinking about?" Janice asked them.
"A small house that's maybe two stories. We'll know it when we find it." Jess replied.
"I know you will." Janice said smiling.
"Yeah you will Jess." Antonio said. "Hey Nicole, can I ask you something?" Jess looked over at Antonio and smiled knowing what he was getting ready to ask Nicole.
"Sure." Nicole responded as Antonio got up and walked over to her. She had no idea what he was getting ready to ask her. He got in front of her and got on one knee.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring as everyone watched. "Nicole, I love you so much and I would like to know, will you marry me?"
Nicole was shocked. She couldn't even say anything as she cried tears of joy. She shook her head saying yes to Antonio's question. "I love you so much too Antonio." She stood up and she and Antonio shared a long kiss.
Everyone just smiled at them. "Congratulations Nicole." Jess told her over joyous best friend.
"I know you knew." Nicole joked.
"I did actually. He told me when I and he walked in the other room for a few minutes." Jess confessed. Nicole just smiled at Jess. She was extremely happy and still in shock from what Antonio had just asked her.
It was later that night and everyone was beginning to leave because Collin and Jess would have to leave soon. "Mastriani, I will see you on the 28th." Pollock reminded her as he got ready to leave.
"I'll see you then too. Bye." Pollock, Janice, Chloe and Michael all said their byes too and they left.
"Well, I guess I'll run into you later Collin." Brad said as he too got ready to leave.
"Same here." Collin said as Brad left. Nicole and Antonio decided to hang around a little longer.
"You know what we should do Jess." Nicole told Jess.
"What?" Jess asked her.
"We should have a double wedding." Nicole suggested. Collin and Antonio were also listening to what Nicole was saying.
"That's a great idea Nick." Jess agreed with her. Collin and Antonio also agreed with her. "But we are going to have to wait until after I have the baby. I wouldn't be able to fit in a dress." Jess teased.
"Don't worry, we will." Nicole laughed. After about 30 minutes Nicole and Antonio were leaving to go back to Nicole's house since Collin and Jess had to finish packing. "I'll see you later Jess. Have fun in Indiana."
"I'll try. Bye you guys." Jess said as they left. Collin also said bye to them before they left.
"Are you finally ready to go to Indiana?" Jess asked Collin once everyone was gone and they were finishing up packing.
"Actually, yeah I am." Collin said. "I can't wait to meet your family."
"Don't worry, you'll like them and they'll like you." Jess smiled. "We better get going or we'll miss our flight." Jess remembered when she glanced at the time.
"Yes we should." Collin said. Instantly, they finished packing their things and headed off for the airport. Jess was excited to be able to surprise her mom and Doug while Collin was excited and nervous at the same time. They both knew that it was going to be a fun surprise for Toni and Doug though.
Their flight had just landed in Indianapolis and it was midnight. Jess couldn't believe how late it was but she decided that since she had a key to the house she'd sneak in with Collin and go to bed in her old room and surprise her mom and Doug in the morning. "Come on, we're going to go to where I used to live. I have a key so we're going to sneak in until morning because they are probably asleep." Jess said to Collin as they were leaving the airport.
"That's fine with me." Collin agreed with Jess. It was only about a 20 minute ride from the airport to where Jess used to live. "So this is where you grew up?" Collin asked pretty impressed.
"It was until that one day changed my life." Jess said.
"What do you mean?" Collin asked.
"The one day I was out trying to find my brother and I grabbed a pole at the same time lightening struck it." Jess explained.
"Are you serious?" Collin asked surprised at what he was hearing.
"Yeah. I was lucky enough to survive and that's what caused me to have visions. Well actually they started out as dreams when I was asleep but they evolved into visions and that's what caused me to join the FBI." Jess added to what she had just told Collin.
"I never knew that." Collin said. "That's pretty astonishing though."
"A lot of people don't know that but I'm kind of glad it did happen because I like the FBI most of the time and I've made some really good friends and it's just really changed my life." Jess admitted.
"That's what makes me love you so much." Collin said smiling at her.
"How about we see how quietly we can sneak in here." Jess whispered slightly laughing.
"We can do it." Collin whispered back to her. Jess took out her key and unlocked the door. They both quietly snuck in and Jess locked the door behind her.
"Follow me up here." Jess whispered. "And don't fall."
"Ha-ha, I won't." Collin whispered back at her. So they quietly snuck up to Jess's old room and put their stuff up. They both got in the bed and quickly fell asleep.
Jess woke up the next morning around 8. She heard Toni and Doug talking downstairs. "Collin, wake up. My mom and Doug are already up." Jess said trying to wake Collin up.
"Hmm? What?" Collin asked sleepily.
"Get up, my mom and Doug are downstairs talking. I don't think that they know we are here yet." Jess said as Collin woke up.
"I thought they would know." Collin said slowly waking up.
"Obviously not. I'll go down there first, and then I'll come get you." Jess said.
"Sounds good to me." Collin said as he laid back down in the bed.
Jess got up and slowly headed to where she heard her mom and Doug talking. She walked in there and they hadn't noticed her yet. "Mom, Doug, it's me!" Jess exclaimed happily.
"Jess!" Her mom asked shocked.
"Jess!" Doug said happily as he got up and gave her a big hug. He was really happy to see her.
"When did you get here?" Toni asked Jess.
"Probably about midnight last night. I still have that key that I had from 2 years ago." Jess said. "And when I got here I just snuck in and figured I'd surprise you."
"Well you did a great job surprising us." Doug said still happy to see his sister.
Toni kept noticing how big Jess had gotten since she last seen her but she didn't want to say anything. But Doug wanted to know. "That's exactly what I wanted." Jess said smiling.
"Jess, you look a little bigger since we seen you last year." Doug observed trying to make the statement half way into a question.
"Really? You'll know more about that in a few minutes. First though, I want you to meet someone." Jess said.
"Who?" Toni asked curiously.
"You'll see. I'll be right back." Jess said as she walked off to go get Collin.
"Ok." Doug said as he watched Jess walk off.
Jess walked into her room to see Collin still lying in the bed. "Get up Collin." She said as she half jumped on the bed.
"I'm up. I'm up." Collin repeated as he sat up. "Are they ready to meet me?"
"Yes they are." Jess said to him as she started pulling him out of the bed.
"Ok, ok." Collin said as he got out of the bed and got finished getting dressed.
"Just come on." Jess persisted until they finally walked downstairs. "Mom, Doug, I would like you to meet Collin."
Collin then came in where Toni and Doug were. "Hi." Collin said a little nervously.
"Nice to meet you Collin. I assume that you snuck in with Jess?" Toni asked him.
"She told me to." Collin told her.
"Why is it I'm not surprised." Toni joked with Jess.
"Hi Collin." Doug said to him.
"You must be Doug." Collin said. He knew now that Jess was right when she said that they were going to like him.
"Yep, always have been." Doug replied back but not sarcastically.
"Here is the thing, Collin is my fiancé and we found out a little over a month and half ago that we are going to be parents." Jess said happily.
"Are you serious Jess?" Toni asked surprised and happy at the same time.
"I am dead serious. That's why I am looking bigger." Jess said extremely happy.
"Jess, that's great!" Doug shouted with excitement. He was really happy for Jess and he was going to be an uncle.
"Wow, Jess. Why didn't you call me sooner about it?" Toni asked wondering why Jess wouldn't want to tell her that sooner.
"Because I wanted to surprise you and tell you with us talking like this." Jess told her. "I wanted to see your expression when you found out."
"I understand that. That's still great though. When's the baby due?" Toni asked.
"We won't know for another 5 weeks." Jess told her.
"Well you are going to have to call and tell me when the baby is due and whether it's a boy or a girl." Toni told her.
"Don't worry, I will." Jess promised.
"Do you two want some breakfast?" Toni asked them.
"Sure." Jess and Collin said.
They all ate breakfast and talked a little more to get to know Collin better.
After a little while Jess and Toni were alone to talk. "So what do you think of Collin mom?" Jess asked her.
"I think he's nice, caring, and I think he will make a great husband and dad." Toni said honestly.
"I do too." Jess said smiling.
"How long have you two been together?" Toni asked Jess.
"For about a year." Jess said. "He was going to leave me because he had taken an undercover job for the DOJ, which is where he works, and he was going to be gone for a year. But then I got in the accident and he came back and we found out I was pregnant and now he promised me he won't leave at least for awhile after the baby is born."
"At least you know that he will always be here for you when you need him." Toni said.
"Yeah, he's always been there for me and he always will be there for me." Jess agreed. "I love him so much and I don't know what I would do without him."
"I'm glad that you have found someone that you truly love Jess." Toni told her. "How about we go start making the Christmas dinner?"
"I'd love to." Jess said as her and her mom gave each other a hug.
"So mom, who all is coming for Christmas dinner?" Jess asked her mom while they began working on fixing the dinner.
"Originally it was all the family here in Indiana, but now we have two more very special guests, you and Collin. I'm so glad that you are here Jess." Toni said.
"I am too" Jess smiled.
Thanks to my reviewers! I just noticed I hadn't updated this one in a month... and don't worry chapter 8 of Betrayal is coming I promise. Please R&R.. 3 reviews and I'll update this one also! Lexie