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Chapter 66

What an Evening!

Jake

Edward and I brought some large pieces to the side of the road for a scrap collector to pick up. The Abagnales' huge garage had accumulated all sorts of rubbish over the years.

I suspected that it wouldn't look any different in the attic. On a rickety table stood an unmistakably ancient device.

I did not know what it was.

Edward viewed it a moment.

"A gramophone," he explained to me.

That didn't really tell me anything, though.

"The CD player of my youth," he added, and slowly it dawned on me.

"What was your youth like?" I asked with interest. A life at the turn of the twentieth century. I had seen some movies and read books set around that time, but didn't know how close they were to reality?

He began to narrate and I listened intently as we continued to carry other pieces out.

He talked about ordinary things. Men who all walked around in stiff suits or rough work clothes. There was nothing else. Jeans as everyday clothing was an achievement for the youth of the 1950s. No cell phones, no television. And only those who could afford it had telephones. One did not contradict their parents. That was clarified with a cane. I found that completely interesting and was very happy to be alive today. Especially when he told me that at that time no one had a 'girlfriend' in the modern sense. They would woo a lady they liked and courted her, only to then marry what was basically a stranger.

"Thank you, boys! That's definitely not what I would have been able to wear!" Mr. Abagnale came back to us with his wife.

She balanced a small tray of homemade lemonade and cookies and summoned us to take some.

She didn't have to ask me twice!

"No problem. You've got a whole bunch of interesting stuff lying around here," I said.

"Yes, it' s been quite an accumulation over the years. You always liked to hide here with your friend and you went on a discovery tour together," meant Mr. Abagnale and tousled through my hair teasingly.

"Back then," I looked down at the floor, a little embarrassed.

"With Brandon?" asked Edward, chuckling.

I nodded.

"How come you want to part with all these things now? There are some treasures in there. Some of them would make schools or even museums happy," Edward then asked.

"Our youngest daughter lives in California with her husband and children," Mrs. Abagnale began to say. "Now that neither of us are working, they felt we could move in with them. Our children are spread all over the country. That makes family reunions difficult, unless it's for holidays. Also, the climate there is certainly more pleasant in our old age. A small cottage in their immediate neighborhood, they also got us.""

"It must not have been an easy decision. After all, you lived here with your family," I meant. I actually couldn't imagine not living in our house one day. It was my home. But someday, Leah and I would definitely move out.

"True, it's hard for us to part with this house and all the memories. But California is where we see our grandchildren. So, this decision was pretty easy for us. No one can take away our memories, but there we can still experience a lot," Mr. Abagnale smiled with conviction.

Edward walked home again.

He would let me know when dinner was ready.

I wanted to browse through the rarities a bit and listen to the stories about them.

Okay, and eat some more of the cookies. I liked this older couple, even if I was afraid of Mr. Abagnale as a child.

They told me that they planned to move by Christmas at the latest and also to sell the house by then.

That was going to be difficult. It was the biggest house in the whole neighborhood. Our house could fit in here three times, I'm sure.

But I promised to help. Yet as I was saying farewell, Mrs. Abagnale pressed something into my hand. It looked valuable. An old ornate wooden box. I carefully lifted the lid. A jewelry box, with a dancing ballerina, which should actually sound a certain tasteful melody. However, it sounded very halting and unpleasant. Also, the dancer was no longer spinning properly.

"Maybe you can fix it. You and Leah often fell asleep to that music box when we were watching you," she said.

I could actually remember it. And that it was probably broken because of me. While romping around with Leah, I had stumbled against a small table. had hit my head, and the music box had fallen on the floor.

Remembering, I rubbed over the spot on my forehead.

"It seems to have come back to you," Mrs. Abagnale observed, smiling benignly.

"Yes. I'm sorry that I broke it," I said honestly. I had probably never apologized for that before.

"With kids in the house, you have to expect it," her husband laughed.

I thanked them both sincerely for this gift, but then left immediately, as a second text message from Edward had already arrived.

I hid the musical box in the garage for the time being.

I was going to give it to Mom, as long as I got it fixed. Her jewelry box was already pretty beat up. I'm sure she would be happy. However, I doubted that I would be able to fix it.

After dinner, I stood in the garage with Leah and showed her. She chuckled.

"You took my Barbie, ran away, and then ran into the table!" she accused me.

"Uh ... sorry?", I said. But I couldn't remember that part of the story!

She lifted the lid and listened to the hooking sounds of the musical clock.

"What kind of song is that?" asked Leah.

"No idea," was all I said, closed the lid again - a relief for my ears! - and looked for a suitable screwdriver.

"Für Elise!" stood Edward in the doorway.

At the same time, we turned to him.

"Uh ... what?" I asked.

"The melody is called 'Für Elise' and was by Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed the piano piece around 1810 and revised it himself in 1822. It has never been proven which lady named Elise the work was dedicated to beyond a doubt," he explained, approaching us. ('Für Elise' performed by Lang Lang)

"Uh-huh ... Can you play the piece?" asked Leah.

I grinned.

"Let's ask differently! Is there any song you can't play? With the enumeration we are probably faster!" I meant.

He said nothing, but just smiled.

That was apparently the answer.

I shook my head.

"You were able to break away from Emma?" Leah asked with a raised eyebrow.

Did I hear right? Was that jealousy?

"David's playing with the kids right now," he replied, and if that didn't fool me either, he sounded kind of offended.

I turned my attention back to the clock. I carefully opened it and examined the technology hidden inside.

Edward explained the mechanism to us.

It didn't sound that complicated.

He said after an extensive examination that I would certainly get it going again. The various components were just all out of place due to the fall and needed to be cleaned. The comb was slightly bent. We might have to replace it, which would certainly not be a problem with the help of the Internet. And if I had difficulties, I could always ask him for help.

Later Luces and Deacon were asleep in my room and Emma was in the guest bed - I would share the bed with Leah for the time being - when one told Leah and me about Daniel.

There was still a very strange mood between David and Sonya.

They loved each other, that was unmistakable, but were angry with each other, which was equally unmistakable. They did not touch each other, somehow avoided each other, hardly talked directly to each other. Mom and Edward, on the other hand, were in love as they had been all the last few days. They hardly kept their hands off each other and kissed regularly. I thought it was cute. Apparently, it rubbed off a little. At some point, Sonya had at least taken David's hand.

We were quite offended that no one had never told us anything about Daniel and didn't really understand the reason.

We had apparently met as small children often, but I could not remember it at all. That he had said nothing Sonya, I understood less. Now, however, it was clear to me where David had always spent the whole day on weekends. Even if he had done a lot with us, on Saturdays and Sundays he rarely had time for us and was usually away. It was only a little later that I understood the secrecy in front of us. We could have blabbed during a visit.

Sonya wanted to get to know Daniel, but without the children. She didn't want to overwhelm either of her own children or Daniel.

Edward and Mom immediately agreed to watch the kids tomorrow.

Leah and I had a better idea, though, with which our parents also had some time to themselves. That was more than scarce since Wednesday evening. So, we suggested to drive with the kids to 'Funtown' tomorrow. An amusement park in Saco, which was located in the direction of Portland - with carousels, shows, bouncy castles, playgrounds, ...

All parents agreed.

The mood in the house was pretty charged throughout the evening, so I was very relieved to be able to disappear to Becky's.

Since I was arranging to meet Bran and Jason tomorrow evening and she in turn were arranging to meet Leah, Jenny, and Lisa, Becky was immediately excited and would be driving to the amusement park with us. Her little brother happened to overhear and begged to come with us.

So much assertiveness would not have been necessary with me. Even if I sometimes found him rather clingy, he was however a droll boy. Hard to believe, but he wasn't a pain in the neck!

Despite the partially young children, the day had been really fun. We usually skipped the children's carousels, but today we stopped at every ride that at least the boys were brave enough for. We took turns when Emma didn't dare go on one or was too small for it.

Many photos, yet more candy, and lots of fun later, we sat back in the dining room and had a relatively early dinner.

The mothers expected that we would come back with a ravenous appetite. I guess mothers had a sixth sense about that.

After Leah vacated the bathroom, I quickly went to shower and get dressed when my sister came over.

"Well, what are you guys up to today?" asked Leah.

"Nothing planned. Probably just hanging out," I said truthfully.

We would probably spend half the night in front of the X-Box or watching horror movies.

We had already given up secretly watching porn on the Internet a long time ago. Fortunately. It had just been too embarrassing when Bran's older brother had caught us doing it once. We had listened to that from him for a long time.

I asked her in return what was happening with the girls today.

Leah didn't know it, but she had instructions to get dressed up.

She had succeeded in any case! She would turn guys heads, no matter where they went.

"Take good care of my girlfriend!" I instructed Leah. " Here's to her still being my girlfriend tomorrow!"

It had slipped out more seriously than I had intended, and Leah laughed at me for my exaggerated concern.

"So, Ben is definitely history!" I stated as I put on my shoes.

She nodded. To my next thought she came of her own accord.

"I'm not looking again yet. That would be a bit too fast. I first have to process my time with Ben a little and finally put it behind me. Today I just want to celebrate that I'm free," she laughed cheerfully against me.

I was happy that my sister could laugh like that again.

"But don't overdo the partying!" I reminded her, remembering Tuesday.

But she remembered the morning after well enough on her own.

When we came down, everyone was sitting on the terrace.

Edward walked in when he saw us.

"You look pretty, Leah," he noted, and I agreed with a smile.

He apologized that he had completely forgotten to give us something.

A key as well as a radio control for the gate. We thanked him politely and I thought it was really nice of him, but wondered what I should do with it.

"You are welcome with my family. Anytime! With all of them! Carlisle and Esmé will especially be happy if you visit them. In the end, there are many reasons to give you the keys. Just think of it as your second home, which you can visit at any time. No matter if you want to visit someone or maybe have some peace and quiet," he explained and now I was really grateful for the key.

I had already considered when I might be able to go over again without it being intrusive or rude. I liked them all. Above all, they were a lot more relaxed in their own four walls than they were at school.

"Thank you," Leah also said.

He also mentioned that the address was stored in the GPS unit of the Audi, so we could find it again on our own.

"And one other thing: Neither of you have a curfew," he smiled at us.

That was great. But I didn't really care today. After all, I was only meeting with the guys.

"As long as you behave yourselves, that also applies to all future weekends ... And behave in this case means that you report to me by midnight at the latest if you plan to come home the next day. At the same time, I require you to state the time when we can expect you again and where you will spend the night. I don't have to tell you that you don't lie to your mother about any incidents, just as I don't have to tell you that you don't go overboard with alcohol and the like."

"How did you manage that?" I asked, dumbfounded.

Leah was still a little speechless next to me.

"Bella trusts you and she sees you growing up. As long as you behave responsibly, she won't treat you like children," Edward explained, placing a hand on each of our shoulders.

He looked at Leah a little more sternly and I smirked.

I doubted that anything like Tuesday would happen with Leah again.

We hugged Edward briefly and thanked him for his encouragement of this new freedom. Even if he didn't say it explicitly, he had certainly contributed to it.

Then we went to mom and thanked her as well. Everyone wished us a good time and off we went.

I dropped Leah off at Jenny's and then drove on to Brandon. It was still early, just seven o'clock and Jason was not yet there. So I could still chat with him completely informally and reported on the handover of keys and the lifting of our curfew.

"Can one throw parties there in secret then?" he asked with a grin.

"Since Edward's siblings live right next door, I don't think so," I grinned back as I was installing a game of David's on his PC.

"Too bad," he dropped the subject. "How are the lovebirds doing?"

"Oh, I haven't told you yet," I remembered. Since at school one had to constantly fear that someone was listening - Edward aside - we mostly didn't speak there about the secrets he had been sharing with me since Monday. "He proposed to my mom!"

"Bullshit!" objected Bran.

So, I told him how it had gone.

"Then you'll finally get your own dad now and you can stop envying me for my old one," he rejoiced with me, and it really made me happy. "Must feel weird though, right? After all, then your stepdad is the same age as you," he asked.

"Yes and no ... Edward may look like someone our age, but he doesn't act like it. I see the age difference and I'm also aware of it. It's also clear that there will certainly be enough people who can't do anything with it or will even diss Mom for it. But when I see the two of them together, it seems so unimportant. They look like they've always belonged together," I tried to explain it.

Bran nodded.

"Mmm ... mmm ... I've seen they, yes. One really forget about it. It's almost like you and Becky. Like it's preordained and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"Try making that clear to Mike, however!" I urged him.

"Mike! ... Did you accidentally run into his fist again?" Bran asked, amused.

"No. Not since Wednesday."

As expected, we gambled after Jason showed up.

Jason had 'a good cry' with us a bit. He had met a girl at the 'Twilight' on Tuesday. She had written her cell phone number on a napkin for him before she left, but he had left it behind. After Ben had told the group that Leah had just thrown up in the parking lot, they had all gone out to see her, worried. When he returned afterwards, the table had already been cleaned up and wiped down. Almost every evening he drove by there briefly to see if she was back. So far without any luck.

At some point I was walking back down the hall from the bathroom when I heard Brandon's parents from downstairs.

His dad must have just arrived, I hadn't seen him earlier.

They discussed a little louder. Actually, I didn't want to listen and already had the doorknob in my hand, but two names made it impossible to not listen: Edward and Bella.

Quietly, I walked down the stairs a bit and eavesdropped.

"It's none of your business, " Bran's dad wanted to clarify.

"Pedophilia is everybody's business," his mom countered spitefully.

I gulped at this word.

"Give me a break, Cathlyn. This Edward isn't a little boy anymore."

"How would you feel about our son bringing home a woman who could be his mother?"

"I would be happy for my son to trust me so much and then have an unbiased conversation with the lady," the father explained as Bran looked for me right then since it was my turn in our game.

I gestured him to be quiet and he eavesdropped with me on his parents' conversation.

"Who are you going to tell that to then?"

"Would you kick Brandon out of the house if it was like that?"

"No, but I would report the woman - for seducing minors!"

"You haven't the fainest idea however how old this Edward really is! In our country, the age of consent is sixteen. He must be that old already, since he's in Brandon's class. So Bella can do whatever she wants with this Edward. That means you can do absolutely nothing about it. The law is on Bella's side," his dad continued to defend my mother's honor, which I gave him credit for.

One heard a contemptuous snort.

"Besides, you heard Jake himself. He doesn't seem to have a problem with it ..." the voices quieted and Bran and I slipped back into his room.

Shit! I had seen earlier that his room door was only ajar, but had not paid attention to whether someone was in the hallway. What had I possibly unleashed with that now?

As soon as the door clicked shut, I let my head fall sullenly against the door and additionally hammered against the wood with my forearms.

"Damn it!" I cursed. Fortunately, we had only spoken about that and not about the other secrets of our family.

"Sorry, J. I should have watched my door better," Brandon apologized, but it wasn't his fault.

"What's going on?" asked Jason, on the other hand.

I turned around, still leaning against the door, and thought for a moment.

Our friend group would find out sooner or later anyway. So, what the heck?

"My mom is together with Edward," so I said.

"And?" he asked, puzzled.

"Edward is the same age as us. His mother is in her mid-thirties," Bran explained to him.

"And?" asked Jason yet again. "It's their business."

"Not everyone sees it that way, though. Bran's parents just had a heated discussion down there," I said, but Jason really didn't seem to understand the background.

"Seduction to minors," Bran interjected, giving him a reminiscent punch to the back of the neck.

I guess it had 'clicked'.

"Maybe my ma will just drop it," Bran tried to downplay it, whereby ...

"Your mother doesn't usually hold back on her opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if she's already got the phone in her hand to call our house. Or driving there so Mom can't just hang up," I countered, pulling out my phone after Bran shrugged his shoulders knowingly.

"You're warning your mom?" asked Jason, who by now had realized the extent of it.

"No. Edward. So, he can already break it to her gently," I muttered and Edward answered the phone immediately.

I guiltily explained what a stupid mistake I had made here and that Brandon's mother usually didn't mince words about giving her opinion promptly to the people involved. She wasn't a gossip, you had to give her credit for that. She wouldn't tell anyone, but she would accuse Mom of it with deadly certainty. And me, because she had noticed that I didn't care. And then also Brandon, because he knew and had not told his mother about this - in her eyes - fatal monstrosity.

Edward surprised me by once again remaining as cool as a cucumber.

No telling off for being so careless.

"We were counting on your friends and their parents to find out quickly, and Bella said herself that Cathlyn would probably be the first one we would have to deal with. Thank you for the heads up, Jake, but please don't worry about it. It will certainly work out," he said in a tone that made me feel extremely reassured.

How did he always do that?

Relieved, I hung up.

Edward and Mom weren't stupid. Of course, they knew they would face headwinds.

When I looked up from the phone, my friends were grinning at me.

"You need something to take your mind off things!" noted Jason, and the two of them were practically pushing me through the door.

Bran tossed me my keys, Jason grabbed his sweatshirt, and on the way out Bran put on his shoes. We stumbled down the stairs more than we walked.

"Dad, we're off again" Bran announced rather casually to his parents, walking with us purposefully toward the front door.

"Be back by ten!" we heard behind us and Bran stopped instantly.

"Ten?" he asked in horror as he walked back to the living room door.

Jason and I chuckled waiting while Bran discussed the time.

Just like earlier. It had been a long time since we had to be home by ten. Jason was only sixteen, but since he'd been hanging out with us, the same rules applied to him as they did to us and his older sister. It was midnight on the weekends and on special occasions sometimes later. Our parents liked to be in sync with each other. What would they say when they found out that Leah and I no longer had a curfew?

Bran finally defiantly prevailed.

His dad just seemed to want to tease him.

It was typical of him. His dad was pretty casual by parental standards.

We drove into town to a club.

We just entered the large room, when I discovered a bar table on the opposite side - with four hot girls at it. They were visibly in a good mood and one was prettier than the other.

Jason and Brandon spotted them as well.

We headed to the bar, ordered colorful cocktails for the cuties, and put on our most charming smiles as we strided with determined steps toward the small group.

Yep, I could distract myself with this.

"I guess we got lost," Brandon purred seductively, handing one of the glasses to the girl next to him.

"We must have landed in heaven!" stated Jason, gingerly putting an arm around the shoulders of the ladies to his right and left while holding out the drinks they had been assigned.

"Where else do you meet real angels?" I asked, handing the last cocktail with a charming smile to the beauty right next to me.

She sipped the glass and slid her tongue over her lips very beguilingly.

Wow ... that was hot.

Those full red lips. They attracted me; I could not fight back. The music and voices around me became like background noise as I surrendered to this scorching kiss. Her lips seemed to be on fire.

My hands slid from her cheeks along her sides, one slid further to her thigh, which I pulled against my hip with firm pressure. The other thigh wrapped itself around me and I pulled her body towards me even more. The barstool slid out from under her, but I held her tight. The clatter of the stool, however, woke me from this intoxicating kiss.

"What would your boyfriend say about this?" I asked her, struggling a little to catch my breath.

"It's his own fault for leaving me alone on a Saturday night!" she whispered captivatingly and I pulled this lips in for another kiss.

Abruptly interrupted by ice cubes that someone stuck down the back of my collar.

Everyone laughed, including Becky, while I fished the ice out of my T-shirt. Evilly I looked behind me.

"You told me to watch her!" defended Leah, still laughing vociferously.

Armed with the ice cubes, I doggedly fought my sister.

We had a lot of fun, danced extensively, goofed around. I didn't think about Mom or Edward anymore and the remainder of the evening flew by.

At a quarter to twelve we were in the parking lot. Most of us had to go home.

Of course, I would take Becky home myself, but she surprised me. She didn't have to go home. After everything had apparently gone to her parents' satisfaction last weekend, she was allowed to stay out overnight again. Only one evening was planned among the girls, but Jenny's parents - were out-of-town and would be gone overnight - would drive to some relatives very early tomorrow. So, no one would notice where she would actually spend the night.

"That gives me an idea," I purred and kissed my star. Damn. There are two children in my bed.

Leah must have looked at my disappointment. She whistled so that I looked in her direction and she held up presentation-wise the new radio control on her keychain.

I pulled out my cell phone.

I will not be back until tomorrow. I picked up a cute girl at the club who I want to show your hot tub!

I typed and waited.

Have fun. Give my best to Becky.

And Bella is too young to be a grandmother!

I grinned and showed her Edward's answer.

She quickly got her bag out of Jenny's car and we drove off.

I stopped at a twenty-four-hour supermarket again to pick up a few odds and ends, since there was definitely nothing edible or drinkable at Edward's.

Something to drink, a bottle of sparkling wine, condoms, whipped cream, and strawberry sauce ...

It turned out to be a night that I would not forget for the rest of my life.

Thanks for reading!