Chapter Twelve: Things Happen When They're Supposed To - Part One

****Pamela****

He turned the wrapped present around in his hands, inspecting certain spots more than others, like he was trying to find a hole that would reveal a clue about what laid underneath the shiny, red paper. My wrapping skills were legendary. I could wrap any shape or size and was an expert at taping all gaps, making it almost impossible for anyone to open.

“Give it up, Trev. You’ll never figure it out until you open it.” Dad tried to convince him and Trev first looked up at him and then glanced at me. His raised eyebrow asked me if I’d give him any hints but I smiled and shrugged back, refusing to give in. It seemed so fitting that he’d approach opening presents like an excited child and as he began trying to find a corner or edge to rip, we all started to laugh at his theatrics.

The smirk that appeared on his lips gave away that he somehow found a place to begin ripping and I held my breath as more and more of his present was revealed. I thought my heart might explode from the anticipation when he released the last of the tape from the paper and bit my lip as his hand started to pull it back to see. . .

The images were instantly gone and I felt my heart sink as I realized that I’d woken up, again. Every single time, something would wake me up before I could witness his reaction and I wondered what the culprit was that morning.   

“Don’t move.” His warm, whispered breath tickled my cheek, exposing the reason for my interrupted dream. I reached up to rub the affected spot but he grabbed my hand before I could and lowered it back down. “I told you not to move.” His voice was still soft but there was laughter in it and I had to know why.

“What are you doing?” I opened my eyes and looked in the direction of his breath to see his face inches from mine, his lips moving and his eyes slowly scanning my cheek. “Are you trying to count my freckles?!” The absurdity of it was what made it funny and reasonable that it was something he’d do.  

“Shhh.” He playfully scolded me and immediately went back to mouthing what looked like numbers, starting at nine hundred and ninety nine. There was nothing for me to do but roll my eyes at him and he chuckled as he triumphantly declared the final number. “One thousand and three!”

I skeptically gazed back at him, shaking my head and trying to hide my smile. “Really?”

Even in the early morning light of the room, his ear to ear grin threatened to blind me. “Give or take a few.” He admitted and I finally laughed at his early morning antics. Another blinding grin lit up his face but was soon hidden when his mouth started to nuzzle my neck. “You smiled while you were dreaming. . .” His whispered hint begged me to tell him my dream and tickled me, making a small giggle escape.

“I was dreaming about Christmas and us at my parents’ house.” I half revealed and he stopped kissing my neck to look at me, smiling as he tried to hide the worry that I could still see in his eyes.

“You’re still worried. . .” A hint of surprise flashed across his face but quickly gave way to understanding as he realized that I’d seen what he meant to conceal.

“Maybe we should’ve told them before, so they could’ve gotten used to the idea.” He second guessed our decision to keep the identity of each of our Christmas “guests” a secret, but it was too late.

“We agreed, we wouldn’t tell our families before. That way we could explain everything one time to each family, instead of calling everyone, telling them, and then explaining why it needed to remain quiet.” When he opened his mouth to argue I turned towards him and propped up on my arm.

“Besides, a couple of hours isn’t going to make that big of a difference and even though you don’t want to believe me. . .” I raised my hand up and caressed his cheek, wanting to touch and reassure him. “. . .I know my parents will be happy that it’s you.”

He cringed, still not believing me about how they would react, but changed his focus to another member of my family. “What about Tiff?”

“I told you, she showed up at Thanksgiving with a boyfriend, who she’s still dating and bringing to Christmas.” It was one of the reasons that Trev and I agreed to tell our families about our relationship. We were miserable apart while watching our siblings with their significant others.

“Speaking of family. . .” I hinted, trying to change the subject. “Shouldn’t we head downstairs?”

We quickly got dressed and halfway down heard the first signs that someone was awake; a voice and banging.  Our question of who was answered when we saw Trev’s brother Will, sitting on the living room floor with his daughter who was playing a wooden block sorting game.

“Morning.” Will said and smiled up at us as we entered the room. The sound of his voice made Brooke look up at him and hit a block against the wood base.

“Bababa.” She excitedly exclaimed and Will smiled down at her.

“That’s right. We say good morning.” She quizzically looked up at him before continuing to beat the block and he looked back up, apologizing with his eyes. “I hope we didn’t wake you.” He hinted and Trev and I both shook our heads.

“No. Although some of us might argue that we were woken up by childish behavior.” I teased Trev about his freckle counting and he tried to convince Will of his innocence by smiling and shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh the stories I could tell about being woken up by childish pranks. . .” Will whispered, confidently raising his head and eyebrow up at Trev. Playfully threatening to reveal his secrets.

“You break out the embarrassing stories and I’ll be more than happy to tell Emily the ones I’ve been generous in keeping to myself.”

“The one’s you’ve kept to yourself?” Will smiled and shook his head in disbelief. “I think you’ve shared the most embarrassing ones.”

“Keep threatening to tell her mine. . .” He motioned to me with his head. “. . .and I’ll be happy to prove you wrong.” Their tit-for-tat exchange continued and I sunk down into one of the couches, making myself comfortable as their next round of brotherly teasing began.

Each time it happened, Emily and I would exchange a knowing smile and as a new day of brotherly teasings began, I wondered if she was still sleeping.

The sound of someone getting sick hinted at where she was and the teasing between Trev and Will immediately stopped. “Is she okay?” Trev looked towards the hallway and then back at Will.

He nodded but jumped up. “Would you mind sitting with Brooke?” He quickly left the room and Trev sat down on the floor in front of her.

She studied him for a moment, looking like she wasn’t sure she was happy that he took her daddy’s place, but when he flashed her his gigantic grin, she smiled back up at him and continued to hit her block.

“Can you say Uncle Trev?” He asked her in a babyish voice and I tried not to laugh. At first she ignored him, continuing to hit her block on every surface she could reach, but when he asked her again she looked up at him and blew bubbles with her lips until a sound came out. “Bababa.”

She repeated her favorite syllable and Trev nodded at her. “Good enough. Uncle Bababa it is.” She smiled up at him and repeated her “bababas” before trying to make her block fit into every hole but the one that it went in.

He chuckled at her response but suddenly stopped, becoming self-conscious, and turned to see if I was watching them. Instead of a teasing smile or me trying to hide a laugh, he saw the warmth in my eyes and smile that I felt in my heart from watching them together, causing any embarrassment he felt to melt away.

   

The sound of footsteps growing loader in the hallway broke our shared gaze and we both jumped up as Will re-entered the room. “Is she okay?” I asked him.

Even though she’d just gotten sick, he acted like everything was as it should be and he nodded while moving towards Brooke.

“But she got sick. . .” Trev motioned towards the bathroom, encouraging Will to let us know why his wife getting sick on Christmas Eve morning wasn’t something to worry about

Will reassuringly smiled first at me, “She’s not sick.” and turned to give Trev a wide knowing grin. “She’s pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Trev voiced the shock that both of us felt and Will nodded.

“Yup.” His proud smile left little doubt about how he felt about it but didn’t help shine any understanding on Trev’s disbelief.

“Holy shit.” He whispered and was of course the words that caught Brooke’s attention.

“Bababa!” She seemed to voice her opinion on the matter and reminded Trev of her presence.

He shrunk down, like a little boy who’d gotten caught doing something naughty and gave Will a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

The sound of Will’s laughter filling the room eliminated any worry about Trev’s outburst, and moments later Trev’s and my laugh joined his, a mixture of relief from learning that Emily was okay and that Trev wasn’t in trouble.

It was Brooke’s squeals of delight, joining in and cutting through all the other happy noises that snapped Trev out of his shock, prompting him to walk over to Will.

“Congratulations.” He grunted while giving Will a bear hug and patting him on the back. The congratulations I offered soon after was shortened by the Trev’s determined attempt at a mini interrogation.

“When did you find out?”

“Right after Thanksgiving.” Will cringed a little, knowing like I did that it was what Trev was fishing for and that he wouldn’t like the answer.

“But you haven’t said anything or even hinted.” His accusatory and hurt eyes flickered in my direction, giving away what was unspoken. I told you about her, my biggest secret and you didn’t tell me yours.

Will nodded but looked down, unable to meet Trev’s hurt stare. “We wanted to make sure everything was okay before telling everyone.” His whispered reason why made Trev grow more reflective. He hadn’t told me much, but I knew enough from him that Will and Emily hadn’t had an easy time conceiving Brooke, so it made perfect sense why they would keep the wonderful news of their most recent pregnancy a secret.

A slow creeping, teasing smile appeared and his soft, twinkling eyes simultaneously apologized and teased Will. “You know Mom’s gonna freak out?”  

A similar smile graced Will’s lips as his eyes lifted from the floor and he nodded. “She’s still tickled to bits about George and Steph having twins. She just might faint learning that she’s a soon to be grandmother of four.” Trev’s continued teasing coaxed Will out from his retreating shell and he glanced back up at me and smiled at both of us.

“And we thought last Christmas was the Christmas of surprises. Charlotte came home, you all introduced Steph to the family, and Emily and I showed up after making everyone believe we weren’t coming.”

“Something tells me this one might be a memorable one too.” His eyes darted to mine and he smirked at me.

An hour and a half later, we were all dressed and on our way to his brother, George’s apartment. The plan was for us to take two cars. that way Will and his family could return to Trev’s apartment to stay one more night, and Trev and I could leave there for ASU.

The greeting that started as Will and his family walked through the thick foyer glass doors was somewhat dizzying to watch and gave me a new appreciation of what visitors to my parents’ house endured. We were the last of the family to arrive, and the noise level of everyone talking at once was something that I wouldn’t have been used to if I didn’t have a decent sized family too.  

“I wondered if Pamela was your mystery guest. . .”  The distantly familiar voice of his mom’s cut through all others, instantaneously quieting them and she quickly emerged from the large group, first smiling at Trev and then me.  

“It’s like we’re getting to reunite with an old friend.” She continued as her arms wrapped around me, which somewhat took me by surprise since I figured she’d hug Trev first. But it didn’t take me long to get over my shock and hug her back.

Ever the subtle one, Trev loudly cleared his throat, reminding everyone that he’d been forgotten about for too long. It wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to know what expression awaited Bridge and me as we ended our hug and simultaneously turned our heads to stare at him. Just as I expected, he was looking down at us with his usual cheeky grin.

Bridge laughed and lunged towards him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing with all of her might.  “I started to think that you forgot I was here.” Trev squeezed her back with just as much enthusiasm but she somehow escaped his powerful arms and smacked one for his smartass remark.

“Of course I didn’t forget you!” She mockingly scolded him. “But I am glad that it’s her.” The words she emphasized and the way her eyes twinkled as they bounced between the two of us snatched my attention and I tried to hide my suspicions about them by smiling back at her.

Did he. . .? I turned to look at him before the complete question could from in my mind, and asked him with my eyes. He didn’t say anything, but sheepishly smiled, wrapping his hand around mine and avoided the unspoken question by starting the introductions.

“You’ve met George before.” Trev motioned towards his brother and I was left with no alternative but to momentarily forget about my suspicions and meet eyes the identical shade of blue as Trev’s . We greeted each other with a nod and smile.

It was pleasant exchange and for the most part, welcoming, but his smile couldn’t hide the intent of his eyes. They studied me. Very carefully and brought to mind the nickname I’d heard Trev mention several times before; “Mr. Psychologist.”

But along with the teasing nickname and the fact that he could be an annoying, overprotective brother, Trev also mentioned how George was the one he turned to for help the previous spring. Knowing some of his over protectiveness arose from that, it made his study of me more than bearable and my smile widened further, something he pondered over as I turned my attention to the woman standing next to him.

“This is his wife, Steph.” Her friendly smile and relaxed demeanor was so opposite of her husband’s that it brought to mind the phrase “Opposites attract.” Which was something that Trev informed me of beforehand, but seeing was believing.

I’d also learned that she was the person that Trev credited for both George’s and the family’s transformations. Her introduction and addition to the family helped bring Charlotte home and heal wounds that had developed between the different siblings, including Trev and George. It was obvious to me from the way he talked about her, that he thought of her as another sister and I was glad to finally meet her.

“And this is my sister Charlotte and her husband Ethan.” The introduction of his sister and her husband was the one that I was most unsure about. Until recently, I’d heard Trev mention her five times, one of those being just months before when he informed my family that she and her husband went on their family vacation. And even though more recently he’d filled me in on how he’d accidentally discovered her in a bar due to his dad’s guiding touch, and warned me that she wasn’t the most open or talkative person, there were still large holes about what I knew.

Her actions weren’t something that anyone in my family understood, and mine had wondered at it more than once. Having only Trev’s version of the story, remembering how he tried to hide his pain when he talked about her and knowing how much the whole family had worried about her during the years she was missing, didn’t make meeting her any easier. But as my eyes finally met hers, piercing blue like Trev’s, I decided to try to do with her what I hadn’t done with him. Give her my understanding instead of my judgement.

She smiled. Not as friendly as the others, but there wasn’t any animosity behind it either. Of everyone gathered, she looked the most nervous, both her hands wrapped around her husband’s arms, the whole side of her body flush against his. His smile was warmer and not as forced as his wife’s; once again proving how opposites seemed to attract.

“This is Pamela.” I heard a mixture of pride and resolve in his voice as he introduced me. They seemed to notice it too, each standing up a little straighter and faces softening somewhat as he continued.

“We went to college together and her dad was my coach, and still is the head football coach at ASU. He’s the one that helped me get in shape this summer so I could become the starting quarterback.” The recognition of his work over the summer flashed on most of their faces but turned to confusion when I shook my head and started to argue with him.

“The help received was mutual.” I glanced back up at Trev and caught his smirk and raised eyebrow that playfully challenged me to continue my argument. “He says that Dad helped him, but Dad got some usefulness out of him too. He’d be the first to tell you that one of the reasons that the team is in the running for the championship this year is because of the boost that Trev’s given the team. Of course he,” I motioned to Trev with my head. “wouldn’t take credit for that. . .”  I hinted and they acknowledged the truth of my statement with knowing smiles and nods.

“It’s nice to meet everyone.” I greeted them and continued to scan their smiling faces. Still seeing curiosity in them and anticipating the many questions I knew they were dying to ask us.

“We have some time while we wait for lunch to finish cooking. Why don’t we move into the living room so everyone can sit down?” Steph offered and I was relieved to have some of the attention momentarily directed away from me.

With Trev’s hand still protectively wrapped around mine, he led me into the spacious living room and to one of the large couches. As we settled back into the sofa cushions, I turned my head quick enough to see him wink at his mom who sat in the chair next to us, erasing any doubt I had about them being in cahoots together.

It didn’t bother me, knowing that he at some point had a conversation about us with his mom. In fact, I was more touched by it then anything. And as he placed his arm on the cushion behind my head, essentially dispelling any doubts that he meant to protect me, I smiled and patted his crossed knee, slowly rubbing it before letting it rest there.

“How are your parents?” His mom asked once everyone was settled in their seats.

“They’re both doing well. I’m sure if they knew I was here they would tell me to say hello and to let you know that they hope you’ll return to ASU soon.”

She smiled and nodded, sitting a little straighter as an idea came to her. “Actually, if I remember correctly, one of the last times we talked we mentioned our surprise at the two of you ending up in the same city. I was equally surprised that you weren’t here playing basketball.”

“That’s it.” George snapped his fingers and then pointed one at me. “You played basketball at ASU.” I smiled my relief that his exclamation didn’t mean he remembered something bad about me and nodded. “I don’t remember meeting you at graduation, but there was something familiar about you.”

“She was also a cheerleader at ASU.” Trev helped him and George nodded, remembering where he’d seen me before.

“That must be it. We went to all your football games and even went to several of the women’s basketball games.”

Trev smiled and looked at me. “It’s hard to forget the legendary “P & P” once you’ve seen them in action.” He referenced Paisley’s and my nickname on and off the court and Will chimed in.

“What did it stand for again?”

“Depends on where they were. Off the court it referred to them being two “Peas in a Pod.” On the court it was short for “Power and Precision.” I blushed at the obvious admiration in his voice.

“Who was each?” Steph encouraged him to continue.

“The “power” was Paisley.” He paused and looked at me, waiting for me to look at him and smirked when I finally did. “The “precision” was Pamela. They were a very lethal duo and helped the team win three championships in four years. Their freshman year being the only one they didn’t.” His bragging was making me turn pinker by the second and I was glad when Bridge tried to change the subject back to my choice to write instead of play basketball.

“You were great together and separate, which was why I was surprised to hear from Nick and Nicole that you would be in Bridgeport reporting.”

I nodded. “It just wasn’t where my heart was.” I shrugged and gave her a knowing smile. “I was bit by the football bug at a young age and wanted to find a way that I could stay connected to it. Reporting about it has allowed me to do that.”

She nodded and smiled. “Your dad bragged about your knowledge and passion for football more than once to Carson. He used to say about you that ‘the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.’”  I felt Trev’s hand squeeze mine and saw his head nodding out of the corner of my eye.

“I’m confused.” Charlotte sat forward in the couch across from us and turned her body a little so she could better look at her mom.  “How long have you known Pamela’s parents?”

“Your dad and I were close friends with them during and after college. But I lost touch with them after Trev graduated.” She cringed as she said the last part and turned to look at me. “I really should get in touch with them.”

I smiled and nodded at her, knowing that Mom and Dad would enjoy reconnecting. No doubt reliving their college days when they did.

“So who’s going to start the embarrassing stories about Trev?” Will continued his threatening and gave Trev a lopsided grin. “He’s got several years payback coming his way. . .”

“You gotta be shitting me.” Trev whispered and chuckled as he shook his head. “Stories? Already?” He protested a little louder.

I felt Trev jerk from Will’s nudge to his side. “I tried last night and this morning to share some, but all he does is threaten to return the favor.” That was all it took for the siblings to sit forward, glance at each other and make a silent pact to band together in a joined effort to embarrass Trev.

“I’ve got the perfect one! How about the sock story?” Everyone turned to glance in shock at the person that offered it. The one that seemed the least likely. His mom.

A chorus of agreement sounded around the room and they all looked at each other. “Who should tell it?”  Charlotte wondered.

George, taking on the story telling responsibilities, glanced at me and started. “So it was during his sophomore year in high school.”

“It was junior year.” Trev corrected him.

“That’s right!” Will agreed. “And he decided to not change his socks.”

“Wait, you make it sound like I didn’t ever change my socks!” Trev protested and Charlotte tried to clarify.

“That’s right it was his football socks!” They all agreed and started to talk at once.

“You’d think as many times as Mom’s had me tell this story that you’d know it by now.” He chuckled and shook his head. They continued to get details wrong and Trev moaned. “Good God! Do I have to tell my own embarrassing story?” He sighed and turned to look at me.

“It was the beginning of my junior year in high school. During the first game of the season the starting Varsity quarterback got injured. Which sucked because he was a senior and ended up not being able to play any of his last year.” I nodded and he continued.

“So I went in, with about 5 minutes to go. We were down by three points and ended up scoring a touchdown in the last minute to win the game. I was just happy that we ended up winning and figured Chad would be back in the next game and I’d go back to being backup. When I found out that he was out for the whole season and that I was the starting quarterback, I about shit my pants. I spent all week trying to prep for the game and in the process forgot to do things that I normally would; like bring home my gear to be washed.”

“We won the next game but our third game was against our rivals and we hadn’t won a game against them in five years. I prepped like I did before, suited up the day of the game, and again about shit my pants when we won. After the game, I sat on one of the benches in the locker room, trying to figure out how we’d beaten the Admirals after five years. I got undressed and when I went to take my socks off; I realized that I hadn’t taken them home to wash.” I tried to bite back the smile that threatened to show.

“All of my equipment had been washed at some point in the three weeks except my socks. Not wanting to tempt fate, I stuffed them back in my locker, thinking that whenever we lost I’d bring them home to wash. There was only one problem. . .”

“You never lost, did you?” I guessed, since the story was about smelly socks.

He shook his head. “Nope. We won county and state that year. A first for Appaloosa High School.”

“So after State, coach demanded that we take home our gear and have it cleaned. Because at that point, you had to hold your breath the whole time you were in the locker room because I wasn’t the only one who refused to wash a piece of their uniform.”

“The only thing luck ever got anyone was a locker room full of smelly socks. . .” I quoted back his statement from the article, realizing that there had been some actual truth to it.

He nodded and I caught a glimpse of his smirk before he hung his head in embarrassment. “I brought them home to wash, but I chickened out. I somehow convinced myself that if I could hide them somewhere, no one would notice and my good luck would continue next year.”

“There’s a pool house and I figured that since it was cold, no one would need to go in there. What I didn’t realize was that some of Dad’s yard equipment was stored there, including the snow shovels. A couple weeks later, we had a big snow and while Dad was at work, Mom decided to shovel part of the driveway.”

“Oh my God! I wish I could describe the smell!  I thought something had died in there!“ Her eyes honed in on Trev and scolded him for making her endure a smell that I knew all too well.

He grinned and shrugged as he continued. “When Dad got home, she had him go into the pool house and try to find what was making it smell. After about ten minutes, he found my bag of stinky socks and carried them into the house. Mom tried to snatch them from him to wash, but Dad had a different idea. A way to ‘teach me a lesson.’”

“He put them back where he found them, waited for me to get home, and placed one sock under the driver’s seat of my car, and one in the glovebox. For a week, I lived with that smell in my car. Driving to school, going out with friends, and it was so bad that sometimes my clothes smelled like it when I got out of the car. I even complained about it to Mom and Dad and they never gave away that they knew what the smell was. Finally, after a week, Dad suggested that I look around the car and try to find the smell.”

“When I found them, I assumed it was one of them.” He pointed towards his siblings and they laughed. “I pitched a fit to Mom and Dad, telling them I was going to find out who did it and return the favor and that’s when Dad said, ‘Maybe someone already has.’”

“He told me how Mom had found the smell in the pool house and how he’d had to dig around and remove them. That stinking up my car was payback for stinking up the pool house with socks that I refused to wash. When I tried to explain why, he said I had three options. I could choose to stink up my car and park it down the road, I could bury them in the yard somewhere, or I could wash them, because there was no way that I was going to stink up any part of the house with my nasty, funky socks.”

I figured I knew the answer as to which one he chose, but I asked anyway. “What did you do?”

“I washed them. I bitched about it for days, and I worried about how it would affect the next season. But we ended up winning county and state again. Which proved that it wasn’t the socks.” He paused for a moment so he could deliberately look at each individual sitting there as he continued. “And ever since then, it’s been the story that I’m forced to tell at family get togethers, or when no one else can tell it right. . .”

“Maybe that’s because you tell it the best.” Will jabbed Trev with his elbow again and everyone nodded, including Trev. “But if you’d rather us tell an embarrassing story, I’m sure we could think of others. . .” They all started talking at once, determined to share what each thought was the most embarrassing stories, so consumed with their efforts that they stopped paying attention to Trev.

He sat calmly for a few seconds, listening to them with no visible evidence as to what he was thinking. Until a wicked smirk appeared as his eyes zeroed in on Will. “Remember your first date?” His booming voice cut through theirs and they each slowly turned to look at him. “Remember what happened?”

Will’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as Trev turned his attention to George.  “How about your first bike? Remember how excited you got?” George’s mouth fell open in disbelief and Trev moved on to Charlotte, “Do you still have your favorite mirror?” She bit her lip and gave him a warning look.

“So you can dish it out but can’t take it?” George jokingly called him out and Trev nodded as another smirk pulled at his lips.  

“Maybe. But I can assure you, I don’t need your help with embarrassing stories. She’s well acquainted with what a dumbass I can be.”

There were a couple more stories, the less embarrassing kind, and the sharing of photos by Bridge, mostly of Trev, some of which made his face turn several different shades of red and pink, before Steph mentioned needing to check on lunch. Taking the opportunity to move around, I followed her and the other ladies into the kitchen where we helped with the last minute lunch preparations.

Once everything was ready, the men were called into the dining room where we all gathered around the table. I knew from Trev that the family had debated on how to include their dad, all of them agreeing that whatever it was it shouldn’t dwell on the sadness of him not being there. The lighting of a candle placed in the middle of the table, where everyone could see it, was what they agreed upon and after Bridge lit it, there was a moment of silence, before we sat down at the beautifully decorated table.

The only way that we could all fit around it was by smooshing together, and as my leg rested right against Trev’s, I smiled up at him. There was so little room between them that with each story told, I could feel his leg twitch, jerk, nudge, and rub. Including a surprised knee jerk when Steph snuck into the kitchen and reentered with a candle lit birthday cake,

A chorus of “Happy Birthday” started as soon as Steph placed the cake down in front of Trev and Will and they patted each other’s backs as the song continued. Sitting next to each other made it convenient for them to blow out the candles together, twenty eight in all, and as soon as everyone had a slice of cake, Trev nodded to Will.

“Speaking of birthdays. . .” Will started and I tried to look somewhat surprised when he announced that Emily was pregnant. But if anyone had compared my fake surprise to my actual surprise when Charlotte and Ethan announced that she was pregnant as well, they would’ve known which reaction was the real one.

It wasn’t lost on me that out of all the couples sitting there, Trev and I were the only ones not expecting a baby. It was hard not to notice, especially as everyone else around the table started talking about baby clothes, nursery furniture, and ultrasounds. And after offering our congratulations to Charlotte and Ethan, Trev and I started to talk amongst ourselves. Happy for a moment just between the two of us.

“So how exactly did the two of you meet?” Charlotte’s voice called Trev and I back to the group conversation and I froze when I realized what she’d asked.

“What?” Trev tried to nonchalantly ask, giving us a second or two to figure out exactly how to answer the question we both knew we heard from the twitch we felt from each other’s legs.

“We didn’t mean to hijack the conversation with baby talk. And I haven’t heard the story of how the two of you met.” Trev had warned me that if there was a question you didn’t want asked, Charlotte would be the one to do it. It shouldn’t have surprised me,but it did and I was glad that he was the first to answer.

“It was during my visit to ASU, when I went with Dad during my senior year.” His short answer left her and others wondering if there was more, but It was obvious by looking at most them that they were happy with the answer. Knowing that the shortness of it was his way of warning them not to ask anything else.

But I could tell that Charlotte wasn’t happy with it by the way she shifted in her seat and looked down at her empty cake plate. I knew we needed to reveal more for her to be satisfied and it was better to supply what we wanted instead of her asking a question that we didn’t want to answer.

“I actually knew about him though, before we met.” He looked at me surprised, both at the fact that I was offering more information and that I knew about him before our first meeting, and I smiled as I explained both to him and the rest of the family.

At the end of my junior year of high school, Dad called all of us into the family room to watch a video. It wasn’t uncommon for him to show us good players he’d gotten wind of, but it was unusual for him to call everyone in at one time. He usually just caught someone as they walked through or past the room.

“You’ve got to see this guy!” He told us as he pushed the play button on the remote and a highlight reel started for what was obviously a high school quarterback. Even my sisters who had very little interest in football could tell how good of a quarterback the guy in the video was and when it was over, Mom asked him who the player was.

“Trev Davila. Carson’s son.” My sisters and I had heard the stories about Carson and Bridge many times, even met Carson a couple times when he would stop by the house as he passed through town. Learning that the talented football player was his son made all of us take more interest in him. It was a couple months later, during the summer right before our senior year that I actually met Trev, when he and Carson visited the house after he toured the school.

“He was surprisingly quiet. Not that I was surprised then at how quiet he was. I had no knowledge about his personality before meeting him, only his football skills. It wasn’t until after he arrived for our freshman year that I realized how unusual his quiet behavior was.” There were several chuckles around the table.

“But between my Dad and yours, there wasn’t much of an opportunity for anyone else to talk. Whenever he did, he was very polite, and it was hard not to notice his smile.” I stopped my story there, not wanting to share what happened much beyond our first meeting.

But I did think back on his smile and how I had noticed it directed at me several times. Even back during our first meeting it had an effect on me and had been impossible not to return. I had never admitted it though, to anyone. Or how I had secretly wished that he would pick ASU so I could see it again. Little did I know how my opinion of It would change.

“But there weren’t any sparks, then, or when you saw each other again?” Charlotte probed further and I wondered if there was no end to her questions.

“No.” He grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed it before elaborating, only slightly. “I had to go and open my mouth and prove to her what a jerk I really was.”

He took the whole blame, trying to convince them that he was solely at fault for whatever happened after our first meeting. But I couldn’t let him do it, even though I knew that if I elaborated, it would reveal how awful I was to him back then.

“We both went through life changing events between then and the beginning of our freshman year. And when we met again. . .” I sighed and looked at Trev, apologizing once again with my eyes, squeezing his hand back and then looking down at my partially eaten plate of cake. “. . .We didn’t exactly get along. We had friends in common, and he was around our house every so often, because he was one of dad’s players, but we were usually on opposite sides of a room when we were together.”

“Mostly because I didn’t know when to keep my smartass comments to myself.” He again tried to place all the blame on himself and while I appreciated him trying to protect me, I couldn’t stop myself from finally putting the debate to rest.

I spoke to everyone as I continued but made sure that my eyes never left Trev’s, so he would know that I was speaking just as much to him as I was to them. “I’m a firm believer that things happen when they’re supposed to. And even though I’d have to admit that I admired his abilities on the field after watching the video and thought he was charming the first time we met, I don’t think that anything would have happened between us. At least anything lasting.”

“I was very selfish and too oblivious then to understand or see who he was. It was only after going through what I personally dealt with, and him helping me do that, that I really saw him for who he really is.”

The room was completely silent as Trev and I continued to stare at each other, both letting what I said sink in for the other. And as my words did so for him, he tore his eyes away, looking off into the living area, trying to keep his composure by drawing his lips into a thin line and swallowing down the tears in his eyes.

My heart sank and my mouth went dry, knowing that I was the one responsible for his reaction. It hadn’t been what I intended at all, to make such a heartfelt declaration. One that touched him and laid his feelings out completely on display for everyone to see and I hoped that he could forgive me for doing it. But when he looked back up, and into my eyes, there was no regret or any sign at all that he was upset that I’d shared what I had or challenged him about him taking the blame.

“Ditto.” He whispered and continued to reassure both of us by wrapping his rough, callused hand around mine, stroking my knuckles with his thumb.

The conversation slowly started again, but one thing that was obvious during the opening of presents and the sharing of even more stories was that his family didn't like me any less after hearing about our past. If anything, they were friendlier and more open around me.

The time for us to leave came sooner than I expected and as we walked into the entryway to put our coats back on I wished that we could stay longer. But my parents were expecting us for dinner and I knew how much Mom stressed about making sure the food was ready at just the right time.

“Tell your mom and dad I said hi.” Bridge smiled up at me as she handed me my coat. “And tell them that I’ll be in touch soon.”

“I will. They’re probably going to scold me when they find out that I saw you.” I joked and glanced over at Trev and Will on the other side of the entryway. They hugged and patted each other on the back and I smiled seeing the them together; wishing again that we could stay longer since I knew it would probably be awhile before they were together again.

“It’s hard being a twin and living so far apart. But Trev will be okay. . .” I heard her say it but didn’t understand what she meant and looked back at her. She smiled and hugged me while she continued. “He has you.”