Faithfully (16 page)

I started to
laugh and snorted laughter when I saw him place the three bags on the sink. He must have bought one of each kind of tampon and pad at the store. I honestly couldn’t help but love him. I leaned over, kissed him, and whispered, “I love you,” in his ear. No man has ever gone to the store and bought me tampons before. When I was done kissing him, I nudged him towards the door. “Now go.” He didn’t respond, but just walked out the door.

When I got
ready, I walked down the hall to the girl’s rooms. The twins were still asleep, but Lily was already up with her lamp on and reading a book. “Good morning, smarty, how did you sleep?” I walked over to the bed and kissed her on the top of the head.

“Good, I like sleeping here.” I was glad she liked it, but I still wasn’t comfortable moving them in permanently.

“Well, we will stay for the week, if you don’t mind. Uncle Derek is coming, and he will stay here with us.” I could see the smile spread across Lily’s face.

“
Think he’ll bring us a present?” I wanted to laugh, but I held it in.

“You should be happy just
to see him.”

“I’ll be happier with a gift in my
hand.” I couldn’t hold the laugh in and Lily joined me.

I left her room and woke up the twins. They were easy. They just popped out of bed and got moving
, something they did not inherit from me. They each went in their own bathroom and brushed their teeth. I told them I’d meet them all downstairs to do their hair. It was too hard going from bathroom to bathroom.

When I got
downstairs, Alex was making breakfast, which was just three big bowls of cereal. I smiled as I went to pour more coffee. I thought I’d see Sam down here since she wasn’t in her room. I figured she was up watching television or drinking coffee. Exercising was out of the question for her. 

I quickly did the
girl’s hair. Jasmine was always easy, with just a high ponytail. Lily was in a Katniss stage from The Hunger Games, so I did a diagonal French braid, and Josie had two braids. When I was done, I left them with Alex to finish their breakfast as I headed to school.

When I was getting to my
car, I saw Sam exiting the guesthouse. She was trying to sneak by and didn’t see me standing next to my car.

“You
know, if you want to be sneakier, you might want to sneak back in before everyone is awake.”

I saw her jump. “Fuck
.” She turned towards me. “You didn’t see this.” She moved towards me.

“
Yes, I did,” I said in a smart ass tone.

“How the
hell can I get back in that house and not have Alex see me?” I could hear the panic in her voice.

“He’ll be
taking the girls to school in twenty minutes. Go back in there,” I pointed at the guesthouse, “and when he leaves, crawl your ass back into bed.”

“Thanks
.” Sam turned to walk back into the guesthouse.

“You better tell him if this is something
serious, because I’m done keeping secrets.” I knew he would go bat shit crazy if he knew Sam stayed with Johnny last night.

“Please, can I owe you one? You never know when you’ll need it.” Sam
looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Fine, but only on the grounds of girl code, but if this becomes a regular thing you better tell him.” I knew this wouldn’t end well if he caught them.

I saw Sam disappear into the house and I got in my car and pulled out. Yesterday morning I had figured something was up, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent. I was happy for them, but knew Alex would hate the thought of his friend and sister sleeping together.

That
night, we all went to my parents for dinner and returned to Alex’s. The next day went by quickly since it was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. The girls wanted another slumber party in the living room, but they settled for movie and popcorn instead.

On
Wednesday, the girls were up early, knowing Derek would be arriving. I told them he wouldn’t be there until dinner, but they didn’t care. I was asked at least a dozen times before lunch when he was coming. I needed a break, so I told Sam I was heading out on a run.

As
I was stretching, Johnny came out and stretched next to me. “What are you doing?” I didn’t mean it the way it came out.

“Thought I would run with you
. I needed to get some fresh air.” I was thinking it was more than that, but I wasn’t going to question him.

We headed out on the
run, neither of us talking. Johnny was the first to break the silence. “Sam told me you saw her coming out of the house on Monday.” I knew there was something to this run.

“
Yes, I did. And did she also tell you I saved her ass from her brother finding out?” Our pace slowed a bit, but we continued running.

“That’s the thing
. I want to tell Alex, but Sam refuses.” I was surprised and a bit confused.

I grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Wait, how long has this been going on?”

“A while, on and off for a few years, but I want this time to be different. I don’t think she believes me.”

“A few years
? So this isn’t a onetime thing?” I was going to kill Sam.

“It’s
a confusing and long story, but no, it is not a onetime thing.” Johnny seemed like he wanted to fill me in on everything, but I didn’t want to know and then have Alex find out I knew. It was becoming a web, and I didn’t want to get tangled in it. I didn’t respond. I just shook my head and started running again with Johnny keeping pace right with me.

“It isn’t what you think
. I care about her a lot, but I fucked her over in the past, and she doesn’t trust me or believe that I want to commit now.” I kept running and I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears, because even unwilling, I was still being brought in. “How do I get her to trust me?”

I finally stopped running. “Why are you telling me this?” I felt bitchy for not wanting to listen to him.

“I need your help.” No, no way was I getting involved.

“I don’t think I can
. I mean, I’m a flipping head case with my own relationship. You know my past, so what makes you think I can help you? I’m a bloody train wreck when it comes to love.” I was not the person to give relationship advice.

“Because you are forgiving
, and I need to know how you forgave me. I need Sam to forgive me and trust me.” He grabbed my arm gently. “Please.”

I can’t believe I was even considering it
. “Fine, I’ll try to help, but no more sleeping together until Alex knows or until you guys are serious.”

“I can’t promise that.” Johnny had a serious look on his face. “
Sorry, that is asking too much.”

“Fine, but have her in her bed in the morning. I’m not helping
her sneak in anymore.” He had a huge smile on his face. He wrapped me in a hug and thanked me. “Can we run now? This added stress just added more miles to my run.” Johnny started to laugh. We headed out, and by the time we got back we were both dead.

Alex was in the driveway
, hauling wood into the house. “Looks like you had a good run. Hope you saved energy for later.” I wanted to smack him for saying that in front of Johnny.

“I can beat you at cards asleep.” I walked past him to head into the house.

“I know what you can beat.” He swatted my butt as I passed him. I ignored him as if I didn’t hear him talking.

When I walked in the
house, I could smell the baked goods. I went into the kitchen to see what the girls made with Sam. They were at the table decorating turkey cupcakes. The twins had more frosting on their faces than most of the cupcakes.

“Smells yummy
. I’ll go shower and then I’ll help.” I kissed each girl on the head. I was heading up the stairs when I heard someone run up the stairs behind me. When I turned, I saw Sam.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about Monday.” Ugh, I was screaming in my head. “It’s not anything serious, it just happened.”

“Like before?” Sam looked at me with wide eyes. “Look, you are an adult and I love you both. I don’t know the whole story, but I do know he wants to show you it’s not like the past.” Sam’s mouth fell open a little this time. Then it closed and her lips became tight. “Listen, you two need to talk, and not to me, but to each other.” The last place I wanted to be was in the middle. “Horizontal talking doesn’t count.”

“
I’m going back downstairs.” Sam went to head back to the kitchen.

“Hey,
seriously, if you need to talk I will listen. I don’t know the history, but I see a different person than who I met months ago.”

“So do I, but for how long
?” Sam’s response made me wonder if this had happened before. I never really asked for the full Johnny history on sobriety.

When I got out of the
shower and to the kitchen, the decorating was done. I decided I should start making dinner. The girls set the table as I got the chicken going with the side dishes. I was finishing the rice when I heard the girls yelling for Derek and then the door slamming. It didn’t take much to guess he had arrived.

I got everything off the burners when he walked into the kitchen. I walked over and gave him a hug. He picked me up and spun me. I had missed him. It had been months since I had seen him last
, and our talks had been few and far between.

“Hey, don’t be trying anything
,” I heard Alex say as he walked in.

Derek set me
down, reached over, and shook Alex’s hand. “How are things? How’s life in Mayberry?” I whacked him in the arm. “Why is it always the arm?”

“I love it here
. There is no way I could ever return to LA.” I honestly believed that answer.

“Good, because there is no way I would allow my girls to move to LA.” I smiled
. I loved how Derek still referred to the four of us as his girls.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.” I grabbed Derek’s arm as I walked past him.

“Wow, my own room. I’m so used to the Hello Kitty sheets and Justin Bieber posters that I don’t know if I can take this.”

“Shut up, you even have your own bathroom here.” I turned and smiled at him.

“Shut the front door, seriously? I don’t have to share with four females?” He didn’t wait for a response. “I might just like Alex after all.”

We walked into his room. It was the same room Lexi slept in when she was here. I walked over and sat on the bed. I asked about his drive up, his parents, work
, and everything else I had been falling behind on. He filled me in and I filled him in on Lexi. I knew she wouldn’t tell him. I almost felt guilty talking about her situation to him, but remembered that they do the same to me, and just like when it came on, the guilt was gone.

We went down to the kitchen, but the conversation was censored because the girls were there and hanging all over him. He told them he got them a surprise, but they would have to wait
until after dinner. They were all excited, and Lily looked over and smiled, which basically said
I told you so.

We were all in the dining room for dinner. The girls monopolized a lot of the conversation, which was expected
, and everyone was fine and used to it. After dinner, the girls made Derek play Just Dance with them while the rest of us cleaned up the mess. When we were done, we went out in the living room and joined them.

Everyone was laughing at Derek. He was trying so hard, but could not figure out the moves
, and he was on a few seconds delay from the screen. There was one point I was laughing so hard I was crying.

The girls finally got bored and Derek didn’t have to dance anymore. He did
have to play Princess Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders. At one point Derek thought he could escape until they had the iPad and were showing him the world they had made in Minecraft. He was a good sport with them, but looked relieved and tired when I broke it to the girls that it was bedtime. Derek helped with bedtime and read each girl a book.

When he came back
down, he flopped on the couch. “God help me, I need a beer.” We were all pretty quiet at first. Nobody had a drink since Johnny had been back and I don’t think anyone really noticed. “What, don’t tell me you don’t have beer?” Derek was looking at us.

Nobody said anything at first. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“They do have beer. It’s in the garage fridge like it’s hidden,” Johnny said, looking at us. “Seriously, like I didn’t notice.”

I didn’t even know there was beer in the garage.

“Am I allowed to have one?”

Johnny got up
. “I’ll grab you one.” My eyes just stayed fixated on him. “Like I said before, the drinking doesn’t bother me. I don’t know why you are acting like seeing a beer can will send me into a cocaine stupor.” He walked out of the room.

             
Sam was the first to speak when he left the room. “He is right; you treat him like he has some sort of disease.”