Kickoff for Love (13 page)

"Andy, shut up.” I told him. 

"No, it's quite alright dearie. Actually, it’s probably better that you’re honest and upfront about the whole thing instead of sneaking off to each other's rooms in the wee hours of the night.” Andy showed me to his room and closed the door behind us. 

"I can't believe you just did that.” I said, irritated. 

He smirked. "If you want the door open, it doesn't have to be closed.” I smacked his arm. "You know damn well what I mean.” I forced him to look into my eyes. 

"I'm sorry. Is it too much to ask that I wake up in the same bed as my girlfriend on Christmas and not worry about being in trouble?" He asked. I bit my lip, not knowing how to argue with that. 

"Well no, not necessarily. I just want to make a good impression on your family. Now they all know we sleep together.” I crossed my arms. "Way too many people know about my sex life.” I informed him, to which he chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. 

"I love you, Ashley.” He whispered before kissing me lightly. I wrapped my arms around his neck grumbling. "I guess I love you too.” He raised an eyebrow and I laughed, before kissing his soft lips again. 

***

After dinner that night, we all sat in the family room talking. I loved feeling like a part of the family. It was great. "So, how long have you two been dating?" Katy asked. 

I thought about it for a moment. "A few months now, I guess.” I told her. 

She looked amused. "You mean you don't know the date you guys started going out on?" She asked. 

I shrugged my shoulders before replying. "I'm not really the kind of person who remembers things like that.” Andy looked offended, but I could see in his eyes that he was teasing. "Yet you remember the dates and scores of every Super Bowl you've ever watched.” I laughed. "It's the level of interest really.” I winked at him. He rolled his eyes and leaned forward, lightly biting my shoulder. I laughed. 

"You two are too cute,” Sonya exclaimed. 

Andy grinned and pulled me tighter. "I know, right?" I scoffed. 

"You're such a girl!" I told him. 

He raised his eyebrows at me before saying "One of us has to be.” My jaw dropped and I gave his leg a good pinch. "Ow!” He exclaimed, jumping a bit. 

"Serves you right, jerk.” I told him, folding my arms. 

He kissed the top of my head and we turned to listen to the conversations going on around us. 

A few hours later, everybody went off to separate bedrooms. I climbed in with Andy and leaned against his side, with my head resting in the crook of his shoulder. "Khloe's going to Notre Dame.” I told him. 

He sighed. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this until we got back.” He said. 

I bit my cheek. "I think we should talk about it now, not to make a decision. But keeping our thoughts about it inside will probably drive us both crazy,” I explained. 

He took a deep breath before saying, "Alright. I already know that Khloe is going there.” He said. 

"It'd be cool if you got to go to the same school as your sister.” I said. 

"It'd be cool if I got to go to the same school as you.” He revised. 

"I think so too, but this is a once in a lifetime chance. I mean, not only would you finally be back home. Khloe would see you more often, and you'd be closer to your family.” I listed off a few reasons he should go. 

"Yeah, but every mile that I get closer to my family, I'm farther away from you. I don't want that.” He said. 

"Maybe it shouldn't be about what you want. Maybe you should think about what you need.” I suggested, hating the words as they left my mouth. 

"I need you.” He said softly. I felt his body pull away from me and the bed dip slightly, letting me know he'd stood up. I thought he was leaving, but then I felt him climb back in with me. He turned on the night light and sat up. "I know that I gave the promise ring to you a few weeks ago, but I've been thinking a lot about what I want in my life. No matter where I see myself, you're always by my side. I love you, Ashley. I talked to Coach about it and he told me that as long as we didn't jump into anything, he was behind us all the way. I don't want you to wear this on your pinky, Ashley. I hope you'll put it on your left ring finger.” He said before opening up a small black box and revealing a diamond ring. 

I closed my eyes for a moment. "Andy, what is that?" I asked carefully. 

"Hopefully an engagement ring.” He offered softly. 

I felt tears fill up my eyes as I sat up on the bed. "I'm eighteen years old.” I told him. 

"Yeah, I know. I'm not asking you to marry me right away. I just know that I want you forever.” He told me. 

"Isn't that what the promise ring is for?" I asked my voice breaking. 

"Ashley, I don't know if this is leading to a yes or a no.” He told me worriedly. "The promise ring was me promising to always be there for you, not with you.  I want this ring to tell you that I am forever yours, that nobody else can have my heart.” A tear fell down my cheek as I took the ring from him, holding it carefully between my fingers, looking at it in the dim light. 

I made eye contact for the first time. "What happens if I say yes?" I asked. 

"Then you can move in with me next year and get up your grades to join me at school.” He offered. 

"And if I say no?"

"Then nothing changes. I'll just know that this wasn't the right time. I love you, Ashley, whether we have rings and documents to show our commitment or not. I just prefer the rings and documents.”

I bit my lip and thought for a moment, before slowly sliding the ring onto my left ring finger. I smiled and looked up at Andy. His eyes were wide, staring at my hand. He looked at my eyes. "Does this mean what I think it does?" He asked. 

I nodded and attacked him so he lay back down on the bed. He roared with laughter and wrapped his arms around me, keeping me as close as humanly possible. "Thank you. Thank you so much, baby. I love you.” He said, kissing me between each sentence. 

"You sound surprised.” I told him. 

"Well, the look on your face when you saw the ring had me really worried.” He told me. 

"What was my face like?" I asked. 

He made an awful, horrifying expression and I burst out laughing. "Shut up, I did not look like that.” I told him. 

We laughed and I rolled over so I was at his side again. "I still want to think about this whole Notre Dame thing.” I told him. 

He nodded. I could tell he didn't really want to but knew we had to. Shortly after, we fell asleep. 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Andy's POV

The next morning, I made my way downstairs early and found Sonya and Peter sitting at the little kitchen table, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. "Morning,” Sonya said cheerfully. 

I sat down in front of them, nervous about what I would tell them. They seemed to realize this because they set down the papers and looked at me. "Last night I proposed to Ashley and she accepted.” I blurted quickly. 

They looked stunned. "Is she.  .  .  Is she.  .  .  is she preg.,” I cut Sonya off. 

"No, she's not pregnant. We're not planning on having the actual wedding for a while yet, but she's wearing the ring Mom left for me in the will.” I told them. Sonya looked shocked. 

"It's such a big commitment. Andy, do you know what you're getting' yourself into?" She asked carefully. 

I nodded slowly. "I do, but the thought of the rest of my life without her hurts to think about. I love her with all my heart. It's like everything else was lust and this is the real thing.” I said, trying to find the words that could explain the way I was feeling. 

Sonya gave me a knowing look. "You've got it bad, don't ya lad?" She asked. I could only shrug and nod. 

Later, the twins came down with Ashley. Ash looked so beautiful today. She wore a dark red cardigan over a white V-neck tank top with the skinny jeans she knew I loved seeing her in. They hugged her legs in such a sexy way. My eyes instantly looked at her left hand and I smiled at the ring that I saw there. I'd worried that after a night of sleep; she'd have changed her mind and would take it off. When I looked back up at her face, I saw her smiling brightly. She came up and hugged me, whispering "Good morning, fiancé,” Into my ear. 

I groaned lightly, loving how that sounded and kissed her deeply. She amused me for a moment before pulling away; giving me a look that said this wasn't the time or the place. I pouted, hoping she'd change her mind. Instead, she smiled and pecked my nose before walking away. I felt like following her around like a little puppy. 

Once the girls had breakfast, I called them into the family room and had them sit across from Ashley and me. I knew I had to break this to them softly. "Guys, I have something I need to tell you.” I told them, nervous about how they'd take it. 

Katy rolled her eyes. "If you're about to make it a big to do to and tell us about how you're engaged, save it. It's hard to miss a rock like that, especially when we know it was Moms.”

"Are you guys upset?" I asked. 

They both shook their heads 'no' and looked at me like I was stupid. Khloe was the one who spoke, which surprised me. "We can't be upset. We haven't seen you this happy in a really long time. If she's the only person who can put that smile on your face, then all we can do is welcome her into the family.” She stood up and walked over to Ashley, giving her a hug. I sat there, shocked.  I never expected them to take this so well. 

"Don't look so amazed Toka, we're not the highly dramatic girls you remember, we've matured.” She said, smacking the back of my head. I laughed and pulled both her and Katy onto the couch, squishing Ashley with us in the process. We were all laughing and hanging out when a bright light distracted all of us. Aunt Sonya was standing there with her camera and tears in her eyes. 

"It's good to have my family home.” She said, making all of us feel like we were where we belonged. 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ashley’s POV

“Are you ready to go?” Andy asked me, holding his hand out to help me off of the couch. 

“Have I told you how awesome I think it is that you all spend your Christmas Eve’s at the homeless shelter?” I asked. 

He smirked. “A few times now, look like we’ll have a little tradition of our own once we’re married.” He suggested, which caused me to smile. 

“We don’t have to be married for that to be a tradition.” I told him. 

“Technically, in America, the only thing you have to be married for is a divorce.” I smacked his arm. He thought he was much funnier than he actually was. 

We all crawled into the truck and I sat forward, playing childish hand games with Katy and Khloe. Andy’s hand was rubbing my back the entire time. I know it sounds odd, but being here and seeing his family and becoming engaged, upped the intensity of our relationship. We’d been close before; but now it was like we moved in unison and always had to be touching each other. I liked it a lot. 

After we’d told Khloe and Katy, I called my Dad and Angie to tell them. They were both excited. Although, Dad did make it clear that I wasn’t allowed to get married anytime soon, which I readily agreed to. I explained to him that it was more for our peace of mind than actually getting married. We both knew what we wanted. Somehow the ring wrapped around my left ring finger made it all the more serious. 

“We’re here.” Sonya called out from the front seat. The group led me in through a backdoor which went into a kitchen. There was a woman there named Tanya who handed us all aprons, rubber gloves and hairnets. The girls and I looked at each other and immediately burst out laughing. 

“We look amazing guys.” I said. 

Katy looked down at her body and said, “I’ll have to incorporate this look into my sketches when I get to college.” That sent us into another bout of giggles. 

I hadn’t expected Khloe to be so friendly towards me. Not that I expected her to be rude or anything, but everybody talked about how secluded she became from the people around her. Instead of separating herself from me, we were actually getting to know each other pretty well. Even Katy commented on how odd she was acting. 

“Four people will work here in the kitchen and the other three will pass out the food and drinks.” Tanya instructed. Sonya, Khloe and I ended up being the waiters while the others got to make stuffing and cut the turkey. 

“Hi.  I’m Ashley.” I’d greet each table I served. The group was usually all male with worn out coats and cotton caps on their heads. One man, in particular, interested me. I tried going back to visit him whenever I had a moment to spare. His name was Reginald, Reggie for short. He apparently had lived in New Orleans when Katrina hit and moved up here to live with family. Only they’d been in an accident shortly after he arrived. He didn’t have the money to leave. I felt awful for him. 

“Need more water Mr. Reggie?” I asked, knowing he’d catch on to what I was doing and talk more. 

“Now that you mention it sunshine, I could.” Ever since I first introduced myself, Reggie had called me sunshine. He told me it was because of the happy glow on my face. When he’d said that, I sat down next to him and twisted the ring on my finger, smiling down on it. 

“My boyfriend proposed to me two nights ago. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since.” I told him, glancing at his eyes as I spoke. 

He grinned and asked to take a closer look at it. I held my hand out and watched his face, looking at the way his eyes changed, warming with memories passed. “My wife had a similar one, nearly the same if not for the size of the diamond.” He told me. I didn’t know if hers had been larger or smaller. I wasn’t interested. It wasn’t important. 

“You have wonderful taste, Mr. Reggie.” I told him. He laughed. 

“Nah, she had the taste. The damn woman dragged me to the jewelry store and told me that if I didn’t buy her a rock that moment, she’d leave my ass. I was foolish, but not stupid. I bought her the ring and we married a year later.” His words weren’t hateful, instead, they sounded full of love like he was right back in the moment. 

I smiled. “She sounds like my kind of woman.” I told him. 

“Stronger than anybody I ever met. When cancer took her, she was the one telling me everything would be okay, instead of the other way around.” He shook his head. 

I rubbed his shoulder. “I’m sorry Reggie. This may sound silly, but I would have loved to meet her.” I told him honestly. 

“You know sunshine? I think she’d have wanted to meet you too.” He admitted. I grinned and winked at him, then stood to bring drinks to more people. 

This time, however, Reggie started telling me all about some pranks he and his best friend used to play on people. “Knocked him off his bare ass, we’re lucky debris didn’t knock us all out.” He said, talking louder as he grew more and more excited. They’d blown up an outhouse when his little brother was on the toilet. He ended up coming out with minor burns on his bottom, but otherwise unharmed. 

“Reggie, I’ve gotta admit, you’re awful.” He laughed with glee, taking it as a compliment. 

“Why thank you sunshine.” He chuckled and ruffled my hair, which made me grin. 

“Hey sweetie, we’re just about done here.” Andy said, coming up behind me. 

“Andy, I want you to meet my new friend, Reginald. He’s been telling me stories all day.” I said, pulling Andy down to sit beside me. “Reggie, this is my fiancé, Andy.” Both Andy and I squeezed each other’s hands when I said, fiancé. 

“Ah, so you’re the lucky fellow?” Reggie asked. 

Andy held his hand out and shook Reggie’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”

Reggie nodded and said “Likewise. Now, tell me how you two lovebirds met.” I motioned for Andy to take the lead. 

“Well, I was getting ready for football practice. Our coach was late and we were all bored when suddenly he comes marching in with this girl behind him. She was wearing skinny jeans and a tank top, looking irritated beyond belief. Coach introduced her as his daughter and said something that had her telling him off, which made me realize immediately that she was anything but average.” 

“After that, a group of us went up to introduce ourselves. I knew right then that there was something pulling me to her. I couldn’t speak or take my eyes off of her.” He started rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. “During that practice, one of the players just couldn’t manage to catch the ball. So Coach decided to put Ash in. She caught the ball and then yelled at us all for not tackling her.” He laughed at the memory. “The next play, she was wide open for my tackle. I just couldn’t bring myself to actually take her down, so I just lifted her off the ground. I’m pretty sure she was lighter than the ball itself.” 

“The next day or so, Coach had to leave early, looking real upset. He came back with Ashley crying, begging him to listen to her. But he just wouldn’t do it. I ran after her and from there, the rest is history.” I leaned up and kissed him lightly. 

“You two make a lovely pair.” Reggie told us. 

I blushed and thanked him. Sonya came up to us. “It’s time to go now. We’ve got hot cocoa waiting for us at home.”

I stood up sadly and bent down, kissing Reggie on the cheek and hugging him. “You’re worthy of the world Reggie. I hope you get everything you deserve.” I whispered. He shook his head and sighed sadly, hugging me back. 

I had tears in my eyes as I turned to walk away. “Wait!” He called out as he wrote something down on a napkin. “I may be homeless, but I do have a library card, which gives me a computer. Email me; let me know all about how your life is turning out.” He sounded like a concerned grandfather, which just made me want to cry harder. 

“Thank you, Reggie. I’ll keep in touch as long as you do the same.” I said, hugging him once more. He nodded and patted my back as I walked away. 

I couldn’t help but cry in the car. Andy just kept his arm around my shoulders, holding me close to him. Nobody spoke, which I felt bad about. I just couldn’t help it. I’d always just assumed that homeless people did something to end up that way, but Reggie didn’t deserve that. He deserved a warm house and family to go home to. The thought was heartbreaking. 

We pulled up to the house and I dried my tears. “Sorry guys, I just didn’t expect him to affect me so much.” I told them. 

Sonya came up and hugged me. “No need to apologize dear. We all understand. However, we’re all wondering what it was about the lad that made you react like this.”

By then, we were all in the house and Katy and Khloe were getting the hot chocolate ready. I sat at the table with Peter, Sonya, and Andy and told them Reggie’s story. How he lost his child when he was just a baby. His first wife cheating on him with the best friend who used to help him pull pranks. How his second wife got cancer and died. Hurricane Katrina and how his only daughter had been in the accident that left him homeless. By the time I was done, they were all in tears and I was crying again. 

“It just doesn’t seem right that one person can have so much bad luck. I told him that, but he just said how thankful he was for the little things. Like getting to hold that baby, learning what kind of person he shouldn’t marry or be friends with. He’s appreciative for the time he had with his second wife. Whenever he thinks of his daughter, he knows he raised her well and that she’s up in heaven watching over him. He looks at everything on the bright side. He’s changed how I look at things.” I told them. 

“I’ve got space in the company.” Peter mentioned. 

I looked up at him. “What?”

“Well, it’ll be an entry level position. We’ll have to get him some better clothes and a place to stay for the time being. I think we can help him.” I jumped up and hugged him. 

“Thank you so much.” I told him softly. 

He patted my back, much like Reggie had. “You’re all such amazing people.” I told them. Katy and Khloe had joined the group at the table by now. I was leaning against Andy in the seat as I spoke to them. “You’ve all taken me in like family. I just don’t know how to describe how much I appreciate it.”

Sonya patted my leg and the conversation drifted off to much happier topics. 

Later that night, I was lying in bed with Andy. The clock read 11:58. I watched the clock until it drifted to midnight. “Merry Christmas,” I whispered. 

He pulled me into a kiss and proceeded to make me feel more loved than I ever had. It was the best Christmas gift I’d ever been given.