"So Serena's what... twelve? Thirteen? Some God awful, ugly age."

Chris stopped mid-story to duck a poker chip being tossed at his head from across the table. He giggled like an evil little clown and continued. "So Garrett is eight, and I'm six. And Serena had this little diary, this leather bound thing she wrote in every day, like a moron."

"Yup," Garrett said, nodding his head with a wistful smile, an arm casually laid over the back of Kim's chair. "She'd rush home from the school bus, sit down at her desk and write for like, an hour. Talk about her day, and stuff."

"Yeah, all that shit. So one day, she was writing and the phone rang, so she left her room to go answer it. I walk past, and I see the diary laying open on her desk. Now, this is something she guarded with her life, so if she leaves it unattended..." He snickered and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm totally going for it. So I grab it. But I can hardly read, so I take it to Garrett's room. We're sitting in his room, reading her entries-"

"Dear Diary," Garrett mocked, his eyes twinkling and smile wide. "Today, Andy looked at me. He has the biggest brown eyes, ever. I swear I see my soul in them.  Oh, and Steven said hi to me in the hallway on the way to Algebra. He's sooo cute!" 

JC sat next to me, across the table from Chris and Garrett, paying rapt attention to every embarrassing story that Chris could think to tell about us as kids. His level of laughter rose from a polite chuckle to hysterical cackling, while his face was a deep crimson and he‘d stopped breathing. He could do nothing but clap and wheeze out, "that's awesome!"

"So, Serena makes it back to her room and she sees the diary gone. You know that tone that her voice reaches, somewhere between a screech and a sound only dogs can hear-"

JC was nodding and pointing. "I've heard it, a couple times." Then as an afterthought added, "I mean, haven't heard it when she's mad, but...that's private."

It took me a second to realize what he meant-the sounds I made when I was at the height of climax.

"Hey!" I yelled, and punched him in the arm, which only made him start laughing again. I glared at the men around the table, trying to keep from laughing myself, thankful that we were downstairs in the basement Rec room at the opposite end of the house from our sleeping grandparents, parents, and innocent ears of the children.

"Serena comes tearing out of her room, screaming bloody murder. I grab the diary, and I start running..."

"And Chris has short, stocky legs, so he can't run that fast," I shot across the table. "And he runs like a girl, he's all arms and hips."

"I kept ahead of you, though. Anyway, Serena chased me all around the house, screaming her head off, calling me all kinds of names-asshole, fattypants, cocksucker, son of a bitch-I mean, there were words that I didn't know she knew, that I didn't know either. I just knew she was pissed off, and she was just screaming, over and over, ‘bring it back, you fuckhead'!"

"I almost called you that, this morning."

"You know what, big sister? There's nothing between us right now but space and opportunity." Chris beckoned with two fingers on each hand. "Bring it."

"I'm not in the mood right now, Christopher. Watch yourself on the slopes, tomorrow. That's all I'm saying."

JC sipped from a tall mug of Gram's famous hot chocolate and dropped an arm around me. "So, uh... what happened to the diary?"

"Oh. Well." I finished the story with a sarcastic roll of my eye toward Chris. "Serena didn't realize her mom was at home.  She heard my... language and came in from her home office, her face just beet red. She just reaches out into the air as Chris flies by her and grabs him and plucks the diary from his hands. I got grounded for my language. Chris got away with taking my diary. It's been war, ever since."

Chris glowed with pride, his chest puffed out. Andrea smacked the back of his head but it did no good. "I'm the baby. I'm the favorite. You should know this, by now."

"Whatever. Just feel lucky that I'm not that vindictive and that Garrett covers your ass."

"You love me, and I can prove it. Another story." Chris held up his hands at my protest. "No, no. It's a nice one, I promise. So you remember Lawrence? The tall kid that used to live like six houses down?"

"Larry? The little rat bastard that picked on everyone?" I nodded." Yeah, I remember Larry."

"Larry was this kid that lived in our neighborhood. Tall, lanky, goofy guy. Kind of a bully. I think Serena was sixteen because she was driving, so I was like ten, or so. Serena used to drop us off at the bus stop, on her way to school every day. One morning, it was hot already-- like, seventy five degrees at 7am, you know? So she had the windows down.

"Larry starts in, as soon as we get out of the car. ‘What's up fatass? Whatcha doin' fatass? You're so fuckin' fat, you fat fuck'.  That was his favorite name to call me. Fat fuck."

Chris stopped to laugh a little before diving into the story again.  "Well, my big sister happens to hear him, just as she's pulling off. And before I know it, there's this screech of tires, and you hear the car slam into park. And then the door opened and slammed shut and here comes Serena, big curly hair and everything, marching around the car. And oh my God, she is pissed."

"Now, I'm watching," Garrett said, laughing, "And I'm thinking, holy shit. She's gonna beat this kid up. This is gonna be awesome."

JC laughed, hard. "Right?"

"Serena walks right up to this kid. Gets right up on him. She's towering over him, and she says, in this really loud, really scary voice, ‘Excuse me? I thought I heard you call my little brother a fat fuck. Is that what you said?'  This kid, he's stammerin' and yammerin' and not making any sense and Serena says, ‘I can't hear you! If you're tough enough to be calling people names, then you're tough enough to deal with me. Did you call my brother a fat fuck, or not?' "

Chris started to laugh, a deep chuckle bubbling up from his chest. "The kid pees his pants! Right there, on the sidewalk!"

JC's mouth fell open, his head bobbing from me to Chris to Garrett. We all nodded, laughing hysterically.

"So... so then... so then..." Chris gulped, trying to catch a breath but still laughing so hard he was pounding the top of the red felt card table. "Serena, instead of laughing, goes to the car. She grabs a jacket and ties it around his waist. Larry is beet red and almost crying. And then she says, ‘I can stand here until the bus comes and make sure you go to school with piss in your pants, or I can take you home. All it would take to go home is an apology to my brother. It's up to you.'  Fast as lightening, Larry looks over at me and says, ‘Sorry Chris. It won't happen again. Please just get your sister away from me'."

Chris didn't get the full sentence out before loud peals of laughter and applause filled the room. No one could talk for more than a few minutes, and every time we settled down, Chris would laugh, his high pitched giggle so contagious we couldn't help but start up again.  

I wiped a tear from my cheek and tried to catch my breath. I hadn't heard that story in a long time, but we laughed just as hard every time he told it. "But all that proves," I said to Chris, "is that you're a pain in my ass, but no one calls my brother a fat fuck but me."

"We call that love around here," Chris said. I shrugged across the table and met him with a fist bump and a smile.

JC's arm around me tightened as he laughed again then kissed the side of my head. "I better shape up, then. I didn't know you were that tough."

I took a long sip of my hot chocolate, smiling into the mug. "Damn straight. Don't mess with my people."

"Better learn your lesson now, man," said Garrett. "Don't call Chris a fat fuck, or Serena will scare you so bad you'll piss your pants."

"Also, don't take her stuff and run."

"And don't call your brother a fuckhead in front of my mom. I think I'm still grounded for that."

JC laughed so hard he choked, sending everyone back into fits of giggles. I got up from the table and poured him a glass of water from the kitchen around the corner. He gulped it down in seconds.

Kim stood, brushing crumbs from dessert from her jeans. "Well, hate to break up this party but we have a date with the mountain in the morning."

"Awww... but moooom..."

Kim grabbed Chris by the tip of his ear and pulled so he was standing. "Your wife does not discipline you enough. March, mister." She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow toward us. "JC?"

He was already standing, stacking the cards from the long abandoned poker game and pushing in the chairs around the table. "I'm going," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "My wife disciplines me fine."

My eyes shot up from the table and met Kim's from across the room. She gave me a thin, quick smile, and brushed over it, pushing Garrett down the hall toward their bedroom. "Let's go, let's go. Move it, move it."

JC did the same, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me in the opposite direction. He pushed me into the room and closed the door, then snapped on the bedside lamp before crawling onto the bed on his hands and knees and sinking down onto the surface.

"Honey, I love your family, but your family is exhausting."

I leaned against the door, admiring the view of him sprawled across the bed. "I know. They love you, too."

"You think you could get them to like me a little less?"

"Not a chance. I'm loving this. You're like... the best man I've ever brought home." I pushed off of the door and began to undress, unbuttoning my blouse. "Tomorrow will be even busier. Just let me know if the boys get to be too much. You're like a big toy to them."

"They're fun kids. The boys. I don't mind."

He flipped his head and then smiled when he realized he could watch me undress, laying there for a few minutes, watching me take off the clothes he'd watched me put on that morning. I wasn't putting on a show for him, but he seemed entertained.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile as his eyes closed. "Chloe climbed up in my lap, tonight. She was standing at the couch and doing that noise that I assume means ‘pick me up'. So I picked her up. And I set her on the couch next to me. She sat there for a second, like... wow. Then she just crawled right over and sat in my lap. Her eyes were all droopy and she was yawning and I kinda brought my arms around her and sort of laid her on my chest. She was almost asleep when Kim came looking for her. I tried to keep her but I guess mama needed to...feed her."

I folded my clothes and listened to him talk softly about my niece, who seemed to wiggle her way into his heart. I couldn't help but smile at his story. "I'm sorry I missed seeing that. She's a really sweet baby."

"Mmmhmm.  She sure is."  I was sure he wanted to say more, but more didn't come. I let it go, instead turning around to start taking out my earrings and removing my watch, placing them into the small box I kept for my jewelry when I traveled.

"Hey, JC..."

He grunted in response, fading fast. "Hunh."

"You uhm... did you realize you called me your wife?"  Plink. Plink. Diamond earrings dropped into the box, bouncing off of the watch.

"Hm? When?"

Plink. Into the box went JC's gift from last year, the clear blue onyx stone strung on a double silver strand. I turned around, then, but only after I was sure that I appeared nonchalant and unconcerned.

"Ten minutes ago. Out there. In front of everybody."

An eye popped open wide, a bright blue orb searching the room wildly. After a few seconds, it focused on me.  He blinked. And then I saw the crinkle at the side. He must not have meant to say it. But thought it was funny.

"Uhm. I'm not sure what I should say, here. I mean, are you mad at me?"

I gave him a blank expression for a few seconds before I let myself smile-and let him off the hook. "Nah, I'm not mad."

With great effort, he sat up and patted the space where he'd been laying. I pulled my night shirt over my head, and joined him on the bed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not mad. At all. But..."

"But... what?"

"But nothing. I just... remember last summer when you came out to the house and everyone was asking you if you were proposing and there was so much pressure and you were freaking out?"

He nodded, his head bobbing slowly. "I remember, vividly. What about it?"

"Well, I guess it's my turn, because I can't go an hour without someone winking or nudging or nodding at me. Andrea gave me a lecture and then Kim gave me a lecture and my Gram is on my case. I just..." I shrugged, smoothing out the comforter-a quilt hand sewn by Gram, coincidentally. "I feel a lot of pressure, right now, like we should be at some relationship marker by now and we're not and that it's my fault that we're not there. And maybe it's my fault for setting an expectation. When I said you wanted to come to Vail for the holidays, maybe people thought there would be a big moment for us, and I feel like I'm letting them down-"

JC cut me off with a soft press of his lips to mine. He opened his mouth and his tongue came out to play, running along my bottom lip, coaxing my mouth open and swirling his tongue with mine, spreading the taste of hot chocolate around. His hand smoothed its way up my arm, so slowly that goose bumps popped up like waves, until he reached my neck and, and then the back of my head, his fingers digging into my hair.

I exhaled as he pulled away, calm and relaxed. I forgot what I was even rambling about, which I guessed was the point. He always knew exactly what I needed.

He tucked a few hairs behind my ear and stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. "I won't apologize for my Freudian slip. It wasn't on purpose, though. I don't want to add to any pressure."

"You're the only one who's not. I know they mean well, but..."

"Honey, honey, honey." He pressed his thumb against my lips, softly interrupting another building tirade. "This is between me and you and no one else. They can think what they want and say what they want but what matters is what happens between us. You and me? We are just fine where we are. Mkay?"

He kissed my forehead, and then my cheek, and then my lips, and then hurled himself off of the bed and began removing the layers he'd been wearing all day- zippered hoodie over a long sleeved sweater over a shirt and a t-shirt.

I scooted back on the bed and crawled under the covers, then laid back to watch him undress. "How do you wear so many layers all day and not get hot?"

"I don't know," he said, kicking off his shoes. "Skinny people don't have body fat to retain heat, and if we don't like, work out and stuff, the body temp stays pretty low."

"Ahhh." I watched him unzip and push his jeans down his hips and kick out of them. He left everything in a pile in front of his suitcase. "I love that you're so smart, baby."

"That's just what my doctor said, honey."

"You're still smart."

Dressed in just his briefs, he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to snap off the lamp. "What I am," he said, laying back and scooting toward me, "is tired. Assume the position."

"Face down, ass up?"

Pause. I could hear his eyes rolling in the darkness. "The other one."

"Oh. That one." I turned to my side, my back to him. He plastered himself against me, chest to feet, and laid an arm across me.

"Go to sleep, honey. Love you." 

###

The worst thing about vacations is how quickly they pass. One minute I was on a plane and couldn't wait to get to Vail, and then a whirlwind rode by and I was back at the airport, trying to get my mother not to cry and hugging the boys goodbye.

The heartbreak was watching CJ say goodbye to JC.  He wouldn't let go until JC dug into his bag and gave him a guitar pick to hold onto. Chris picked him up while he was distracted. I almost teared up, watching CJ dig his face into his dad's neck, clutching the guitar pick in his pudgy hand.

"You kids should just go, before this gets bad," my dad said. He dropped a kiss on my forehead, gave JC a hearty hand shake and pushed us toward check-in. "Go. We'll see you soon. Maybe we'll come out for spring break or something. We'll talk."

We checked our luggage, made our way through the short security line, found our gate and sat at the  waiting to board, hot coffee in hand. JC was deliciously scruffy... having made a good impression on my family already, he decided to stop shaving somewhere around day 3. He claimed he needed it, to stay warm on the slopes. He did spend a lot of time sitting in the snow during our snowboard lesson.

Time dragged on, plodding slowly. Like my dad, JC was strict about being early for flights, which meant we had nearly an hour and a half wait before the boarding call. JC scrolled through messages on his phone, returned phone calls, sent emails, and then put it away, sliding it into his pocket and picking up his coffee.

"You still have time," I said to him.

He paused on the brink of a sip and glanced at me. "Time for what?"

"To run. You could fly to Denver, and then hook a right and hop a plane to Miami. There's still time."

"Just leave?"

"Just leave. Be like ‘well, honey. I changed my mind. See ya on the third'."

JC laughed, and then slurped his coffee. "I'd be the biggest asshole, ever."

"But you'd be an asshole on South Beach." I laughed and nodded. Maybe I would hook a left and hop a plane.

"And leave you alone?" He shook his head. "Why would I do that?"

"You know there's a rumor that you did that, once?"

"Left someone?" I nodded. "Who? Who'd I leave?"

"Tara."

"Reid?" I nodded. He scowled. "What? I never left her anywhere. What?"

"That's the rumor. That -" People were beginning to arrive for departing flights but weren't sitting anywhere near us. Yet and still, I lowered my voice, in case someone was listening, despite the fact that probably no one in the entire airport knew who JC was. "That she was getting on your nerves, and you got mad and left her somewhere and went to Miami."

"That's-see...shit." JC rolled his eyes, the scowl now firmly planted on his lips and a deep "v" between his brows. "I never left her anywhere. See, that's why I don't like gossip and shit like that. It's never completely true. I tell you this all the time."

I laughed, quietly. "I never said it was true. I never said I thought it was true, even."

"Well it's not true. I wouldn't do that. Would I have left her somewhere because I was already going to Miami? Probably, because it was planned that way. I wouldn't strand her somewhere and run off like I'm having a temper tantrum. Do I seem like I would do that?"

"I know you would never do that. You're too nice." I wound an arm under his and slid my hand across his palm. "Let's just drop it. I was just making nervous conversation."

He was still stewing, but he held my hand in his. He sipped his coffee and seemed calmer after a few minutes. The scowl disappeared, the "v" between his eyes dissolved and his mood lightened.

"What else is going on inside your head? You okay?"

I nodded, my eyes following the flow of planes arriving and departing outside the gigantic windows. He squeezed my hand, demanding attention. "Nervous?"

"A little."

"Not about the flight."

I wagged my head in an emphatic ‘no'. "It's short. Just hoping I didn't leave my loving family who are in tears because we're gone to spend a couple of days in some bullshit. You know?"

He nodded. "I know. I'm hoping it won't be awkward and...well... shitty. I hope it turns out awesome. But if it doesn't, I couldn't let you go through that alone." 

I turned to look at him, admiring his profile. He didn't return my stare, but he smiled because I was staring at him. I was really, very happy that he'd decided to come to Denver with me. I wondered how he knew all along that I would need him there.

The boarding call finally came and we shuffled in a group toward the jet way, boarded the plane, and settled into our seats. JC automatically reached for my hand, winding his fingers between mine. He wouldn't let go until the wheels touched tarmac in Denver.

The flight from Denver to Vail was a short half hour, but the difference between the two was night and day. The Mile High City was bustling and busy as always. We were off to baggage claim and then off to the rental car counter, and then on the shuttle to pick up the car. By the time we reached the hotel, I was already exhausted and it was only noon.

We shrugged off our coats and hung them, and then by force of habit, or just a need to have something to do, JC took over putting our luggage in the closet and out of the way.

"Do we need to be anywhere soon?" 

"Not soon. Dinner at George and Ana's tonight, though. Why?"

JC came around the side of the bed and then sat down, pulling me toward him. I fell into his lap, lifting my arm up and around his shoulder.  He nuzzled my neck, mumbling into my skin, "I want some peace and quiet with my girlfriend. Would that be okay?"

I had almost forgotten what it was like to really be alone with him. Away, and alone with him, without a care in the world. "That sounds like heaven."

"I mean, you know, not that I didn't enjoy myself, and not that I don't love your family-"

"I know, I know." I tipped his chin up with a finger and bent to kiss him. His lips were soft and warm and still tasted like coffee. "I don't blame you. We've been surrounded for days."

I tipped my head toward him and puckered my lips. He kissed me, and then kissed me again, but longer. A groan escaped him and he stretched up to kiss me a third time. Just then, my stomach interrupted with a loud gurgle.

JC laughed, rubbing my belly. "Uh... I guess you're hungry?"

"Of course I am. Are you? Do you want to eat and rest a little before we have to go out?"

He seemed tired, very tired as he ran a hand down his face and scratched at his beard. "I can go get us something real quick. It'll be faster than room service. We'll eat and hang out, just us. Sound good?"

I swooned, my eyes closed, my head leaned against his forehead. "You sweet man. I would love you so much if you could make that happen."

JC stood and dumped me off of his lap and onto the bed. He snickered, patting his pockets for keys. I pointed toward the set on top of the TV cabinet. "Here." He tossed the remote at me on his way to the door. "I'll be right back."

He paused before opening the door, turned around and said, "You know what I'm looking forward to?"

I smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. "Being able to make noise?"

He nodded, giving me a smug grin before turning the handle and opening the door. "So you just relax. Save your strength. Okay?"

Suddenly, I wasn't so nervous, anymore. Or tired. Or hungry, for that matter. I just wanted JC to come back. Quickly.

He told me to relax, so I piled up the pillows on the bed and turned on the TV. I flipped through a few channels before finding a local station airing Saved By the Bell. I kicked off my shoes, scooted further down in the bed and got lost in the episode. I barely heard JC return over the canned laughter and applause. As usual, he didn't take a room key, so at the sound of rustling and knocking outside the room, I hopped up to open the door for him.

Only JC could make something as simple as a Subway club, chips and a Pepsi seem romantic, but he did a great job. As soon as he came into the room, he went to work setting two places at the table. He turned the TV off and the radio on, quickly locating a jazz station and lowering the volume to a quiet, calming level.

It was nice to sit and eat, just the two of us. To talk and reminisce about the ski trips, about being able to spend Christmas day together, about my family and how much they liked him and how welcomed he felt by them. Even Gram, who had seemed so uptight about him at first, seemed sad to see him go and told him she expected him to come back for the summer trip.

The afternoon spent with JC was just what the doctor ordered. We ate and then laid together on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around me and the stiff hairs of his beard poking into my forehead. We finally dozed off to the muted sounds of smooth jazz coming from the radio. 

The buzzing sound of my phone woke me from a very light snooze. I crawled out from underneath JC and dug out my phone, remembering that I hadn't contacted anyone to let them know we had arrived. I smiled at the display, though, when a text from Melissa was waiting for me.

‘Wellllll?'  I could hear her voice inside my head, see her facial expressions behind my eyes. ‘Did they like him, or is he banned from the Porter Compound?'

I chuckled, low enough to not wake JC, and typed back. ‘Smashing success. Gram and Gramps love him! It went great. We're in Denver, now.'

A few seconds later, a response came. ‘Great! J I'm so happy to hear that. Big sigh of relief, huh?'

‘The biggest. I am really happy with how it turned out. Pissed that we had to leave to come to Denver and I hope this isn't a waste.'

‘Aw, honey. You worry too much. Don't expect things to turn out badly, and they won't. Okay?'

JC and Melissa really needed to stop talking, behind my back. They were starting to sound alike, singing the same song.

‘Fine,'  I responded.  ‘We were napping, but we need to get up and get ready for dinner with Regina and her parents. I'm sorry, I know I'm being rude.'

‘Don't worry at all. Have a good time. Alert me at the first sign of drama!'

I snorted a laugh a little too loudly and JC stirred, squinting and blinking. ‘See, you made me laugh and wake up JC. Now I'm in trouble. I gotta go. Love you, talk soon.'

‘Bye, love you too!'

"Sorry," I said, wincing as I tucked my phone away. "Melissa was being funny. Didn't mean to wake you up."

He sat up slowly, stretching his arms straight up. His t-shirt rode up, exposing his flat, hairless belly except for a thin line that ran down below the band of his jeans. I loved to trace that line to see where it went, and even though it always led to the same spot, it was like finding the pot of gold again and again.

"It's okay," he said, after waking up a little. He was so cute, all pouty and blinking. I wished we had nowhere to go that night and could curl up together and go back to sleep. "We have to get up anyway, don't we?"

I nodded and went for my suitcase in the closet. "At least we'll get some good Greek food."

JC remembered how to get to the giant white stone house with the stately pillars and red brick porch and sidewalks that looked oddly out of place among the more modest homes. He parked in front of the house and we got out just as the front door was opening. I turned around to say hello, sure it was Regina coming to greet us. The sight of her made my mouth drop nearly to the sidewalk.

She looked... incredible.

She'd gained weight, a lot of it, filling out the bony, jutting corners that used to be her hips and elbows. Her cheeks were full and high and round, dusted with the tiniest bit of blush, no longer sallow and sunken. She was golden, not grey or pale, and smiling a wide smile of perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. Her eyes were bright, her hair a fun mass of bouncing curls spilling over her shoulder and down her back.

"Oh my God," was all I could say. If anyone had just met the two of us, they'd think we were sisters. It was... eerie. Pleasant, but still eerie.

She turned in a circle, beaming with pride, shooting a sideways grin at JC and then directing her attention back to me. "I don't look like this every day," she said, waving off my dumbfounded gaze. "I got a makeover today. I thought it would be fun and I wanted to look special. I hadn't seen you in such a long time."

In my head, I was sputtering, searching for words to say. I realized then that I'd never seen her healthy. I'd never seen her smile like that, so big. I'd never seen her happy.  I felt light-headed, I was so overwhelmed.

JC was around the car and at my side. I felt him staring at me, and then looking at Regina, and then looking to me again. I knew they were waiting for me to say something... if I could just get my mouth to open, and the words to fall out!

"I can't ... believe it," I finally spit out."You look so good. I mean it. Really good!"

Regina smiled brighter, something I didn't know was possible, and opened her arms. I fell into a hug that was tight and warm and felt so comfortable and normal that it almost freaked me out. She held me and stroked my back and patted my wavy hair and sighed, into my ear, "I missed you, sweetheart."

Everything in me wanted to run away from her, yet everything in me kept me right there in her arms.  

The front door opened again and Ana stepped out. She was an older, grayer version of Regina. I glanced up from my hug and she smiled, giving a small, nervous wave with one hand, clutching her apron with the other. George was in the doorway, waving and calling out something in Greek, and then he was gone back into the house.

Regina grabbed my hand and then JC's hand and pulled us toward the house. "Daddy says to stop standing outside like dopes and come in."

"You speak Greek?"

"No. He just says that a lot."

The smell of dinner was mouthwatering, smacking me in the face as soon as I stepped over the threshold. The sandwich was all we'd had to eat that day. I looked at JC and he looked at me and we both wiggled our brows at each other. We would eat well that night.

And eat we did, a traditional five course meal, beginning with soup and ending with dessert, with plenty of Ouzo and wine flowing throughout. We talked about our upcoming trip, dodging questions about marriage and engagement left and right, getting advice on the best places to visit in April or May.

Regina chattered all through dinner, asking questions, telling stories. She had a lot of news to share, updates since we'd last seen each other.

"I guess the biggest difference," she said around a bite of potato, "Is that I don't live here, anymore." 

She grinned at my rapid blink. "What? You don't?"

"Nope. I got myself a little place near the University of Denver. I'm going to school, and I still have my job, though I had to transfer to a different hotel, so I didn't need a car." She blushed, drawing her lips in. "I still can't drive. I won't take lessons until the spring, when the snow is gone. I can't afford a car, but... I want to learn how to drive anyway."

I nodded, so happy she was still doing well. "Of course. Yeah. You never know when you need to drive someone's car.  Or your own. Someday."

"Yeah," she said, nodding back. "So, I thought maybe tomorrow you could come by my apartment. See where I live." She shrugged, talking into her soup bowl. "If you want. It's small but it's mine."

"I... sure." I reached across the table and grasped her wrist. She was still bone thin, even after gaining a bit of weight. "Regina, I'd love to see where you live. Thank you for asking me."

She brightened, and sat up straight, then. "Okay. Well, that'll be fun. And when you come over we can talk about uhm... you know... what I said I needed you to help me with?"

My throat closed up, tight and dry. The elephant walked into the room and sat right down in the middle of the table. What Regina could possibly need my help with, I didn't know, but I was suddenly nervous. And scared-not of the request, but of having to say no. I didn't think I had it in me to say no to her, not when she was doing so well.

We left much later than we intended, full and on the verge of drunk. Regina agreed to take some leftovers home that night so that we could have lunch at her apartment the next day. I was already anticipating the chicken, roasted over an open fire in a pit in the backyard until the skin was crispy but the meat was so tender it fell right off the bone. Nothing was better than a Greek meal but leftovers of a Greek meal.

JC opened the door on my side and let me in and then walked around and slid into the driver's seat. We waved at the figures standing in the doorway before starting the car and pulling away. We were ten blocks down the street before I punched JC in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Did Regina not look amazing? I mean, really. Didn't she? Amazing!"

"Yes," he whined, rubbing his arm. "Easy, slugger. You excited?"

"Yeah! She looked so great. I'm so proud of her!"

JC didn't say anything for awhile. We left the subdivision and pulled into traffic, headed back to the hotel. "Honey, why didn't you say that?" he asked.

"Say what?"

"That you were proud of her. That she looked good. That you were excited. She was literally begging for your approval and... you just sat there."

Pause. What? "I did?"

"Well, yeah. I mean... not rudely or anything. She seemed disappointed in your reaction."

"Oh." Well, so much for being excited. My heart sank, thinking I'd been so concerned about myself that I hadn't even noticed Regina vying for my attention like one of my nephews, or Chloe. "Wow. I guess I fucked that up, huh?"

JC's hand was in my lap, rubbing my thigh through my jeans. "You didn't fuck it up. Just, tomorrow make sure you explain to her, you know, that you were in shock. I mean so was I. She looks really good. She's still clean and she's doing really well. She wants you to be proud of her."

"I am, JC!"

"Okay. Well, act like it, Serena."

I left JC's hand where it was, on my thigh, but crossed my arms and stared out of the window. We crawled through late night traffic and finally arrived back at the hotel. I was quiet as we climbed out of the car, walked through the lobby, got onto the elevator and reached our floor. I swiped the room key and pushed the door open, snapping on the room light as soon as we entered.

JC hugged me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist, resting his chin in the dip of my shoulder.  "Don't be mad."

"I'm not. Not at you," I said. "At me. I just, I wasn't ready, you know?"

"For her to be doing so well?"

"Right. I was ready for her to still be skinny and pale and looking like she was a minute away from snorting something. I wasn't ready for her to look so good and sound so good and be doing so well. I'm not..."

"What?" He prodded, squeezing his arms around me and then running his fingers through my hair, pulling it to the side so he could drop soft kisses along my neck. "It's just me, honey. And I'm not judging you."

I turned in his arms and stepped closer, running my hands up his sleeves until they met behind his neck and played with the tiny hairs that grew at his nape. "I don't know her, JC. I don't know what to say to her. I don't know her favorite color or her shoe size or what she likes to do for fun. She's my mom, and I don't know her."

JC tipped forward until his lips met my forehead. Softly, sweetly, he brushed a kiss across my skin. Feather soft. He tipped his head to the left so he could look me in the eye, and said, "Don't you think it's time you did?"

My heart was heavy, all of a sudden, and I was so, so tired. JC must have felt me wilt against him, and drew his arms around me even tighter.

"So, I know you're bummed, but will you let me try to cheer you up?"

"Maybe," I said, hiding a hint of a smile. "How would you do that?"

"Well. I just wondered if you were ready."

I raised my eyebrows in question. "Ready for...."

He cocked his head back and yelled out into the room," TO MAKE SOME NOOOOOOIIIISSEEE!"

Despite my somber mood, I laughed. Loud. "Oh. My God, you dork. Did you just do that?"

He grinned down at me, laughing along. "I just did that. Made you smile, though."

"Yeah. You did. You wanna make me smile some more?"

He hummed, dipping his head to the side of my neck and beginning a slow, soft nibble down to my shoulder. The vibration of his voice, his lips on my skin ignited started a small smolder in the pit of my belly. I was alone, with my man, and he was trying to make me happy. I just might let him.

"That's a good start, right there. You definitely know how to make me smile."

"It's my specialty," he mumbled against my skin. "It's what I do best. Making you smile."

I giggled, making room for him to keep traveling up my neck. "Now I would have thought you'd claim another talent as something you do best."

His lips only left me long enough to give me a look and utter in a deadpan tone, "That, too. Whatever you're thinkin'. I'm the best."

"Of course you are, my handsome fella. My gram calls you my fella."

A groan rose from within him. "We cannot talk about your grandma right now."

"Well..." I pulled away from him, stepping back. He whined, lightly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well..." He pulled me toward him again and attacked my neck, working his way to my lips in tiny, tickling bites. "I don't want to talk at all, really. But if we have to talk, I want to talk about how I want you in that bed over there. Naked. Under me. Making that noise you make when you come. And when we can make that happen."

"Ohhh. Well. I guess whenever you stop talking and start making that happen."  

I was whisked off my feet and tossed into the middle of the bed. Laughing, I let out a loud whoop and sat up. I pulled at my clothes, eager to satisfy his wish that I be naked.

"Just leave the lace for me."

"I wouldn't dare deprive you of removing the lace." Off came my blouse and the camisole I'd worn under it. My jeans followed. I left my heels on, just because, and worked my way backward on the bed. I sank into the cool, plush pile of pillows and laid back to watch JC. "You know, I'm not as attached to the boxers, though so if you want to take them off yourself, be my guest."

He was nearly naked, having shed his shirt and jeans in seconds. He reached for the band of his boxers and then stopped. "You want me to do a lil' strip tease for you?"

"Yeah, let me check out your legs and ass. See if you're stripper material."

He laughed, pulling them down his hips and kicking them across the room. "I guarantee you that I am not. My chest is about the only thing I have going for me."

JC climbed up onto the bed and crawled across the surface, lying next to me, so close I could feel the heat radiating from him. I stroked his face, smoothing down the prickly hairs of his beard. He moved so he could kiss my palm, and then relaxed again.

"I uhm... might be biased, but I've seen what you're working with. You would be a great stripper."

"Male exotic dancer, honey."

I giggled. "Okay. If we're gonna be PC about it-"

"We are. Have to be fair." He lifted a hand in the air and let it hover over me, like he couldn't decide what he wanted to touch first. My belly won, instantly breaking out in goose bumps. My body shuddered at his touch, his hands a combination of skin so soft and yet so rough at the tips as they roamed my skin, left to right, up and over the lace covering the full cups of my bra and back down to the lace covering my most intimate place.

"Open," he said in a low voice that wasn't gruff but wasn't light. I obeyed, splaying my legs, making room for his hands to explore over the very thin fabric, up the inside of each thigh and back down to center. Two fingers found their mark and began a slow, sensuous, heady circular rhythm, stoking the fire. My head lolled back, my eyes closed, my mouth opened and a moan curled out.  "That's it... just relax. Let me take care of you right now."

Five long, slow, quiet minutes passed. His fingers never stopped moving. My hips couldn't help but pick up the rhythm, working with him. Soon I felt his warm mouth on one breast and then another, flicking the nipples through the lace until he couldn't stand it and pushed the cups up and over. I pulled the bra off and grabbed his head, moving his mouth back to my chest where he licked and sucked and teased one, and when the nipple was standing upright, red and puffy, he moved to the other one. I was in some kind of blissful heaven.  And I wanted more of it.

"JC," I whispered down to him. He glanced up at me but his mouth didn't stop moving, thankfully. "Take them off. Please."

He always did take direction well. The thin, filmy fabric was pulled down my legs and tossed across the room and then I felt his fingers on my skin, on me. Warm. Hot, even. I throbbed, right on the edge.  Sensing that, maybe from my rising sighs and moans and force of my hip thrusts, JC quickly scooted down in the bed and positioned himself between my legs, replacing his fingers with his tongue.

"Hmmmm....my God! Yeah!"

My hips jerked violently at the first touch, a long, slow, wet lick. There was something about looking down my body, between spread legs and seeing him staring back at me, his forehead creased in concentration, his mouth working fast and hard and pressed into me, the green in his eyes giving away that he was not as cool and calm as he made himself out to be.

I whimpered, my hips working a tight circle against his tongue, so very, very close that I was almost sitting up, clutching a tuft of hair at the crown of his head. He moaned, long and low, the vibration sending waves through my body.

"Fuck!" I screamed, my head tossed back as my body convulsed, my hips jerked, my legs shook. JC didn't stop-wouldn't stop as long as I was still moving. And I wasn't stopping. "Oh my God, baby, I'm com--- ungh!" A fresh wave hit and I couldn't tell if it was the same climax or I was coming again. I only knew I couldn't talk; I could only moan and grunt through clenched teeth.

"Let it go," he said, against me, his tongue still working. "I want to hear you. Let it go."

"I ca-I can't! I can't!"

"Do it," he growled, flicking his tongue so fast but so lightly. My hips were off of the bed, supported by JC's hands under me, pressing me against him. I was ready to climb the walls and tired of fighting myself. So I let go.

"Mmmmm! Fuck! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! God! Yes!" I heaved and grunted and squealed and yelled until I couldn't move anymore. I struggled to catch my breath.

"Mmm?" I felt him say, finally slowing down. My body returned to the bed.

"Mmm!" I said back, grinning, panting, and turning pink. "So good, baby. So fucking good. You know how to do it."

"I know how to do some other stuff." He was sitting up, on his knees, smiling at me, smiling at him. "Do you need a minute?"

I nodded, just barely lucid. "I would love a minute. How about while I do you?"

He liked that idea-his eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he scrambled around my legs to lay next to me. I laughed, thinking I had a few minutes to recover and apparently... didn't. He was holding himself up and staring at me with a sexy-but really silly smile. I sat up and arranged him, moving his legs apart so I could sit between them.

Unlike me, JC got no real value from foreplay. He would most appreciate just getting to it. With this in mind, I lowered my mouth to him but just before my lips brushed against him I stopped and rolled my eyes up.  He groaned. Inside, I claimed victory. Served him right for all the teasing he did to me.

"Question," I said. "Are you gonna make noise, since I had to?"

"Had to?"

"Uhm... was brought to such heights of climax that I had to, is what I meant. Are you?

"Fuck yeah. I'm just waiting for you to wrap that pretty mouth around me. Let's do it."

It was as good an invitation as any, but I wasn't ready, yet. I felt like I hadn't seen him, touched him, explored him in so long. We had the time, lots of time, so I took some. I blocked out everything in the room-the lights, the muted noise from the street twelve stories below, even the groaning coming from above me.

I held him in my hands, admiring the soft skin stretched taut over strong muscle, engorged with blood until it was rock hard. He was warm. Pulsing. Strong from base to tip and beautifully marbled with veins. I dipped my head to him, running my tongue around the outside of his head.

He liked that. He hissed a breath and his entire body tensed while his hips lifted slightly, moving him closer to my mouth. I could tease him by pulling back...or I could go for it. I went for it.

I sank down on him, taking as much of him as I could, beginning a slow rhythm and adding the swirls and moans that drove him crazy. I dragged my finger nails across his skin, coming up and going back down. JC was normally quiet, leaving most of the noisemaking to me, but the fingernails always brought some noise.

He grunted, arching his hips up to me. "Unh. Yeah. I like that."

"Mmmm?" I asked, smiling around him, my eyes on him.

"Mmmm," he answered, smiling back, his hips riding with me, his hands moving to my head and his fingers curling up in my hair. "Right there, mama. Right there. Just like that. Don't stop."

I loved being close to him, so intimate with him. I felt closer to him than if we were laying together, skin against skin, breathing the same air. I moved with him, speeding up, slowing down, going by the cues he gave me.

"Fuuuuck," he grunted, working his hips and doing most of the work. "Almost there, baby. Keep going. Don't stop. Don't-" I watched him as his head cocked back, his neck veins bulging, his skin glistening with sweat, his entire body working toward a single goal.

"Yeah!" Through a clenched jaw and gritting teeth he grunted and growled, his skin deeply red and shiny with sweat. "Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah...unnnnnnhhhfuck!"  He shuddered, exhaled a deep groan, and let go, spilling into my mouth and pumping into me until he was spent. Wasting no time, he sat up and bulldozed me until I was lying on my back and pushed into me, filling me in a single stroke. I squealed, my body on fire and ready for him.

My arms flew around his shoulders, pulling him down to me, but he resisted. "No. I'm not in the mood for our usual," he said. He sat up and motioned for me to lift my legs, and then pulled them apart, as wide as they would go before I screamed.

"Ow, fucker! Are you trying to split me in half?"

"You wish." He grinned, working his hips in a hard thrust-thrust-thrust that felt so good, I forgot about sitting up to punch him.  I just wanted him to not ever stop.

"God, you feel good. Like, amazing."

"You're not working hard enough," he panted, droplets of sweat dripping from his brow. "You shouldn't be able to talk to me. Put your ass into it."

"Put my ass into it?" I kicked my legs out of his grip and locked them around him, pulling him further into me. He grunted, and then laughed, falling forward. "If you would have let me do it like this five minutes ago, you'd be coming by now but you had to get fancy."

He laughed, cackling in my ear. "Oh, someone thinks she wrote the Kama Sutra now."

"I do alright. I do more than alright and you know it." I clenched around him, released, and clenched again. He shuddered, his eyes slamming shut. "Uh huh, who wrote the Kama Sutra now?"

I was sure I saw his eyes roll back in his head. "Oh my God. Serena... honey... baby... don't stop doing that. Mmmm! Feels so good."

"Does it? I thought were making noise. Tell me."

"I'm telling you, right now. That feels fucking good to me. And don't stop doing it."

"I think you need to say it louder."

"Louder?"

"Louder. Say it."

He raised his head and yelled into the room, "Fuck! That feels good, baby! Don't stop! Oh my God! Yeah! That feels SOOOOO good!"

I was laughing just as loud as he was yelling, so hard I could barely breathe. "Okay, okay, okay. I need... oh my God. I need to come. Make me come."

His eyes slid closed and a look of deep concentration crossed his face. He slowed his movements, made them longer and deeper, made his hip movements more sensuous, moved his lips over my skin until the momentum and passion between us built again.

"Yeah," I whimpered, thrusting up, working with him. He hit a sweet spot. And kept hitting it. "Right there! Right there, baby. Shit, I'm gonna come!"

"Come with me. Ready? You ready?"

"Yeseesssssssss..." I hissed as a strong wave crashed over me, the force of which wracked my body and pushed out grunts and yelps and the infamous squeal that not only dogs but apparently JC and possibly the entire side of our floor.

"There it is," JC said, almost cooing in my ear through his own grunts and convulsions. "I love that sound. I love making you do that."

I fell back against the bed, my limbs limp. JC pulled out and laid down on top of me, breathing heavy, sweating onto me. I didn't mind a bit. It took all of my strength to lift my arms and wrap them around him, then turn my head and kiss his sweaty temple. "Shit. Keep fucking me like that and you'll hear it a lot more."

"You got it," came a muffled reply, buried in a breast. "Love you. So much, right now."

I giggled. "You always love me, so much, right after sex."

"Well... I do. Right then."

"Well, I love you, so much right now, too. How's that?"

He sighed, blowing out a long, slow breath of air. I felt his chest evacuating while he laid on top of me. "You know what? That's the best part. That's everything I work for, right there. That's what makes everything worth it. Hearing it back. Feeling it back. I can tell you love me by how you make love to me."

"You can?"

He nodded and mumbled a sleepy "mmmhmmm," spreading the pool of sweat, but didn't explain.

I think I understood, anyway. I could tell a lot about JC, too.