Chapter 30

            “Natalia!! Would you help me clean this damn apartment and get off the phone?!” Ricky yelled at me. I rolled my eyes and snapped my cell phone shut as I reached Justin’s voice mail.

            “I’m sorry but I had to call Justin and remind him to get that stupid bottle of wine you asked for!” I replied with a snotty tone and grabbed the mop from his hand. “And you’re totally mopping the floor wrong!”

            “Listen, this stupid Thanksgiving party was not my idea!! Louis wanted to throw it… I’m just doing my best to get this together last minute!”

            I rolled my eyes at Ricky, he was such a drama queen. I proceeded to help him clean up his dirty apartment, in which I did most of the work. I had no idea why he didn’t hire a maid or something, but he was a weird kid.

            Did I mention I also hated cleaning?

            “So how are things with you and the Lake?”

            “The Lake?” I asked with confusion. What the hell was he talking about?

            “You know… Timber… lake…”

            “YOU’RE SO STUPID!!” I broke out into laugher and threw a dirty paper towel, which I used to clean the glass table, at him. “And things with me and Justin are better… I mean we’re working things out slowly… it’s rough but it’s worth it…”

            “Good… you should have listened to me from the beginning but you never do.”

            “Do you always have to rub in my face that you’re always right?”

            “Pretty much.” Ricky smirked evilly at me and picked up the paper towel off the floor and threw it in the garbage.

            “Ugh, I can’t stand you.”

            “Pfft… you love me my little Thanksgiving whore.”

            “Thanksgiving whore? You need help, Seaver, you need help.”

**

            Thanksgiving began in the craziest fashion. As it turns out, Ricky was not going to do thanksgiving normally. Thanksgiving was going to consist of a dinner, which would be normal and then a crazy ass party.

            Who the fuck does something like that and god damnit what was with all the damn parties?! I wanted a nice peaceful thanksgiving but things are never as we want them to be.

            “Hello?!” Savannah and JC walked in together. The sight of them together made me wish that they really were together. Today they were putting on a façade that I hated to see. Why couldn’t they mend things as Justin and I did?

            Maybe JC had to realize that he was losing her? Who knew, it all needed to be solved though.

            “Hey losers.” I hugged the both of them and smiled. “This is gonna be one freakin crazy night. I don’t even know what Ricky had planned. I’m a little scared to be honest.”

            “Oh it’s not gonna be that crazy!” Ricky laughed sinisterly and walked up to us in a Chef hat. I even had to giggle. HE WASN’T EVEN COOKING!! He was going to pull off the catered food as his own!! I would so totally do that!

            I had taught the young Padawan well.

            “What’s up, Psycho?” Savannah smiled and hugged Ricky tightly. I think he was excited to see her so happy with JC. I mean there was still a considerate distance between the two, but I hadn’t seen Savannah in the same room with JC and having a smile on her face in the longest time.

            Maybe things were gonna get better for all of us?

            That thought faded when Hope walked in dressed as Pocahontas and Kip dressed as a Pilgrim at her side. Kip wasn’t a bad guy, but I knew Hope was destined for better. I mean maybe Tommy had fucked things up with them, but she didn’t have to lower herself to date Kip.

            I didn’t say anything, I just forced a smile as they entered the apartment, arm in arm. I looked around for Justin who was busy coloring with the twins. I smiled and walked over to my family.

            It felt so good to say those words… my family. It had been so long since we were a family again. I couldn’t bear to lose them again.

            “I like the turkey you’re coloring.” I said, giggling at Justin’s drawing. He looked up at me with a lopsided grin and then pulled me onto his lap.

            “Mommy!! My Indian is better!!” Nikolas held up his picture of an Indian and I giggled more.

            “You guys wanna see some real Indians and Pilgrims?” I asked my wide-eyed children. They nodded exasperatedly and I pointed to Kip and Hope. “Go look at Aunt Hope!”

            My children ran off to harass Hope and Kip and I was left with Justin. I hugged him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. I was so happy to be spending the holiday with him.

            “This feels perfect… us together again, I mean.” I smiled and my husband beamed at me.

            “It does… “ He looked into my eyes and didn’t say anything. “You are my angel…”

            His angel, the name he had always called me but I had never accepted. It felt right… it felt perfect. I guess I was in that honeymoon stage where everything was peachy, I wanted to forgive and forget.

            “I love you…” I whispered.

            “I know… I love you too, Natalia.”

            “HEY! LOSERS!” I heard Ricky scream. We turned around to see the table set and everyone staring at us. Justin and I had been so engrossed in each other that everything was done and ready.

            That was cute but at the same time kind of sickening. Sometimes being too lovey dovey was annoying.

            “Sorry Rico Suave.” Justin gave Ricky a satisfied smile and the two of us headed over to the table.

            We were all seated, JC, Justin, the twins, Savannah, Louis, Ricky, Hope, Kip and myself. The only one missing was Tommy and it felt wrong without him there.

            “So should we start… I’m totally not saying grace…” Ricky stated while Louis giggled.

            “Yeah according to the Catholics, doesn’t God like hate us for being gay?” The two of them giggled while I rolled my eyes.

            “Maybe we should wait for Tommy..” Justin suggested, which made him receive a death look from Hope. He quickly just shut his mouth and looked down.

            “Esperanza, don’t be like that! Tommy is our friend too!” I stuck up for my husband and received more glares from her. She said nothing in reply and I knew she wasn’t going to fight our decision to wait for Tommy.

            Hope just glared at the full plate of food that was set for Tommy. I saw her start to smirk at something but then it disappeared. Uh… okay…

            The table was quiet for a little while, until JC decided to break the ice and started telling stories from when we were all together and happy. It was probably one of the most awkward moments for Hope, but I knew JC was doing it for a reason.

            “Yeah… and then when Tommy, Hope, Savannah and I all went to the beach was the best. Do you girls remember that day? When I picked Tommy up and threw him in the water?” JC laughed and Savannah giggled.

            Savannah looked like she was glowing. I didn’t know what was going on with her but I knew I’d find out soon enough. Had she and JC mended things finally or was she hiding her true feelings for the holiday?

            “And then Tommy went to the bathroom and we dug a hole under his towel and when he went to sit back down, he fell in the hole!!” Savannah cracked up and I could see Hope even starting to smile.

            It ended when the door flung open and Tommy entered holding the hand of a little boy… his son, Anthony. Anger flushed Hope’s face and to be spiteful, she turned and planted a huge kiss onto Kip.

            Tommy just ignored her and smiled at everyone.

            “Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!! I’d like to introduce my son to you… Anthony Ryan.”

            Anthony was absolutely adorable, looking like a mini-version of his father. I got up and decided to play mother to Anthony, not really caring if Hope would be mad at me or not. I knew the kid was going to have it tough not having his mother around for the holiday so I wanted to be as helpful as possible.

            “Hey sweetie.” I knelt down in front of Anthony and smiled. “I’m your Aunt Natalia…”

            The little boy smiled shyly at me and gave me a weak hello. I motioned for Tommy to go sit down and sat the little boy next to Samantha and Nikolas. I introduced them and noticed that Samantha was smitten with Anthony. I found it completely adorable and laughed silently.

            Hope was glaring at me but I ignored her. I sat back down next to Justin and the dinner went on. What an interesting night it was going to be.

**

            Dinner finished and we were all stuffed, but there was a party and no one was going to be able to sit around and rest. I helped Ricky clear the table and soon people were coming into the house and music was blasting from the speakers.

            Another one of Ricky’s famous parties was not going to disappoint anyone. The kids were running around the party playing together while Tommy had disappeared.

            “Hey… where’d Tommy go?” I asked no one impaticular, but Hope answered me.

            “Oh he’s in the bathroom…”

            “Why?”

            Hope laughed menacingly and I turned to look at her with confusion. She was twirling one of her feathers in her hand from her Pocahontas costume and looking at the floor.

            “HOPE!! What did you do?”

            Esperanza grabbed a small bottle of exlax from her pocket and waved it in front of me. I put my hand over my mouth and stared at her.

            “Oh my God… you are evil.”

            “He deserved it!! How could he bring that demon child here!?” I let out a sigh and was ready to walk away when Nikolas came pummeling into me.

            “Hey!! Be careful guys!” I yelled to my son, who just continued running, with Anthony and Samantha in pursuit of him.

            Anthony was running and being a silly little kid and ran straight into Hope, making her spill her Appletini all over herself. She let out a scream and grabbed Anthony by the arm.

            “Listen you little brat, if you come near me again I’m going to hang you upside down by the balls!!” She yelled, leaving me standing their speechless.

            Anthony stared at her, before running away as fast as he could.

“Natalia, how could you be nice to that bastard spawn of evil?? You’re supposed to be on my side! Not his!”

            “All I know is that there’s a little boy that’s probably missing his mother, so I’m being kind to him…he probably feels alone and scared… how the hell could you be so cruel, Hope? Tommy is the one that fucked up, not Anthony.”

            I turned away from her and headed over to Justin and just threw my arms around him.

            “What’s wrong baby?”

            “I’m worried about Hope…”

            “She’ll be alright… I know that she and Tommy will figure things out. She’s just being stubborn right now like you were.” Justin smiled at me and held me in his arms as the music blasted in the background. What song it was, I didn’t even know and it didn’t matter. The only thing that did was that I was with the love of my life.

            “I’m gonna fucking KILL that bastard!!” I heard the Irish voice scream. Tommy had lost his cool about something and I was afraid to know what it was.

            Pretty soon, Kip was running out from the hallway and Tommy was after him, pulling his pants up as he ran. It was really funny to watch but I held in my laughter as Hope hit Tommy over the head with a wooden spoon.

            I fucking hated wooden spoons!! When I was a kid my Mom was always chasing me and Andrew with them. They hurt like a bitch too! Shit, I felt bad for Tommy.

            “You bastard!! We are done with… so leave me and Kip alone!”

            “We’re not done with, Hope.” Tommy glared at her, still holding up his pants. “You’re acting VERY fucking childish though… so have fun but all you’re succeeding in is making yourself look like an asshole.”

            “FUCK YOU!!” She screamed at him and went to slap him, before she could Kip grabbed her.

            “Mm…baby he’s not even worth our time… when I finish my training as a cage fighter we’ll see how tough he is then!” Kip huffed and held Hope’s hand tightly. “Let’s get out of here.”

            The two of them exited Ricky’s and Tommy ran full speed back to the bathroom. Tommy was right in what he said, the sooner Hope would realize it, the better for her.

**

            “Natalia?” I heard the voice I had been dreading to hear for the last month. I had avoided him as best I could, but I knew I couldn’t do it forever.

            “Hey.. David…” I whispered into the receiver.

            “Are you busy?” He asked me and I yawned.

            “No… you just woke me up though.” I laughed nervously. I was glad I was still living at my Mom’s. If Justin had known that David was calling me he would flip…

            “Ok good… I really need to talk to you…”

            “Can we do it tomorrow? I’m so tired…”

            “That’s the thing, Nat… I’m leaving… I’m gonna go back to Florida…I mean I’m not stupid… I realize it’s over. I just need to see you one last time…”

            I sighed and glanced over at the alarm clock. It was 5 in the morning but I had no choice but to go to David. I got out of bed and rubbed my sleep stricken face.

            “I’ll be at your hotel in an hour…”