Part Four.
I hate waiting in airports. And I really hated them this particr morning. It was just after five in the morning and I was stuck sitting in an ufortable chair, sipping mediocre coffee and trying to wake up. I’d managed to sleep about an hour and a half the night before and was feeling it. Amy was sitting in the seat across from me, dozing off with her head leaning on our mother’s shoulder. Our father was reading the paper, about as cheerfully as he ever appeared, while waiting for the boarding call. I wanted to be back home in bed, and I wanted Amy’s head on my shoulder. But neither of those things were going to happen at the moment. I knew I was just being grumpy, having only slept a couple of hours the previous night, and upied myself with trying to find a song on my phone worth listening to at this hour. Giving up, I stood up and paced to therge windows facing the tarmac. It was far too early for this, I thought to myself, as I polished off my coffee and went for a refill. The ne wouldn’t be boarding for another hour and a half or so. Dad’s impatience could be infuriating.
As I waited in the short line for my coffee, I felt a hand slip around my waist from behind. Startled, I spun around and stared in Amy’s momentarily rmed eyes.
“I just wanted a quick hug.” She rocked back on her heel a half step. I cut my eyes back toward the waiting area and realized we were well out of the line of sight from our parents. She realized what I was doing and gave me a grin.
“I’m not stupid, you know. It’s okay.”
“Sorry, I’m not awake yet.” I rxed a little and gave her a hug. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Just resting my eyes. I saw you head over here and wanted a hug. May not be much chance for that this week.” Her smile was back.
“Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that part.” I half grumbled as I paid for my coffee, then added. “Want anything?”
“Blueberry muffin?”
“You got it.” I replied and paid the cashier.
“Thanks.” She took the muffin and headed back to sit with our parents a few feet ahead of me.
Upon boarding the ne, I discovered that while my parents were seated toward the front of the cabin, my seat was mid-cabin and Amy’s was toward the rear. Resigning myself to my fate, I sunk into my seat and hoped to at least get a nap in on the flight. A few minutester, a tall, gray haired guy in a business suit tapped me on the shoulder. I nced up at him.
“Excuse me, but there’s a pretty youngdy back there who informed me that she’s terrified of flying and would feel much better if her brother was next to her.”
I nced back at Amy, who was currently giving me one of her better shit eating grins.
“Yeah, she can be a real basket case on an airne.” I nodded.
“I told her I would offer to swap seats with you so she could be morefortable.” The man smiled.
“Thank you, sir. I imagine your arm would thank you if it knew the size of the bruises she’d be putting on it when we take off, as well. She’s got quite a grip.” I stood and let him take my seat. He chuckled at that as I made my way back to sit next to Amy.
“That was clever.” I muttered to her, buckling my seat belt. She rubbed my thigh affectionately and smiled.
“I have my moments.” She replied. “You aren’t the only devious one in the family.”
“Me? Devious?” I feigned indignation. “I most certainly am not.”
“Whatever, jackass.” Her fingers interlocked with mine and we settled in for the flight.
* * *
Our Uncle Dennis and his son Brad were waiting for us at the airport. I greeted them both and then hung back while the rest of the family proceeded to hold a conversation with them at breakneck speed. We collected our luggage from baggage im and loaded everything into my uncle’s huge SUV. Within minutes of being in the car, I fell asleep with my head against a back window. Amy sat next to Brad on the seat in front of me, as we were purposely putting a little distance between us. It was going to be a long, long week.
It was a three hour drive to their cabin in the mountains. I slept for most of it. When I did finally wake up, not long before we arrived, I was feeling much better about the world. And in serious need of a bathroom.
Calling Aunt Linda and Uncle Dennis’ ce a cabin was a serious understatement. They were both very sessful in the tech field and loaded. The cabin was arge, two story affair on a mountainside with a four car garage attached. They had an enclosed back deck with a fire pit, an indoor heated hot tub, and a huge living area. It was the family’s favored ce for gatherings and we’de here almost every Thanksgiving for years.
As soon as we arrived, I excused myself to duck into the garage’s bathroom for a much needed piss. I washed up and got back to the car just in time to grab thest of the luggage and follow everyone inside. Aunt Linda, our other cousin, Courtney, met us inside and the rapid fire conversation continued. Brad and Courtney were around the same age as Amy and I, both in college themselves. Within minutes, Courtney had Amy by the arm, dragging her off to her bedroom. Brad and I wandered down to the basement game room to shoot some pool.
“You guys got here first, so if you’re smart, you’lly im to that sofa over there.” Brad motioned to arge sofa in the corner of the room. “It’s a lot morefortable than the others and you sure as hell don’t want the intable mattress.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Iughed. I’d been stuck with the intable mattress a couple of times over the years. Thest time I had been left with it, I’d opted to sleep on the hard floor instead. At least the floor didn’t squeak with my every move. I tossed my bags on the better of the sofas.
“So, while you were out cold in the car, Amy told me you had another art showst week. How did that go?” He asked, as he tossed me a pool cue.
“So far, so good. The showsts another two weeks. I’ve sold four pieces so far, though.”
“Damn, son. You’re doing good with that, then?” He sounded impressed.
“It is what it is,” I shrugged. “I’m doing okay with it, I guess.”
“Amy made it sound a lot better than that. She said you had the primary cement in the show and that you have the department head as a mentor. She’s proud of you, dude.” Brad looked at me puzzled.
“My sister’s got a big mouth.” I mumbled. Less than a day into this trip and she’s already talking about me more than I wasfortable with.
“How’s school going for you?” I asked.
“Not bad, bro.” He replied. “I’m getting nervous about next semester. Only two more to go. I have a few sses I’ve been putting off because I know they are gonna suck and it’s now or never.”
“I hear ya.”
“I think I’m gonna ask Brenda to marry me.” Brenda had been Brad’s girlfriend for most of college. I couldn’t say that I was surprised to hear this.This is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.
“That’s awesome man. I’m sure she’ll go for it.”
“Man, I hope so. I really think she will, but there’s always that nagging doubt, ya know?”
“Well, I’ve never proposed to anyone, but I know all about nagging doubt.” I replied.
“Nagging doubt?” A female voice piped up behind us. We both turned to see Courtney and Amy walking up to us. Courtney continued. “About what?”
“I was just telling Adam that I’m thinking of proposing to Brenda.” Brad piped up.
“Ah. That again?” Courtney replied. Then to Amy and I, she said “He’s been going on about this for about six months now. I think he’s too chickenshit to go through with it and he’s trying to grow a pair.”
“My ass. I’m just trying to find the right time, is all.” Brad sounded defensive enough for me to suspect Courtney may be on to something and had to suppress a grin.
We all chatted and shot pool for about an hour or so as more rtives arrived. Eventually we headed upstairs for to join the rest of the family for dinner. The remainder of the night was pretty uneventful. Amy would be staying in Courtney’s room tonight as Courtney had a queen sized bed and it was something of a tradition for them.
When it came time for everyone to go to bed, I went down to the game room and sacked out on the good couch. I couldn’t getfortable, of course, as it always took me a night or two to get used to sleeping away from home. I had just hit y on thetest Radiohead album when I got a text message from Amy.
“I don’t get to say goodnight in person tonight. This sucks. Miss your arms around me. Love you, baby.”
I smiled at the message. This was the first night since Rome that we hadn’t at least kissed each other. Emphasis on the ‘at least’. I responded back in kind and settled in for a long ufortable night. At least I would be able to give some of the albums I’d picked uptely a proper listen, I thought. Three albumster, I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, the family gathering chaos began in earnest as the remainder of the extended family that would be attending arrived. By the early afternoon, I was ready to dive out the window into the snow and walk to the airport on foot. After spending the appropriate amounts of time greeting everyone and doing the small talk thing, I retreated to the game room and sketched for a while at the couch that had be my refuge.
A short whileter, Amy and our cousins turned up and we all shot pool for a while. I had a difficult time behaving as Amy would bend over the pool table to take a shot, and I was reasonably certain that she knew it as she tended to take shots from angles that pointed her ass toward me when she bent. I had to remind myself that despite the majesty of the ass in front of me, it would be unwise to give it the smacking it so desperately needed in front of our currentpany. When there was an opportune moment to check my phone, I fired off a text calling her a dirty tease. She looked pleased with herself when she next looked at her phone.