Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake #3) (26 page)

C
hristmas with my parents and Tawny started out subdued and quiet. We had our traditional Christmas lunch of quiche, bacon, croissants and fruit. Well, I skipped the bacon. And everyone else got to have coffee. I wanted to stab someone with my knife just to get a sip. The entire time, Mom had the radio station that played twenty-four hour Christmas Carols on. It was much less grand than Hope and John’s, but it was also more comfortable because it was the same every year for us. Even Dad seemed more relaxed, despite Tawny giving him dirty looks every now and then.

Mom had hauled out the fake tree and covered it with all the ugly ornaments Tawny and I had made during grade school that she refused to throw away.

“Mom, this one is literally raining macaroni everywhere,” I said, pointing to one that was a portrait of an animal? Probably? Something like that.

“No way, Kid. You made that for me with love and I will keep it forever,” she said, standing between me and the ornament. I was going to argue.

After lunch we all exchanged presents, including those that Hunter had got for my mom and dad. I told him he didn’t have to, that I had already picked out a bracelet for my mom and a set of books for my dad, but he refused.

“Thank you, Hunter, this is lovely,” Mom said about the vase she unwrapped and then Dad was thrilled with the shaving kit.

“Ass-kisser,” I muttered under my breath, and Hunter just gave me a smug smile. He was trying to get my parents to like him more than me and it was working.

“Okay, I know it’s early, but I couldn’t resist,” Dad said, handing me a package. “This is for them.” I didn’t need to ask who “them” was.

I unwrapped the box to find two infant onsies each with “my grandpa loves me” on the front.

“Oh, Dad. You’re such a dork.” I got up and hugged him.

“I couldn’t help myself.”

But then Tawny gave me a gag gift that she called the “after baby kit” that included a bottle of tequila, coffee, a membership to a company that would send you a different kind of cheese every month and a box of tampons. Mom was pissed at her for the gift, but I was kind of excited about it. Even if the temptation to break out the tequila was something I had to actively fight against.

“Can you take anything seriously?” Mom said to Tawny.

“Mom, it’s fine. It’s just a joke, calm down,” I said, being the peacemaker between the two of them. Tawny got up from the couch and I followed her.

“You doing okay?” I asked. She’d escaped to her room. Mom kept our rooms like they were since we lived here so Tawny’s angry band posters were all still up. She rolled her eyes as she lay back on her bed.

“Yeah, fine. Why?” She covered her face with one of her arms. Her tone was flat. Yup. Definitely something up.

“Talk to me. I know I’m the younger sister, but I might be able to offer some sort of advice. Or I can just listen.” I nudged her feet and she uncovered her face.

“I think…” she said, her face going white as she took a shaky breath. “I think I like girls.”

Oh.

OH.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I really needed to hurry up so she didn’t think I was upset about it.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” I said, hoping she would tell me what led her to this particular conclusion. It was shocking, to say the least. I’d never heard her say or do anything that would indicate her feelings about that, but what the hell did I know?

“I’m still kind of freaking out.” I could see that. Her hands trembled as she stared at them.

“Tawny, you can talk to me. About anything. Especially something that has you so tied up inside. Please talk to me,” I said, squeezing her foot.

She took another breath.

“Well. I guess I just… I don’t know. I signed up for one of those stupid online dating sites. Not one of the good ones that you have to pay for. One of the free ones. So basically I started getting dick pics and creeper messages right away. I just sat down and was thinking ‘God, I would rather eat glass than go on another date with a guy’ and then, I don’t know. It was like I opened a dam and all these thoughts and questions started rushing through. I’ve never enjoyed being with a guy. Maybe that’s TMI, but whatever.” There was no such thing between the two of us. She was getting emails and texts with all my gross pregnancy details.

“I do not find penises arousing. Like, not at all. I look at one and ugh.” She shuddered and I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

“So you like girls,” I said.

“I think so?” She made a growling noise and covered her face with her hands. I got up and hugged her.

“Hey. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and whatever you figure out, I’m here for you.” She melted into me, hugging me back.

“Thanks. I knew you wouldn’t care, but that was still really scary.” I could tell; she was still shaking a little.

“Well, this changes my dating advice,” I said, pulling her so we could sit on the bed together.

“Little bit,” she said, laughing.

“Okay, so, what kind of girls do you like?”

H
unter came to find us nearly an hour later. We were on my phone, searching through pictures of girls so we could make a list of who Tawny found attractive so she could figure out what kind of girl to go after.

“She’s hot,” he said, leaning over my shoulder and pointing to a picture of Natalie Dormer.

“Obviously,” I said. Tawny grabbed my phone and hid the screen.

“Mind your own business, Zaccadelli,” she snapped, shoving my phone at me and leaving the room.

“Whoa, what was that?” Hunter said, sitting next to me.

“Sister thing,” I told him. This was Tawny’s secret and I would die before revealing it to someone if she didn’t want me to.

“Uh huh,” Hunter said, giving me a look that said he didn’t believe me.

“Gimme a sec,” I said, leaving the room to find Tawny. What I found was her sitting our parents down in the living room.

“Mom. Dad.” Was she doing this now?

Hunter stood beside me.

“What’s going on?” he whispered and I shushed him.

“What is it? Did you lose your job? Cancer? Is it cancer?” Mom said, clasping her hands together and gasping.

“Let’s just hear her out before hitting the panic button,” Dad said.

“No, I didn’t lose my job and no, it isn’t cancer. Although I do seem to have caught a bad case of the gay.” I covered my mouth to muffle a snort.

“You caught what?” Mom said in confusion.

“Did she say ‘caught the gay’?” Hunter asked as I tried not to burst out laughing. There was one thing Tawny wasn’t, and that was subtle.

“You’re gay. Is that what you’re telling us?” Dad asked. Tawny nodded.

“Oh, thank God,” Mom said, clutching her heart and then getting up to hug Tawny. “I thought there was something really wrong! Don’t do that to me, ever again, Tawny Nicole!” I lost it, bending over and laughing until tears were streaming down my face.

Dad also gave her a hug and Hunter went over as well.

“Well, now we have another thing in common,” Hunter said, giving her a hug and then a fist bump.

I think she assumed it was going to be a bigger deal than it turned out to be. My parents were pretty whatever about anything except for bad grades and poor romantic decisions.

“You know, I always wondered a little,” Mom said later as we sat on the couch.

“You did? Why didn’t you say anything?” Tawny said, throwing up her hands. “You might have saved me so many years of confusion.”

“I didn’t know for sure so I didn’t say anything!”

All in all, Christmas that year was anything but boring.

“I
hate that all of you get to go nuts and I have to sit here with my stupid apple cider crap,” I said, staring into my glass of “pregnant champagne” as everyone was calling it.

It was New Year’s and I had a cute dress on and the girls had done my hair, but I was still a little bummed about my lack of alcohol.

“Aw, it’s still going to be a good year,” Hunter said, kissing my cheek. In solidarity, he was also not drinking. I told him he didn’t have to, but he said he loved me and didn’t want me to throw this back in his face when we argued. He did have a point, so I gave up fighting.

“I have to push two humans out of my body this year, but sure,” I said and he scowled at me.

“It’s gonna be great.” It was. As soon as the snow melted and it warmed up outside, we were starting on the addition to the house. After his meeting with the contractor Hunter decided to expand all three floors, so we were adding two more bedrooms and expanding the kitchen on the first floor, as well as the living room. One side was going to turn into my dream library, and the guys were going to expand their gaming area, which was definitely a good idea because they were usually all over each other as it was.

My super-secret plan was also moving full steam ahead and I had a trip planned with Hope just after my second ultrasound. I’d finally let Darah and Renee in on the secret and they were all thrilled to be part of the master planning. Plus, it was easier to get things done because we just called it “girl time” and let Hunter go hang out with Mase, Dusty and Paul. We were both trying to get in as much friend time as we could before July.

Not that our lives would suddenly be over.

Just different.

T
awny called me just before midnight and told me that she was at a bar and looking for a girl to kiss. Guess she had embraced her sexuality completely. I just laughed and told her to make sure whoever she kissed wasn’t straight and/or in a relationship.

“Thanks, Kid,” she yelled into the phone before she hung up.

We all counted down to the new year and kissed when the ball dropped in Times Square.

“Happy New Year, Missy. Happy New Year, Spawns,” Hunter said, rubbing my belly.

“Happy New Year, father-to-be.”