The beginning of everything else

Noel Noelle

A man of his word, Noah had spent quite some time ensuring my Christmas morning was very happy indeed, then carried me to the shower when my legs proved too wobbly to stand. Although he did climb in behind me, things didn't escalate too much, but if you had been listening from the other room you wouldn't have known it from the groans he drew out of me as he massaged shampoo and conditioner into my hair.

Now running a little late and with no time to exchange gifts at home, we packed our presents to each other into a spare bag and jumped into Noah's car. As kids, our routine had always been to spend time in the morning at home with our parents, and then they would take it in turns each year to host both families for lunch and evening entertainments. Back then I used to rush to get up in the morning to unwrap my gifts, and then spend the rest of the time harassing my parents until it was time to see Lee. Things weren't changing too much this year, although we'll probably eat before the gift exchange, and of course, Rachel's parents are now part of the wider family.

Of course the biggest change this year is Noah. Over the last 24 years, he had gone from playmate to Lee's older brother, to my crush and briefly my boyfriend, but now as I look at the man driving next to me, he was so very much more than a boyfriend could ever be. It was early days, but living with him was better than I had ever dreamed, and I still loved the way that there were certain facets to himself that only I got to see. I've been getting to appreciate one of those hidden gems from the moment we got in the car, when he selected 'Elle's Super Amazing Christmas Playlist' and started happily singing along to Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. 

The other thing that had filled me with absolute joy since his return to LA was the relationship that was growing between Noah and my Dad, proof that the concern he had felt when he first found out about our relationship had been replaced by not just acceptance, but genuine support. I know I had always considered the Flynn's part of our family, but as Noah and I had started dating, it suddenly felt like a strange concept to think like that about him, and so it was something that I packed away in the corner of my mind and didn't acknowledge. That was until we broke up and I lost not only my boyfriend but someone who had quickly become one of my best friends and had been a major part of my life since the day I was born. Now however, as I grew in confidence about the longevity of this reunion, the concept didn't seem odd anymore, it seemed exactly how it was meant to be.

Linda had done an incredible job setting up breakfast, serving Eggs Benedict and Mimosa's whilst Christmas music played in the background. The conversation flowed as my Dad and Linda asked us both about how we had settled into our new house, what plans we had for the rest of the time before Noah started his new job, and how we had liked a new restaurant that I had taken Noah to last week. Brad on the other hand alternated between complaining that we were all taking too long to finish eating and rattling off questions to Noah about various teams and players in this year's football season. I on the other hand was happy to sit back and soak all of this in, as Noah's thumb massaged circles into the back of the hand he had barely let go of since we got here.

As I helped Linda clear the table, I found myself glancing over to Noah and my Dad still deep in conversation. Having stayed close to home, working at Dunes all of my summers and most weekends through college, plus the money from the dance contest, I hadn't had to ask my Dad for much financial help. That means that despite Brad only being 14, his college fund was already very healthy, and my Dad has been able to start thinking about spending his money on himself from time to time. That thinking had consisted of hours and hours of research into buying a vintage car, which had been a dream of his for as long as I could remember. He thinks that he might have found one that he likes, and so has asked Noah to go with him sometime next week to look it over. 

Smiling to myself, I start to turn and noticed Linda watching me out of the corner of my eye. I still have pangs of guilt whenever I think about the way that I treated her when we first met. Sure I was still young, and going through a very stressful time, but looking back I could have dealt with it a whole lot better. My relationship with her had thankfully improved vastly since then, she had been friends with my Mom and still was with June, but more importantly, she made my Dad happy, which was something that he definitely deserved. I was never going to see her as a mother figure, and that was something that she never tried to be, but we had developed a strong friendship, spending time together, and as that developed I also grew to appreciate that she was another link to my Mom.