Back to December

Two

The sun had set by the time I finished grabbing the last-minute gift and dropped it off at Victoria's penthouse on the upper east side of Manhattan. Finally, after a long train ride from the city to my hometown, I'd made it home, where I was currently unpacking my bags in my childhood bedroom.

    "I'm shocked you haven't tried moving in here yet," I admit to Harper while hanging up some of the sweaters I'd packed with me. We all grew up with our own rooms, with mine and Lizzie's being the biggest. Once I'd moved out for college, Harper constantly teased me that she'd snatch it up.

    "Oh, she's tried," Lizzie answers on behalf of Harper, sitting on my computer chair as she bottle-fed Iris, one of her five-month-old twins, who'd just woken up from her nap. Elliot, her brother, still slept soundly in Lizzie's old room, directly next to mine. "But mom and dad don't want to touch any of the old rooms."

    "Yeah, it's weird. Like you and Lizzie's rooms are some sort of shrines," Harper rolls her eye playfully, from her spot on my bed, her short brown hair, that's she'd just gotten highlighted with streaks of blonde, sprawled across my white floral pillowcases. She wasn't wrong. My room looked the exact same as when I'd left. My bedding was the same, the old pictures from childhood and high school were strung up on fairy lights on my wall, and my closet was full of clothes I hadn't worn in ages. Walking in here felt like taking a step into the past. My room now in the city was much smaller, and the owner of the apartment I rented from didn't allow me to decorate it with anything my own.

    It didn't feel like home, even if I've been living there for well over a year now.

    As if Lizzie could sense me thinking about my apartment, she says, "I bet this pales in comparison to your room in the city." My family had seen my apartment when I first moved in, but that's about it. They had a lot of expectations about city life, none of which my actual life met. To them, I was always out, going to clubs and bars with friends almost every night. In reality, stuff like that had never been my scene. I'd made friends in university, but none that stuck. I rarely left my apartment past eight and spent most of my evenings reading or writing in my apartment.

    "Kind of," I shrug, shutting my closet. I don't have the heart to tell my family that I wasn't living the dream life in New York City, don't get me wrong, I love it there. I love my apartment; even if it's bland and cramped, I love my walk to work in the morning when the city's not fully awake yet. I love my job, even if Victoria can be a lot to handle.

    It could just get a little lonely sometimes, that's all.

    "So, any idea on the "big secret" mom and dad are keeping?" If Lizzie and Harper notice my change of conversation, neither of them brings it up. Instead, Harper sighs, dramatically rolling her eyes.

    "No idea, but they seemed off, right?"

     They had, mom and dad seemed conflicted about something. When I arrived, they were ecstatic, both pulling me in for huge hugs and asking me how my trip up here was. If I weren't paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed the quick, nervous glances they kept sharing. They were definitely keeping something from us.

    On cue, the sound of the front door opening cut out conversation short. Skye had been at ballet class when I arrived, and mom and dad both left to pick her up not too long ago. Now that the youngest of us sisters were home, maybe mom and dad would finally spill what they're keeping from us.

    Harper sat up quickly, ready to sprint down the stairs, "Give them some time, Harps, they literally just walked through the doors," Lizzie shook her head at Harper, lifting Iris up slightly to burp her. Iris' eyes were wide like her moms, the same shade of brown as James, "and besides, James isn't back yet."