Aspen Falls

ACE -- December 25th

      I was trying not to pace a hole in my mom's kitchen floor.

      We had done morning pajama pictures.  Which if I do say so myself were the best ever.  The fact that Mom had snapped the picture the moment Beau leaned me over and kissed me hard in front of everyone was even better.  Just like that we silently announced to our family that Beau finally grew a pair, we were together for real and Jason had another couple hundred to pay out.

      After that it was Christmas like it was every year.  The front door opening and bringing new people every hour.  The ones who didn't get to Skype last night, called today.  Clay kept calling my cell but eventually took the hint and ended up skyping too.  I didn't miss how rigid he went when he saw Beau.  The number of presents under the tree nearly tripled in size.  Everybody brought food.  Tradition.  Once you came on Christmas Day then you stayed thru dinner.  One perk of having a ginormous house.

      "So when we go out we have to fight you tooth and nail, but when we're all at home you can just wear a dress and nobody has to stuff you in it?"  Jolene was helping me clean off dishes from the table.

      I had changed into my Christmas dress around noon.  It wasn't anything unusual.  If you hadn't sent your pajama picture to Mom early, then you stayed in pajamas, got your picture taken while at the house then changed into Christmas clothes.  It wasn't mandatory fancy but everybody dressed up just the same.

      This year I had a maroon dress.  Maroon was quickly becoming my favorite color recently, made my tan look good.  It had embroidered designs on the top, spaghetti straps that tied around leaving my back up and then flared out a little at the bottom.  This one ended right above my knees.  I shrugged at Jo who was waiting on me to answer.  "This one wasn't thrust upon me."

      "You look hott tho.   Honestly Carls...you should wear the dresses and skirts more often."  She was always trying to get me to wear them more often.

      "Boys..."  Both Rottweilers were hovering around our feet for any scraps we 'accidentally' dropped on the floor.  They knew better.

      "It's Christmas Aspen."  Jolene slipped them both a piece of meat and grinned at me.

      "You're the reason why they beg Jo."  She shrugged and added the dishes to the pile next to the sink.

      That's when I finally laid eyes on him.  He'd been missing for at least 15 minutes and I couldn't figure out where he'd gone.  Beau was standing on the deck with his back toward me, arms spread out clutching the wood.  It made his back and shoulder muscles pop...even thru his sweater I could see them.  He could honestly crush me if he ever wanted to.

      I went back to the table and let the dogs out the sliding door, but never took my eyes off Beau.  What was he doing out there?  By the time I'd made it back to the sink, I'd almost dropped the plates.  My dad was out there with him now.  Fuck me.

      I froze.  My dad and Beau both out there?  I just stood at the sink staring holes into the backs of their heads.

      "Ya know...you could just put the dishes in the washer."  Bristol came over to stand next to me.

      "What?"  I shook my head a little and looked down to where I was physically trying to bust the plate in my hands.  "Oh.  Fuck the dishes.  It's Jason's turn."  My eyes went back to the two men standing on the deck.

      "OH...they look serious."   She sounded like she was enjoying them standing out there.  "You know what the means."

      I looked at my unblood twin, confused.  "What?  You know what they're talking about?"

      Bris laughed.  "Oh Sweetheart.  Of course I know what they're talking about.  Anybody who looked at them right now would know what they're talking about."

      "And that would be...???"

      Bristol motioned with her finger for me to come closer so she could whisper in my ear.  "You already know Twin."  She smiled, then left me still staring holes in the backs of Beau and my dad's heads.