My Sister's Boyfriend

Chapter eighteen

I woke up with a raging headache, the sun glared in and my eyes squinted as Kaley appeared in front of me.
    "Good morning?-" I say while being cut off,
    "I am so utterly disappointed, I knew you were going to a party but I didn't know you were drinking! How could you?" she scolds me. I groan and turn over,
    "Oh my gosh, it was one time, and stop acting like your mom, she was less mad than you were," I say with an annoyed look. She shakes her head and pinches her forehead,
    "Kaley, you're a junior, it's not time to slack off, your grades are slipping-"
    "How do you know my grades are slipping?" I ask defensively.
    "Mom told me..." she says crossing her arms. I groaned and sat up quickly,
    "So what, you and mom tell each other everything?" I ask.
    "Pretty much...but that's besides the point. You need to start getting your act together, before it's too late Kare," she says with a stern face.
She starts to walk out before I say,
    "Oh yeah thanks mom..." Kaley shuts the door behind me and I bring my knees to my chest. I hated when she made me feel like she was the best human in the whole universe, the acted like everything she's ever done was perfect. It made me feel like crap.
The next week..
Happy Thanksgiving, today was the day I had been looking forward to for the whole year. I headed downstairs and my mom was in the kitchen pacing the floor.
    "Mom what's wrong?" I ask concerned.
    "Dad is coming over for Thanksgiving this year, Grams and Pops insisted he come over," Kaley said while getting some Orange juice out of the fridge. A smile appears on my face.
    "Dad's coming really?!" I said excitedly. My mom nods,
    "You know Grams and Pops, they don't care about my feelings, and I'm the one hosting!" she says with a manic voice.
    "Just be nice, you can do that," I say.
    "I don't know if I can!" She shouts. The day after Thanksgiving was the day where my dad and I would usually hang out but this was even better.
My mom and my dad were so in love when they had Kaley, they would go on date nights every friday and left her with Carol. When I was born, things started to shift in their relationship, he started to ignore her and things started to get rough. My mom and dad started to fight when I was 6, I remeber the screaming in the middle of the night, I remember the door slams and the loud noises coming from their anger. Kaley and I just cried, we just cried until my mom came up. She would grab Kaley first, and Kaley would soak up all of her attention. I'd go downstairs to check on my dad and he'd be on the floor crying, he hated fighting with her, but they'd never stop. I would always be the first one to hug him, people'd always say that I was a daddy's girl, they said I looked exactly like him, which was true. I see him maybe 2 times a year, thanksgiving and around easter which is where my birthday is at. He and my mom still love each other deep down, but they never like seeing each other. My dad understands me more than my mom, and don't get me wrong I absolutely love my mom...but I can't help but think about maybe it would have been better if I stayed with him. My dad lives in Florida, Kaley and I usually go down there every once in a while. Kaley hated it, but only because she hated my dad, she didn't like him ever since he started fighting with mom. I love Florida, I love the sun and the salty breeze. There was one year when Danny came with us and it was so fun. Thanksgiving is where we go all out. We make so much food including, Turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, mac and cheese, and oh so much more. My mom is lucky she has two girls to help her around.
    "I won't be able to do this on my own, especially if your father is coming so Kaley, you're on pumkin pies since they're a hit every year, and Kara you're on mashed potato duty, go go go," We all dispersed and we played some Christmas music like we always do. I loved when we all came together like this, it gave me some hope that my mom still loved me like she does Kaley. We all sang and danced around each other as we shifted through the kitchen. By the end of all of the cooking the whole house would smell so amazing. I wish I could smell that smell every single day. My Grams and Pops were almost here, they were always the first to show up, My Grams would always bring her famous Christmas sugar cookies, there were never any of them left behind. I heard the doorbell ring and Kaley and I smiled at each other. We both raced to the door and I got there first.
    "Hi Grams and Pops!" we both say as they come in with a warm smile. Pops hugs Kaley first and Grams comes to me.
    "Oh wow, Kara, you look absolutely gorgeous, you look so much older!" she says. I smile and shrug, I must have really grown up because they just saw me in the beginning of spring. Pops' mouth drops open when he see's me,
    "Hm...something is different about you...did you get taller?" he asks. I chuckle and smile,
    "Definetely not..." I say.
    "I'm just messing around, you look dashing sweetheart," he says. He was much taller than my grandma, she must be where I had gotten my shortness from.
    "Hello mama," My mom says to my grandma,
    "Hello doll, it smells amazing in here," They go off and talk in the living room, and my Pops hands me the cookies.
    "Yes, the thing I had been waiting for!" I say while taking the plate.
    "There might be a bunch missing...don't ask me why," he chuckles. Kaley and I laugh and we follow my Grams and mom into the living room. I sit down on the couch and look on my phone, Danny hasn't answered me back since I texted him after the party. I look up with a worried look, I wonder if he was mad at me. My mom looked so worried, and stressed, she wasn't doing okay.
    "Oh layla would you stop biting your nails, why are so so anxious?" My grams asks. Kaley and I look at each other and then back at my mom.    
"Is it because I invited Samuel? Layla he was lonely for Thanksgiving, and he hasn't seen his kids in forever, give him a chance," Grams says. My mom widens her eyes and looks at my Pops. He also widens his eyes and shrugs,
    "I don't want to get stuck in this, listen to your mother," he says. I chuckle and then put my face in my hands. It's been about an hour and we suddenly hear the doorbell ring. I smiled and then my mom fixed her hair and shirt before I ran to go open the door.
"Dad!" I shout with excitement.
"My lil Sugar plum, you look go grown up!" he says with shock. I laugh and then wave my hand implying for him to get in.
"I haven't been in this house in...forever," he says while making eye contact with my mom.
    "Hello Samuel," she says calmly. I look over at her and then back at my dad. He has a light smile and half nervous smile on his face.
"HI Layla, the house looks nice," he says while quickly scanning it. She nods and then starts to walk into the kitchen,
"Thank you," she says. I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly and then look at Kaley who walks into the room.
"Kaley, hi you look so beautiful, looking more and more like your mother everyday," he says with a smile.
"Thanks dad," she says while giving him a side hug. She walks away and then I roll my eyes,
"She'll come around, come in, come in we'll be eating soon," I say excitedly. He takes off his coat and hangs it up on the coat hanger. My Grams comes to greet him,
"So glad you could make it Samuel, I was worried you'd be alone this Thanksgiving," she says while taking him into the living room. I walk into the kitchen where my mom is and she's pacing the floor,
"Mom what s your problem? It's just dad," I say. She quickly turns to me and holds onto my shoulders,
"Kara, I haven't seen your father in a very long time, now he's in our house and now I have to feed him the dinner we made," she rants. She always got super closed off and weird when she talked about dad, or when she saw him.
"Mom...it's okay, the world isn't ending stop acting like it," I say. She plants her hands into the marbled island and looks at the front door.
"Maybe I should tell him to leave," she says. I roll my eyes and pull her face to look at mine,
"Just because you and dad have some baggage and some oldbad history doesn't mean he's not allowed to be in my life, please don't ruin this for me mom, I miss my dad," I plead. She looks at me with saddened eyes and then nods,
"Okay, okay I'm sorry Kare," she says.
"Thank you," I widen my eyes and then walk back to the living room. My Popsand Dad were watching football on our t.v but my grandpa had been more into it. He was on the edge of the couch and he looked like he was about to plunge off of it in any moment. My dad was watching but as soon as I entered the living room he propped himself up quickly and smiled. I smiled and sat next to him.
"Who's winning?" I ask while squinting at the t.v.
"The Lions...surprisingly, your Pops seems to be very happy about that," he says as we both watch him scream at the t.v.
"I got you and Kaley something. I visited California and got you both a little somethin," he says while handing me a little gift bag. I smile and grab the bag softly,
"You ddn't have to get me anything," I say politely,
"I know but I wanted to," he says. He hands the other gift to Kaley as she walks in and she raises an eyebrow.    
"Dad got us a gift from Cali, isn't that sweet?" I ask while looking back at her. She fondles with the gift and then finally opens it. I got a baseball cap with the name California on it, it was so cute.
"I love it Dad, thank you!" I hug him and he squeezes me. Kaley opens her gift and pulls out a snowglobe with a ballerina in it. She tilts it upside down and then flips it back over.
"I'm not really into ballerinas anymore," she says in a low voice. I hated when she acted like this around him. She acted like he was a monster to mom, he was the same way she was, all they did was bicker and fight, but he never dared to put his hands on her.
"Really Kaley, just say thank you," I say with an anooyed expression. She looks back at the snowglobe and then at him,
"Thanks," she says. He puts on a half smile and nods contently. I could tell he was hurt but he didn't want to show it, he never did. I put on my hat and smiled at him with a big grin. She chuckles and says,
"Looks even better than I thought on you, you still playin softball?" he asks. I fidget with my hands before saying,
"No I quit about a year ago, it got too hard with everything else." He nods and rubs my back slowly,
"Sorry to hear that hun, I know you loved it," he says. I smile and then tip my hat down to lighten the mood a little.
Dinner had finally come, all of the preparing and time put into the dinner was about to pay off. Kaley and I always made sure to never eat anything before dinner that way we could stuff up on extra food. We all gathered around the table and sat down. My grams and Pops sit next to my mom who is across from me, Kaley, and my Dad. The Lorene's usually came to our dinner but ever since Danny started going to college, She started going to her Mom's Thanksgiving. I miss having her here, she loved my Grams.
    "Well this table is decked out isn't it, it looks lovely my dears," My Grams says with her warm smile.
    "It looks as good as I remember it," my Dad says looking at my mom. My mom looks up with her eyes and they make eye contact,
    "Thank you Samuel," she says. I feel tension rising in the air so I clap my hands together and say,
    "Pops, wanna say Grace?" He looks around and tries to hide the roll that he had already stuffed in his mouth. I smile and then bow my head trying not to laugh, this happned every year.
    "Dear lord we come to celebrate the love that you have given us, we thank you for your many blessings, bless this food, this roll that I have already guzzled down, I very much thank you for that,"
    "Harry," my Grams hits him on the arm. I laugh and so does Kaley,
    "Amen!" Pops says loudly. We all chuckle and start to dig into our food.
    "Next time maybe we should have someone else pray," my mom says. As soon as we get our food I feel a buzz in between my legs from my phone, I take a bite of my Turkey before looking at it. I nearly choke and my heart drops as I he his contact name pop up on my phone.
You're fine, and good drinking is bad for you, and I would love to call you, it'd be good to catch up.
He replied to my text...I think to myself as I quickly put my phone in between my legs again.
    "You good?" Kaley asks and furrows her brows. I nod and then take a drink of sparkling juice.
    "May I be excused for a moment mom?" I ask quickly. She takes a drink of her wine and then hakes her head,
    "No you can wait till after dinner," she says.
    "Oh let her go, she probably has a cute boy urging to text her," My Grams says with a wink. Ironic...
    "No definitely not," I lie.
    "Fine but be quick," she says with her stern face. I scoot out of my chair and head to the bathroom on the main level. The bathroom smelt like clean linen and a pumpkin candle that my mom had burned earlier. I lay my hands into the counter and look up in the mirror. So many thoughts flooded my brain, Why would he randomly text me today, why didn't he answer earlier? I picked up my phone and I opened his text messages.
Call you later? I type out. I stare at the text message before sending it, then I hit the send button. I cover my face and then drop my hands, what was I getting myself into?