Deviation

26: Meeting More Family

The week flew by and before I knew it Christmas Eve was there, the day Vincent and I were going to his mom’s house in Austin. I had already mailed my family’s gifts to them and talked to Alison several times over the phone. She said it wasn’t too bad there, but she missed having both of our parents together. I missed it too and I wasn’t even there. Vincent and I gave his Dad, Kate and Sofia their presents, but Melissa was coming with us so we could give her hers while we were at their mom’s house.

“Thank you!” Sofia exclaimed as she opened her present and saw the book I had gotten her.

I smiled at her enthusiasm. “You’re welcome.”

“I got you something too actually,” she said and held up her pointer finger. “One second.” She ran down the hallway.

Mrs. Brose smiled fondly. “She is so high energy… Thank you guys though for getting us this stuff.” Vincent had bought a pretty bracelet and necklace for her and a shirt for his dad.

“It’s no problem,” he replied, shrugging.

Mr. Brose handed Vincent a gift bag. “Yeah, thank you and Merry Christmas. You should wait till Christmas to open that, and there’s stuff for Gina too.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” I told him, my cheeks turning red.  

 He shook his head. “Of course we did.”

“Here,” Sofia said, out of breath as she came back, her socks sliding on the wood floor. She came to a stop in front of us and handed me a nicely wrapped present.

I started opening it. “Thank you.” She waited for me to finish opening it and grinned when she saw my reaction as I saw what was inside. In my hands was a journal with a picture of horses on the front. I smiled. “I love it.”

“I didn’t know what else to get you,” she said shyly.

Vincent frowned. “Do I get something?”

“Vincent,” Mr. Brose warned.

Sofia reached into her pocket, pulled out a nickel and slapped it into his palm. “Ho-ho-ho Merry Christmas and go buy yourself a candy.”

“Don’t use my own words against me,” he complained, dropping the nickel into his pocket. Mr. Brose and Mrs. Brose were cracking up. Vincent frowned. “You didn’t find it that funny when I did it four years ago.”

Melissa smirked at him. “That’s because it was your younger sister.”

“But they made me go and spend all my money on a Barbie doll for her the next day,” Vincent said, mostly talking to me.

 “Aw, you poor baby; do you want me to buy you a Barbie?” I smiled mockingly and pinched his cheek between my thumb and forefinger. He scowled and pulled my hand off his face. He kept silent and threaded his fingers through mine.

Melissa sighed and announced, “We should leave if we want to be there by noon…” Everyone agreed and they exchanged hugs and goodbyes while I stood off to the side, awkwardly playing with my bracelet. When they finished saying their farewells, we all headed out to the car and started the drive to Austin, Texas- a place I’d never imagined myself visiting...

We got to Vincent’s mother’s house at exactly noon and I was taking in the buildings excitedly. A week in the middle of nowhere had given me a bit of a culture shock… We all got out of the truck and Vincent wrapped an arm around me, drawing me close to him as we approached the door. Melissa knocked on the door and a minute later it was pulled open by a guy that looked amazingly similar to Vincent.

“Hey guys, long time no see. And I’m guessing you’re… Gwen?” He asked, looking like he was trying really hard to remember.

I shook my head and corrected, “Gina.” His expression turned to realization and he nodded, muttering about how he knew it was something like that.