No Strings Attached ; j.g

t h i r t y

"Jack! Alexis! Welcome home my sweet babies!" Jack's mom grinned as she greeted us with open arms and hugs.

"Hi, Mrs. Gilinsky, it's good to see you," I say as I hug her.

"Hi mom," Jack kisses her cheek. "I'll be right back, I'm going to take our things upstairs." As soon as he's out of sight, I tell Mrs. Gilinsky my plan.

"So, do you mind if I have it shipped here? I was planning on it shipping today, and then getting him out of the house so I could wrap it?"

"Oh, I'll just tell him you're helping me wrap things and he can't come in the room," she smiles and laughs.

"Thank you," I smile. Jack comes back down.

"It smells nice, are you makin cookies, mom?" Jack asks.

"Yes I am," she smiles. We walk into the kitchen and greet Jack's dad, who's in the living room, and then sit at the kitchen table. "So, Alexis. When's your birthday?" she asks.

"January nineteenth," I answer. "I'll be nineteen."

"Oh, well Jack will be twenty on September tenth, you two are pretty close then!" she exclaims. I could see she was excited to see Jack. She bustled around the kitchen getting things prepared for Christmas dinner tomorrow. "Jack, honey, when are you leaving? I want to make you extra cookies, but I don't want them to get too hard."

"Day after New Years," Jack answers.

"Oh, good, I can just make them when I make cookies on New Years. Will you be here New Years, or partying?"

"I think I'll take Alexis to a party," he grins at me and I smile happily.

"Oh alright," she continues to cook. "Jack, could you run to the store and get some butter?"

"Sure," he gets up and kisses my head. "I'll be back."

After he's gone, Mrs. Gilinsky sits down. "I just wanted him out so we could talk," she smiles and her eyes widen like she's expecting good gossip or something. "I hope you don't mind me asking," she starts. "Have you two had- well, you know where I'm going with this."

I feel my cheeks turn bright red, "n-no," I say nervously.

"Oh honey, no need to be nervous. I'm a girl, I get it. Don't be shy," she laughs.

"W-we haven't," I smiled innocently.

"Really? Well I don't believe it. Jack always tells his friends he can get into anyone's pants," she rolls her eyes.

"No, I haven't really felt ready. He's asked, we've talked about it, but I don't know," I shrug. I was basically lying.

"Oh, well it's probably good that you're making him wait," she smiles. "I think you two will get married and have the most beautiful children," she grins as if she's just daydreaming about it.

"I think we could get married, not any time soon of course. But I can see it," I smile. "I don't really see my future self without him." That was the truth, too. I couldn't see myself without Jack. He'd brought lots of love into my life, an undeniable one.

"Here's your butter," Jack said as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Thank you, honey. Alexis and I are going to go wrap, so my room is off limits," she raised her eyebrows and pointed a finger at him. "No entering," she said. Then there was a knock on the door, which I figured was Jack's present.

I quickly signed for it and Mrs. Gilinsky helped me carry it upstairs before Jack noticed. We went into her room and began wrapping things, including the giant box stuffed with a single teddy bear.

"It's quite big, I think he'll love it!" she smiled at the large box.

"It's not much," I shrugged. "I haven't really gotten my life together, so I used whatever money I had."

"Oh, he will like it. Don't you worry, he'll be thankful that he has a girlfriend that loves him enough to buy him a-" she looks at the receipt, "-$80 bear?! Goodness! This thing better be stuffed with gold," she laughed.

As she continues to wrap a few more presents, I write a note on the card that comes with the bear.

Jack,

I know this bear isn't much, but it's not all you're getting. I'm giving you something you've wanted for the longest, tonight. ;) got any condoms?

xx - Alexis