Just a chapter and the Epilogue left after this. OMG.
~~~
Getting on a plane with William, and knowing she was going somewhere with him outside of New York, was somehow exhilarating, but then knowing too that she was going to meet his family was indescribably nerve-wracking. Kristen was oddly quiet all through the airport lines. She kept looking around, never fixing her eyes on one thing for two long, and she rarely stood still.
As they waited in the terminal, she bounced her knee uncontrollably. William couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s up with you?” he asked, good naturedly.
“Hmm? Nothing.” She looked away from him quickly and continued bouncing. He put a hand on her knee, and she stopped, feeling self-conscious.
“Kristen.”
“William…”
“Are you nervous or something?”
She bit her lip and peeked up at him.
“Maybe?”
He just smiled a little. “Don’t be. She already love you.”
“Yeah… well… what about the rest of your family? Or what if she changes her mind?” she asked defensively.
He shook his head and leaned over the arm of the chair to hug her. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
This didn’t make her any less nervous. He knew this immediately when he pulled back and looked at her.
“Sorry,” she said shyly.
“You know it’s not all going to be meeting my parents and stuff. We’ll do fun things too.”
She twisted her lips. He continued. “We can go to the Grand Canyon if you want. It’s not that far away.”
She glanced up at him and he smiled bigger. “I thought that would interest you.” She smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fun. One whole week with you and no school.”
She giggled a little, nearly blushing. “Well when you put it that way…”
An voice came over the speakers announcing boarding time. Hands held and backpacks on, they handed over their boarding passes and found their seats on the plane. As they plane took off, Kristen willed herself to leave all her worries in New York. This week was going to be fun, and she knew how much it meant to William that she was coming. Alessandra and her mom and her school concerns could all stay behind. Even her fears of meeting his family. She didn’t need extra baggage. She wasn’t going to over pack.
~
William had been right, of course. There hadn’t been any reason to be nervous. His mom, although obviously sick, was positively darling and probably the sweetest person Kristen had ever met. She was glowing as they walked through the front door with his dad who’d picked them up from the airport. She hugged Kristen first, then her son, and then Kristen again, just beaming.
“Oh William, she’s so pretty,” she kept saying. Every time Kristen answered a question, she brightened more. It was like she could do no wrong in her eyes. She made Kristen truly sad, though. She hated thinking that such a kind, positive person might not live much longer. She hated seeing how weak she was, even when she tried to act otherwise. She knew William saw it too.
After she’d gone to bed, she and William sat on the couch in his living room watching TV until they were tired enough to sleep themselves. Kristen couldn’t stop thinking about her. A wedding picture was framed on the wall across from them and she found herself staring at it. She looking so different healthy. Really beautiful, with long flowing hair, precisely the indescribable reddish brown color of William’s. She saw a lot of William in her face, actually. Especially in the same. The way she was looking at her husband in the picture was the way William sometimes looked at her – that one particular smile that made her feel all wobbly and silly.
