Monty After Dark

Chapter 47

When she woke up again, I was just watching her sleep. "Merry Christmas, my love," she whispered.

"My merriest yet," I answered. I untangled myself and began peeling back the covers.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to make you coffee, now just stay here," I said.

I pulled on boxers and a t-shirt and headed to the kitchen. I was just getting out the coffee when Stef staggered in. "Shit, this time change is a bitch," he said with a soft laugh. "My sister is probably asleep, eh? Definitely not a morning person."

"She's awake, but not up," I said with a laugh. "I'm going to make coffee, you want some?"

"Need, is more like it," he said. "So, do you ... live here? Sorry if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"No, I stay at Chris's, mostly, who you met last night, but after the holidays, I'm going to try staying with my mom some of the time. I'm usually here on weekends, and I'll probably be here over the holidays, since I don't have to go to school."

"Ah, gotcha. And so your old man lives next door?"

"Yeah, I grew up there, lived there most my life, but the past few years, I sometimes stay with friends if he's getting too ... my dad is a cop, let's just say he's hard to live with. Anyway, the lady who used to live here, Mrs. Murphy, she took care of me, but last summer, she got sick and she died right before Christmas."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that, can't be easy," Stef said, pouring cream into his coffee. "So you have no brothers or sisters, your mom left and your dad is ..."

"Yeah, basically," I said. "But that's my family, everyone you met last night, and Carts, you already knew. Those are the people who love me, and I'm okay with that. And I'm going to at least try to get to know my mom."

"I think that's pretty cool that you found your mom," Stef said.

"Yeah, well, I probably never would have, if I hadn't met your sister, so I'm glad I did."

"I wish my family would be more open to that," he said. I still wasn't entirely sure what had gone down with Chan's family, but it sounded pretty bad. "I guess she told you what happened with her ex and me ... and then my parents told me I couldn't help her anymore... or they weren't going to help me. Tough love, they said. For some weird reason, they thought if we all stop talking to her, she'll come around? Which makes no sense."

"That must've been really hard," I said, looking down. I felt bad for him, being forced to choose between his sister and his parents.

"It seemed to be, at first, but it's been months, and they need to get over it. They were always so disappointed in her, that she didn't want to be like everyone in the neighbourhood. We come from a wealthy area, it's not normal for someone to just be an artist, and go live in Toronto alone with a strange man."

"She kind of mentioned that, but I didn't realise your family was so ..."

"Rich? We're not like billionaire rich, but my father came from a reasonable family and made his millions as an investment banker. My mother's family is old money. Our trust funds kick in when we're 21, so I get mine in a few months. Chan obviously spent hers on something practical, which, despite her 'rebel' image is totally in line with something my father would approve of. I think that's why she has that Mustang — to prove she's still wild."

"It seems so strange to think of her as a society girl ... I don't think I've ever seen her dressed up, other than tonight," I said, trying to imagine rich-girl Chan, eating little appetizers off a silver plate at some fancy party. It was completely impossible.