Forever and Always

Chapter 31 - The Good Times

"Well, Levi," I started as I turned onto the freeway, glancing over at my fiancee, who was rubbing his hips and glaring at me.

"Fuck you, this hurts," he snapped, playfully glaring at me. "Jesus, I do this to you?" He paused for a moment before adding, "And you survive?!"

"Yeah, I do. I take it like a fucking champ, so next time you wanna call me a bitch for taking it, think again, Ackerman." I had no idea where this new found confidence came from, but I went with it in stride.

"Well," he groaned. "I'm not saying it was bad. It was really amazing in the moment. You did great. Now, I'm just sore. I think I'll stick to topping, from now on."

"Sounds good to me. Topping you was definitely a new experience. It was nice, but I think I prefer taking it."

"Then it's settled. Anyway, what were you gonna say?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow at me and folding his arms.

"Oh, I was just gonna ask about your family."

"What about em?" Levi replied instantly. "Most of em are dead. Grandparents are dead, Mom's dead, my aunt Maria is dead, my aunt Rebecca is dead, my cousin Frankie is dead. Who are you asking about?"

"Wow, how'd they all die?" I asked, genuinely curious, and empathetic for my fiancee.

"Well, my grandpa killed my grandma, I already told you that. My grandpa died under 'unknown circumstances.' Meaning, I'm pretty sure Kenny knocked the bastard off. Family don't touch family, but he killed himself when he killed my grandma. My aunt Maria killed herself when she heard my mom died. My aunt Rebecca od'd, and my cousin Frankie got unlucky in a drive by."

"Wow, I'm so sorry."

"Not really something I think about much, but yeah, I grew up with Frankie. He was like an older brother to me."

"Shit," I murmured. "Who all is left?"

"Well, I got Kenny, which is a blessing and a curse. I have my youngest aunt, Rose. She couldn't have kids, but she adopted Maria's triplets. They're all still alive. Charlotte, Dominic, and Rivaille. They're all a couple years older than me, but I sold for Dom for a long time. Rivaille, too. Different shit, though. Pot for Dom. Hard shit for Riva. Charlotte was more into getting high than selling shit, but I don't know how she's doing now. Pretty sure she lives in Barcelona right now."

"What do they look like?" I asked, trying to get a mental image of Levi's cousins, and former bosses.

"Well, they're both about twenty now, but they look mostly like me, but taller. Rivaille and I get asked if we're twins. Dom is usually just assumed to be my brother. He has curlier hair, and is bulkier. Riva and I have the same body type, and if he wasn't so much taller than me, people would probably mix us up. They're good guys. You'll meet them at the wedding."

"Sounds good," I giggled, focusing my eyes on the road for a while, trying to picture Levi's family. "How tall is Rivaille?"

"Six-four," Levi deadpanned.

"Jesus. Fucking giant."

"Mhm. He did basketball before he got into drugs. Never anything big, just high school, but he was good at what he did. Dom is six-two. I'm the second shortest in the family. Aunt Rose is four-eleven. We all make fun of her. My mom wasn't much taller than Aunt Rose, though, so me being really short makes sense, I guess. Maria's boyfriend was really fucking tall."

"Huh. And Kenny's six feet even, right?"

"Six one. My grandpa was six foot, and his wife was four-ten. But I've never been into the genetics side of it, considering I got kinda screwed up the ass by the genes."