Invisible String

Chapter 25 - Wildest Dreams

When I returned to my parent's home, the lights were out, and I snuck silently into the bedroom where Alex and I stayed. He was on the bed, reading a book, and he smiled as I came in. I laid down beside him and snuggled underneath his arm.

"How was the very long dinner?" Alex asked, lying the book down.

"Sorry, it took so long." I laid my hand on his chest and twirled circles on it. "It was good. We talked a lot, she cried, we fought, we made up. But overall, it was good. I think we both got a lot off our chests."

"I'm glad to hear that," he said, leaning over and kissing me on the head. "Was that all?"

I hesitated, not wanting to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him about Jaiden. It would only cause yet another rift between us because he would get pissed off once again, and I didn't want to deal with that. There was nothing he could do to change what happened. So why upset him?

"That's all, we talked and argued a little."

"Okay, well..." He kissed my forehead, then my cheek and moved down to my lips, and before kissing me, he said, "I love you."

I smiled and kissed him back. "I love you, too." He pulled me tighter, and we cuddled up together, falling asleep shortly after.

When we woke the following morning, the smell of bacon, eggs, and toast wafted through the house into our room. We sleepily fumbled into the kitchen and ate with the family around nine. Afterward, we lounged around the house, playing board games, talking, and sharing stories. All of us kids were leaving the next morning, so it was nice to spend the day with my family. Like we did when we were younger. The only difference now was that we had our significant others and, in my brother's case, children with us. It was a full house, but it was a warm house, and because of my grandpa, it was always a house filled with love and so many good memories.

While sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in the living room, I reminisced, "One time, George, Alison, and I ran through the house, playing hide-and-seek. I, stupidly, went outside to hide and neglected to remember that it was icy out, and in the middle of November, before stepping out onto the freezing back porch that leads to the backyard. In just my jammies, I hid out in the shed, freezing myself into a win. My brother found my sister first, hiding in the laundry room under dirty clothes, and then together, they hunted me down. Luckily, there was a little bit of snow on the ground, and they followed the tracks out to find me."

Alex shook his head, smiling.

My sister and her husband sat nearby, and she said, "I swore your poor little toes were going to fall off."

We laughed in unison as George came in with a tray of hot chocolate. He handed them out to us while saying, "Alison and I got into so much trouble for that."

My mom shouted from across the room, "Rightly so, she was five years old!"

Alison joked back, "And I was eight, George was twelve, Mom! It was a game." She smiled, looking back at me. "At least you were smart, hiding under dad's potato sacks. Kept some heat in your body."

"You didn't have frostbite?" Alex asked.

"No, I was out there for a half an hour tops. I kept myself warm... enough."

Alex grazed his fingers over my bare toes and said, "Well, I'm glad they didn't fall off."

My siblings and I all giggled, still remembering that day like it had happened just moments ago. There were many more memories like that one. We sat around for hours and told stories while drinking cocoa and keeping warm in front of the fire.