Say You'll Remember Me

Chapter Twenty One

Hunter tickled the bottom of my feet as I put my legs up over his. We were sitting on the couch, a movie was playing in the background and there was a fire burning to keep us warm. The  house was quiet, everyone was either gone for the night at a benefit or sleeping off their dinner. The tree was sparkling in the dim lighting and I couldn’t help but smile and feel truly blessed in that moment. It was the perfect way to end my very first Christmas with people who I truly cared about.

“This is perfect,” I said as he squeezed my feet and I stretched my arms. I arched my back and smiled at him. He looked so handsome in the lights of the trees, I didn’t want to finish this movie. I didn’t even know what it was about, I was too distracted by the man I was in love with to pay attention, “I can't think of a more perfect day than this. I had my aunt, my boyfriend, and everyone I care about in one place. I never knew I could feel this content, this happy.”

Hunter smiled, “I’m glad you had a good day. I wanted nothing more than that for you. Today was all about you, at least for me that’s what it was,” his green eyes sparkled as his smile changed into a smirk, “it’s always about you for me.”

My smirk matched his as we sat there staring at each other. My aunt and uncle had come for dinner, which was an amazing surprise in itself. They seemed to fit into our little family here effortlessly, and there were no awkward moments between Sara and Rick, thankfully. Although I did catch her staring at Travis a time or two. I just gave her a smile when her eyes met mine, and blushed at getting catch. He was her son, I wasn’t judging her. I would be wondering what he was like too if I didn’t get a chance to see him for the last twenty years.

As I sat around the table, I was glad I had let go of my stubbornness and gotten to know her better. She was my family, even if she hadn’t been able to raise me. That wasn’t her fault, it wasn’t mine either. She must have been trying to make things better between us, because she had brought along pictures of my mom when she was my age, when they were in school together. We looked a lot alike, the pictures could’ve been me in bad clothing. It was amazing to see her smiling and alive in the pictures, because I had never seen her at all.

She told me a few stories as Rick and Linda cleaned up the table. I had offered to help, but they told me I was the guest tonight and I wasn't allowed to help. Hunter helped them clear the table as Sara and Martin sat in the living room with me telling me about the time my mom and dad got arrested. I was so glad I had someone to tell me these things, to share stories about my family with me. It was like they were still here, there was a little piece of my mom in Sara and me. Together we were keeping her alive.

“I’m glad you and Sara worked everything out,” Hunter said bringing me back into the room we were sitting in. I had been thinking about it all again, and I was smiling. I wasn’t sure I had stopped smiling since this morning when Emma woke me up at the crack of dawn. Hunter was staring at me, “she’s your family.”

I nodded my head, “yeah well so are you,” I whispered as I moved closer to him. I pulled my legs away from his hands and started to crawl towards his chest. My heart was pounding, Emma and Emmet were in bed. They had crashed the moment dessert was over. Travis was downstairs, and his parents were out. We pretty much and the house to ourselves, and we both knew exactly what we had been wanting from the other for a few days now.

Hunter was reaching for me the same moment his phone started to buzz loudly. I jumped back, sitting back down where I had been and further away from him than before. He pulled himself up and sighed, I heard a annoyed groan from his throat as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear, “hello?”

I turned my attention back to the movie, not that I had been watching it anyways. There was a plot line, it was a Christmas movie. All the shows on TV were focused on Christmas since today was such a big deal to some people. I could understand why people loved this holiday, everyone was together and there was no fighting. Everyone knew that they were blessed to have this life and each other. Today was a day when we finally stopped moving so fast and took a moment to remember how amazing and special life is.