That night Ike came over with Roni. Ginger had met Roni before, but having not seen her in months like the rest of the family, felt as though she hadn't seen her before. Kris wanted to make a good impression for the two people of the family she had not met, and spent most of the afternoon getting ready in her and Ginger's room. It was quite funny because Ginger hadn't even put on make-up and Zac was lucky to coax her out of the shorts and tank top she'd been wearing all day.
"Kris, get your ass down here!" Taylor yelled up the stairs. "Ike and Roni are here!"
"Taylor, language," Diana scolded.
"What? Why? I bet you anything Ike swears too."
"Zo� is running around, watch your mouth." Taylor made a face.
"Ma, Zo�'s five years old, I'm sure she's used to hearing us swear." Diana's look remained. "Whatever. Kris! Oh, there you are." Kris walked down the stairs.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, keep your pants on," she said, and then eyed his pants. "If those can even come off�what did I tell you about wearing pants that are tighter than mine?"
"What did I tell you about making fun of my pants?"
"I'm not!"
"Fine." She gave him a look.
"Where's your brother?"
"Which one?"
"The one I'm supposed to meet, moron."
"You're really getting on my nerves, you know," he said to her.
"But you love me�" she said, putting her arms his waist. He gave her a look but kissed her anyway. "Anyway, where is he?"
"Ike? Where are you?"
"In here!" Kris and Taylor went into the family room where Zac and Ginger had already acquired. Kris hadn't seen the whole family in one room at the same time and she was completely overwhelmed at how many people there was. Diana and Walker, the seven kids, Ginger, Roni, and her. Twelve people and that was just immediate family. She could only imagine what it would be like when everybody started having kids of their own.
Kris was introduced to Isaac and Roni and sat down on the couch where Ginger and Zac were. At first she had been blown away at how huge the house was, but now looking at the size of the family, it seemed less than adequate. As it was, Zac and Taylor shared a room, Zo� got moved into a room with both Avery and Jessica, and Ginger and Kris shared a room.
Upon hearing that Zo� moved into Avery and Jessica's room that morning, Ginger had offered Jess to come into hers once Kris left, and Jess was still thinking about it. Of course they'd have to change the room around and get separate beds, but that wouldn't be too hard to do. Ginger would be out of the house in a year's time anyway so Jess would have the room to herself (Diana was planning on doing that anyway, Zo� was old enough to give up her own room).
"How are you holding up?" Ginger asked her sister. Zac had convinced Ginger to put some jeans on and, once again, a shirt that covered her tattoo.
"Just fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Kris snapped.
"Well it's kind of overwhelming, don't you think?" Ginger asked. "There's like, twelve people in this room and Jess said she wanted into invite her boyfriend over."
"Jess has a boyfriend?" Zac asked, jumping into the conversation.
"No she doesn't, just go back into your imaginary world," Ginger said, pushing him out of the way. "Anyway, it's usually just the five of us at home and we're lucky if everyone's in the house at the same time."
"True," Kris said. "But our house was cramped. This place is huge." Ginger nodded, looking around. There were enough chairs in the room for everyone to sit down comfortable, although Zo� was not sitting down. She hadn't seen her big brother Isaac in what must have been forever because she didn't stop talking to him and Roni. At the moment she was excitedly chatting about something, sitting on Ike's lap. She had curly golden hair that was to her shoulders, a pretty pale face and the cutest nose Ginger had ever seen. She was a generally excited and giggly girl, as all five year olds were, but she could get annoying fast if one wasn't in the mood to speak to her. Usually she hung around her brother Mackenzie or annoyed her sisters, so Ginger didn't get to speak to her often.
In the middle of a conversation with Zac, Ginger ended up pointing across the room at something long enough for her sleeve to ride up and part of her tattoo to show. Nobody noticed except for Isaac, who was sitting just a chair away. He immediately leaned in and questioned it. "Do you have a tattoo?" he asked. Ginger looked over.
"Yeah," she said. "Four."
"Really?"
"Well, three. I think the one on my foot went away." She took off her flip-flop and checked out the bottom of her foot. "Yeah, it went away. I have three." Isaac looked at Zac who tried to smile.
"She's kind of a rebel," he explained. "But she really has nothing to rebel against, so I don't know exactly why she is the way she is."
"I have plenty to rebel against!" Ginger said. "But I didn't get them to rebel. I got them to be cool."
"Oh, yeah, you're so cool, Ginger," Zac said, rolling his eyes. Ginger gave him a look. "Why did you get them? I don't think you ever mentioned it."
"I got them when I was twelve," Ginger explained. "My parents had just died and I was living with my brother, and that wasn't fun, so I guess I was kind of rebelling. I was rebelling against his supposed authority that he claimed he had over me. It didn't work, he just got mad at me and I don't think that anger ever did go away."
"Have you seen your brother at all since you left?" Zac asked. Ginger shook her head.
"No. And I don't plan to." She turned to Isaac, who was confused. "He wasn't exactly a nice guy. A little on the alcoholic side, kind of a temper�if you get my drift."
During dinner the table was slightly crowded. It was big enough for ten people, but there were twelve people there that night, so everyone had less space than they normally did. Diana said she should have put the leaf in and Ginger refused to believe that the table could get any bigger. Ginger sat next to Zac and across from Taylor and Kris. The table was thin but long, so when she shifted she accidentally continued to kick Taylor.
"Sorry," she said again.
"How about you just stop shifting?" Taylor suggested. She gave him a look and when she felt his foot rubbing her leg, she tensed. She eyed him, silently telling him to stop, but his foot only went higher on her leg and she grabbed Zac's hand under the table to distract her from it. Zac looked at her, questioning it, but she only smiled and continued to eat her dinner.
After a month's stay at the Hanson home not much had changed. Both Kris and Ginger were getting used to the house and neither of them got lost any longer. Friday nights the four of them went out (but never together) and sometimes Zac and Ginger escaped the monotony of being at home by going out, but never really went anywhere. They tried going to the park, where, taking Kris's idea, attempted to make love but they couldn't get passed kissing without having somebody pass by. Zo� had warmed up to Ginger, somehow, and for a couple of days wouldn't leave her alone. After a while she moved on to somebody else and Ginger was grateful for it.
Kris and Taylor had their first big fight about a week beforehand over something really stupid, but Kris only fought about stupid things anyway. She didn't speak to him for a day and a half until he went out and bought her a necklace and she immediately apologized. Now they were still getting over their period of making up, and it was starting to get nauseating. Taylor, however, was starting to get on Ginger's nerves because whenever he could get away with it, he was flirting with her. She'd repeatedly told him she wasn't interested, but he still did it anyway.
"Hey, Ging," Zac said, walking into the living room where Ginger was lying down, reading that month's Cosmo. Jess was watching soap operas on the other side of the room. "Do you want to go to the library with me?"
"The library?" Ginger said, sitting up. "Why are you going to the library?"
"To get a book," Zac said, eyeing her. "Why else?"
"Well, if your library is anything like my library back home�" Ginger said, then trailed off upon remembering Jess was in the room. "Never mind. Sure. Let's go." She got up and left with him. In the car, Zac turned to her.
"What were you talking about?" he asked.
"I was just saying if your library is anything like my library back home, there's a section that everybody goes to have sex."
"Oh�no. I just wanted to get a book."
"Man," she said, sitting back. "I haven't been to the library, since�since my last boyfriend."
"You and your last boyfriend did it in a library?" Zac asked. Ginger nodded.
"Is there a section where we can do that?"
"Yeah, there is, but I've never been there."
"Can we do that?"
"We'll see." She grinned and looked out the window as they went to the library. "Do you not read or something?" he asked.
"Of course I read."
"Well you're one of the only people I know that doesn't go to the library on a regular basis." She stared at him. "What?"
"You're the only person I know who goes to the library on a regular basis." He shrugged.
"Well I guess there's nothing else in this city to do but go to the library."
"Guess so�"
"Tell me something, though," Zac said. "Have you noticed a change in Taylor?" Ginger paused. She thought about it. This conversation could go a number of ways and she wasn't quite sure how to direct it in the way she wanted it to go.
"Um�no. Why?" she asked.
"I don't know what it is, but he's been a lot different lately. I think a lot of it has to do with Kris being around. He's not as much of a bastard. He's not checking you out or hitting on you or anything. I thought he would after that fight they had last week but I think he surprised all of us with that necklace he bought her. Did you see that thing? It looked mighty expensive," he said.
"He told me he got it for ten bucks when some jewelry shop was going out of business and marked down all of their stuff like ninety-five percent off," Ginger said, then immediately regretted saying it. It only showed that she had a conversation with Taylor when Zac wasn't around.
"Really? He should have told me about it, I would have gotten you something nice," Zac said, completely oblivious to Ginger's fear. "But anyway, yeah she's really changing him for the better. I hope they get married. Taylor needs someone like her."
"Just don't mention marriage to Kris," Ginger said. "She'll freak out. She's so not into commitment."
"Really? I would have figured she'd be like you and suggest marriage on a second date." Ginger smirked. She did do that, didn't she?
"No. She wants to get married and all, but she wants a career first and be able to provide for herself. The only reason she wants to do that is because someone we know got married and gave up on all of her career plans because her husband was rich, and two years later she was stuck divorced and had twins to take care of. I'm not into all of that. I don't want to go to college. I'm not good at anything."
"Everybody's good at something, Ging," Zac said.
"Well whatever it is, I haven't found it yet."
"Well, if you want," Zac suggested, "before we get married we can sign a pre-nuptial contract so just in case, God forbid, we ever do get divorced, you can get the house and some money or something." Ginger looked at him.
"You would do that?" Ginger asked.
"Yeah! I didn't really plan on doing it because it seems so negative, signing a contract so that 'just in case we do get divorced, this is the way things are going to be.' But if you're like Kris and you're afraid of being stuck divorced with kids and no job, by all means, go right ahead. It's not like we're ever going to get divorced, but, hey, it'll be something."
"I'd like that."
"Okay! Then we'll do it."
"Great," Ginger said.
"So Kris wants a career?" Zac asked. "What does she want to do?"
"She wants to be a psychiatrist," Ginger said. "Help me fix all of my problems." He smiled.
"God knows we need one of those in this family. Everybody's so messed up. That'll be good. How long does that take?"
"I don't know. I think it's like eight extra years. She has to go to medical school, I know that, but I don't know what happens after med school. Graduate school, probably. She'll be, like, thirty by the time she graduates and can finally do something with her life."
"Damn, that's a lot of school. I'm not even going to college."
"I know! I could never be in school that long. But that's what she wants to do. She doesn�t necessarily like school but she's really into this psychology thing." Zac nodded and they were at the library. He turned of the engine and got out of the car. On the way to the door, Ginger leaned up close to Zac. "Can we have sex in the library?" she asked.
"Ugh," Zac said. "Fine." Ginger smiled. "But you're going to have to be quiet."
"Duh, Zac," Ginger said. "It's a library�"