When the doorbell rang Ginger was still laying on the couch, looking up the ceiling. The tea was trying to settle in her stomach and she didn't want to throw up all over Diana, even though that would be pretty funny. Zac got up, took a breath, and answered the door. "Mom! Hi!" He tried to act happy but he was very nervous. He gave his mother a hug as well as his ten-year-old sister Zo�, but as soon as he looked up he froze. "Taylor? What the hell are you doing here?"
Ginger immediately sat up and looked behind her, her stomach lurching. Taylor was the absolute last brother Ginger was expecting out of the three that Zac had. Diana had walked in already, avoiding the confrontation between Zac and Taylor, and came into the living room. "How are you doing, dear?" Ginger raised an eyebrow.
"Dear?" she asked.
"Yes, I said 'dear,' " Diana said. She looked at Jenny who was still coloring at the table in front of Ginger. "Is this Jenny?"
"Yes it is," Ginger said. "Jenny, honey, say hello to your Grandma." Jenny looked up at her grandmother, who was waiting for some kind of greeting. Jenny ran over to her.
"Hi Grandma!" she said. "You got long hair!" Diana smiled.
"Yes I do. Your Grandpa is in the other room, do you want to meet him?" Jenny nodded and raised her arms. Diana picked her up and brought her into the living room where she met her grandfather, her aunt, and reluctantly, her Uncle Taylor. Zac introduced his daughter to everyone, but as soon as he got to Taylor, he took Jenny from his mother and brought her back into the living room.
Ginger was sitting up now, and as soon as she saw Zo� she was amazed. "Oh my goodness, Zo�, you're huge!" she said. Zo� smiled, ran over, and gave her a hug. Ginger looked around at everyone. She and Walker had never really spoken, but when they did they seemed to get along, and he looked pleased to see her. Taylor, however, hung back away from everyone. It was obvious he wasn't wanted and Zac had made that very clear from the moment he arrived.
"How are things going around here?" Diana asked. Jenny was sitting in her lap, getting used to the idea of more grandparents. "I'm guessing fairly well."
"Yeah, we were having a pretty good time here until today," Ginger explained. "I had my first treatment this morning."
"I'm sorry," Diana said. She sounded like she truly meant it and it was a weird thing for Ginger.
"She hasn't thrown up yet," Zac explained, "so it's been a pretty good day." Diana nodded. Ginger put her feet up on the table and laid her head back on the couch. Jenny looked over.
"Mommy!"
"I'm not touching your book, Jenny," Ginger said. Jenny went back to playing with Diana's hair.
"So how old is Jenny?" Diana asked. Jenny held up three fingers.
"I'm three!" she answered.
"Three? Wow, you're a big girl," Diana said. She looked over at Zac. When he had told her he and Ginger had a child, she thought recently they'd had a child. Not three years beforehand. Once she walked in and saw Jenny coloring at the table she was taken aback but the thought of a grandchild didn't allow her to get angry. "When exactly did you have her?"
"I was pregnant before I left Tulsa," Ginger explained. "Zac didn't find out until about three months ago."
"Three months? How long have you been married?" Diana asked. She was turning back into the skeptical Diana that Ginger knew.
"A month," Zac said. "Since September 16th." Diana made one of those disapproving looks that she was known for and didn't say anything more. "�So, what is everybody doing in town?"
"I just bought a house," Taylor explained.
"Nobody asked you," Zac said, looking at Taylor. "You're not even here."
"Zachary!" Diana scolded. Zac looked at her, questioning her scold. He hadn't taken orders from her since he turned eighteen and she knew that. It must have been a reaction. Zac's comment, however, took a toll on Ginger. She never knew the position between Zac and Taylor these past few years and that comment made it very clear where Zac stood. She knew things weren't good, but they'd avoided the topic of Taylor since they got back together. In the past three months they'd never spoken his name and they'd only referred to him once, when Zac told Ginger he had moved out of his house. Now she knew; Zac still hated Taylor.
"Anyway�" Zac said, standing up. "Who wants coffee?"
"You know I brought him along for a reason," Diana said. Zac groaned and sat back down. "This little hatred between the two of you has gone on long enough. I don't like holidays when only one of you is there. This is starting to get ridiculous." Taylor looked at Zac but Zac only groaned again.
"Whatever," Zac said. He got up and walked into the kitchen.
"Zac!" Ginger said after he passed. He came back into the room, only stopping by her couch.
"What?" he snapped.
"I need more tea," she said, holding out her cup. He gave her a look.
"You're lucky you're beautiful," he said. She gave him a smile and he went back into the kitchen. Ginger turned to the rest of the room.
"So," she said. "How is everyone else?" Nobody answered her except for Jenny.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," she said.
"I can't do anything for you, dear," Ginger said. "You're going to have to bug your father about it."
"I'll make you something," Diana said. Jenny and Diana went into the kitchen and Ginger was left with Taylor, Walker, and Zo�. Zo� was the only one sitting on Ginger's side of the room. She was actually sitting next to Ginger, so Ginger decided to talk to her.
"So how are you doing, Zo?" Ginger asked. "You're in, what, fourth grade now?"
"Fifth," she corrected. Ginger nodded.
Somehow, both Zo� and Walker ended up in the kitchen and it was just Taylor and Ginger in the living room, as far away from each other as they could get. Taylor didn't say anything and Ginger amused herself by flipping through Jenny's coloring book. For a three-year-old, Jenny was damn good at coloring. She didn't always stay inside the lines but she did it most of the time and that was all that mattered.
Zac came back in the room and saw that Taylor and Ginger were in the room alone.
"Taylor, get in the kitchen," Zac said.
"Oh, so I'm included again?" Taylor asked.
"If it gets you away from being alone with my wife, then think whatever you want to think," Zac said.
"Jesus Christ, Zac, when the hell are you going to get over it? We were on opposite sides of the room and we're not even talking to each other," Taylor began to yell. "I've apologized to you a thousand times, and a thousand times you've called me a fucking bastard and left the room. I don't know what to do!"
"Get over it," Zac said.
"I can't do that! Zac, you're my brother, I'm not going to spend the rest of my live avoiding you. One of these days one of us is going to become that 'other brother' that nobody talks about and frankly, I don't think it's going to be me. At least I've associated with the family since it happened."
"Taylor, shut up," Zac said. "I didn't invite you here and frankly I don't want you here. I don't care if you're in the city. Being closer to me isn't going to make me talk to you. You could fucking live in my house and I still wouldn't talk to you. You are nothing to me. I don't want you around my wife, I don't want you around my daughter, and I don't want you around here."
Taylor, sighing, left. The family had dinner in the living room because Ginger didn't have enough energy to get up and walk to the dining room, although it was only five feet away. Zac sat next to her on the couch and Jenny sat on the floor. The rest of the family was eating off their laps. Ginger didn't eat�she didn't feel well enough to do that�so she watched the rest of the family eat.
There was nothing to talk about. Everybody had heard Zac yell at Taylor and that had increased the tension between Zac and the family. Apparently, Zac told Ginger long after everyone left, that night was the first time he'd seen anybody in his family except for his sister Jess since he left home. Taylor had struck a nerve when he told Zac that Zac was becoming one of those people the family never talked about. For a very long time Zac's family was the most important thing to him, and an ongoing distrust with one person broke that to pieces.
"It had to be one of us, Ging," Zac was saying later that night after everyone left. Jenny was asleep and Zac had carried Ginger up the stairs and set her down in their bed. "Everyone knew that we'd probably never speak to each other again. Taylor wouldn't move out so I did. I came out here right away. The only person who really kept in touch was Jess. She was the only one I've seen since I left." Ginger knew how close Zac and Jess were. Jess had called a number of times since Ginger moved in, and she was the only one who knew Ginger was there.
"That's�that's not good, Zac," Ginger said.
"I know it's not good, babe," he told her. "I know. But I can't forgive him for that."
"You forgave me," Ginger said.
"You did it once, Ginger," Zac said. "I can forgive it once. Taylor has done it over and over again, so many times that I have lost count. I can't just ignore that. No. I'm perfectly fine never speaking to him again."
"But what about the rest of them?" Ginger asked. "Are you happy not speaking to the rest of them again? I saw you with Zo� tonight, you couldn't get enough of her." Zac sighed and pulled off his shirt. He threw it in the hamper and got in the bed. "I know how much you love your family, Zac. I'm not asking you to forgive Taylor because I know you may not ever be able to do that. That's okay with me. I'm asking you to tolerate him so you can see the rest of your family."
"I don't know if I can do that, Ginger," he said.
"Try?" she asked. "For me?"
"All right, I'll try," he said. "For you." He kissed her.
"You know you have to pick up Kris tomorrow, right?" she asked. He sighed and laid down.
"Ugh, I completely forgot she was coming," he said. "Is she still with Taylor?"
"No."
"Good," he said. "I don't think I could deal with that right now. Man, I haven't even begun to fix up the spare bedroom for her."
"She'll come over and clean anyway," Ginger said. "Don't worry about that. That's what she's coming for, to do all the things I can't do."
"How long is she staying?" Zac asked.
"I don't know. Until I'm better."
"All right," Zac said. "I miss Kris. She's an awesome person."
"Yes, yes she is." Ginger laid down, pulling the covers over her. "Good night, babe."
"Goodnight."