"Did you see the look on his face? He's pissed off!" I said as JC and I were in my old bedroom unpacking. "You're overreacting. Anyway, your sister seemed to be happy." "She's always happy." "So you don't care about her opinion at all?" "Well, of course I do. It's just that I've always looked up to Todd. He's my big brother. It's only natural that his opinion means a little more to me." He sat down on my bed and pulled me down next to him. "Stop worrying." he said kissing me. "I can't. He's done so much for me. I don't want to be disappointed." "He's not disappointed. How could he be? You've done so much. He could only be proud." "But I know he's disappointed about this. He always told me never to rush into things." "We didn't rush in." "How can you say that? We had one night of awesome sex and we got married. How is that not rushing in?" "We've loved each other for a long time." I didn't say anything. "You know I'm right. So don't worry about it."
We walked downstairs and saw Natasha sitting alone, watching tv. "Where's Todd?" She looked up at us. "Uh, he went out." "Where did he go?" "For a ride." I frowned. He only does that when something's bothering him. "What's wrong?" She sighed. "Well, he thinks that you, no offense JC, made a really bad decision by getting married so soon. The first time we even heard about JC was when you called to ask if you could come over. Not only this but this is the first time you've so much as talked to us since mom's funeral. He's just a little upset by all this." I looked fiercely at JC. "I told you." I whispered angrily. "Don't blame me for this." he whispered back. "I didn't blame you for anything. I'm simple telling you I'm right." "First marital tiff?" Natasha asked playfully. I smiled. "I guess so." He leaned close to my ear. "Let's go have some make up sex." he whispered softly. "I don't think so." I whispered back. "Well why not?" he said without whispering. "Because I'm not doing that now. I have sibling troubles on my mind."
"You shouldn't be worrying about it this much. He'll calm down and realize this is what makes you happy and it should make him happy too." Natasha said. I fell down onto the couch and sighed. "Todd's not that simple. I think he's still mad at me for saying I was never going to come home again." "When did you say that?" "When I was leaving from mom's funeral. He never told you?" "No." "Oh. Well, yeah. That's what happened." "Why did you say that?" "Because I had absolutely no intention of ever coming back here. I don't like to think about our ever-so-nice childhood. I know you remember. How are you able to come back here?" "Because I don't run away from my problems. This house doesn't bring back the memories, it's someone who refuses to forget." "How can I forget? You were little, you can forget easily." "No I can't. I choose not to torture myself with my past. Why do you?" "Because I saw what he did to mom. I can't forget that." "Of course, because you were mom's favorite." she said bitterly. "I was not." "Yes you were. She loved you, you were her precious little angel. And you becoming famous made her all the more proud. I'm surprised you didn't get the damn house. Hell, you got everything else." My eyes watered up and the front door opened. "What's going on?" Todd asked. I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Nothing. Come on JC." I said leading him out of the room.
I laid face down on my bed crying with JC rubbing my back. "Honey, I honestly don't know what to say to make things better." "I don't expect you to. Just be here for me." I said through sobs. He continued rubbing my back lovingly. After a moment the door opened and Todd walked in. "Kara. Don't be upset over what she said." I sat up. "How can I not be?" "Uh, JC, could I talk to her alone?" "Sure." he said getting up and leaving. Todd hugged me. "She's the only one that feels that way. I love you, don't ever forget that. And I'm happy that you found the one that you can spend the rest of your life with. I'm a little uncomfortable with the fact that you got married so soon, but I'm glad that you're happy." I started crying harder. "You hate me." "No I don't. I'm happy for you! I love you Kara. I could never hate you. You're my baby sister." I smiled. "Maybe it's the raging hormones doing this to me." He laughed. "You've only been pregnant for a few weeks. I doubt it's hormones." "Well I can't blame it on T.O.M. anymore." "You see, now this is the over-informative sister I know."
That night at dinner was uncomfortably quiet. Natasha sat across from me angrily eating her food and giving me dirty looks. After ten minutes I had had enough of it. I threw my fork onto the table and looked up at her. "Ok, I'm tired of this shit! You're being immature!" "I'm being immature?! You're the one who came back here when you knew you weren't welcome!" "How is that being immature?" "Well, I don't know! But things were fine until you came back! All you're doing is opening old wounds!" "Wounds that needed to be reopened! We can't ignore this anymore!" "We were doing fine before!" "Stop it! Can't we just eat a dinner without starting world war three?" Todd said. Natasha crossed her arms and stared at her plate. I looked over at JC and he was staring in awe. "See? It isn't fun, is it?"
"How can she do this shit? She's supposed to be the one who's actually happy for me!" I said as I paced back and forth in my room. "You're blowing this way out of proportion. This is just a little fight that's way overdue." JC said. "Damn right it's overdue. This should have happened years ago. If it had I wouldn't have to be here right now." "I'd like to remind you that she's your sister and you love her." "Yeah yeah yeah. Well, I'm really upset now, so let's have some major rough sex." I said straddling him. "You really want to?" "Yes. Right now." I pushed him and down and started kissing him furiously. "I love you." I said ripping off his shirt. "And I really love you." I turned the lamp off and we continued kissing and stripping.
The next morning I woke up and saw that Natasha wasn't there. "Todd, where is she?" "Not here. Would you be if you had somewhere else to go?" "Well... No." He smiled. "So, where's JC?" "He's still sleeping." "Wear him out last night, did you?" Panic swept through my body. "What?" "You didn't think you weren't being a little loud? You're lucky I only heard that when I walked by. If I had heard it from my room I would have come into yours and made you stop." "Well I guess I should be relieved." I said sarcastically. "Yeah."
"Where's Kara?" I was sitting in the kitchen eating dinner with JC when Natasha walked into the house demanding to see me. "She's in the kitchen." Todd said. She walked into the room and JC stood up. "I'll leave you two alone." I gave him a look of desperation and he smiled and walked away. "Kara, I'm sorry for all the stuff I said. I know it was wrong. I shouldn't have gone off like that. You're hurting like the rest of us. Sorry." I smiled. "I'm sorry for yelling at you too." She smiled and sat down across from me. "So, when are you leaving?" "In a hurry to get me out?" "No. I was just wondering how much time I have left to be with you. I'll probably never see you again, right?" "No. I'm coming over again when I have the baby." She smiled. "I still can't believe I'm going to be an aunt. Mom would be so excited." I lowered my head. "Yeah, I know." "But I'm sure she's going to be happy looking down from heaven." I clinched my teeth together. I hate it when she talks about this shit. But I didn't want to start another fight again. "Yeah, I'm sure she is."
"Aww, so you guys are friends again?" Todd said walking into the kitchen. "Yes, we're friends." I said smiling. "Well that's great! Are we going to be able to have a civil evening before you all leave?" "You're leaving tonight?" "Yeah, in a few hours." "You're going home in the middle of the night?" "Well, it will take us a while to get home." "Aren't you going on a plane?" "Well, yeah, but still." JC appeared in the doorway and smiled. "Is it ok to enter?" I smiled. "Yes." He came in and sat down next to me. He continued to eat his dinner. "You and your food." I said. He looked up and me and smiled. "Yeah."
"I'll call and fill you in about everything with the baby. We're going to get the first ultrasound in a few weeks." I said to Todd and Natasha as JC and I were getting ready to leave. "I want to see a picture. E mail it to me or something." Natasha said. "You know I will." "Well JC, it was nice meeting you, and welcome to the family." Todd said shaking JC's hand. "It was nice meeting you too, and I'm glad I'm a part of this family." Natasha threw her arms around him. "Take good care of my sister and niece." "I will, don't worry." "Well, bye guys. I'll talk to you soon." I said hugging them both. "Bye. Take care." Todd said. "I will. Bye!"
We sat on the airplane waiting for takeoff. "See? They can be terrible sometimes. My family is messed up." I said. "They're not that bad." I sighed. "Were you even there?" He laughed. "Yes I was. I believe you forget last night." he whispered into my ear. I smiled. "How could I?" We got the normal safety briefings and took off. "I can't wait till we get home. We can be as loud as we want." he said playing with me hand. "Apparently we weren't too quiet last night." "What do you mean?" "Todd could hear us." He smiled. "I wasn't the one being loud." I smacked his arm playfully. "Don't go there."
An hour later I was awaken by turbulence. I turned to JC and saw him gripping the handles. "What's with you? Afraid of flying?" "It's been doing this for about two minutes. I'm surprised you hadn't woke up sooner." I looked out the window at the stars in the sky. I love this. The lights went out and the red emergency lights came on. The intercom came on and the pilot began talking to us. "Please, stay calm. We are experiencing a little dif-" The intercom went off and I felt the plane going down. I took JC's hand and held it tight. "Kara, I love you!" he yelled over the screaming passengers. "Don't talk to me like we're going to die!" He looked at me with tears in his eyes. I began tearing up as well. "I love you!" I screamed. We held each other tight and listened to the frightening screams around us. All of the sudden I saw my mom and I was calm. JC being with me made it all the better. I closed my eyes and his grip tightened. "JC, we'll be fine." I said. He smiled and seemed to relax. "I love you." he said. The screams of the passengers got louder. Then silence.
Finally every wish I've ever had has come true. I got the man of my dreams, the career I've always wanted, and a newly reconciled family. It only makes sense that it ended this way. A small price to pay for a life in the spotlight.
