George -- Chapter Fourteen: Dust to Dust

Again, so sorry this took so long to publish! I did want to make a quick note about this chapter before you read it. I originally wrote this chapter as a filler chapter. I sometimes write out what other characters are doing in between chapters to help with interactions that occur later in the generation without any intention of publishing it. That's what this chapter started out as but as I kept writing it, I realized that there were too many key events that occurred and I felt that it needed to be shared. Not only does it go into how George felt after his and Trev's confrontation but it also has some important relationship changes between George and Steph.

I'm also providing the song that helped inspire this chapter.

Thanks for being so patient! Hope you enjoy!

****George****

When Uncle Charlie and I planned on bringing Trev to the club, I had hoped that I would be able to stay till closing. After what happened between Trev and me, there was no reason to rush back to his apartment so I hung around and when the club closed, I helped Steph, Charlotte, and Ethan close up. As we walked out the front, Charlotte tried to talk to me.

“Do you think Trev’s cooled off by now?”

I huffed. I was pretty sure that he was still probably pissed and he could be even drunker than he was when he and Uncle Charlie left.  “I seriously doubt it.”
 

“What about you?” She asked me.

“What about me?”

She sighed loudly. “Where do I start. . .have you calmed down? Are you going to be okay staying there tonight with him? Are you okay?” 

It was my turn to sigh. “I’m not the one who got pissed off; Trev is. I never needed to calm down, he did. I’ll admit, I’m not thrilled right now about staying there, but I’ll deal with it.” I paused before answering her last question. “I suppose I’m as good as can be expected.”

She nodded. “Well, if you want to stay somewhere besides his place, you can stay at my place.” I noticed Ethan and her exchange a look and it was obvious that the thought of me staying at Charlotte’s place made him react uncomfortably, and I guessed that probably meant that he was staying there too.

“No, that’s okay.”

“Just let me know if you change your mind.” She offered again and I nodded.

There was an uncomfortable silence after that and I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something. It was as if the three of them knew something that I wasn’t in on. “Well. . .I guess we’ll get going. Do you want a ride or would you prefer to take a cab?” Ethan asked.

Before I could speak up Steph was answering him. “No, thanks for offering but I’m okay taking a cab. Is that okay?” She looked over at me.

“Sure.” Although I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t all ride together. The three of them were acting strange and I was racking my brain trying to figure out why.

“Alright, well, goodnight. And I mean it George, if you want to stay at my apartment, just let me know.” Charlotte again offered. I nodded and Steph and I watched as they walked hand in hand to the parking garage.

I quickly turned toward Steph. “Okay, what in the world was that?”

“What?” She looked confused.

“The whole uncomfortable thing after Charlotte offered for me to stay at her place, and then why wouldn’t we all ride together to your apartment building.”

She smirked as she responded. “Surely someone as smart as you can figure that out.”

“Well, I was sure that the reason that Ethan and she exchanged a look after she offered for me to stay there was because he’s probably staying there. But that doesn’t explain why we wouldn’t ride together.”

“Maybe they’re not going back to the apartment.” She hinted.

“Oh. . .” I said as I realized what she was saying. “So Ethan realized that if I stayed at Charlotte’s apartment that I would learn not that they were staying together at her apartment but that they’re together at his apartment.”

She smiled big. “Yup.”

“Why would I care?”

“I was wondering the same thing but she’s been worried about telling you for some reason. She was sure that you would give her a hard time about it.”

“Oh, I will, but only because it annoys her.” The thought of playfully annoying Charlotte made me think about Trev and how that’s something he and I would do together. I then started remembering how he had just hours before yelled at me about how my very existence seemed to annoy him.

“Hey,” Steph said and grabbed my hand. I turned my head and saw that she had a concerned look on her face and I attempted a smile as she put her other hand on my arm. “So. . .are you going to make sure I get to my apartment okay?” She more than slightly hinted and I understood instantly that she was referring to when we first met.

I chuckled and couldn’t help but think about how Steph had this crazy ability to snap me out of my head. No one else had been able to do that, except for Dad. Most people figured that I wanted to be alone to stew over my thoughts, and while that was usually true, Dad had never let me do that too much. He knew when I needed to be left alone, but he also knew when it was okay to get me out of my head. Steph seemed to be able to do that too.

“You know, I remember there was once a time that you didn’t want me to go to your apartment.” I joked with her. “In fact, it was almost in this very spot that you asked me if I was some deranged guy who thought they were a superhero.”

She laughed and I hailed us a cab. I had forgotten how close she lived to the club and it wasn’t long before I was following her to the elevator and up one more floor than the one Charlotte lived on. 

“Do you live above Charlotte?” I said as we walked the outside balcony area that connected the apartments. 

“No, but my apartment is next to the one that does.”

I nodded and we stopped at her door as she unlocked it with her key. As we stepped through the door I realized that I hadn’t known what I expected to see when we walked in. I had been in Charlotte’s apartment twice and had supposed that Steph’s apartment would look the same. But whereas Charlotte’s was decorated with more modern furnishings and décor, Steph’s was more. . .eclectic.  It was a combination of modern and traditional. Which shouldn’t have really surprised me since that would more fit her personality.

She placed her keys on the bookshelf that was in the entryway and then looked at me. “I’m going to change. ” She smiled and walked into what I guessed was her bedroom.

As she changed, I took the opportunity to look around the apartment.  The kitchen was neat and orderly, but unlike Charlotte’s, actually showed signs of being used. There were several cookbooks on the counters and several cooking tools placed strategically around.  I looked into the living room and noticed how she had taken more modern furniture and combined it with the existing traditional feel of the apartment. She seemed to like things that looked slightly worn or used which without; her apartment might have looked more uptight or traditional.  There was a study area attached to the living room that had a desk, a decently filled bookshelf and a large collection of food magazines. There was also a door that led to a balcony. 

As I was finishing looking around the apartment, Steph  walked out of the bedroom. “We could go sit down. . .” She said as she motioned to the couch. 

As we sat down I kept looking around at different things in the apartment. “It’s got a very eclectic feel to it.” I said.

“Hmm. . .eclectic good or eclectic bad?”

“No, good. It fits your personality. I like how you’ve combined older things with newer things.” I clarified. “It’s something that many people try to do but most aren’t very successful doing. Everything looks like it goes together though.”

“I like taking older things and giving them a new home; kind of like I’m giving them a second chance.”

Once she described it like that, it made me realize why I had originally thought that her apartment fit her personality. 

****Steph****

“So, are you going to go back to Trev’s, or are you going to take Charlotte up on her offer?” I asked him hoping that it might lead to him open up a little more about what happened with him and Trev.

“I have no way of getting into her apartment since I don’t have a key, so I’ll be going back to Trev’s, although I’m not really thrilled about it right now.”

“What if I told you I have a key. . .” I admitted.

He sat for a moment looking at me. “You do?”

I nodded. “She gave me a key after she started staying at Ethan’s. Sometimes I go check on the apartment. They’re pretty much living together at this point. I really wouldn’t be surprised if he proposes soon.”

“Really?” He looked as shocked as I thought he would.

“Really. It’s like once they got together, they jumped into the deep end. And I honestly think she’d say yes.  You saw them tonight, they’re pretty much inseparable, and I don’t think there’s any question that he loves her and she loves him.”

He sat across from me with a blank expression on his face while he looked into the study. I once again couldn’t tell if he was upset, shocked, happy. . .I was pretty certain that he was caught off guard. I’d seen this reaction from him enough to know that it usually happened when he hadn’t expected something to happen. It was almost like he needed a moment to let whatever it was to sink in. He eventually started to nod his head and somewhat smiled. “I’ll be damned.”

“Why do you say that?”

He looked back at me. “She’s mentioned multiple times in the past, once during Christmastime that you heard, that she didn’t want to open herself up like that; she’s always been afraid that she’ll get hurt. I don’t know what he’s done to convince her otherwise. . . The one thing that all of us have wanted for her is to be happy and at least be open to the possibility of love.” He looked over at the coffee table and continued. “Before this past October I would have been thrilled with just finding her, just knowing that she was okay. Once that happened, although she seemed safe and settled here, Trev and I couldn’t help but notice how she still seemed closed off. It was almost like she was afraid to open up to us or others. It seems like something happened after Christmas. . .”

“I think you’re right. I mean, you remember how she didn’t even tell me the whole truth about what was going to happen during Christmas?” He nodded.  “She honestly thought that if she told me that I might not go, or even worse, I think she worried that I would stop being friends with her. Then there’s this past weekend. Just comparing how she acted during Christmas to the funeral this past weekend, it’s like she’s a different person. Well, not really, she’s still the same but she’s more open about how she feels.”

He added to my thoughts “I think Ethan’s helped with that too. We can comfort her only so much and I think that’s one of the reasons that she had such a hard time with Dad. She needed the kind of comforting that we can’t give her, but Ethan can. I was really worried about her when we found out that Grandma passed away. I figured she was either going to get through it somehow or she was going to pull away from everyone. I think having Ethan there helped her let her feelings out, she felt safe enough with him to do that.”

“I think you’ve helped her too.” I added but he tried to argue with me.

“All I did was try to be there for her.”

“I think you’re selling yourself short. You helped her feel comfortable enough to come home at Christmas; once she was there you helped her and the rest of your family with the initial awkwardness of seeing each other for the first time in years. . .I think you’re right, Ethan has helped her, but he never would have been able to if you hadn’t helped her first.”

 

He wouldn’t make eye contact with me but instead kept staring at the floor. I wished he would talk to me instead of thinking so much in his head. Everyone had told me that it was better to just let him be and that when he was ready he would talk. But every time something like this happened, I couldn’t help but think that sometimes it seemed like it would be better for him to talk about whatever was bothering him. 

“Hey, where’d you go?” I asked and hoped he wasn’t about to shoot me down.

He sighed and looked at me. The only other time I had seen him look that upset was at his Grandmother’s funeral. I scooted closer to him and reached over to hold his hand. He sighed and I held my breath, wondering if he would continue to silently sit there or if he would share what was bothering him. “I was just thinking about that even though I want to help Trev, I can’t. He’s right, I do butt in, I try not to, but I do. I try to fix things, that’s what I do, it’s what I always do. Most of the time when family gives me a hard time about it, I laugh it off, because they don’t mean anything malicious by it. I know Trev was drunk tonight, but there was some truth behind what he was saying. Along the way, those are thoughts he’s had about me and with his inhibition gone, he said them.”

“That’s not what he thinks of you.” I tried to reason with him. He looked away from me and I couldn’t remember the last time my heart hurt that badly for someone else. “I’ve heard him many times at the club talk about you to his teammates or even when he’s talking with me, Ethan, or Charlotte; not once have I heard him say anything like what he said tonight. He talks about how you’re a great psychologist and how he wishes that he could be more like you when it comes to knowing what to say to people.”

He huffed. “Trev has never had any difficulty talking to people.”

“That’s not what he meant. He meant that he wished he thought more before he spoke; thought more about how what he was saying could affect someone. He admires you, and I sometimes wonder if he’s jealous of you.”

He quickly jerked his head my direction. “Why on earth would he be jealous of me?”

For some reason I figured he would know. “I honestly believe there are moments when Trev knows he’s a mess. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be the way he is but he doesn’t know how to make it better so he just keeps on doing the same thing. You’re where he wants to be.”

I could almost see the light bulb go off in his head. “Whenever he sees me, it reminds him of how far he is from where he wants to be. God! I should have seen that before! Just proves what I was telling Mom.”

“What’s that?”

“When she was talking about an intervention she asked if I could do it and I told her that since I’m too involved with the person, I couldn’t. It would take away from me being able to be detached and focused. If I wasn’t so emotionally involved, I would have seen what you pointed out to me.”

He was once again beating himself up about a mistake he thought he made. I started wondering if this was really what went on in his head most of the time. Did he really doubt himself so much? Did his family really make him feel bad for being the way he is?

“I think you’re being way too hard on yourself.” He shrugged. “You mentioned that you’re family gives you a hard time; does everyone?”

“Not like Trev did tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anywhere near this uneasy about helping people.” He got a distant look in his eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” I couldn’t help asking.

He smiled sadly. “The last time I felt like this was almost ten years ago. We went on a family vacation and I talked to my Dad about it. Although now that I’m remembering it, I don’t think what he said is true, especially after today.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, G. The world needs more people like you in it and less of the naysayers. Believe me, there will come a day when even your siblings may be glad that you’re the way you are.’ I can’t see the last part ever happening.”

“You never know; I think all of you are a testament that given the right circumstances, love, and support, anyone can change. . .I think anything’s possible. The more I hear about your Dad, the more I wish I had gotten to meet and know him.”

He nodded. “You both would have gotten along. It’s times like this that I wish he was here. He’d know exactly what to say to Trev. Hell, I don’t know if Trev would be in this mess if Dad was here.”

“You can’t say that for sure. Trev is who he is, just like Charlotte is who she is. Sure she’s doing better now, but like I said earlier, she’s just a better adjusted version of herself.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

****George****

We fell into a silence that neither one of us seemed to know how to break. I was lost in my own thoughts about Trev and Charlotte and I had no idea what she was thinking about. Probably something along the lines of how messed up the Davila family seemed to be, or maybe she was starting to realize my short comings and wondering what she had gotten herself into. I looked down at our hands and realized that I had absentmindedly been stroking her thumb with mine. I slowly looked up at her and caught her looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
 

“What is it?” I asked her. 

She bit down on her bottom lip which instantly clued me in that something was bothering her. She looked away for a moment and took a moment as she thought about what to say. When she turned her head back towards me she had what appeared to be a pained expression.

“Are you. . .always so hard on yourself?” I was shocked by her question.  “Is that what you’re doing when you become distant or closed off? Do you really sell yourself so short that you can’t even see the good that you do for your family?” 

I looked away and removed my hand from hers. I had no idea how to respond to her questions. I had heard the first question many times from my family. Many of them thought that I was too hard on myself when I felt I had made a mistake. I didn’t agree though; I felt that I should hold myself to a higher standard. Not because I thought I was better than everyone else, I proved to myself and others time and time again that that wasn’t the case. No, I believed that as a psychologist I should try to at least practice what I preached, so to speak. I stood up and walked into the study to look out the windows; I was so lost in my thoughts that I barely noticed when Steph came up from behind me and put each of her hands on my shoulders.

“George. . .” She whispered and I closed my eyes as I felt the anger start to rise inside of me but it wasn’t anger at Steph, it was anger at this whole situation. I was at her apartment and instead of trying to get to know her better, talk about how she was, we were having to dwell on me; all because my stupid, drunk brother couldn’t deal with his own feelings.

“God damn it.” I whispered and I felt Steph bury her head into my back. I smacked the glass with an open hand and Steph let go of me but continued to stand right behind me. “God Damn it!!!” I yelled and whirled around looked at her causing her to back away slightly. “If he had just dealt with things all those years ago. . .Can I really not see the good that I do for my family? No, no I can’t! I can’t even help my own brother see how messed up his own life is! I can’t get him to see how much his actions hurt our mother, to get him to care enough about how she worries about him so much, that I had to beg her to go to Will’s to see her own grandchild born instead of coming here to make sure that he was okay; which he’s not! And if I can’t help my own brother, how the hell can I help other people? For instance, how could I give guidance to someone about how to deal with family disputes when I myself can’t seem to forgive my own brother for hitting on you?! Even though I know as a psychologist that it was alcohol induced! As a psychologist I should be able to look at this rationally and not let my anger or disappointment guide my feelings!” I exclaimed and at that moment realized that I had just done something that I very rarely did. I exploded with anger; something that I prided myself on being able to control. I closed my eyes again and turned my head away from Steph, embarrassed that I had let her see me get that way.

“Do you feel any better?” She calmly and quietly asked me.

I looked back at her. “No, I feel horrible that I let myself explode like that, that I let you see me get like that.” I admitted.

“Why? Are you afraid you’re going to scare me away? Afraid that I can’t take it? Are you afraid that others are going to be scared away, all because you expressed how you’re feeling?”  She tried to plead with me. I turned back around and looked out the windows and soon heard her move closer again. “George, your brother is an alcoholic, everyone can see that he’s slipping down a slippery slope, he’s causing hurt for you, Charlotte, your mom. . .I would honestly be more worried if you didn’t explode or show some kind of anger.” 

She walked around so she was facing me and she placed her hands on either side of my face. “You should be angry, and hurt, and frustrated. It has nothing to do with you being a psychologist; it has to do with you being a brother, one who cares and loves his brother so much, that you’re willing to do anything to help him. You’ve got it reversed; in this case you aren’t a psychologist who’s a brother, you’re a brother who happens to be a psychologist. You’re feelings as a brother should be stronger than your control as a psychologist. If it was the opposite, you wouldn’t be the caring, loving brother that you are.” 

I closed my eyes and leaned my head into one of her hands. “Which is something that I should recognize as a psychologist. . .” I admitted. 


 

She lightly started to caress the side of my face with her hand and I opened my eyes to look at her. “I can’t make you see what others see about you; what I see about you. I wish I could, but I can’t. That what you said about not controlling your emotions actually makes you a better brother and a better psychologist.” I was saddened to see that she had tears in her eyes. I reached up and grabbed both of her hands, holding them and squeezing them. As I looked down at our hands it occurred to me that I had never admitted to anyone what I had just told her. I had never expressed my own reservations about being a good brother, son, or even a good psychologist; how conflicting the roles made me feel at times. I had never admitted them before because I had somehow convinced myself that if I did, it would make the inadequacy I felt even more a reality. That even if my feelings of inadequacy were unfounded, if I openly admitted them, uttered them out loud that they would become true. I was astonished that I had uttered those thoughts, but what I found even more astonishing was that even after doing so, Steph was still standing there; not affirming what I had just told her, but instead trying to show me that what I saw as flaws, she saw as strengths. 

I may not have agreed with her but I did appreciate her effort. And as I looked back into her eyes, I realized just how much of a fool I had been the last several months. I had tried to use our little over four year age difference as an excuse. That there was no way that someone who was almost twenty two and someone who was twenty six could possibly have a reason to be together; would have enough in common to be together. She had proven me wrong. I had tried to convince myself that her past would be a hindrance and would bring huge obstacles to any relationship. I was coming to realize that it wasn’t her past that was presenting the obstacles, but mine. Once again, she had proven me wrong. I had thought that I knew what love was; that what I felt for Christine was it. As I looked into the eyes of the woman standing in front of me, I was once again forced to admit that I had been wrong. I had just bore my soul to this woman and she was still standing there in front of me, hurting for me, but still standing with me.  That was the instant that I realized that I not only cared about the woman standing in front of me, I loved her. This was the moment that if anyone ever asked me when I knew that I was in love with Stephanie Hathaway, that I would think back to this moment. 

****Steph****

“I’m sorry.” He uttered as squeezed my hands again.

I shook my head. “You apologize more than you should. You have nothing to be sorry for.” 

“I’m sorry that instead of being able to spend a relaxing evening together, this is what happened.” He smiled sadly.

I could somewhat understand his apology better. At least he wasn’t apologizing for getting upset, but instead about the fact that he wished that the circumstances were different; which even I wished that. I didn’t have the anger that George felt at this moment for Trev, but I most certainly agreed with him that I would much rather that we were there together under happier circumstances.

The clock in the kitchen chimed the hour and it was then that I realized that it was four in the morning. 

“You have to work tonight, don’t you?” He asked and I looked back from the clock to him.

I quietly nodded knowing that his question was his way of acknowledging how late it was. “You never answered my question.” 

“What question was that?” He wondered.

“Are you going to go back to Trev’s or are you going to stay at Charlotte’s?”

He thought about it for a moment.  “I guess I could text Uncle Charlie and let him know that I’m at Charlotte’s. That way he doesn’t worry when he wakes up.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll get the key for you.” I walked over to my keys and I rotated the key around the key ring until it detached. I turned around to head back into the study but as I took a step I ran right into George. Before I had time to apologize he reached up and placed a hand on each side of my face. 

“Thank you.” He said as he looked deep into my eyes. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t speak; all I could do was nod as I looked into his piercing blue eyes. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath as we stood inches from each other. I was so mesmerized by his eyes that I didn’t even realize that he was leaning down until his lips were on mine.  

I didn’t know what he felt whenever we kissed, but to me it felt like the world stood still and everything else but him faded away. I had never had that happen before, never been so consumed by a kiss that nothing else seemed to matter. As he pulled away I opened my eyes and looked back into his hypnotic eyes.

“You need to get to sleep.” I nodded but wanted to say that I was fine to stay up longer but I was still unable to get any words to come out.  I was never at a loss for words and yet around George, I found that there were times like right now that I was. “Do you want me to come by after I wake up?” I nodded again, still unable to say anything. He looked down at my arms and then smiled at me. “Can I have the key?” 

  

That seemed to break me out of my trance. “Oh! Sorry.” I placed the key in his hand and he squeezed mine before I could pull it away which caused me to look down at our hands and then back up at him. He smiled as he pulled me closer and once again the world melted away as we kissed. 

For a moment I was incredibly tempted to ask him to stay the night but I wasn’t sure how he would react. I guessed that he was probably more reserved about things like that and I didn’t want to suggest anything like that till I knew what he thought about it.

The world came back into focus as we stopped kissing and he held my hand as he walked over to the door. “I’ll see you in a while.” He said as he turned back around to me, smiling. I smiled back at him and he squeezed my hand again before he turned towards the door.  He opened it slowly and then once again turned back around. “Goodnight.” He said right before he let go of my hand and then he carefully closed the door.  I stood in front of the door for several minutes, closing my eyes remembering how it felt when he kissed me. 

I couldn’t help but shake my head as I opened my eyes. I had never fallen for anyone this much, this fast; and it seemed that every time he looked at me that I fell even more.  I finally made my way to the bedroom and changed for bed. I wasn’t sure how much sleep I was going to get, but one thing I was sure of was that when I was asleep, I was going to dream about George and his kisses.

I woke up and looked at the clock. It was ten in the morning and as I looked over at the blinds and the sun peeking through them, I figured that was what had eventually woken me up. I was proven wrong though as I heard my phone buzz. I reached over to grab it off of the nightstand and stood up.

Morning. 

Just wanted to see if you were up yet. 

I smiled as I texted him back. I am. Just woke up.

I’m going to get ready. Can I come over in about a half an hour? I really wanted to see George but I knew that in order for me to get ready in a half an hour, I was going to have to do it in record time. 

Sure! I responded and continued to hold my phone as I rushed to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and started to brush my teeth in a mad hurry. I heard my phone buzz again and looked at it.

See you in a little bit! I spit out the toothpaste that was in my mouth and jumped in the shower.  I had never remembered taking one that quick. I rushed through washing and conditioning my hair, cleaning my face and then my body. I mostly dried off and hurriedly applied some deodorant. As I wiped the mirror off, I realized that I didn’t have time to do my hair like I normally did; I could dry it but there was no way I could style it as much as normal. I quickly applied my makeup and removed the towel from my head before glancing at my phone; I had fifteen minutes left, just enough time for me to dry and lightly curl my hair before pulling it back.  

As I was taking one last look in the mirror I heard a knock on my door and wondered how it could have possibly been fifteen minutes.  I looked at my phone and saw that he was five minutes early. I smiled as I hurriedly walked to the door and flung it open. 

“You’re early!” I jokingly complained.

He smiled at me and I was stunned when he not only produced a cup of tea from behind his back, but then also a bouquet of flowers. I looked from the flowers, to the tea, and then back at him. “How. . .?”

He shrugged and smiled. “I have my ways.” Was all he offered and I motioned for him to come in. 

“Thank you.” I said as I walked into the kitchen to find a vase. After some scrounging around I found one and placed the flowers in it while George and I talked about how each of us slept. After arranging the flowers, I turned to place them on the counter nearest the living room but was stopped by George. He calmly took the vase away from me and placed it on the counter nearest us and I was once again looking into his magnificent blue eyes.

“Do you like them?” He motioned with his head towards the flowers.

Once again, all I could do was nod.

He smiled and my heart started racing even more. “I was hoping that they would somewhat make up for last night.”

It was my turn to smile as I moved even closer to him. He pulled me even closer until there was no space between us and as we began to kiss, he placed a hand behind my head. Soon our kisses were changing from slow, tender kisses to more passionate ones. His other hand moved slowly from my waist to my back and I was starting to learn that he had a crazy ability to be passionate and still tender at the same time. I was slightly distracted as I felt a buzz and heard his phone ring and He pulled away long enough to pull it out of his pocket and flung it on the counter. We continued kissing but his phone kept ringing and buzzing on the counter, and no matter how much I tried to concentrate on kissing him, his phone was driving me crazy.

****George****

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” She asked breathlessly in between kisses.

Was she serious?! “No, whoever it is will leave a message.” I said as I started to kiss her neck. My phone stopped ringing and I started nibbling on her ear. She had just started to relax again when I heard multiple message alerts come from my phone. I felt her tense up and I cursed under my breath as I reached over to get my phone with one hand. 

“I swear, I’m going to cram this down the garbage disposal.” She chuckled. I saw where Will had called and then I checked my messages. There were three pictures; one of Will, Emily and their baby girl, Mom and baby Brooke, and then one of just baby Brooke.

“Oh my gosh! She’s adorable!” Steph said as she looked at the pictures with me. She looked back at me. “I guess this means you’re an uncle now. . .” 

“I guess so. . .” My phone chirped and vibrated again and I saw another message from Mom show up.

Did you get the pictures?

Steph squeezed my hand and then went over to the counter where I had put the flowers down while I texted Mom back. I did. Tell Will and Emily congratulations from me and Steph.

Oh! Tell her I said hi! I smiled. “Mom says hi.”

Steph smiled at me as she moved the vase to the other counter. “Tell her I said hi back.”

I did and then Mom asked the question that I had been dreading. How’s Trev?

My shoulders slumped down slightly and Steph put the tea down that she had been drinking. I showed her the message and she too looked concerned. “What am I supposed to tell her? I don’t want to put a damper on the day that Will and Emily’s baby was born. . .” I once again felt myself getting angry at Trev and at the fact that he was the reason I was in this situation.

“You could tell her that you guess he’s okay and explain to her that you spent the night at Charlotte’s so you haven’t seen him today. It’s not really a lie. . .”

I sighed. It was better than anything I could think of. I texted Mom back and she seemed to be satisfied with the answer. I had just finished texting with Mom when I got another message.

I heard Steph chuckle and looked over at her. “Does that thing ever stop?”

“Apparently not today it doesn’t.” I read the text “Do you mind if Uncle Charlie stops by to bring me my bag?”

“No. Are you not going back to Trev’s?” 

I shook my head and texted Uncle Charlie back.  I turned my phone off and placed it down on the counter. “No, the only thing that would happen if I stayed at his place is we’d get into it. He’s upset and as much as I’d like to not be, I’m pretty pissed off at him right now too.” 

She put her tea down and walked over to where I was standing. She wrapped her arms around me and I closed my eyes as I put my arms around her and sighed.  I was just starting to relax again and enjoy some uninterrupted time with her when there was a knock on the door.

“What the hell?” She whispered.

“I’m starting to think that if you and I want to be alone and uninterrupted we’re going to have to go somewhere where there aren’t any phones, doors, or people.” She giggled a little. “It’s probably Uncle Charlie.”

Steph opened the door and we both greeted him. I took my bag from him and placed it down next to the entryway book case and then he started telling me about what had happened with Trev once they had gotten back to Trev’s apartment. Apparently Trev was still there, asleep. We had just moved into the living room when there was another knock at the door. This time it was Charlotte and Ethan. 

After talking with everyone for a while, Uncle Charlie went back to Trev’s to keep an eye on him. I was glad that at least Trev seemed to be fine with him being there. We spent the remainder of the late morning and early afternoon hanging out in Steph’s apartment and I teased Charlotte several times about the fact that she didn’t think that I could handle her telling me that she and Ethan were living together. 
 

A little after three, Charlotte and Ethan left and Steph started to get ready for work while I changed my clothes so I could go with her to the club. I was sitting on the couch reading a book when I heard her come out of her bedroom. She smiled at me and walked into the kitchen while she also tried to slip on her shoes. I quietly closed the book and stood up. 

She was cleaning the countertops as she hummed and I mischievously smiled as I walked into the kitchen. I stood there for a moment, watching her from behind as she cleaned while wearing her work uniform.  She all of a sudden stopped and whirled around. “What exactly are you looking at?” She asked with a mischievous look of her own.


 

I shrugged. “I’m just admiring the job you’re doing.”

“Uh-huh.” She raised an eyebrow.

I pretended to try to look around her. “I think you might have missed a spot. Maybe you should turn around and get it.”

She laughed and threw the sponge at me. I smiled as I bent over to pick the sponge up and my bag caught my eye. I had forgotten that I had brought Steph something from Appaloosa. I handed her the sponge and then went over to my bag.

“What are you doing?  We need to leave soon so I can get to work.”

“I know.” I admitted as I moved some clothes in my bag to expose what I was looking for. I pulled out the book and walked over to her. She looked confused as she looked at the book and then at me. “You know that the day you left Appaloosa was the day that Grandma’s will was being read?” She nodded. “The lawyer got to the end of it and there was one final item that he read.” I placed the book down and opened the cover to pull out a piece of paper and unfolded it. It was a copy of the last page of Grandma’s will. 

“To Stephanie Hathaway, I leave my cookbook of family recipes.” I paused as I thought back to the moment I heard the lawyer read this last part of Grandma’s will. “I hope she and her future family will enjoy many wonderful meals from it.” I folded it back up and placed it back in the book.

When I looked back over at her she was shaking her head. “I. . .I can’t accept that, George. It should stay in your family.”

I reached over and held her hand. “It’s what she wanted.”

“But those are family recipes. How can everyone be okay with me having them?”

“If you’re worried that Mom and everyone else doesn’t have copies of the recipes, that’s not the case. Grandma typed them all up for the family years ago. But she wanted you, who doesn’t have a copy to have her book of recipes.”

“The handwritten ones?” She asked in disbelief and I nodded. She swallowed hard and was fighting back tears. “It’s too much, George.” She whispered and tears started to stream down her cheeks. I let go of her hand and hugged her. “I don’t understand. . .”

I tried to explain to her as I stroked her hair. “She knew how much you like to bake and cook and she wanted to give you something. That, and she considered you family, so in her opinion, she was leaving it to someone in the family.”

“But in order for her to do that, she had to have added that to her will recently. . .”

I nodded and held her tighter. We stood in her kitchen like that for several minutes before she eventually spoke again. “I still don’t understand.” She pulled away a little and I looked into her eyes.

I gently started to stroke her cheek. “What don’t you understand?”

“Why. . .I met her one time, wrote her a total of five letters. We knew each other a total of 10 weeks. . .Why has your whole family been like this towards me? They don’t know me. And then there’s the fact that some know about my past, my family; I just don’t see how people can know the type of home I was brought up in and not be somewhat worried or suspicious that I might be a product of that home.”

“Do you want people to think that?” I couldn’t understand why she was upset. I couldn’t imagine her wanting people to be suspicious of her.

“No.” She shook her head back and forth rapidly. “I just don’t see how people can know about my past and after only a short time think, “She seems like a nice girl. I think we should not only make her feel welcome, but let’s just kind of adopt her into our family. . .” 

“Oh.” I had to fight the urge to flip the switch to the psychologist part of me. Although even to almost anyone it would have been obvious that what she was feeling right now had everything to do with the home she grew up in. It was like she had said before, not only was the whole idea of a happy family foreign to her, the fact that the Hobble/Davila families were closer than many families was really hard for her to comprehend. I grabbed her hand before I tried to explain. “To you, that’s what people should think or even see when they look at you. You think that once people learn about your past that they should be suspicious of you; that may be the case with some people, but honesty I have to wonder if they’re even paying attention to who you are if they think that. What my family sees, what I see, is someone who against incredible odds found a way to survive.  When I look at you I see a beautiful, caring, compassionate, strong, and determined woman.”

She lowered her eyes and by the look on her face I could tell she didn’t believe me. Just like she had done the night before, I held her face in my hands and gently lifted her head. “Just like you, I wish I could make you see yourself the way that I see you.” 

We stood there staring into each others eyes and as we did, I realized that I was seeing the exposed, real Steph; just as she had seen the real me hours earlier. We had each lowered our walls and let the other person see what was on the other side and the feelings from doing that were overpowering, freeing, and at first very frightening; especially not knowing how the other was going to initially respond. 

The clock chimed and informed us that Steph had to be at work in fifteen minutes. She closed her eyes for a moment before she looked back at me. “Thank you; for bringing me the book and. . .Thank you.” 

I looked deep into her eyes. “Anytime.” I gently took her hand and we started to walk towards the door. As we walked out of her apartment she got an all too familiar look on her face.

“Do you think there will ever be a time when something or someone isn’t interrupting us?” She asked while mischievously smiling.

I shrugged. “We can hope.” I admitted and smiled at her.