George - Chapter Ten: Happy Birthday, George

- Just to let you know, Thursday will be a special day for Listening to My Heart and I will be posting a special that day. :D Thanks so much for reading!




The day after Christmas, everyone left and I couldn’t help but feel lonely. It had been nice to see everyone together again, to be a family again; but the day after Christmas brought a lot of goodbyes and see you soons.  Will and Emily returned to Paradise Island and as the next several months passed, they became less and less patient about meeting their little girl. Mom was set to travel there whenever they called her to tell her the baby had arrived. The rest of us would have loved going but it just wasn’t possible. We had decided to all go together though at some point and take a family vacation, probably sometime that summer.

Trev, Charlotte, and Steph had all returned to Bridgeport and with each week that went by, I grew more and more antsy to see them. I had been able to visit on a couple of weekends, but not nearly as much as I wanted. Whenever I talked to either Charlotte or Trev, they would tell me about what they had done together or even as a group with Steph and Ethan. That was one interesting thing that had started happening since they had returned to Bridgeport, Ethan had started doing things with them. I didn’t know if that had anything to do with the talk that Mom and Will had with Charlotte, but it seemed like an awful big coincidence to not be.

Something else that started occurring since they had all returned to Bridgeport was that Steph and I had talked several times on the phone.  Before they had left Appaloosa, we had exchanged numbers and I had planned on calling her at some point, but she had beaten me to the punch. I had been trying to come up with an excuse to call her and right about the time I would get up the nerve, I would talk myself back out of it. After several days, I had been shocked when her number pop up on my phone. She had called to thank me for letting her be a part of our family Christmas and also for hosting all of them during the first night. Most of the times we talked about what we had been up to and sometimes made fun of Trev and Charlotte. 

One thing that I had realized after she had come to Appaloosa for Christmas was that we seemed to be able to talk to each other easily. It usually took me longer to open up to people but with her, it seemed easier. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she didn’t seem to judge people when she found out not so pleasant things about them, maybe it was her easy going personality; whatever the reason, it hadn’t happened with many people and like with many things with Steph, it had me somewhat confused.

Then there was the whole hand touching incident at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It had completely taken me by surprise.  Of course I had noticed how pretty Steph was; beautiful would be a better word to describe her, and it was hard not to notice her figure. . .but admiring was one thing, feeling a spark or jolt when just our hands touched. . .that was something completely different and I sometimes found myself daydreaming about that moment.

I was pondering these things while I was home the last weekend of February, wishing that I had the time to make a trip to Bridgeport, when my phone rang. I smiled as I saw who it was.

“Don’t you usually run in the morning?”

“I do but I promised Trev I’d call you.”

“You promised him, why on earth would he ask you to call me instead of doing it himself?” 

There was silence on the other end and I started worrying that something was wrong. “Ummm. . .” Steph said.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. . .shitfire! I just blew it. You’re going to be on alert now.”

“What are you talking about, Steph?”

She sighed. “Stupid me, I was supposed to call you and somehow convince you to come here next weekend; but then I had to go and blow it.”

I laughed. “So Trev’s trying to surprise me? I’m guessing for my birthday?”

“Yes, and of course I blew it.”

“Don’t feel too bad; like I’ve told you before, I’m hard to surprise. I probably would have figured it out anyway.”

“I know, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better. Anyways, are you available next weekend?”

“I am, I had actually planned to come there anyway.”

“Well, try to act surprised, because if Trev finds out that I blew it, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

I chuckled. “I’ll do my best surprised face.”

“Great, I’m screwed then.”

“Hey! I do a great surprised face.” I protested.

“Yeah. . .I’ve seen you fake surprised before, and your surprised look, needs work.”

“Thanks for keeping me grounded.”

“Anytime. I guess I’ll call you before next weekend; iron out the details of when and where.”

“You called me and the where and when hadn’t been planned out?”

“No, and now that I think about it, why did he have me call you if that was the case. We didn’t think this through very well.”

“I’ll admit, it’s very sloppy work. I’m surprised. Trev is usually much better at trying to surprise people. He must be slipping.” I joked.

“Hmm. . .is that what happens in your mid-twenties, must be tough getting old.” 

“Whatever, your time is coming.”

She laughed. “I’m going to go for a run. See you next weekend.”

“See ya.” We hung up and I couldn’t help but shake my head. Trev was really slipping; a couple of years ago he would have come up with some elaborate plan to surprise someone. I was definitely going to have to give him a hard time the next weekend.

I counted down the days till Friday. I had eventually talked to Steph again and she mentioned that Charlotte and I were supposed to meet her at her apartment on Friday. When I had prodded her for answers, she gave in and said that Trev had some elaborate plan where Steph was supposed to pretend to take us out to dinner but when we got wherever we were eating, it was actually a surprise little get together for our birthday. I still couldn’t believe how badly this birthday surprise had been planned. One thing I had learned was that if you wanted something to be a surprise, you didn’t want to involve Steph in it. She was horrible at pretending to be innocent.

As I drove into Bridgeport I went over the sarcastic comments I could make when Charlotte, Steph and I arrived at wherever we were eating dinner. Steph had given up on trying to convince me to act surprised, still trying to convince me that I was horrible at acting surprised. I arrived at their apartment building and saw Charlotte and Steph standing outside. As I walked up to both of them, I couldn’t help but notice the dress that Steph was wearing since it did a good job of showing off her toned body.

“There he is!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Can you believe how bad this surprise is? Maybe Trev needs to have his head examined!”

“It is pretty bad, isn’t it.” Steph admitted. “I feel really bad. I was hoping you two would be surprised.”

“Trev just needs to learn that it’s going to take more brain power and planning to surprise us.” I added.

“You know, I was really looking forward to seeing you both get surprised; I know I blew it, but I kind of feel like Trev set me up for failure. I almost want to get him back.”

“Hmmm. . .how?” I wondered.

“He’s at his apartment right now, He mentioned to me that he was going to be getting ready when I met you two. We could see if the doorman will let us go up there and surprise Trev. . .”

I liked the way Steph thought. It would be so perfect if he had expected to surprise us, but instead, we got him. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get up there, though. I’ve never been allowed up unless they call Trev.”

“Can’t hurt to try.” Charlotte said.

We all agreed and I drove us to Trev’s building. As we walked into the lobby, Steph suggested that Charlotte and I talk to the doorman.

“Good afternoon, can I help you?” The doorman asked.

“Yes, we’re Trevor Davila’s sister and brother. We were wanting to surprise him and we’re wondering. . .I don’t suppose you’d let us up to his apartment. . .?” Charlotte asked him.

He looked at us sternly and I thought for sure he wasn’t going to let us go up. “I’m not supposed to bend the rules for anyone.” I was about to turn around and admit defeat. “But, I do know from both of you visiting him that you are his siblings, so, I’ll allow it. But don’t let it be known that I was the one who let you in. . .” He warned us and turned the key in the elevator to take us to Trev’s apartment. We all chuckled as we rode the elevator and had to try hard to quiet ourselves as the doors opened. I looked around the hallway and didn’t see or hear any sign of Trev.

“The lights are off in that room, maybe we should hide in there. . .” Steph suggested and Charlotte and I agreed. We snuck off the elevator and walked into the family room that didn’t have any lights on. We had made it about three steps into the apartment when people started jumping out from behind furniture and yelling surprise.

George - Chapter Nine: Christmas Surprises - A Christmas Full of Surprises

I woke up on Christmas morning and as I stood up from the bed, I looked around my old room. Even though I had been over to the house many times since moving out, I hadn’t seen my room very many times, let alone sleep in it. Mom had been true to her word, she hadn’t touched anything. There was still the cork board with pictures from high school, pictures of people I didn’t see anymore. My old rocking horse was still sitting in the corner. I wondered if she kept everything the same to help her remember the times when we were all here together. 

I got my clothes out and walked towards the bathroom that was in between Charlotte’s and my room. I stopped right before entering and couldn’t help but chuckle. There had been a handful of times growing up that I had barged into the bathroom while Charlotte was in there. Thankfully, I hadn’t seen anything but I learned after a couple of times to knock first before entering. I knocked lightly on the door and listened for any signs that Charlotte was in there. I didn’t hear anything and was relieved when I opened the door and no one was there.

As I stepped into the hot water, I thought back to the previous morning when I had run into Steph making tea in my kitchen. I wondered if she would be downstairs when I ventured down there. I was hoping she was, and that she was alone so I could talk to her.  After I had talked about Christine and me, she had acted differently, which I was sure had to do with her opinion of me changing. I didn’t think that my talking with her would change her mind, but I hoped that she would at least give me the opportunity to tell her the whole story. Not that it excused my stupidity, but to help shed light on my mind set at that point.

I finished getting ready and headed downstairs. I was disappointed to hear more than one voice as I rounded the corner to enter the kitchen. 

“Ah! There’s my early riser! The only one of my children who gets up at a decent time.” Mom joked. I should have figured that she’d at least be up since she had always woken up even before the sun came up.

“That was always fun when we were in school.” I looked at Steph. “I was the one that was sent upstairs to wake everyone else up. I had several pillows, alarm clocks, anything that any of them could reach, thrown at me for being the ‘wake up brigade’”

Steph chuckled and I was relieved that she seemed to be more relaxed this morning.

“Merry Christmas.” Mom said and gave me a hug.

“Merry Christmas, Mom.” I hugged her back.

As we pulled away she was already starting about her presents. Something that Dad had always given her a hard time about; her inability to handle having something be a secret, even if it was good. “So. . .what did you get me?”

I laughed. “Wow, Mom. You know, Dad would give you one of his lectures right now. . .”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, he would.”

“Wasn’t Will and Emily coming here enough?” I joked with her.

“Of course it is, it’s more than enough.” She admitted as I walked over to make myself some tea.

Her thoughts about presents were interrupted. “Did you know that Steph likes tea, too?”

I had to stop myself from chuckling as I remembered walking into the kitchen the morning before, startling Steph and watching her almost spill the creamer.

“Yes, it’s something I learned yesterday morning.” I said as I looked over at Steph. I noticed that she blushed slightly when we made eye contact and then she quickly looked away.

Mom smiled and I instantly recognized it as her meddlesome smile and at that moment I was very glad that Steph didn’t know Mom very well. It was so obvious what she was up to.

“I just think it’s interesting. I mean, not very many people drink tea in the morning. . .”

“That’s true.” I said as I turned my back to Steph so only Mom could see me. I gave her a warning look and she nodded.

“Well, I guess I’ll go get ready. I hope the others wake up soon. We have a busy day ahead.” She walked back up the stairs and I waited till I heard her door open and close before I started talking to Steph.

“How long had the two of you been down here?” I wondered as I sat down next to her.

“I heard her messing around in the kitchen around 5:30. I finally gave in around 6:30.”

“Yeah, it probably wasn’t the smartest design to put the guest room next to the kitchen. Sorry about that. She has always woken up early; she and Dad both.” I took a sip of tea and then continued. 


“So what have you two been up to for the last hour?”

She got a mischievous grin on her face. “She pulled out picture albums and told me several interesting stories. . .”

I about spit the tea out that I had just drank. “Oh. . .Do I want to know?” I winced.

She laughed. “Well, let’s just say that I’m actually very thankful right now that I don’t have any old pictures for family members to show others. Especially ones where I’m taking a bath. . .”

I hung my head down and shook my head. Why did parents feel the need to take pictures of their children taking baths and then years later show them to nonfamily members.  I chuckled. “I’m going to take a guess and say that I was in one of those. . .?”

“That college education is really paying off for you.”

I was once again relieved that she seemed to be more relaxed today and even joking around. It had been obvious that something wasn’t quite right yesterday afternoon and as much as I was enjoying our banter, I knew I needed to talk to her about yesterday.

“About what happened yesterday. . .”

“You don’t have to explain. It’s really something that should have been discussed with family and I feel horrible that I was there.” She interrupted me.

“I wanted. . .wait. . .so you felt uncomfortable, like you were intruding?” She nodded and I started thinking back to how she had been acting yesterday. Had I misread her quietness, or was it a combination of feeling out of place and that her opinion of me had changed. Once again I was finding that what I thought about her was not really the case. 

I was about to ask her about it when I heard Trev’s boisterous  voice. “Merry Christmas, you two! Whose ready for some presents?” I shook my head at Trev’s crappy timing but also couldn’t help but be amused at his enthusiasm. 

“What are you doing up?” I asked him.

“There’s presents that need to be opened. . .why wouldn’t I be up?!”

I looked at Steph. “Mark it on the calendar. This is the only day of the year that you’ll see Trev up early.” I joked.

“That’s not true, I get up plenty of times during football season.” 

“Oh, my bad.” I said sarcastically and Steph laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Charlotte asked as she came into the kitchen. It looked like that if I wanted to have a conversation only with Steph it was going to have to wait.

“George was giving Trev a hard time for waking up early.” Steph filled Charlotte in.

“We all know it’s for the presents. . .” Will added as he and Emily also made their way down the stairs.

The kitchen became a mad house and we were all scrambling around trying to get breakfast when we all stopped at the sound of hearing laughter. We looked over at Emily and Steph and they seemed to be laughing at us.

“What’s so funny?” Will asked.

“It’s just that it’s like a crazy zoo in there with the four of you scrambling around. It’s kind of funny to watch.” Emily said and Steph nodded in agreement.

“I personally think it’s a wonderful sight.” Mom said as she came back into the room. “It’s been a long time since the four of you have been in the kitchen together; scrounging for food.”

“When are we opening presents?” Trev asked with a mouthful of cereal.

“Trev, really? No one wants to see your food.” Charlotte complained. Trev got closer to her and started making smacking noises as he ate. “STOP!” Charlotte complained.

I had moved out of the kitchen and near Steph and Emily. Steph turned around. “Was this what it was like growing up with the four of you?”

“Pretty much.” I confessed. “Lots of complaining, poking fun, annoying each other, getting on each other’s nerves. . .”

“Surely you didn’t give people a hard time.” She half joked and everyone in the kitchen stopped.

Trev started laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding! George is the most sarcastic out of all of us and can definitely be a pain in the ass.” He looked over at Mom after he said ‘ass’ and she threw up her hands.

“I figure they know how we are by this point so there’s no reason to keep up a good appearance.” She laughed.

“Wait. . .” Steph turned back around and looked at me. “You’re the most sarcastic?! Is that some kind of BS?” She turned back around towards Trev.

“No, and don’t forget the pain in the ass part too.” Trev smiled at her.

“Oh, I believe that part.” She joked.

“What the hell is this? Pick on George day?” I jokingly complained.

“Really, why don’t we stop picking on George, even if it is true, so we can get to opening presents.” Will suggested.

“Umm. . .thanks bro.” I said.

Everyone started laughing and finished their breakfast. Once everything was cleaned up, we gathered in the family room and Mom asked us guys to pass out the presents from under the tree. We started putting the presents in piles and noticed one under the tree for Steph. As I walked over to where she was sitting she looked at me surprised.

“What’s this?”

“Surely you didn’t think you’d come here and not get something. That’s not the way our family works. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have another gift at the ranch.” I confessed as I placed the bag down in front of her.  I turned back around to see that all of the presents had been given out and looked around to try to find my pile of gifts. I noticed Trev point and smirk as I realized that my pile had been placed so I would be sitting next to Steph.  I sat down next to her and waited for Mom. We had all agreed the night before to have her open up her gifts from all of us first.

“What are you all waiting for?” She asked.

“We want you to open up your presents first.” Will admitted.

“Wha. . .Why?”

“Just do it.” Charlotte said while grinning like a cheshire cat.

We all watched as Mom unwrapped the smaller of the two boxes and watched as she pulled out a bracelet that we had all pitched in to get her. She turned it around in her hand as she examined it.


“This is beautiful! Thank you so much!” She said and looked at each of us.  She put the bracelet on and then picked up the big gift. I wasn’t sure how she was going to respond. It was something that I had found one time when I was snooping in the house and I had asked the others if they thought it was a good idea. They had agreed but I was still a little worried.

George - Chapter Eight: Christmas Surprises - A Christmas Eve Surprise

****Steph****

I woke up the next morning and looked around the room as I laid in bed. The sun was out but I could tell that it was still fairly early. I picked up my phone and saw that it was almost seven. If I wanted to get a run in that morning I was going to have to get moving. I sprang out of bed and went over to the dresser to get out my running clothes. I hadn’t been able to run the day before and I could tell. I felt tight and my head wasn’t as clear as it normally was, probably from the stress that I could feel building up from not running the day before.  I looked in the mirror and pulled my hair back since I couldn’t stand my hair getting in my face when I ran.

As I walked from one end of the bedroom to the other I once again marveled at how large it was. In all honesty, it wasn’t much smaller than the downstairs of the house I had grown up in. I shook my head in disbelief and opened the doors to walk into the living room. I stood still for a minute trying to hear if there were signs of anyone one else being awake. The house was completely quiet though. I wondered if I would be able to run and get back before anyone woke up. I knew Charlotte was a late sleeper and Trev didn’t seem like he would be a morning person. I wasn’t quite sure about George though.

I walked into the kitchen and filled my water bottle and I noticed that there was a tea kettle and some tea sitting out on the counter. I had figured I would have to go without having my morning tea while I was in Appaloosa, and since I didn’t drink coffee, I was sure I was going to have to go without my morning jolt of caffeine. Seeing the tea on the counter made me smile. I decided to have a quick cup before going for my run. I heated up some water in the kettle and waited to hear the whistle. I started freaking out when it started, since it seemed to echo through the whole house and I was sure I woke everyone up. I continued to prepare my tea and had just found the sugar and creamer to put in it when I was startled.

“So you’re a tea drinker.” I almost dropped the creamer and scrambled to keep it from spilling all over the place. 

“Shitfire!” I exclaimed and I heard a chuckle. I placed the creamer down and started to scold him as I swung around. “You scared the living. . .” I knew it had been George but I was shocked for a different reason when I turned around. 

He wasn’t wearing a shirt and it was all I could do to not stare at his chest. It wasn’t hard to tell when he was wearing a shirt that he was in good shape, but seeing him without his shirt showed all the evidence of his well-built physic. I really wished I’d had a better opportunity to study his torso but I didn’t want to be too obvious. 

“Do you always drink tea?” He asked.

“Hmm. . .? Oh, yeah; I’m not a coffee drinker.” I couldn’t help but sneak a glance down at his chest as he walked past me.

“Me too.” He replied. That would explain why there was tea in the house. He got out a cup and prepared his own tea which gave me an opportunity to at least study him from behind. He obviously had no idea how hypnotizing his chest was or he wouldn’t go walking around without a shirt on. 

“Hello?” His voice called me back down from daydreaming in the clouds. “I asked if you wanted sugar and creamer in your tea.”

“Oh! Ummm. . .I take both; about a teaspoon of sugar and about a half tablespoon of creamer. I watched as he mixed them into the tea and then he handed it me. I once again had to fight the urge to look at his chest and thanked him. We drank our tea for a minute in silence when I noticed him looking at me.

“What?”

“We’re you getting ready to go for a run?”

“Yeah, I usually run in the mornings and I didn’t get to yesterday. I don’t usually go more than one day without running.”

He nodded and smiled. “I remember you telling me that.” He took another sip of tea and I could tell there was something going on in that head of his. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“What? I run for a long time usually. I mean you’re more than welcome to join me but. . .”

“I think I’ll be able to keep up.” He smiled and put his cup down. “I’ll be back in a minute.” I watched as he walked out of the kitchen and I was slightly sad that I was being deprived of seeing his shirtless chest. A couple minutes later he reappeared wearing running clothes and shoes.

“You run.” I said with understanding.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Usually about five times a week. I usually run in the evenings after work. I doubt I’ll get to run tomorrow so I figure I might as well go ahead. Plus, I can show you around town at the same time. Oh! And tell you about that surprise I was talking about last night.” I had completely forgotten about the surprise.

“Okay. I still haven’t stretched.”

“Me either.” I nodded and we both walked outside. As we stretched I tried my hardest to not look at him. Instead, I looked across the street at what I now knew to be their grandparent’s house.

“It’s something, isn’t it?” I looked at him and he too was looking at the house.

“It’s ginormous!” 

“Yeah, Grandpa will be the first to tell you that they got a little carried away with the house when they first built it. But since they had kids, and then our parents had kids, and now us grandkids are starting to have families, there are a lot of people in our family. It’s the only house where we can all fit. Not that that happens very often but sometimes it does.” His voice trailed off a little bit and I wondered what he was thinking about. Before I could ask he stopped stretching and turned towards me. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” We walked to the end of the driveway and he pointed to the left.

“I usually run that way and then continue through town. It eventually comes back around back here from the other direction. Kind of like a weird circle.” I nodded. We started running to the left and I took in the scenery. I hadn’t run in such open spaces in years and it was really beautiful with the snow covering the yards. We ran for a while in silence until we approached a curve.

“That house, the one that looks like a cabin,” I nodded. “That’s our Uncle Jeff’s house.”

I nodded and noticed that someone was walking out of the house. George chuckled. “Sometimes he sees me running and comes out to say hi. Although I’m kind of surprised he saw us since, like I said earlier, I usually run in the evenings.”

We ran over to the fence and I stood there watching as a dark haired man walked up to greet us. “Hey, George! Getting a morning run in for a change?”

“Yeah, not going to have time later with going to Mom’s.”

 He nodded and then turned to me. “You must be Charlotte’s friend. Bridge was telling me that she brought a friend with her from the city.” He held his hand out and I shook it. “I’m Jeff, it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Steph. Nice to meet you too.” I said and then watched as his uncle and him talked for a moment. I kept looking back and forth between them and was floored by how much the two looked alike. It was almost like his uncle could have been his dad.

“What is it?” George asked.

“Surely someone has told both of you that you look a lot alike. . .”

“Oh. . .” his uncle smiled. “Yes, we’ve heard that many times through the years.” I looked at Geroge and he had the same smile. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I won’t keep you from your run. See you both tomorrow. It was nice meeting you, Steph.”

“You too.” He turned and went into the house. George motioned for us to start running again and I was surprised as we turned onto a dirt road that ran next to his uncles. We ran a little ways before I noticed a house that seemed to be hidden behind his uncle’s house. I noticed George stopped running and started looking at the house. I stopped next to him and wondered what he was doing. After a moment of him standing there without talking he finally spoke up. 

“This is Mom’s house.”

It took me a moment to understand that in that one, short statement there was a much bigger meaning. This was the house that the three of them had grown up in; the house that we’d be going to later; the house that Charlotte was nervous about seeing for the first time in six and a half years.

“Oh. It’s really nice.” I said. I didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t sound too awkward. He turned to start running again and I joined him. That was the first time I had ever noticed him clam up.


He was almost always inside his own head but this was different. It was like he retreated inside himself. We ran back to the main road and up a steep hill that led into town. I felt muscles in my legs that I hadn’t felt in a while.

“It’s a little different than running in the city, isn’t it?” He said as we reached the top of the hill.

“Yeah, the city’s pretty much flat so I’m definitely using muscles I haven’t in a while.” I admitted.

“Where do you run in the city?”

“I usually run from the apartment building to the indoor park, run around in there some, and then back to the apartment.”

“Wow, that’s a long way.”

“Yeah.”

We ran a little further before talking again. “What made you want to start running?” He asked.

“I started when I was in high school. It gave me an excuse to get out of the house when I needed one to escape. After I left home I kept doing it, mostly because I can tell when I don’t. My muscles start getting tight and I don’t think as well. Plus, it has a calming effect on me.” He nodded and we started running into town. It was a nice looking town. It was definitely older but it was still nice, and very quiet.

“So, why did you start running?”

“I’ll tell you when we get up here.” He pointed to a building on our right and I wondered what the building was. As we ran up to the front doors I knew instantly.

“Dr. George, Davila. I’m guessing this is your office.” I smiled at him and he smiled back.

“That it is.”

“It looks nice.” I peered inside and noticed that it seemed very bright and cheerful which was the complete opposite of what I would have guessed a psychologist’s office looked like. I turned around and looked at him.  “So are you going to tell me why you started running?” 

He nodded. “I sometimes ran with my Dad. He liked to run and, like you, he did it almost every day. I didn’t mind running but it wasn’t something that interested me much when I was younger. After he passed away I started remembering how we used to go for runs sometimes and how I enjoyed doing it with him. So I started running. In a way, I feel like it’s a connection I still have with him.” He said as he looked up at the sky. I hadn’t really expected that answer; I figured he ran to keep fit.

“Wow.” I said after a moment. “I guess we both started running for deeper reasons than getting in shape.”

“I guess so.” He agreed. “It’s not much further back to the house.  You ready?” I nodded and we turned the corner and ran down a hill. We got to the bottom and then turned another corner. It wasn’t long before we come to what looked like a park that was right next to his grandparent’s house. 

“What a nice park! Must be nice to live next to one.” He stopped running and I stopped too.

“It’s actually the family cemetery.” I felt the color leave my face.

“Oh my God, George. I’m so sorry.”

He smiled a little. “You didn’t know, and anyway, that’s what my grandparents wanted it to feel like when you were in it; that you were in a nice park that just happened to be a cemetery.”

“Are many of your relatives buried there?”

“Just one.” I immediately understood and wished that I would stop putting my foot in my mouth.

“Maybe I should just stop talking.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” He tried to make me feel better but he was doing the same thing he had done outside his Mom’s house. He retreated back inside himself. He looked over at a spot in the park and I followed his gaze to a headstone that stood by itself next to a tree. There was something definitely different about the way he was acting and I knew it had to do with his dad, but I wasn’t quite sure exactly what he was thinking.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, this is just a harder day for me.” I nodded. That’s pretty much what I figured, and I kind of understood. Not that I had lost a loved one but that around holidays it was painfully obvious what was missing. . .family. In my case, my whole family. In his case, his dad.

“I can understand. It must be nice to have others around you that understand.” He nodded and then suddenly looked at me.

“That reminds me, I was going to tell you about the surprise that’s going to happen later today. . .”

****George****

While driving to Mom’s I had asked Charlotte repeatedly if she was okay and she kept telling me not to worry. I had hoped that the run Steph and I had gone on earlier that morning would help me feel less anxious but if it had, I didn’t notice. I thought back to our run and I had for the most part enjoyed it. It had been nice to run with someone else. I had just wished that it had been a different day, a day that didn’t remind me so much that Dad wasn’t there. I had felt bad that several times during our run that I had clammed up. I looked in the rear view mirror at Steph and she caught me looking at her. I smiled and nodded and turned my attention back to the road. We passed Uncle Jeff’s house and then turned down the dirt road that led to Mom’s house. As the house came into sight, I heard Charlotte in the back seat.

“Oh God. . .” She said and I heard the crack in her voice. I pulled into the driveway and turned around.

“You okay?” I asked as I reached back to grab her hand.

“Yeah, I was just. . .surprised by how emotional it was to see it again after all this time.”

I nodded. “Do you need a minute?”

She nodded and Trev and I got out of the car. We stood outside for several minutes and we both looked around in silence. At one point I looked back into the car and saw Steph with her hand on Charlotte’s arm. After another minute, Charlotte and Steph stepped out of the car.

“Are you okay?” Trev asked Charlotte.

“Yeah. I just needed a minute.” We exchanged a look and I knew that she was okay. We started walking up to the house and before we even started walking up the porch steps, Mom was opening the door.

“Merry Christmas Eve!” She exclaimed and hugged each of us. When she got to Steph she smiled. “So glad you’re here with us!”

Steph smiled back and thanked her. We all walked inside and Mom took our coats and put them in the den. "Why don’t you all give Steph a tour of the house so she knows where everything is and I’ll finish cooking lunch.”

“Do you want some help?” Trev asked her. 

“Sure! Do you think the two of you can handle the tour?” She joked.

“I think we can manage.” I offered and looked at Charlotte. So far, besides the moments in the car, she seemed to be handling being in the house okay. “Well, as you can see, this is the kitchen, the dining room is next to it and then the family room is next to that.”

We walked past the stairs and to a doorway. “This will be your bedroom. It has its own bathroom so you won’t have to share with anyone.” I told Steph. We walked in and she immediately walked to the windows at the back of the room. “Wow, there’s a river back there?” She turned around and looked at the room. “What is with you all and gigantic guest rooms?”

I laughed. “I don’t know.  I think Mom and Dad figured that a guest would want to be away from the other bedrooms and this was the area that was designed for it. Kind of like an oasis away from everyone else.”

She nodded and we walked back into the hallway and up the stairs. “This door leads to. . .Mom’s room. The next room was the nursery but now it’s a music room.” I opened up the door and we peaked inside. “There’s a bathroom and further down the hallway is Mom’s studio.”

“Then there’s our old bedrooms.” I showed her Trev’s, then Will’s, then mine, and last we saw Charlotte’s. As I opened the door Charlotte walked in and stopped in the middle of the room. Steph and I exchanged a look and then looked back at Charlotte.  She kept slowly turning around, looking at everything in it.

“It’s exactly the way I left it. . .” She finally said. 

“I didn’t change anything in any of your rooms.” Mom said behind Steph and I. “They’re yours and I didn’t feel like I should mess with them.”

Charlotte and Mom looked at each other and they both had tears in their eyes. I motioned to Steph and we both walked out of the room to give Mom and Charlotte some privacy.

“It’s almost time for the surprise.” I told Steph. “I hope it goes well.”

“Why wouldn’t it? From what you told me, it should be a happy surprise.” I nodded. I just hoped that it didn’t push Charlotte or Mom over the edge. I looked at my watch and saw that it was a couple of minutes till noon. 

“Better head downstairs.” She nodded and we walked downstairs. By the time we walked down the stairs and into the foyer the doorbell was ringing.