My Imagine

Chapter 30

Staying true to his promise, Sawyer comes back in fourteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Not bad. He heaves about six plastic grocery bags through the door and onto the kitchen counter. He huffs as he lifts the heavy bags. You watch him struggle with the bags with a cheerful expression plastered on your face.
Dropping the last bag with a thud, Sawyer grumbles and turns to face you. "I got...the stuff..." he pants. Your smile increases. "Good. Do you feel better about your future now?"
He scowls at you menacingly. ""Sick or not, I just bought all those ingredients. You're using them." he growls. A giggle escapes your lips as you look back to the TV. "I'll do it later," you call as he stomps into his room to put away his keys and wallet. "Hey, Tigress, I can hear your phone ringing."
He's right. Now you can hear the faint sound of your ringtone. You start to get up, but Sawyer grabs it from your room and tosses it to you on the couch. You catch it with ease and check the caller ID. Mom.
"Hey Mom."
"Hi honey! Did you get there okay?"
"Everything's fine. We're all good."
"Good. Where's Sawyer?"
You smile and put the call on speaker. "Hey, Soy Sauce, say hi to my mom!" you yell.
He giggles from his room and shouts a rowdy "HELLO MA'AM!!".
Laughing, you put the call back on normal. "Did you hear him?" you ask. Your mother is laughing as well. "Yes, I did. Hello dear!" she replies.
"How's Dad?"
"He's fine. We really wanted to take you guys to the airport, but work wouldn't let us go. I'm sorry, honey."
"It's fine, Mom. I understand. Besides, the Fredericks took good care of me."
"Well that's excellent. I'm glad you're friends with Sawyer. He's a good influence, and his family is just so nice."
A memory of the Rain Games comes fleeting back. A grin spreads across your face as Skyler and Aric's faces flash in your mind. "Yeah, his family's really awesome."
You can hear the relief in her voice echoing through the phone. "Alright, sweetie. I just wanted to check in on you guys. You've got everything you need?"
You sigh. She's a good mother, but an overprotective one at that. Still, it's touching that she cares about you so much. "Yes, we're all set."
"Everything?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Mom. I'm one hundred percent positive we've got everything."
"I know, I know... But seriously, are you sure that you have everything?"
"Mom! Please! If I need something I'll call you, okay?"
"Well, alright then... Promise?"
"Promise. I love you Mom."
"I love you too honey. Your father sends his own as well."
"Bye."
"Goodbye."
You hang up the phone. Sawyer peeks his head through his door and comes to sit on the couch. "What about my family?" he questions. "Oh, nothing." you answer. "I was just saying how nice they are."
He blushes. "Thanks. Yours is pretty great too."
You laugh at his embarrassment. "My family? Great? Oh, puh-leaze. Only if you can call a loving, dysfunctional, hot mess a family."
He chuckles softly. "And what if I do consider that a family?"
You look away to keep from turning red too. "Well then, in that case, thanks."
Sawyer smiles, then goes blank. His face is wiped of all emotion as he stares blankly into space. A giggle builds up in your throat as you watch him think. He does this sometimes. He'll start daydreaming and gazing into space. To anyone else it would be weird, but to you it's pretty cute. He usually only does this when he's focusing his thoughts really hard on one topic. You can't help but wonder what he's thinking about up in there.
His relaxed expression returns as quickly as it left. He looks a bit dazed. "What were you thinking about, Soy Sauce?"
He shrugs. "I'm not sure. Just what my family's probably doing right about now. I miss them already. Is that bad?"
You let out a heavy sigh. "No, it isn't. I miss them too, almost as much as I miss my own family. It's only a month. I think we'll survive on our own."
His usual dorky grin creeps back onto his cheeks. "I guess we have to." he says. "It's not like we have any choice."
You gently poke him in the side. He twists uncomfortably. "Hey!" he squirms. "What was that for?"
"Help me find a good TV show! I'm bored, and you disrupted my very important channel surfing procedure."
Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Seriously?" he complains, sounding exasperated. "There's a guide on the table right in front of you!"
You shoot him a dark glare as he skips away, happy to be relieved of the task of helping you pick a show. You flip through the guide with a tomato-red face, then you start to smirk.
"Hey, get back here Pretty Boy!" you call. He grumps back into the room. "What is it this time?" he whines.
You grin smugly and hold up the guide pamphlet. "Nice try there buddy, but this was yesterday's guide. Time to play everybody's favorite game: What Random Show Will Tigress Watch And Ultimately Get Addicted To?"
"Ugh. Do I really have to?"
"Yes. You really do. Now plant your butt on the darn couch and help me look."
Sawyer keeps groaning complaints, but after six minutes of a quite convincing debate he decides to grudgingly help you find a new TV guide at the very least. However, he gets caught up in a show about the history of automobiles and watches it for so long that you have to pry the remote from his grasp and practically drag him away from the couch to eat some dinner. He protested until you let him eat on the couch, but he came in and joined you when he realized that you were getting a little lonely. The gesture was nice, so he let you pick another show to watch, and you forced him to watch Say Yes To The Dress until it was time to go to bed. You're excited and nervous for tomorrow, but you drift off into sleep feeling relaxed.
Tomorrow is going to be fun.