Secrets of the Past

Chapter 18

They woke in the morning to the sound of children laughing.

"Good morning," Brian said, turning on his side to face her.

"Good morning." Her eyes felt heavy and puffy, most likely from all of the crying the night before. "What time is it?"

"No idea. My phone is across the room. Did you sleep ok?"

"Yes, very well, probably because I was so exhausted."

He reached over and brushed some hair off of her face. She grabbed his hand and held it to her cheek. The feeling of his skin on hers made her feel warm inside.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Will you stay with me for the rest of the weekend? I'm not ready to let you out of my sight."

"You might be sick of me by the end of the day."

"Not a chance," he said, leaning over to kiss her. "So whadda ya say? Stay?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"I also wanted to tell you that I'm not going to ask you any more questions about your past. I know how painful it was to bring up last night, to tell me all of that. There is nothing to be gained by bringing it up again. So case closed, it's in the past, it will stay in the past, and I'll never tell a soul."

"I appreciate that. It was painful, bringing up all of those memories. Thinking about things I've tried so hard to forget for so long. I'd like to just move on from that. Live in the present. With you."

She kissed him, his mouth opening to take in her tongue. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. As the kiss intensified he broke apart.

"No, gotta stop."

"Why?"

"I just can't do it in my mother's house. Feels too weird."

"Ok," she sighed, "I GUESS I can wait until later."

"We should get dressed and go downstairs," he said, pulling the covers off himself. "I'm sure everyone else is up already."

When they got downstairs he was immediately assaulted with hugs.

"Uncle Brian!" one of his nephews shouted. "Hows come you sleeped so long?"

"I was tired, buddy. You wore me out yesterday when we played with your Matchbox cars," he said, bending over and tickling the boy.

They headed out into the kitchen where his mother was making pancakes.

"Morning mom," he said, walking over and kissing her on the cheek.

"Oh hey Bri. We were just talking about you."

"Uh oh."

"Just wondering if you were going to join us today," she said, adding more pancakes to the stack on the kitchen table.

"Sorry. Stayed up too late."

"Good morning, dear," she said to Giovanna. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, very well. Thank you."

"That's good to hear. Grab some plates and help yourself."

After they ate they sat around the dining room table laughing and talking with his family. It was nearly 11:00 when they all finally got up. Brian went to take a shower while Giovanna helped his mother clean up.

When they were finished she went back to her bedroom to wait for Brian to come out of the bathroom. She laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about how this had been the best Thanksgiving she'd ever had, and how it took on a whole new meaning for her. She was so thankful to have Brian in her life now. Before she met him she wasn't exactly lonely and miserable, but she was finding the dating pool didn't have a lot to offer.

Brian walked into the bedroom with a towel around his waist, his hair still dripping.

"Well hello," she said, smiling at him. "I approve of your outfit."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, definitely. Can I see what you have on underneath?"

He walked over to the bed and stood next to her. She opened the gap in the towel and moaned. She looked up at him as she took the shaft in her hand and stroked it a few times.

"No no no," he said, pulling her hand away. "You can't do that to me right now."

"Live a little," she said, pouting.

"I'll live a little when we get home."

"You're no fun. I'm gonna go take a shower." As she walked past him he playfully swatted at her ass.

It was 2:00 when they headed home. His brothers and their families were staying another day so everyone was there to see them off. Brian was attacked by his nieces and nephews as he tried to tell them goodbye. He was on the floor and they were all trying to tickle him.

When he eventually got up he said goodbye to his parents.

"See you next month," his mom said, kissing his cheek and giving him a hug. "And it was so nice to finally meet you," she said turning to Giovanna.

"You too. Thank you for having me."

"Come back any time." She hugged Giovanna then turned to Brian again. "Be careful."

On the drive home she was quiet, reflecting on the weekend and what had happened and how it had made her feel. She was happy because his family had been so nice to her and she'd had such a great time. But she felt sad, sad at seeing what she'd missed her whole life. Holidays were not special occasions when she was growing up.

She remembered back to the one Christmas when her mom had attempted to get sober. She'd gone out and got them a tree, some lights and some decorations. They'd had so much fun decorating it that day. Afterwards they made cookies and listened to Christmas music. It easily stood out as the best day of her childhood.

But a few days before Christmas her mother had destroyed the tree in an alcoholic rage. Giovanna never knew what made her fall off the wagon nor what caused the rage. But in a matter of minutes the tree was in front of the trailer, the lights and ornaments smashed.

She couldn't remember ever celebrating Thanksgiving. It was just another day. An occasion when she got a couple of days off school. Most kids were ecstatic to have the days off. She would have rather been at school, away from her mother.

As she thought about all of this she felt her eyes welling with tears. She didn't want to cry anymore so she did her best to suppress them, turning to look out the passenger's side window and wiping her eyes.

Brian could sense that she was not in the mood to talk and stayed quiet for most of the drive, occasionally asking if she was ok. One more thing she was thankful for - he didn't like to make small talk and didn't feel it was necessary.