Since Birth

Chapter Forty Six

Our dad had to come wake us up the next morning to open gifts. We were both tired, Aimee and I, and we slept in my room together last night talking quietly to one another about our doubts. We had to be quiet I warned her because of the note that mom had given to me before. I knew it wasn't going to be hard for her to believe but our dad could still be the person behind this. I was aware of how detrimental the accusation had been but I couldn't be too sure still. He could very much just be our devoted father that stopped at nothing to protect us and someone else was the culprit. I just told her that he was a possibility and had motive according to Leigh. She told me that she only wanted answers.
He was cheerful when he came to greet us, carried up two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of assorted cookies.
"Merry Christmas." He smiled big approaching my bed with excitement. We both sat up yawning and taking the mugs with smiles. "I hope I get to make up for lost time today." He nodded noting his two year absence from us. "So please don't get overwhelmed by the among of gifts, most I kept stowed away until I could spend it with you two again."
"Merry Christmas dad." We both said one after another.
"And thanks for waking us up!" Aimee jumped out of bed excitedly almost spilling the hot chocolate. "Lets open gifts!" I also warned her about not distancing herself from him because he noticed anything off.
"Lets have a good day." He smiled and we joined Aimee on the pursuit downstairs to the Christmas tree.
The amount of gifts he had put under had significantly outweighed the ones we had put under it. For just the three of us, it was an overwhelming amount of gifts. Aimee didn't care. She ran over cheering and raiding the gifts.
I joined her shorty after seeing mostly designer clothes and purses he had gifted us. He upgraded our phones to the newest version and gave us plenty of things to take once we had left for college. The biggest one was the car upgrades. And I mean they were big upgrades. He had bought us matching Bentley Bentayga's, mine in green and hers in blue. That was probably the best gift and then on top of that he had purchased us new laptops for college too. It was really an expensive Christmas, the most expensive one since we had seen him last.
But it was a good morning full of genuine cheer and content. He had made us breakfast and we laughed as he opened the sorry gifts we had given him. We both pitched in together to get him an expensive watch from the Rolex variety. I got him new shoes and a new silly tie that had cartoon stick figures on it with funny faces. He was still grateful for it and we knew he would be because he was a simple man when it came to gifts.
We helped clean up all the wrapping paper though he insisted we shouldn't. I had gotten a text from Trevor asking if I was going to make it over so I had told him yes. Aimee began to explain to dad how she was going to see her boyfriend for Christmas so I decided to join in on the conversation hoping he wouldn't be too upset by it.
"I won't stay all night, I'd be back dinner." She said giving him the pouty eyes and mouth. "I just want to get my gifts."
"And I have to go too, for Trevor." I added to her sentence making my dad frown in response.
"I mean, if you two will be back for dinner that's okay. I'd love for you two to be here to meet Danielle." He nodded seeming a bit relieved to have the place to himself for a bit. "She's coming to help me cook."
"Of course dad, we'll be back." I looked back to Aimee who despite the suggestion she made, was hoping he had said she could stay. She dropped her shoulders and nodded.
"I'll be back in fine for dinner." And with that we parted ways.

I drove down to Trevor's house seeing the abundance of cars parked outside of it. That just mean everyone was inside, I was about to meet everyone.
Trevor greeted me outside with a big grin showing off his perfect smile. "I'm glad you made it." He came up beside me putting his arm gently around my waist. "Merry Christmas!" He kissed my forehead pulling me into him. "You look amazing."
"Is your entire family here?" I asked holding tightly to the one gift I had got him.
"Yeah, grandparents and all." He chuckled letting go of me. "Christmas has always been a big deal for my family. Everyone is invited despite past transgressions." His brows knitted together as he looked over my probably frightened look. "I won't leave your side." He nodded and then got the door for me.
There was nothing but laughter and talk when we went inside. The house was beautifully decorated with only white lights and what I'd assume was a fifteen foot white Christmas tree in the middle of the living room. It was surrounded by so many gifts still and children were running g around the house playing as the adults laughed and smiled to one another. It was a far different atmosphere than the one at my house- ever. It was very refreshing. It was like stepping into a celebrity's Christmas party, good vibes only.
Trevor introduced me to his aunts and uncles, his grandparents and cousins. His parents greeted me with hugs and even offered to grab me a drink. I felt so welcomed, like an honored guest. They all knew that I was seeing Trevor and more importantly that I had saved his life.
I was given a drink of spiked eggnog by a bartender- yes they had a bartender at the party and an entire staff preparing lunch for the guests.
"I told you, Christmas is the event of the year for us." Trevor said beside me, nudging me.
"You also have a very big family, a loving one. My parents don't keep in contact with their family much."
"You should come over for New Years too then, most of them stay here until after New Years. You should too."
"No, I have to go home for dinner tonight. We promised our dad." I took a sip of the eggnog noticing it wasn't too strong.
"Speaking of, how did yesterday go?"
"Awful, dad ended up staying to talk with her and Aimee was in shambles about the whole thing." I shook my head at myself for pushing this on all of them. "I should've just went myself."
"No, you did the right thing Em." He rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. "Maybe now Aimee will open up about it." He leaned onto the bar and took me in with a smile on his face. "Can I give you your Christmas gift?"
I chuckled trying to read behind his smirking. It just meant he was up to no good. "You didn't have to get me a gift."
He ignored that and took my hand instead saying, "Come on." I followed beside him as we weaved between the party goers who all had given us encouraging smiles. We had gone upstairs to his bedroom and he had closed the door behind us for some privacy.
"Sometimes it's hard to escape the party." He laughed scratching his head. "I'm surprised they let me go without stopping me for a chat."
"I guess they figured you needed some alone time with your girlfriend." I laughed now too not realizing really what I had just said. He noticed though because he began to grin from ear to ear when I had said it.
"So you're my girlfriend now?" He moved closer to me and I blushed looking up to his face.
"You know what I mean." He raised and eyebrow but otherwise had let it go with a shrug.
"Well I got you this gift, nothing big or anything." He turned to grab a small gifted box off his desk and came to stand in front of me looking down at his hands. "Just something to say thanks for being here for me and uh, helping me through so much." He looked up into my eyes, searching them and trying to put together what he was trying to say. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize how important you are to me and how impeccable you are to everyone." He finally handed me the box and I looked down to it almost afraid to open it in front of him. I just had a hot feeling that it was going to be immaculate, far more than my gift to him.
"Well here's my gift to you." I laughed nervously handing him the gift bag I had been holding on to since I arrived. I couldn't help but think how my sweaty prints were all over it. It didn't help my anxiety about the quality of each other's gifts. I had only gotten him a name brand collared shirt and a belt. I had no idea what his pant size was and had no idea that I had to get him something thoughtful. He had obviously put more thought into the gift that I had in my hands.
"It's not much but," I sighed dropping my shoulders as I looked over him. "It's something."
"Open it." He demanded and I obliged widening my eyes a bit as they fell to my hands. It was so well wrapped, I had to undo the bow and then carefully removed the wrapping paper as he watched intently. The color of the box was a deep scarlet red, like blood but it was soft on the top and sides like it was made with felt or probably something more expensive. I took a deep breath before I popped the top to reveal the diamond earrings with a matching necklace that was in the shape of a heart. Real diamonds. Real silver band. Really embarrassing for me because my gift could not even compare. My jaw was on the floor.
I couldn't stop looking at it and then I just began to chuckle to myself just looking at it. "Are you serious?" My eyes shot up to him and he was just so pleased with himself I could tell. "Trevor this is too much, I can't-"
"No, please." He cut me short moving closer to me to take the box from my hands. "I bought this for you because I wanted to and you deserve it. Let me put it on for you." He removed the necklace from the box and I turned around moving my hair from my shoulders and back so he had access. I was still in a state of shock but I couldn't say no to him now so I just went with it. It was beautiful and I know I did not deserve it but I shouldn't contest it.
His hands brushed across my shoulders to move away the rest of my hair. I could smell him so clearly now as I closed my eyes to welcome his presence. The coolness of the band had given me shivers along with his touch. I almost fell back into him but caught myself and spun around to face him once he moved his hands.
"It looks good on you." He looked down and over my collar bone nodding to himself. "My mom helped me pick it out."
"Did she wrap it for you too?" I laughed and he chuckled shaking his head.
"I'm actually a superb gift wrapper." He bit his bottom lip gently and finally closed in the space between us with one big step towards me. "So do I have to kiss you under the mistletoe or-" I grabbed his shoulders and kissed him hard on the lips. I knew he liked to be the initiator so I decided to take the leap and it was quite pleasant. My heart wasn't speeding as much but I did get those butterflies in my stomach as our lips made contact.
"Thank you for such a lovely gift Trevor, I love it."
"And I love you Emelie, seriously. From this point on I want to be able to call you my girlfriend. From this point on I want to be with you." How much can a girl blush in one day? I didn't know what to say. He already knew how much I cared about him so what more could I say?
"Yes." I finally whispered nodding my head. "I will be your girlfriend from this point on." It wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. Not as dramatic. But now it was official. I kinda felt very relieved that we finally could be together. I just wished he had whisked me away somewhere in Paris and screamed it from the Eiffel Tower. I just had to be grateful... hopefully the marriage proposal will be immaculate.
We shared another kiss before going back downstairs to the party where everyone was still surprisingly enjoying each other's company. The kids were still running around ranting about the unopened gifts and that was the only dispute I could hear. If my family would have done this, there'd be nothing but fighting and yelling over who did what that one time fifteen years ago. This was actually too pleasant to be true.
Lunch was finished and everyone was suddenly famished and in need of something to fill their guts besides alcoholic eggnog. So we all joined together at a very long and big red pinewood table fitted for an entire kingdom. It was piled high with food dishes and set to feed the king. We all sat together minus the children and I was between Trevor and his older brother Travis who was a complete opposite version of Trevor. He was already married and two of the kids were his, both young but able to be on their own. In fact they demanded beforehand that they at with the other kids and eat alone and without any help. It was quite adorable to watch.
The food was absolutely magnificent and it felt really good to be waited on by the staff. I felt a little bad that they were here and not with their families but I appreciated it greatly. The table was the same as the party before. Everyone was laughing and reminiscing of the past, stories I couldn't even compare to. You could tell that Trevor was favored the most of his family. His grandmothers talked him up and made him get all shy and closed in rather than confident as he always had been. It was nice to see him unfiltered and almost out of place. His smile brought joy and comfort to me and his family surrounding him. He was so engaging still even if he were grinning ear to ear from the praise. He was telling them all about practice and how crappy football season had been. He was excited for it to warm up soon so he could play baseball and was even more excited about training. He was going to be the head coach this year and was ready to whip everyone into shape. I really liked this side of him, I liked when he had nothing to hide. His smile was genuine and pleasing to everyone.
"Tell us about your girlfriend you narcissistic ass!" His brother laughed nudging me in the leg.
"Language." Their mom snapped getting a rupture of laughs.
"Well she's Emelie as you all know and she's-"
"Didn't you have one that looked just like her? Aimee was it?" His brother raised an eyebrow and Trevor sucked his teeth.
"It didn't work out but with Em, it's different." He shrugged placing his hand on my lap as I tensed up from the thought of always being compared to her. Would he compare me to her too? I didn't want that, I couldn't get through something like that. "Incomparable."
"Yes, Emelie is a sweetheart I can't contest to that." His mom spoke up leaning forward and smiling sweetly at me. "Unfortunately Aimee was not his type."
"Mom." Trevor rolled his eyes shaking his head to stop her.
"I'm just saying, Aimee was a little rowdy and you've always liked them sweet. Aimee had changed you dramatically hun."
"Can we drop it?" He sounded irritated now and even tightened his grip on my thigh forcing me to place my hand on top of his.
"Of course honey, I just wanted to let you know that I am happy with your decision on finally asking this young lady out."
"I'm full." He got up abruptly and I looked up to him as he exited the dining room. His mom took a deep sigh shaking her head disappointed.
I moved the napkin from my lap and stood up slowly as to not cause anymore discourse. "Thank you all for lunch it was amazing." I nodded to all of them feeling now in the spotlight. "Pardon me." I said quietly and mentally hitting myself in the head. Pardon me? What was I, a princess? I hurried out of the dining room after Trevor.
He was at the bar shaking his head as he heard me approach. "I'm sorry," he began to say and turned around to look at me. "My mom can be very annoying sometimes. I just wanted it to be dropped."
"Don't apologize." I said walking over to him slowly picking at my fingers. Of course I had been uncomfortable, but I didn't want to be the reason they all had an argument so I continued by deciding, "I should probably get home actually." I laughed nervously looking towards the ground and he immediately came to my aid to sway my thinking.
"Please, I hope you aren't thinking you should leave because of that." He gave a forced laughed shaking his head. "That's was nothing, Im not upset." He assured me with a kind touch on the shoulder.
"No, I should go help with dinner prep with my dad anyways." I looked up to him nodding and he searched my gaze knowing I wasn't being completely honest but also not wanting to hold me hostage.
"I mean that's fine, if you have to go, um, they got you a few gifts though. I'll bring them by later." He sighed not really sure what to say causing him to frown and his face scrunch up confused. "That's fine."
"If you want to come by later, please do." He nodded and looked up the the ceiling in thought.
He pointed upwards and began to laugh as I looked up to see the mistletoe above us, far far up above us but it was there. "I guess we don't have a choice now." He looked back down to me grinning and then leaping towards me.
He pushed my hair back with his fingers and looked to me lovingly. Like right now I had meant the world to him. I sorta felt like there was a light shining down on us as we reached the final scene in the film, the before credits kiss. Both of us taking in each other with our gaze and smiles, both of us awaiting the final and cinematic embrace of one another. We had given each other time to appreciate each other's appearance and more until the world pulled us even closer together. I could now feel the audience behind us watching and their presence screaming, "JUST DO IT ALREADY!!"
Trevor seemed to smile as if he could hear my thoughts and leaned in to give me one small kiss on the lips. That wasn't enough so he kissed me again and tilted my head to kiss me further. It was quite exhilarating. And the drama I had created in my head made it even more so. Feeling as though an audience was capturing this remarkable kiss had made it far more exciting. It made me dizzy, as if I were watching it from above or better yet filming the scene and the camera was circling around us close before zooming out to capture us in our entirety. It was romantic, it hit all of the points I had been hoping for.
"That's his little party trick." We were finally interrupted by his brother who snorted behind us. We broke away and I became red faced now knowing that we were in fact being watched. I cowered into Trevor and turned to look behind me seeing the party was slowly moving from the dining area. I looked back up to Trevor and he laughed shaking his head at his brothers comments.
"It rarely works." He looked back to me laughing. "Rarely do I get such a stunning woman underneath to kiss." He bit his lip rethinking what he had just said. "By rare I mean never."
"Nice save bro." His brother came behind him and patted him hard on the back attempting to knock him over.
"I'll see you later Trev, Merry Christmas." He rolled his eyes at his brother but gave me a quick kiss before I went off to go home.

I wasn't exactly thrilled about going home for dinner or meeting my fathers new girlfriend. I would have okay to have stayed at Trevor's and his very inviting family who seemed to be so thrilled about the holidays. The holidays weren't always a happy matter for my family and I didn't think this year would be any different.
Still, I drove back to my dads house noting the three cars that were parked out front. Aimee's new car, my fathers, and a black mustang that was unfamiliar. I figured it was the new girlfriends.
I parked and walked inside without knocking tucking my keys into my jacket pocket. There was this heaviness in the air, almost like smoke- it was smoke, and then shouting soon followed.
"What the hell is your problem!?" My dads angry voice came from the kitchen as I creeped over to the commotion. It smelt like burning hair or burning flesh, there was crying after and shuffling, quick shuffling.
"It was an accident!" There was more crying now and the sound of frantic patting and hesitant breaths. "I seriously didn't mean to!" Aimee cried out and another woman's voice sobbed as I made my way to the kitchen to see what was happening. Aimee's eyes shot up to mine and she immediately came to stand beside me shaking her head and blinking like crazy. She was pointing and trying to speak but for some reason she couldn't use her words. I peered around the countertop seeing my dad on his knees tending to the woman sitting in the floor with her face in hers. Her dirty blonde hair fell down over her shoulders revealing the crisp ends from what I assumed was Aimee's "accident".
"It was an accident I swear!" Aimee finally could use her words as she tugged at my arm. The fragile woman now looked up to me with watery eyes shaking her head at me and frowning because she knew the truth. Aimee had lit her hair on fire.