Alexa Chapter 31: It is Better to Give…

The phone rang at this ungodly hour. We were on break and sleeping in had become the norm the last few days. Actually, leaving the bedroom before noon had become the norm. Katie teased us about it constantly, saying we had to be two of the laziest people she knew. Just because she was working double shifts so she could spend time with Danny all weekend wasn’t our fault.

But back to the phone, it was 8:30 in the morning on the Thursday before Christmas when Jenny’s phone started ringing. My fiancée was not moving one bit and I reached for her phone on the night stand. I was going to hit the end button when I saw the caller ID and it stated ‘Daddy’. Feeling a little mischievous, I decided to answer the phone. In my best Jenny voice, I answered “Hi Daddy”. I heard a laugh from the other end before Marty said “Good morning Alexa. Where is Jennifer?” he asked. “Sleeping away. What’s up?” A serious tone took over my father-in-law’s voice, “Can you two meet me at 10:00 at the Java Express in Dinkytown?” I paused. Did he just say he wanted to meet at my old store? I hadn’t been there since the lawsuit had been finalized and was a bit nervous over the reception I might get. I questioned Marty if he was sure about the meeting spot. “I know Alexa, but I am meeting one of the Regents there before a Board meeting. It will be OK, I will be here. I am sure that they will not do anything.” Jenny had woken up while I was talking to her father and had heard the conversation. “It will be fine babe, daddy will be there so nothing will happen.” I flopped back to my side of the bed and just starred at the ceiling. Jenny crawled over on top of me.

“Lex? Are you OK? Tell me what you are thinking.” Jenny said as she cuddled into me. All the bad thoughts of what may happen kept flashing through my head. Could I handle going back into the place where I was probably public enemy number one? If it was just my decision, no I wouldn’t, but this was Marty. The man who had done so much for me I couldn’t say no. I pulled Jenny in and told her I would be fine. We got up and got dressed, something that shocked my big sister when she entered the living room as we were putting on our coats. “Where are you two off too so early?” Katie asked in a groggy voice. I said nothing, but Jenny told Katie where we were headed. Katie became very nervous over that. “How could Marty think that this was OK? I just don’t get it. They have been nothing but assholes since you came out and even the lawsuit has had no effect, from what I am hearing around campus. I don’t think you should go Alexa!” I tried to assure Katie was I would be fine, but I could see the disappointed look in her eyes as Jenny and I walked out the door.

We entered the shop and saw that Marty was still talking to someone, so we made our way to the counter to get some coffee. Standing at the cash register was Rob, one of my early detractors as I started to transition, I could see a tall red head standing behind the counter and I felt Jenny’s hand tighten around mine. Rob hadn’t figured out it was me and said nothing as he took my order. I could see a bit of a smirk like he was sizing Jenny and I up. It wasn’t until Dannii turned around with our coffee that the fun began.

“Alex?” She said as her eyes darted between me and Jenny. Jenny practically growled “Alexa” at my former co-worker. It was Rob who chimed in chuckling, “You’re the fruit cake that used to work here? Still a chick, huh? Got a boyfriend yet fairy?” Instead of lashing back, for some reason I retreated. It was like all my fears about this place had come through. Just as Jenny was about to tear into the prick, Cade came out of the back. He took one look at me and I could see him turn red. Obviously, all had not been forgotten as he starred me down. “I think you should get out of here. Right now!” he practically growled at me. The shell I had retreated into broke. Cade had shown no backbone during the whole incident and deferred everything to John Lee, and now he was going to be the tough guy. “Why?” I asked. I could see he was trying to control himself. Through gritted teeth he answered, “Because you have cost this chain a lot of money.” Jenny wanted to say something, but I beat her to it. “If you would have shown some backbone when all this started it could have been avoided. But you let people like Rob and Marta keep it up. You only did something when you saw it! And then you went running to John!” I was beginning to lose my temper but was suddenly stopped as I saw Marty and the gentleman he was meeting with come into the serving area.

“Alexa? Is everything OK?” Before either Jenny or me could say anything, Rob opened his fat mouth. “Who are you Alex’s sugar daddy?” I heard Cade chuckle at that. Jenny let loose at that point, mostly because I had turned into a mess. “Are you going to let him talk to her like that?” She yelled at Cade who stood there and did nothing. Jenny pulled me in as I began crying like a baby. Rob opened his mouth again and said, “Maybe you are a chick, you sure cry like one.” This finally got Cade to yell at Rob. Jenny let loose on both Rob and Cade. At this point, our little confrontation had drawn a crowd from the assembled customers and they began making comments. Marty stepped forward and looked Cade in the eye. “If you think dealing with Alexa was bad, you just bit off more than you can chew. I am the Chairman and CEO of The Thompson Companies” Marty said, and I could see Cade get slightly nervous over that comment, but the next one might have dropped him, “and I am Alexa’s future father-in-law. I will break this place.” Marty than tried to move over and console me. As I clung to Jenny, I could hear some of the customers making comments and I could hear the doorbell going off frequently. I also herd the gentleman Marty was meeting with step forward and mention something about being a Regent and how disappointing it was that a business like this could remain open so near a liberal university. As Jenny held me up, Marty took control and led both of us out of the coffee shop. When we got to his car, the apologies started.

“Alexa, I am so sorry. I didn’t think anything like this would happen. I am so sorry” he said as he tried to comfort me. I couldn’t see Jenny, but I could feel the anger build up inside her. “What were you thinking daddy? This was a huge mistake!” I tried to tell Jenny to calm down, but she told me to be quiet and launched back in at her father. “You know these people hate her, but yet you bring us down here?” Jenny began leading me over to her car while Marty kept trying to apologize. As I got to the door of Jenny’s car, I knew I had to say something, but when I turned to look at Marty, I couldn’t. I was all fired up to tear into him but the look of sadness on his face showed me that I was not the only one hurt by this whole thing. I lightly pushed Jenny to the side and grabbed Marty and gave him a huge hug. As I let go, I gave Marty a sympathetic smile and crawled into the front seat of Jenny’s car. Jenny said something to her father that I did not hear and then got behind the wheel. On the whole drive home and all the way up to the apartment, Jenny went on about the events that had just unfolded. We were coming out of the elevator just as Katie was locking the apartment. She started to say something but stopped and ran towards me.

“Alexa! Are you okay?” and she wrapped me in a hug. I was buried in her shoulder and I could hear her questioning Jenny on what happened, and it was not going well. “Why did you take her there?” Katie asked my fiancée. “Because that is where my dad wanted to meet, and I didn’t agree to it, OK. Just help me get her inside.” I felt Katie let go of me and a minute later I was sitting on the couch. I looked up at Katie and could see the concerned look in her eyes. I whispered “thanks’ very softly and she reached down and hugged me. “Don’t ever worry about having to thank me Alexa. You’re my sister and I will always be concerned.” She let go of me and headed out the door but not before giving Jenny a parting shot to watch out for me. The response by Jenny wasn’t the friendliest, and I could hear the anger coming out of both of women. I slumped back into Jenny as I tried to regain my bearings. As much as my family and friends had accepted who I was, there was still a part of that world who did not accept me and some of those people were very mean about it.

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon curled up on the couch, watching Netflix. I wasn’t sure of the time, but I could tell by the light from outside that it was getting late, when there was a knock at the door. Jenny left me on the couch to answer it. I heard Marty say hello to his daughter who instantly asked, “What do you want?” It was a tone that I had never heard Jenny use on her father before. When she was mad at him, which was rarer and rarer these days, she was usually the petulant child. Today she was an angry woman. “May I come in?” Marty asked, but Jenny didn’t say anything. It took me telling Jenny to let her father in for her to move. Marty walked over and sat on the chair and starred down at the floor, twirling away the fedora that Jenny and I had gotten for him. He finally looked up and for the first time I saw true sadness in his eyes. He attempted to say something, but Jenny sat down next to me and starred at him. He turned his eyes back to the floor.

“So, what did you come over here for?” Jenny said accusingly towards her father. He finally looked back. “I, um, I came here to apologize. I had no idea that this was going to happen. I didn’t think that there was going to be that much animosity amongst those people towards you. I hope you know I would never do anything to harm you Alexa.” I could tell the apology was more than heart felt, Marty knew he really screwed up. However, Jenny wasn’t one to let him off the hook for what had transpired. “Why did you think it would be OK for Lex to go to that shithole?” an obviously angry Jenny said to her father. He hemmed and hawed for a bit. “I was going to be there already. I, I just thought it would be nice to sit down a have a cup of coffee with you two. I don’t know. I thought it wouldn’t matter. I was wrong.” As soon as he said that, he was forgiven in my book, but Jenny was not so forgiving. “Dad, this was one of the worst things you could do to Alexa. You put her in a situation where no one, I repeat NO ONE, cares for her and you thought it was fine. It’s something a kid does.” Marty never looked up, he continued to stare down at the carpet. Jenny just stared at him waiting for a response, when he did we both were shocked. We could see the redness of his eyes and a tear streaked face. Jenny’s attitude changed instantly. She got up off the couch and instantly hugged her father, and I wasn’t too far behind her.

When we finally let go of Marty I could see that the number of tears had grown. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and let him know it was OK. He wrapped me in a big hug and began apologizing again. “I am so sorry Alexa.” He kept repeating until I told him it was OK. He reached into his suit coat and looked for a handkerchief but couldn’t find one. Jenny grabbed a box of Kleenex of the table and held them out. I could see she was still miffed by the whole thing. Marty whispered thanks while Jenny and I sat back down on the couch. Marty cleared his throat once and began to speak. “Well there were a couple of reasons I wanted to talk to you two. First off,” Marty said as he reached down for his briefcase. He extracted an envelope and handed it over to me. I opened it to find a bunch of bills marked paid, the hospital bill, the towing bill, the ambulance bill. Everything, including the paper title to my newest car. Just as I was about to say something a piece of paper dropped into my lap. Without even picking it up I knew exactly what it was. I looked at Marty with a questioning look. It was the settlement from the accident. “After paying off all your bills and paying of your car that’s what is left” Jenny looked on as I flipped the check over. Both of us gasped at the amount $32,000! I looked over at Marty for an explanation. “How did you get all this done?”

The smile I was used to returned to Marty’s face. “Good thing about lawyers, especially when someone gave them Power of Attorney, you can get things done. The trucking company was forced to admit 100% liability and had to take care of all your bills and the replacement of your car, I had them pay back the $8,000 loan to me, and pay off the rest of the replacement. The rest is yours.” Marty said before he got serious. “And don’t go shopping you two” he said sternly. The giggle we let out marked that life was back to normal around here. I looked at Marty and asked what the second thing was he wanted to talk about. ‘Why don’t we discuss that over dinner. Does Rosato’s sound good to you two?” Marty was really trying to make amends for earlier. We both nodded eagerly and were told to get cleaned up. Thirty minutes later we waiting to be seated in one of our favourite restaurants in the whole world. “Girls! Welcome!” Paul said as he approached us. “I see you are taking pity on the poor and unfortunate” he said with a chuckle. Marty looked at his longtime friend with a smirk. “Why, are you having dinner with the girls tonight?” The handshake and manly hug followed as usual before Paul led us to a table.

After we placed our order, Marty finally decided to tell us what was going on “There has been a little issue with the trip to Florida. I have a meeting I need to be at on the 26th at 10 in the morning. So that means I must fly down on Christmas Day or before. I was thinking that the 3 of us could fly down together, but if you want you can still fly down on the 26th “. Jenny and I looked at each other. Neither of us was sure what to say. Our original plan was to spend Christmas Eve with Marty and then spend Christmas Day with my mom. When we came up with that plan, we decided the old-fashioned way. We flipped a coin. The change in schedule just four days before put everything into flux. “How soon do you need to know?” I asked, and Marty told me he has to make the reservation first thing in the morning. “We could go to Faribault on Christmas Eve and spend the night. Meet Daddy at the airport in the morning?” Jenny offered. She seemed much more excited by the change than I was. “But won’t we be rushed doing everything?” We were going to spend Saturday night with Katie and Danny watching the Packer game and then head out to the lake the next day and cook for Marty. I was excited for this. Mostly I was excited to spend the day relaxing at the house. But, when I looked at Jenny I could see she really wanted to go down on Christmas Day. When I asked her why, I knew I was sunk. “I want to see my Grandma on Christmas. I haven’t done that in years.” I knew I was sunk. I nodded in agreement to the change of plans.

That night at home was one I was not looking forward to. The Jenny and Katie showdown over today’s events was going to be epic. I figured if we got home a little later but still before Katie got home we could go right to bed and not have to deal with it for another day. But the end of dinner came too soon. After the wonderful dinner, Marty gave us a ride back to the apartment and said he would let us know about the flights. I started in saying I was bushed and that we should go to bed as we went up the elevator. “I think going to bed is a great idea, but not to sleep.” We hung on each other and giggled all the way down the hall. That giggling stopped as we entered the apartment to find Katie waiting for us. “I want to know what the hell happened and why you two are now so giggly!” Katie said very sternly. We both slumped a bit and the smiles on our faces quickly faded. I went to the kitchen to get us some wine while Jenny went to the couch, where the inquisition began. I came in and Katie instantly turned to me.

“What were you thinking when you said yes to meeting Marty?” she asked. I thought about it and responded the best I could “I was thinking that we could go in unnoticed. I guess I was wrong.” Katie didn’t say anything at first. Then the bigger sister advice came out. “Both of you need to watch yourselves. Yes, you guys seem to be on top of the world. You have friends who love and accept you like me and Sarah and Nikki, but there are people out there who think you are evil. Sometimes I think you forget that. It’s not just Marilyn, it’s the old ladies at Ruby’s, it’s the soccer moms, it’s the drunks at the bars. I think you either forget that or are just so wrapped up in each other you ignore it. And the worst place for you to go is that stupid coffee place.” Katie got awfully quiet. “I get worried that something may happen to you two.” She said. Jenny and I looked at each other before I answered. ‘Us?”

A wicked smile came across Katie’s face. “Yes ALY. You two. How many sisters do you think I have? I broke down a bit and Jenny got up and my two roommates shared a hug before turning their sights on me and hog piling on top of me. The tears soon gave way to laughter and our scolding from our big sister was over.

The phone rang way to early again the next morning, but this time it was mine. I saw that it was Marty again. Why is he calling me? “Good morning Alexa. When you get off the phone make sure Jennifer plugs in her phone.” Marty said with a laugh and then began on. “We have an issue about the flight. I was going to put us on the same flight, the 1:15 departure with the layover in Atlanta. Well that flight is sold out. Either we leave at basically the same time and have an almost three-hour layover in New York or we leave at 7:45 in the morning. I am leaving it up to you guys.” Flying Christmas morning! That is not exactly the way I wanted to spend my first Christmas as an engaged couple, but I also knew that Jenny wanted to see Mary. Without even asking Jenny I told Marty we would do the 7:45 flight. “Are you sure you don’t want to ask Jenny?” I told him no. He said he would send the flight information over in a little bit. I cuddled up next to Jenny and tried to sleep but soon found it useless. So, I decided to get up and do something special for Jenny. I went out to the kitchen and got some coffee going. I began looking through all the cupboards and found my choices were limited, so I cut up some fruit and popped a couple of English Muffins in the toaster. In about 10 minutes, I had a nice little Continental Breakfast that I took into surprise the love of my life.

As I walked in, I could see that Jenny was starting to stir already. I watched her reach to me side of the bed looking for me. “Lex? Where are you?” Jenny said, and it was almost like panic had taken over. “I missed you” Jenny said with a pout when she finally saw me standing there. I started laughing as I placed the tray on her lap and went to my side of the bed. We shared our usual morning kiss and then playfully began feeding each other the fruit and English Muffins. It was a wonderful way to start the day, just the two of us.

Following our romantic little breakfast, Jenny finally got around to asking about her father and whether he had called. The enjoyment of my morning instantly changed as I informed Jenny that we were leaving at 7:45 AM on Christmas morning. If I thought she was panicked before when I was in the kitchen, now that panic went into overdrive. “7:45! We have lots to get done before then!” She jumped out of bed and began racing around the room as she was going to take a shower. And then began questioning me as to why I was lying in bed still. I smiled. placed the tray on the nightstand and went to my future wife. I took her in my arms and tried to calm her. “Jenny, we are set there is nothing to be worried about.” She just furrowed her brow. “We still have to get your mom’s last gift, we have to get daddy his last gift, we have to wrap all the presents and deliver them.” She broke away and raced to the shower. With nothing better to do I followed her in. She was in no mood to play around as she was convinced that we had tons of things to get done, so I just let her go, but every once in awhile she would have to ask me a question.

“Did you get Debbie’s gift certificate?” to be quickly followed up by “Did you pick up that scarf for her?” Both times the answer was yes followed by me trying to calm her and telling the love my life we were meeting Debbie for coffee this afternoon before she heads to London tonight and everything was under control. This would only calm Jenny for a second and then she would be back at it. “Did you get that sweater for Adam?” or “Did you remember to tell Bethany we wanted to meet up tomorrow?” I fought the urge to laugh, because I knew it would get Jenny even more worked up. It was as we were getting dressed that I finally had to stop her. ‘Oh god!” She screamed out “We forgot to send the gifts over to London!” That was the breaking point for me and the laughter came roaring out of me. Jenny stood there all miffed at me. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her slender waist.

“Jenny, we have taken care of everything. We sent the gifts to London on Monday, Fed Ex Priority. We got all of Debs gifts on Tuesday. You and I were both on the call Monday night with Bethany, so just calm down, OK? It will be fine.” She tried to relax but attempted to ask more questions, I instead implemented the only method I knew to keep her quiet, I placed a long, sensual kiss on my soulmate. It did seem to help calm her a bit, but after I had let go and began getting dressed I could see the panic slowly returning. I gave her a bit of a withering look and she kept quiet, but I know a million things were going through her mind.

We each grabbed a go cup and began on our trek to the various malls and other shops to complete our tasks. Our first stop was Southdale, where we went to Michael Kors and pick up the purse I couldn’t stop thinking about and then off to Nordstrom at Ridgedale to make our first present delivery of the day, and maybe pick up a few things for ourselves. We found our other friend Sarah right where she always was. “Merry Christmas girls. What brings the two of you in today?” We told her we were just finishing up our shopping and thought we would stop in and maybe buy her lunch. She told us she had brought hers, but why not. She said she was due her break in about ten minutes. “What are you two up to?” she asked. We feigned innocence and said we had been shopping and thought we would stop in. We looked around at a few dresses while we waited for Sarah. We each had to admonish the other not to buy anything though we both had our eyes on a few things. After several minutes of browsing, Sarah was finally able to take her break. The three of us headed out to the Food Court. After we each grabbed a salad, we took our trays to one of the tables and began enjoying our lunch.

About halfway through, Sarah finally confronted us. ‘Jenny, Alexa. I have known you guys for a while now and think I know you pretty well, what’s going on here?” Sarah asked us. Jenny and I looked at each other with an attempted innocent expression. I nodded at my partner to get her to start. “Well the thing is, you have become a great friend and we wanted to do something special for you.” I took that as my cue and reached into my purse and extracted an envelope. I hand it to the woman who had been there since day 2 and been a great supporter of not only me, but my and Jenny’s relationship. “We thought we would get you a little something for Christmas.” Sarah took the envelope and we watched her eyes go wide. “This, this is too much. I mean thank you, but you guys shouldn’t have done all this!” Sarah reached and hugged us both. Jenny went on to explain to contact the owner, Paul, and set up a time that works best for Sarah and that he would accommodate her. “A trip to the spa for part of the day is the least we can for you. Here’s a brochure. If you want to upgrade it, Paul said he would give you a twenty percent discount.” Sarah was overwhelmed by the gift. “I feel bad I didn’t get you guys anything.” Sarah told us. It was my turn to comment.

“Sarah, you have done more than you will ever know. You were so nice from the beginning plus when everything came out you just accepted me. No questions asked.” I told her, and she smiled and gave each of us a hug. She did say that after the New Year we would do some damage to her Employee Discount. “Deal!” Jenny and I both almost screamed. We walked back to Nordstrom with our friend and said our goodbye’s as we were walking out, Jenny happened to glance at her phone. “Crap! We are going to be late!” Jenny was talking about our get together with my counselor. I tried to get Jenny under control again, but to no avail. She was practically running through the parking lot. “Come on Lex! We are going to be late!” I walked carefully through the ice and snow back to my car and to find an annoyed blonde urging to get moving. I tell her to relax, that we have plenty of time. As we drove down 394, I commented “When did I become the calm one in this relationship.” I paid dearly for the comment, but I also received a loving act of contrition in the form of a loving kiss when we arrived at our destination.

Rather than meeting Debbie near campus or near her office on the edge of downtown, we decided to meet near her apartment in Uptown. We entered the little coffee shop and immediately saw Debbie. Jenny went over to her while I placed our order. When I made it to the table, the other two were deep in conversation about me. “What are you two saying about me?” Jenny and Debbie smiled up with insincere smiles. “Never mind young lady” Debbie told me. I handed Jenny her latte and took a seat across from the woman who has helped me through so much over the last year. Debbie looked at me with a funny little smile on her face, “We were just sharing some funny stories about your past. That and teasing Jenny a bit about her trip back last Christmas.” I thought back to that trip Jenny had taken after my father had found me. One of the worst days of my life turned out to be one of the most signifgant moments in my life, and both of these women had been there. Not wanting to dampen the mood, I decided to make light of it as well. “I can’t drive by a Burger King without asking Jenny if she wants to stop.” Debbie and I both laughed while my shin was introduced to Jenny’s foot, again.

“I think that’s enough teasing you two.” Jenny announced before turning to Debbie. “I do envy you Debs. I wish we were headed to London.” Jenny said. Debbie nodded, “It will be good to be home for a while, mum is always on my case to get there and it will be good to see my sister. I heard she has a new boyfriend. Hopefully he is acceptable.” We all had a good laugh over the comment as my counselor showed a little more toughness than she normally would. We continued talking about her upcoming trip as well as Jenny and my trip down to Florida. When she heard the time of our flight she said she wish she was around to see that. “I can only imagine what kind of mood you two will be in at 5 AM!”

We continued chatting away for a bit before Jenny thought it was time for presents. Debbie really liked the scarf that we had gotten her. ‘I know the exact suit this will go perfectly with” she told us and I knew as well and she nodded when I said the burgundy one. I then handed a small envelope to her. ‘This gift isn’t only for you. We thought you and your mother could enjoy this together.” Debbie was shocked by the £100 gift certificate to Smith & Wollensky. “I have been to one in Chicago. I am sure mum will enjoy this as well. Thank you very much girls.” Debbie told us as we all exchanged hugs. Jenny though had one more trick up her sleeve. “Debbie there is one more thing we, well I, did for you. I raided Daddy’s miles and I have had you upgraded to First Class for your trip.” Both Debbie and I were in shock, but for different reasons. Debbie for the generosity that Jenny would think of doing that, me that my soulmate would think of doing this. I also knew that the two of us would have some explaining to do to Marty which wasn’t new, but always kind of a hassle. “This is too much you two! I haven’t done anything to deserve this.” Jenny just smiled her million-watt smile. “Debbie, neither Lex or I would be as happy as we are today if it wasn’t for you. You have shown us all the support in the world not only professionally but as a friend as well. Something like upgrading you is no big deal. Plus, it is the only way to fly over.” Jenny said sharing a smile with me.

We sat and chatted a little while longer, but Debbie soon had to make her way back to her apartment and get her bags. We volunteered to take her to the airport. “No that won’t be necessary. Besides, if you two take me to the airport, you might be tempted to join me and London needs a longer break from the two of you” We gave Debbie a mock laugh before exchanging hugs and telling her to have a good time. We were going to head out to eat, being that it was Friday night but decided to head back to the apartment and watch a movie.

When we arrived home, Katie was gone and there was a box sitting on the counter. Jenny went over and picked it up “What this? It’s from Heavenly Talent.” I quickly snatched the package from her hands “Never mind what it is.” I tell her and go and look for a place to hide the package. I return to the living room hoping Jenny has been distracted enough by the search for something to eat for dinner to think about the contents of the delivery. After perusing our options, we decided that it would be a pizza night. We called up Frank’s and cuddled up to watch “Polar Express”. So much for a wild and crazy night. The craziness would come the next day as we tried to squeeze in lots of obligations in just one day.

It started out with Jenny greeting me with breakfast in bed today. But unlike yesterday, the breakfast was a little more playful. The act of Jenny ‘feeding’ me soon evolved onto food being shoved onto my mouth and me reciprocating the act. We fell out of bed laughing away. We must have been loud enough to wake up the other two people in the house because we could hear my brother grumbling in the hallway. ‘Sorry Danny” Jenny yelled out. The reply from my brother got us rolling even harder. “You two need help” We continued to enjoy each others company even right there on the floor. Even though the inevitable had happened because of my HRT, we still found ways to share our love with each other. This was one of those times.

We finally emerged a few minutes later to find Danny and Katie curled up on the couch. For some reason the playful part of me took over and I decided to curl up next to my brother. Both Jenny and Katie began laughing at me. “Get the hell off me Alexa” Danny said, “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked me. I didn’t move and just tried to continue to be goofy. “I just want to spend some quality time with my big brother” I say, which has both of my roommates laughing. What got me really laughing was the next sequence of events. When Danny tried to push me away, Katie chastised him. “Don’t get physical with your sister.” At first Danny looked at Katie like she was crazy, but the look Katie shot him turned him into a little boy all embarrassed by his actions. Katie urged him to apologize to me. I could see by the look in her eyes that she was joking with him and I had to work hard to keep from laughing out loud.

The four of us wound up enjoying the morning together before Danny had to take off to do some last-minute shopping. “Jewelry stores are open all over the place Dan. Just remember at least 1 karat and 3 months’ salary when picking out a ring.” Jenny yelled out. Danny stared back at his future sister-in-law. I did feel sorry for him. The teasing we had given him over the Christmas shopping time about a ring had been almost ruthless. He had blown up at me one time when it was just me and him alone, only for him to apologize. “Ah sorry Alexa. It’s I am not ready to get engaged. I mean I love Katie and all, but you know we are pretty young still. She has to finish school and get a job and I have to deal with the company and what I want to do with it.” I was in shock, he loved Katie. Danny looked at me as I started to tear up “Oh don’t get all weepy on me” I tried but it was tough. I went over and gave him hug which he took in stride. After that, I tried not to tease him anymore. But there were still times I couldn’t help myself.

After Danny left, the three of us began to decide what we were going to do. The plan for later was we were going to meet up with Bethany at Willie’s in Faribault and spend some time together and watch the Viking-Packer game. Danny and his friends were going to be there as well, so I wasn’t nervous about Adam showing up. Plus, Jenny and I wanted to spend some time with my Mom before we headed to Florida. “Let’s do brunch!” Katie announced. “Jenny and I smiled at each other because we wanted to do the same thing and we were looking for a way to get Katie alone for a while. We rushed off to get ready and forty-five minutes later the three of us were on our way to Station 19, a bar right across from Williams Arena, for their weekend breakfast. And even though we would be driving later, we thought one Bloody Mary would be OK. It didn’t take long for the three of us to be laughing a little too loud.

After we had eaten, Jenny and I looked at each other and nodded. Jenny started us off. “Katie, we want to give you your present now, if that’s OK.” Katie gave the two of us the look that she knew we were up to something. I continued. “Well since we are having our dresses made for us, we have to go for a fitting, so...” I said as I trailed off and let Jenny finish off. “You are coming to London with us!” Katie sat there in shock, her mouth wide open. “Seriously?” she asked before she started screaming which we joined in with. “Oh my god! This is too much!” We just smiled at our roommate. “Katie, you deserve it. No one has stood us as we have gone along this journey. What better way than to take you over to London!” I told my ‘big’ sister. Something strange happened at that point, Katie teared up. Jenny and I both left our seats and flanked Katie. “You guys are too much. I didn’t get you anything close to this!” We told her not to worry about it. We wanted to do something special for her, besides we wanted her to meet all our friends over there “Plus you deserve it just for putting up with Danny” Jenny told her which got us all laughing.

We went back to the apartment where we found an uptight Danny practically bouncing off the walls. “Where have you guys been?” he asked with a tinge of anger to his voice. We told him to relax, that we had just gone to breakfast. The smile that Katie was still sporting confused Danny a little more. But after Katie gave him a quick kiss he seemed to relax. Katie and Danny didn’t hang around much longer as we could tell Danny was anxious to get back to Faribault. I tried to tease him that our table would be there. “I called Dalton and made sure he reserved the table up front for us. It’s set. So just relax.” Danny growled at me a bit. As soon as those two were gone, the flurry of activity began. We need to not only make sure we had clothes for the next two days, but we had to make sure we were all packed for the flight on Monday morning. I found a second to sneak and take care of the package that had come the day before. I had a special plan for that. In no time my car was loaded up with a suitcase and our gifts for my family and we were on our way to Faribault.

Just after we exited the interstate and made our right hand turn on to 21, I made a minor course change. Jenny looked at me funny and asked where we were going. I said nothing and continued down the frontage road before making another quick turn. I knew I had Jenny disoriented because she had never been in this part of the area, though I knew it like the back of my hand. I eased the car off the paved county road and down a gravel driveway where an old farm house and modern steel outbuildings sat. I pulled up around the back of the house and parked near the detached garage. Jenny hadn’t stopped asking me where we were, and I had yet to answer her. I reached into the back of the car and grabbed a wrapped package. Ignoring Jenny’s questions, I took her hand and led her up to the back door. I knocked and soon my Aunt Karen opened the door. To say she was in shock would have been an understatement. She stood there trying to figure what to say. “Hi Aunt Karen, is Ashley around?” Aunt Karen continued to stumble for words before calling out to my younger cousin. She invited us in and I finally looked at my fiancée, and the smile on her face was one of wonder. She just looked at me and shook her head as she stepped past me into the kitchen.

The bubbly teenager came around the corner just as her mother was closing the door. “Alexa. Jenny, what are you doing here?” The pleasantly surprised girl said as she spotted us. “I just wanted to drop off a Christmas gift for you Ashley.” Ashley babbled a thank you as she excitedly took the offered package and invited us to sit down. Jenny was still in confusion as we took our seats. Karen asked if we wanted anything. “No thank you Aunt Karen, we can’t stay long.” I told her as Ashley tore the wrapping paper off and opened the box up. I watched two smiles appear as Ashley pulled out the gift. Ashley’s smile of amazement and Jenny’s smile of pride. “Oh my god! Ashely squealed as she pulled out the two Out of Heaven CD’s. The next item out was a picture of my and Jenny’s favourite band that was personalized by our friends to my cousin, “Thanks for the support and try to keep your cousin out of trouble. Best Wishes.” And each of the girls had signed. The last item was a tour t-shirt. It was great watching the joy that my cousin had as she ran over and gave Jenny and then myself big hugs. “This is too much, but thank you so much you two.” Ashley said. Even Karen was smiling at how excited her daughter was. We wished the two a Merry Christmas as we said we had to get going. Ashley didn’t want us to leave and begged us to stay. We told her we couldn’t and wished her and my aunt a Merry Christmas again and headed out the door.

I let out a huge sigh of relief as we got in the car and buckled in. At least I got buckled in. The blonde girl next to me practically attacked me. “You are incredible do you know that!” Jenny told me as she began kissing me. “The look on her face when she opened that gift was worth it all. How did you pull that off without me knowing about it?” I explained to Jenny that Nikki and I talked much more than she probably knew. Especially since we got back. She had become a wonderful confidant as I started to go through a few changes and them Christmas came up. “I had to call in a favour, but in the long run it was worth it.” I said. Jenny teased me about what this will cost us when we go over in March. “I think we have to buy the drinks one night at the clubs” I informed her. Jenny began to laugh. “That might be the most expensive present ever!” Jenny said, and I had to agree.

As we made our way to mom’s house, Jenny made an observation. “I watched your aunt as Ashley opened her present. It was funny. She went from being guarded, to being excited. But that wasn’t all. It was like a light came on.” I asked her to explain. “It was light she realized that you are not some freak. You are just a person. A person who has a very caring and loving heart who just wants to be who you are.” I was dumbfounded as Jenny went on, because I hadn’t noticed it. “That was one of the first times I had seen the change in front of me. It was cool. It’s looks like you won over another person.” Jenny said. And the smile that spread across her face was another smile of pride.

As seemed to be the case as of late, when we arrived at my mother’s we got a lecture. “Where have you two been? You should have been here a half an hour ago!” We tried to tell mom we had to make a stop, but she would not listen to my explanation When Jenny told her what we had been doing, mom eased up a bit. Mom looked at me surprised “You bought a gift for Ashley?” she asked, and I began to feel all embarrassed. “Just a couple of CDs that I got from Steph and Nikki. A t-shirt, nothing big.” I looked at Jenny, who was shaking her head at my modesty. “And a personalized autograph picture of Out of Heaven for her. Lex went all out. I didn’t even know what she was up to.” I could hear mom sniff a bit and turn away from us. Jenny continued her smile of as my mother got her emotions under control.

Since we had a few hours, mom put us to work. Of course. Though this time it was a little more fun. She hauled us into the kitchen and started us on helping her make cookies. This was another new adventure for Jenny, as she had never done a lot of serious baking. Mom was a machine. And while she usually got together with a few of my aunts to do this as a group, the events of the last year had left mom alone, but she knew she had to do this. “You know your brothers are going to expect to have these cookies tomorrow and on Christmas Day and we can’t disappoint them” mom said. But what was new was she said it looking at Jenny more than at me. Jenny picked up on it too and made a joke. “That means Danny is my brother? Ewww gross!” Mom started laughing but then tried to get all stern with us. “You two be nice to that boy. He has a lot going on. What with the company and Katie.” Both of us started giggling and I whispered to Jenny, “Yeah like finding a ring.” Mom got a bit more upset at this. “Alexa Marie, leave your brother alone.” Jenny and I just started laughing even harder.

By Five o’clock, we had made four dozen Cutout cookies, all frosted and decorated. We had made three dozen Russian tea cakes and made three dozen peanut butter cookies with the Hersey Kisses in the middle. The kitchen looked like a train had run through it, but it had been very fun. Growing up I had only ever been allowed to join in the cookie sessions when it came time to decorate. I never knew how much work the rest of it was. As we sat back we realized what fun it had been, we also realized we were running late. We had to be at Willie’s by six. As we began cleaning up, Danny came in to pick us up. “Aren’t you two ready yet?” he grumped and reached for a cookie. In what has become something I have come to love, Jenny swatted Danny’s arm. “Those are for tomorrow!” she scolded her future brother-in-law. Mom began laughing at the exchange between the two and congratulated Jenny on a good job of controlling my brother. Danny sulked off as mom dismissed us so we could get ready.

Bethany was at the table, along with Katie as we entered the bar. “Love the jerseys!” Bethany told us as we exchanged hugs. Jenny and I modeled our birthday gifts for our friend while Danny rolled his eyes. We had to explain that we had bought them for each other as Birthday gifts. And like the rest of the people we had relayed this story to, Bethany laughed at us. “You two are amazing. I have never met two people who think the same as you two. But I guess that is what makes you two so special.” I could only blush at Bethany’s comment while my better half got a little smug. “Its taken some work, but she is getting there.” Jenny said, followed by an “Oww” as my foot connected with her shin.

The first half of the game had gone as we had hoped, the Vikings defense was able to battle the elements and hold the Packers scoreless. As we reveled in the success of the first half, we learned a little more about Bethany’s personal life, which of course was something we wanted to know. Bethany began telling us about thus guy she had met through work named AJ. He was from Seattle originally and had come to the plant as an engineer. “He’s nice, but a little different. I guess after all those years with Adam I got used to a different lifestyle. AJ is much more introspective and is not a big outdoors guy. Adam loved being outside and in the early days we would go for walks and picnics.” Bethany got a faraway look as she spoke about my brother and Jenny and I shared a look. We knew she was missing him and I could see a bit of an evil smile come across my fiancée’s face.

The early Christmas present was delivered courtesy of the Vikings and we made our way back to mom’s for the night. We awoke the next morning with more Christmas preparations to be completed. Mom as usual was a task master and had us cleaning up. I tried to argue that we weren’t even going to be here, but she would have none of my sass. Jenny teased me as we cleaned up around the house. We had agreed to go to an early Mass with mom before my brothers and the Fahey’s came for dinner. Ever since Danny and Katie had gotten even closer, mom and Barb had been spending a lot of time together and the fact that Barb’s mother was in a nursing home kind of left the Fahey’s alone on the holidays. Mom had more than willingly brought them into the fold. All throughout the day, Jenny and I tried to tease my brother about his mother-in-law coming over. This really got him wound up, enough to get me and Jenny in a bit of trouble with my mother. “You two need to stop this” she pleaded while he was in ear shot, but once he disappeared her tune changed. “I do wish he would get off his butt. He will never do better than Katie.”

Mass proved to be interesting. Jenny had only been to a normal everyday Mass, never to something like the family Christmas Mass we attended. There was a little more pomp and circumstance and the number of kids who were overly excited for the visit of Santa made it a little more chaotic. It wasn’t those things that made it interesting, it was the fact that my oldest brother attended the service with us. The tension between he and Jenny was noticeable and when they went to exchange the sign of peace you could see the contempt in Jenny’s eyes. I think Adam was taken aback a bit. On the drive back, Mom warned me to be nice to Adam. And while Mom’s comments were directed at me, all of us in the car knew that it was directed at both me and Jenny.

Dinner was the typical Quinn family Christmas Eve dinner. We started with the typical Oyster Stew and followed with the Ham dinner. I knew Jenny was not a fan of Oysters but also knew that she was too polite not to take any. Katie and I giggled at Jenny as she struggled with the stew. Katie was lucky she was away from our roommate; however, I was not so lucky and endured a few shots to the shin as I taunted my fiancée. The rest of the meal was pretty much they normal affair except for Jenny continuing to shoot eye darts at my oldest brother. My mother was becoming a little more worked up over it. Luckily, she didn’t say anything, but Jenny and I were the recipients of ‘the look’ at least once but it did little to ease the tension at the table.

As we retired to the living room to exchange a few gifts, mom pulled Jenny and I aside. “Would you two be nice to Adam. It can’t be easy for him to be here. He has had a tough year, what with losing his father and breaking up with Bethany. So please, for me, be nice.” Jenny and I felt about two feet tall at that point. We hadn’t taken into consideration the changes he had experienced. “We are sorry Charlotte. Its just that he has been so mean to Lex that it is tough to put up the act of being civil. But, we will be good” Mom nodded and smiled and the three of us joined the rest of the party. Before we could make it to the Living Room, I asked mom if we could tease Danny. “As long as it’s not about a ring, he is fair game.” Mom said with a laugh.

Everyone had sat around the rarely used living room. Barb had taken one of the wing back chairs and Adam had taken the other. Mom took the high back antique chair while Jenny plopped down on the couch next to Danny, with a smirk across her face that got Danny all defensive. “Do you really think I would give her a ring in front of all of these people?” Jenny just kept up the smile and said she hoped not. Danny groaned while the females on the room giggled over my brother’s reaction. Mom spoke up, “Alexa, why don’t you hand out the gifts.” she stated. When we were kids, the gifts on Christmas Eve were usually something to keep us from snooping the night before and gifts from what ever aunt and uncle had shown up that night. As we got older, things began to change and it became a little more than an prelude to the next day. Tonight, it was going to be more than that, as Jenny and I would be taking off after the gifts were exchanged. The first gift we handed out was to Barb. “This is actually from all three of us Barb.” I said as Barb unwrapped the new laptop computer. It wasn’t anything real expensive and something Katie really wanted to get her mother. We volunteered to chip in and help her get a little better one. “Wow girls. This is great! My other computer was really slowing down. Thank you so much.”

I continued to hand out gifts to the rest of the assembled group. Mom loved the earrings we had brought back from London as well as the sweater Jenny and I had gotten her. When she got to the Michael Kors bag she tried to guilt us that it was too much. Katie couldn’t stop laughing at me and Jenny “I told you what she would say. You each owe me ten bucks.” I attempted to pull of the sly finger disguised as me trying to itch my nose but was busted by Barb. “That’s not very lady like Alexa.” Barb said trying to tease me. Danny was a little shocked when he opened the Wool overcoat that Jenny had picked out for him. Jenny explained that he needed it for his new look, which started the questioning from the mothers. Katie proceeded to show the pictures of the night out last week. We scored a little better with the gift card to Fleet Farm we gave Danny, knowing that this was what he really wanted.

Most of the gifts were labeled for both Jenny and I and consisted of silly things like some flannel sheets from mom and as a joke a pair of old fashioned styled flannel nightgowns from Barb. “I saw them and the looked so cute” she told us. Danny went a similar way, but with adult sized sleepers with footies, like a baby would have. “It’s better than watching you two run around in those jerseys.” We both gave Danny big hugs, not because we were excited by the gift, but to bother him. The typical command of “knock it off you two” came as we hugged him. The last gift to be distributed was the one from Jenny and I to Adam. I summoned up all the strength I had to try and be polite to my brother. As I handed him the package, there was a surprised look on his face “This one is for you Adam, its from me and Jen. Merry Christmas” I said as sincere as I could. He mumbled thanks, but not a thanks of annoyance but one of gratitude. He seemed to like the big wool sweater we had gotten him and was very thankful for the gift card from Fleet Farm.

With the presents all opened, we decided it was time to make our exit and begin the return trip to the Cities. Marty was picking us up at 5 AM and we still wanted to exchange our gifts. Mom was acting all weird, as for the second year in a row I was not going to be around on Christmas Day. “You are growing up to fast” she started to say. I told her we weren’t, but she wouldn’t listen. “I figured I would have a few years until all of you were off doing your own things.” Mom said. I told Jenny to go get the suitcase while I tried to calm mom, but she took off towards her room. The next thing that surprised was the voice that came from behind. “She will be OK. You have two have your own lives now and she is just having a tough time” the voice said. I spun to see a sympathetic Adam standing there. “Thanks for the sweater and the gift card” Adam said as an equal shocked Jenny came down to join me. “You two have a good time in Florida and Merry Christmas.” Adam said and headed back to the living room. Jenny helped my out to the car where I completely broke down in tears. I couldn’t believe that Adam had been that nice. I marveled at what had happened the whole ride home.

Alone in our apartment, we finally had a chance to exchange our gifts to one another. Jenny insisted that I go first. The pile of packages that Jenny produced was substantial. Most of it was just clothes, a few pairs of shoes and a few things there were not to be seen by anyone. Just as I had finished opening the last gift, Jenny got quiet. “I didn’t know what to get you, but I knew I wanted to do something special.” With that she produced a small package wrapped in silver. I gently untied the bow and slit open the paper. I held my breath as I opened the enclosed box. Inside I found a pair of earrings. They were styled exactly like the necklace that I wore every day. “I went back and talked with Mr. Price and asked if he could get his jeweler to make up some earrings.” I leaned over and gave Jenny the deepest kiss I could muster, “I love them. Thank you.” I told her and then began to hand over my gifts to her. She loved the dress that Sarah at Nordstrom had helped me pick out and the little skirt I had bribed our London designer to make. There were some of the same types of gifts she had gotten me, some racy things as well as a pair of sandals she needed.

I took a deep breath again before I reached over and pulled out my last gift for her. I handed her the large box adorned only with some ribbon. “I was in the same situation as you. You maybe the hardest person in the world to buy for so I came up with something.” I said as I handed it over. Jenny looked at me with some apprehension and began to untie the ribbon. As the lid of the box came off, Jenny’s tears began “It’s a scrapbook with pictures of us. The last year has been the most incredible time of my life Jen.” The tears increased as she turned the pages and looked at the pictures that ranged from that first night I was dressed, through our time at the lake this summer up to our time in London. “I had to get Nikki to send over a few of the pictures. And the last one is one your dad took when we were at the Sky Garden.” Jenny immediately flipped to the last page and it was picture we had no idea that Marty had taken. It was a picture taken from behind with Jenny’s arms wrapped around me as we looked out at the London skyline. Jenny stood up and pulled me up with her “That is the most precious gift I have ever received. I love it. I will cherish it for ever and I can’t wait to add to it.” She told me. We shared another kiss and gathered up our gifts and retired to the bedroom to end the night.

I woke up around 2 AM and realized I was alone in bed. I slipped on my robe and headed to the living room. That is where I found Jenny, on the couch leafing through my gift to her and laughing and crying at the same time. I gave her a kiss and whispered “Merry Christmas Babe” as I cuddled into my soulmate.