The Last Time

Three

"Good afternoon, my darling girl!" My mom's voice rang through the dimly lit room. The smell of her perfume wafting into my nose as I popped open one of my eyelids to look at her. She had a wide smile gracing her lips, her dyed red hair braided behind her back. Her favorite blue jeans and boots were the first things to catch my eyes.

"Where are you going?" I asked, my arms stretching out as I let the duvet fall off my chest. My eyes squinted as I tried to wake myself from the sleep I was enjoying. The eye boogers poked into my eyes, making me aware of just how good I slept. I groaned softly as I ran my hands over my face, rubbing the eye gunk away from my face. Peering back up at my mom, I crossed my arms over in my lap.

"You mean, where are we going?" She corrected me. Her hands looped behind her back as she began to lean back and forth on her feet.

Your fake innocence doesn't faze me woman, I joked to myself.

"Excuse me?" I stuttered out. She woke me up to tell me I was going somewhere? I definitely didn't agree to do anything last night. Doesn't matter how many shots I took, I would remember doing something like that.

"Yes, we are going to get a new Christmas tree. You agreed last night, remember?" She replied with a sickeningly sweet tone. The corners of her lips had to be hurting with how hard and long she was smiling for.

"Oh, I did? When did I do that?" I asked, my brows knitted together.

"Last night, we talked about it with Izzy. She's going to bring the little one and we are all going to buy a nice tree and decorate it together." My mom answered with ease. The lie rolled off her tongue so easily, I almost believed it.

But I knew better than that. She just wanted some time with her kids. That, I could understand.

"Well, I don't remember agreeing to go with everyone. Let alone today, but let me get dressed." I surrendered to her, throwing the duvet off of my legs and stepped onto the cold hardwood. My mom squealed in excitement as she lunged into me with a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She repeated as she peppered my cheeks with kisses.

I giggled as I tried to push her off of me.

"Okay, okay. The faster you let me go, the quicker we all get out the door." I teased her. I watched as she scrunched her nose, feigning disappointment. She gave me a quick pinch on the cheek before retreating.

"It's a little chilly outside but, not too bad." She stated before slipping out of the door and into the hallway. Leaving my door wide open as she left. I shook my head at her as I made my way towards my luggage, that's when I heard my mom's voice.

"Told you she'd do it! It's just my charm," she said with a giggle. I heard my brother's and sister's voice reply incoherently. A scoff escaped my lips.

Glad to be home, I thought to myself. Maybe, non-ironically?

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is torture. I thought myself.

We had been at the farm for the last hour, bickering over which tree is the best. So, far we were s**t out of luck. At the moment, Anne and Izzy were arguing over two tree's that looked completely identical. Marie was trying to stop them from pulling each other's hair. And Alex was hitting on a girl I went to high school with, which was awkward enough because I did not say hello. On top of that, mom and dad were nowhere to be found. Thankfully they had Izzy's daughter, but still.

The circus ringmaster's can't leave a circus unattended.

Maybe, I was being dramatic. I hate being in public spaces for too long, especially when there's no reason other than procrastination.

Call me a homebody, a couch potato. I don't care, I'd rather be in bed or on the couch. Anywhere but here.

"Izzy, just leave it alone. It's not like mom and dad are even here to buy it," Marie tried soothing the tension between the two.

"I don't care, she's always doing this!" Izzy bit out.

"Doing what? Being better?" Anne replied, her arms raised up at the elbow with wide eyes.

"As if! You're old and broken. At least mom and dad wanted me," Izzy replied. Her eyes dramatically rolling at Anne.

"I may have been a happy accident but at least I know they love me for me. Not because I gave them their first grand child." My older sister stabbed back. Anne stepped towards Izzy only to get stopped by Marie's tall frame.

I tore my eyes away from the train wreck. My feet spun around, my back now towards them. That's when I saw him, he already knew it was me. He was less than a foot away and was evidently caught in the act of surprising me.

"Evie," his voice filled my ears. For a moment, all I could see was him.

That stupid son of a b***h, I thought to myself.

"Hey," I replied. My hand rose slightly to offer a small wave. The corners of his lips rose to a smirk, bringing my attention to the freckle on his upper lip. I turned my head away from him for a moment before looking back into his piercing gaze.

"Is that Jude?" Izzy's voice screamed in the night air. Earning the attention of everyone of my siblings attention. I mentally groaned at her as I screwed my eyes shut for a moment. When I opened my eyes, Jude was waving at the people behind me. His eyes sparkling in the moon light.

"Evie!" The all too familiar sound of his mother's voice filled the dead silence. I tilted my head to peer behind Jude's tall frame, his mom walking towards us with her husband in tow.

Oh my god, this could literally not get worse. I thought to myself.

"Evie, oh my! You have grown so much. Jude, look at her, she is beautiful!" Mrs. Nelson showered me with compliments, her wide red lipstick grin illuminating the terrifying situation.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Nelson," I replied with a smile. My arms wrapped around her shoulders in a quick embrace that she returned with ease.

"Stop that, call me Ms. Mary. You know better," she chided.

I giggled softly before sneaking a glance at Jude, who was definitely checking me out.

"I am so happy to see you. I know Jude is too. Did you know, he finally got rid of that girl. God, she was something else. I loved her but when I heard she broke his heart, I was happy she was gone." Mary said, revealing all of the juicy details.

"Mom," Jude whined. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pushing her into his dad. His cheeks faded into a light red as he rushed them away, "Please take her."

"Nice to see you, sweet heart." Mr. Nelson said before ushering his wife away from Jude and I. Leaving us alone with nothing to defend ourselves with. I watched as Jude shook his head with a sigh, his hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that," he said coolly.

"It's okay, I remember what she was like," I giggled softly before turning away from him. My mind began to race the possible way's the conversation could go. Every single one started to freak me out. My head turned back to face him, I watched as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I gotta go. Sorry, family's waiting," I interrupted him before he could say anything. His jaw went slack as I took a step back. This was not something I was ready for, by any means. I offered him a small smile before turning on my heel to face my sisters and brother. They were standing next to each other, less than two feet away from Jude and I.

Are you serious? I thought to myself as I gave them a pointed look.

"Let's go, guys," I bit out. More than desperate to get out of that situation, I walked without ahead them. Not knowing, or caring, if they followed or not.