Winter's Role, page 26
Finally making a decision, she cleared her throat. “Steph? Could I ask you…?” she stopped, not sure how she wanted to phrase her question. Blowing out a breath, she licked her lips and tried again. “Are you happy? With…us, I mean?”
Stephanie raised her head and looked at Jessie in the dark, clearly seeing the outline of her features. “Of course, I am. I love you. Why do you still feel the need to ask me something like that?”
She shrugged. “I heard what you said to Rachel. And I saw the look on your face.” She reached up and moved the auburn hair back behind one ear. “I did mean what I said.”
“I know that,” she whispered. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured, or anything. I don’t want there to be any doubts.”
Jessie smiled at her. “I haven’t had any doubt about the way I feel since I met you. There’s never been anything more clear to me in my life.”
“I just meant that I didn’t want you to doubt me. I know you were worried, when we first…”
Jessie cut her off with a kiss. “Stop. I never doubted you. I was afraid of getting hurt again, and that’s not the same thing. I was afraid of what would happen when you left. You could say I had a bad case of the What Ifs.” Looking directly into those deep green eyes, she whispered, “I have never doubted your love for me. Not once.”
“You better not.” Leaning down, Stephanie kissed her. “You’ve got to know, I wouldn’t tolerate the weeks of separation and phone sex for just anybody,” she teased.
Jessie rolled her eyes and groaned, agreeing with her. “I know. This hasn’t been easy. But, on the bright side, it’s given us something to look forward to every few weeks.” Staring into Stephanie’s eyes, she felt like she could stay there forever. Every time she looked at her, the world just fell away. Jessie had felt like that the first time she gazed into those green eyes, and she felt like that now. She knew without a doubt she’d feel like that forever. Blinking suddenly, shaking off the spell she’d been under, she pulled Stephanie in and kissed her again. “I think it’s time we start looking for a way to change this arrangement. There’s got to be a way for us to have more time together.”
“Mmm, would you mind if we work on it in the morning? I don’t think I have the energy to think anymore tonight,” Stephanie asked. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Of course not.” Jessie smiled to herself as Stephanie’s head once more tucked under her chin. With her right hand, she stroked her hair as she fell asleep. Then, she felt Stephanie’s breathing even out and she relaxed into her, falling asleep herself.
* * * *
Nancy served breakfast promptly at seven the next morning. This of course, meant that Stephanie, Jessie and Rachel, all had to hurry to get ready for their shopping trip in New York City. Having been awake till all hours of the morning, not one of them had managed to wake up as early as they’d planned. After shoveling their oatmeal and toast in, they hurriedly ran back upstairs, showered and dressed within half an hour. As they all reappeared, Nancy and Gina pulled on their coats and they all headed out the door together.
Piling into Gina and Steve’s Town and Country mini-van, Katherine insisted on sitting between Stephanie and Jessie. Parking at the Forest Hills Train Station, they boarded the train and rode the rest of the way into the city. All the way from Long Island, Katherine jabbered away, telling Jessie all about her letter to Santa and what she was hoping to get. By the time they arrived at their stop, Jessie had a comprehensive list of everything Katherine had asked for.
Making a mental note to check with the girls’ mother and grandmother, she made sure to add Katherine and her brothers and cousins to her shopping list. Moving from store to store, shopping with Stephanie’s family lent new meaning to the words ‘shop till you drop.’ Exhausted by lunchtime, she was relieved to sit down, and enjoyed their lunch of true New York style pizza. After lunch, Stephanie managed to separate Jessie from her family and headed to Central Park. Agreeing to meet everyone back at the train station at five, they hailed a taxi and headed over to Manhattan. Arriving at Central Park, they climbed out of the cab. Stephanie grabbed Jessie’s hand and pulled her toward the park entrance excitedly. “Come on! Let’s get a horse drawn carriage and see the park that way. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
Jessie smiled, seeing her so excited. Seeing Stephanie so happy, spending time with her family, warmed her heart. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for Steph if she could, and she knew it. So, catching a carriage, they climbed aboard and sat back to see the sights. Sitting under a blanket, holding hands and drinking hot chocolate, Jessie let the sights and smells of Central Park fill her senses. She found herself reminded of their sleigh ride in Aspen. With the snow covering the ground and the jingle of tack, Stephanie sitting close under the blanket…She loved it. She was having such a great time, it almost made her stop worrying about the phone calls and break-in.
The unwanted feeling of worry broke through her happiness for a brief moment before she was able to push it away. This was Stephanie’s day and she wasn’t going to allow anything to ruin it. She had, as promised, spoken to her friend Jillian about the break-in before they had left for New York and Jillian had agreed to look into the matter for her. There was nothing more she could do about it for the moment except sit back and enjoy the next few days.
When they met everyone at the train station at five as promised, Jessie wasn’t surprised when Katherine greeted her with a huge hug. They boarded the train, heading back to Long Island. On the way, they made another stop, ‘just to hit a few more shops,’ as Nancy put it. Still, by the time they finished, Jessie had managed to get gifts for everyone. Stephanie had told her she didn’t need to, but she’d wanted to do it. It was their first Christmas together, and she wanted to do it right. Needless to say, she was exhausted. Still, it had been a good day. When they arrived back at the house around eight, Bill had ordered delivery from their favorite Chinese place, and they all ate like they were starved.
Afterwards, Jessie helped with the cleanup and then Rachel brought out the board games. Steve poured drinks for everyone while Vince sent all the kids, except for Katherine, who refused to leave Jessie’s lap, downstairs to watch Disney movies with Bill and Nancy.
“Jessie, if you want, I can send her downstairs,” Steve said, not wanting his sister’s girlfriend to think he was using her for a babysitter. “You don’t have to let her take up all your time.”
Jessie just shrugged. “She’s fine. Besides, she’s my best buddy, aren’t you, Kat?”
The little girl looked up at Jessie with wide green eyes and nodded. “Kat and Jessie best friends,” the little girl agreed, proud of the newly bestowed nickname.
Rolling his eyes, Steve just laughed. “Well, all right. But if you get tired of her, let me know and I’ll send her downstairs with Mom and Dad.”
Taking a drink of her beer, Jessie just smiled and rolled the dice. After a while, she gave Kat her own dice to roll, and she contented herself believing that she was playing along with the adults. Eventually, her energy wound down, and she fell asleep.
As they played, they took the opportunity to grill Stephanie about her latest side projects, interviews and TV guest appearances and Steph filled them in as best she could. Vince asked Jessie more about her work at the law firm and then Rachel asked about the band and their CD’s. Indulging their curiosity, Jessie even promised to play some of her CD’s for them the next day.
During the conversation, Stephanie got up to go to the bathroom. Once she’d left the room, Rachel looked at Steve and Vince slyly, before she asked her next question. “So, Jessie…” Rachel said, grinning at her over her beer, “You’re a musician. Do you have any tattoos?”
Jessie nodded as she threw the dice. “Yeah, I’ve got two.” This was obviously a topic that Rachel had been waiting to bring up. She wondered why she’d waited until Stephanie left the room, though.
“Really? I‘ve been thinking about getting one,” Rachel said, getting excited. “What have you got? Can I see them?”
“Well, one is a yin yang symbol with dragons. It’s on my shoulder.” She dropped her shoulder down a bit and pulled the collar of her blouse down so the younger woman could see the tattoo in question.
“Oh, that is so cool! Guys, look at this,” Rachel said, dragging them over to give it a look.
“Yeah, that’s a pretty cool one,” they agreed appreciatively.
“So, what’s the other one? Where’s it at?” Rachel asked.
Jessie licked her lips as she straightened her shirt up. “Uhh…well…that one’s…”
“That one is reserved for me,” Stephanie said, walking up behind Jessie and rubbing her shoulders.
Rachel looked up at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Reserved for you…? Oh! Oh…I…Well, where is it, anyway?”
“I told you,” Stephanie said, sitting back down. “It’s only for me. You don’t get to know.”
“Aw, come on! Won’t you guys even tell me what it is?” Rachel begged, reverting to the behavior of a ten year old not getting her way.
Stephanie smirked and shook her head. “Ummm…No.”
Steve and Vince started laughing at their petulant younger sister. “Give it up, Rach. She’s not going to tell you,” Vince said, laughing. To his right, his wife Lisa was blushing slightly, obviously imagining where the tattoo in question could be.
Rachel glared over at him. “It’s not funny, Vince. I mean, we’re all family. I thought we were supposed to share everything?” She looked back over at Stephanie, but she knew when Steph was being serious. She’d never find out about Jessie’s second tattoo now.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and smirked at her sister some more. She wasn’t about to tell them about Jessie’s most recent tattoo. She wasn’t kidding when she told them it was only for her. Before they’d left to go to LA in June, Jessie had taken the gift card that Mike had given her for her birthday and had the new tattoo done. She had actually made a day of it. They’d gone into the shop a week earlier and looked through the designs for what seemed like hours. When they couldn’t find exactly what they were looking for, Jessie explained it to the artist and he called a friend, who promptly came over. The friend was another tattoo artist who specialized in Kanji, and knew exactly what they wanted. Jessie made an appointment, and a week later, they got up early and spent the morning at the park jogging and enjoying the beautiful sunny morning. Next to the tattoo shop was Jessie’s favorite local Irish pub. They’d stopped in for lunch then proceeded to the shop. The work took slightly less than an hour, and when they left, Jessie had a small Kanji style tattoo on her right hip bone. Just for Stephanie, she’d picked one that read ‘Eternal Love.’ Underneath the symbol, were the letters ‘SRW.’
Grateful when Rachel let the subject go, Stephanie re-joined the game. Half an hour later, she looked over and noticed that Jessie seemed to be uncomfortable. “You okay?”
Jessie looked over at her. “Yeah, but I think my arm’s going to sleep. I’m gonna take Kat upstairs and put her to bed.” Holding the little girl tight, Jessie got up to take her upstairs.
Gina started to get up, saying, “I’ll take her, Jessie. You don’t have to do it.”
“It’s okay, Gina. I’m getting tired, anyway. I think all that shopping wore me out,” Jessie said, smiling over at her. Katherine really wasn’t a burden, and she didn’t want Steve or Gina to feel that she was.
“I’ll go with you and help tuck her in,” Stephanie said, standing up as well.
“You don’t have to. I’ve got it.” Jessie didn’t want Steph to stop playing if she wasn’t tired. Stephanie didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her family and she didn’t want her to cut her evening short for her.
“Actually, I’m getting really tired, too. I was thinking about going up soon anyway.” As they left, they said goodnight to everyone. Walking next to Jessie, they headed upstairs to the bedroom the kids were sharing. Danny and David were still downstairs watching movies, so they carried Kat in and Stephanie found her pajamas. Tucking her in, they each gave her a kiss on the cheek. Leaving the door open a crack they headed for their room.
When they were both ready for bed, Jessie crawled in beside Stephanie and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m really glad I came up here with you. Your family’s great.”
Stephanie settled in, kissing her softly. “I’m glad you came, too. They really like you.”
“I like you best, though,” Jessie said, kissing her back and tracing her eyebrows with a finger.
“Mmm,” Stephanie hummed, leaning in for one more kiss. She was tired, and finding it hard to stay awake. Jessie had pulled her in close and was holding her tight, making her feel warm and safe. Giving her one last kiss…this one on the temple, she drifted off to sleep, her hand unconsciously drifting down to rest on the tattoo they’d been talking about earlier.
* * * *
At two in the morning, Steve knocked on Bill and Nancy’s door quietly, so he wouldn’t disturb everyone else on the second floor. When Nancy came to the door tying her robe at the waist, he asked, “Mom, have you seen Katherine? She was in her room when we put the boys to bed, but she’s not there now.”
A look of concern immediately crossed her face. “No, I haven’t seen her since I came upstairs. Did you look in the bathroom?”
“Yeah, but she’s not there, either,” he answered, obviously worried.
“What’s wrong?” Bill’s voice came from the bedroom.
“Steve can’t find Katherine,” Nancy answered.
He jumped up and pulled on his robe, too. “Let’s go look for her,” he said, joining them in the hall. Making a second check of the bathroom, and finding it empty, they headed downstairs.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Rachel asked, when they all came hurrying into the kitchen. Used to coming in from work late, she was still sitting at the kitchen table perusing a magazine and eating cookies.
“Katherine’s not in her bed,” Nancy said. “You haven’t seen her have you?”
Rachel shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen her since Stephanie and Jessie went upstairs hours ago.” She set the cookies aside and stood up. Opening the refrigerator door, she set her glass inside. “I’ll check upstairs for her.”
“I’ve already looked up there,” Steve told her.
She shrugged. “I’ll look again. It can’t hurt.” She left the kitchen and headed upstairs as Steve headed for the living room and Bill and Nancy went to check the sunroom and the attached garage.
Two minutes later, Rachel came back downstairs. “Steve, I think I’ve found her.”
“What? Where is she?” he jumped up from looking behind the couch in the living room.
“Get Mom and Dad, and I’ll show you,” his younger sister said, with an air of mystery. Another minute and she had led them, and Gina, who’d been searching the basement, back upstairs. Stopping in the hallway, she pointed at the door to Stephanie’s room. “Notice anything unusual about this picture?”
“The door’s not shut all the way,” Nancy answered, noticing the irregularity right away. Since Stephanie was young, she’d always slept with her bedroom door closed all the way, claiming she couldn’t sleep with the light from the hallway shining in her room.
Rachel nodded, smiling. “Exactly. Look inside.” Not wanting to infringe on Stephanie and Jessie’s privacy, Nancy was about to object, when Rachel reached over and pushed the door open a little wider. “It’s okay, Mom. Really.”
“Well…” hesitating slightly, Nancy finally pushed the door open until all five of them could see into the room. One look at the scene and they couldn’t help but smile.
Jessie, sleeping on the side of the bed closest to the door, was lying on her back. Stephanie, to her right, was sleeping with her head on Jessie’s shoulder, her right arm draped across her stomach. On Jessie’s left, tucked up under her free arm so she wouldn’t fall out of bed, lay Katherine, fast asleep. Curled up against Jessie’s left side, she was mirroring her aunt. Apparently, after Stephanie and Jessie had tucked her in, she’d awakened and found her way into their room, crawling into bed with them.
Shaking his head, Steve took a step forward, intent on taking her back to her own bed. Nancy, noticing the movement, caught his arm. “Leave them be. She’s okay and that’s what matters. Besides, they’re all asleep. There’s no need to wake them up.”
“Ooh, we should get a picture of this,” Rachel said, smiling and rubbing her hands together. She pulled out her cell phone and was about to snap the picture, when her mother smacked her hand.
“Don’t you dare, Rachel,” Nancy whispered, pulling the door shut quietly and fixing her youngest with a mock glare. “Since we know she’s in good hands, let’s all just go back to bed.”
When Steve looked like he was about to protest, Nancy smiled. “I know you’ve been trying to break her of the habit of crawling into bed with you and Gina and I know you’d prefer she sleep in her own bed, but she’s so attached to them. It’ll be okay for one night. Besides, it’s Christmas.”
Recognizing the wisdom of not waking the four year old up, Steve gave in, and he and Gina headed back downstairs. It really wasn’t hurting anything, allowing Katherine to sleep in their room just this once. And, his mother was right. Katherine had grown so attached to Stephanie and Jessie that he knew she’d cry if they made her leave, not to mention waking everyone in the house up.
Chapter 20
Bill walked into the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee as he sat down at the table. “So, anybody want to ride over to the store with me this morning?” he asked, looking around at everyone and waiting for an answer. He didn’t really expect one. His kids all knew he was going to put them to work.
Jessie looked around, waiting for someone to volunteer. When no one seemed willing to do it, however, she seized the opportunity. Truth be told, she’d been looking for a reason to get Bill alone since they’d arrived. “I’ll go with you, Bill.”
