Masquerades and Charades, page 14
She felt two knees bump then press against hers under the table to either side of her—her guys trying to secretly comfort her any way they could under her mother's gaze.
But it had the opposite effect, threatening to crumble her control. Clearing her throat, she pasted on a too bright smile and hopped up, taking her plate and glass over to the sink. She scraped the last of her food into the trash, set her plate in the sink, then muttered that she was going to go for a quick walk to walk off the food. But she could tell from her mother's sympathetic smile that she knew the truth.
Madison managed to remember to grab her purse this time. Her dad kept snoring. Madison looked at him, his chin pressed against his chest, his oxygen mask strapped around his head, its machine chugging away to keep him alive…
She turned and slipped out of the house as quietly as she could to avoid waking her father. The door was barely shut behind her before she burst into tears. It was all she could do to keep from sobbing out loud till after she was safely a few yards from the house and out of hearing range of its occupants.
As she walked along the familiar sidewalks, she hugged herself tightly and kept her head down, using the forward fall of her hair to hide her face as she cried.
Two thoughts kept going through her mind.
Her father was dying. Horribly and slowly, without any hope from the doctors to even keep him optimistic.
She had no idea how she was supposed to get through the rest of the day, much less Christmas.
She heard footsteps on the sidewalk behind her just before Connor said, "Madison?"
She half turned toward him then looked away again, hurriedly trying to dry her face.
"Don't," he murmured as he caught up to her. "Don't hide from me."
She shook her head, wishing she could explain, then giving up when she realized there probably was no need to explain. He got it.
He glanced around them. "Are your parents close with their neighbors?"
"The immediate ones, sort of."
"Let's go that way." He nodded ahead of them, and they started walking briskly.
When they were three blocks away, he reached out and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her opposite upper arm a gentle rub.
They kept walking, Madison focused on just breathing past the tightness in her chest. But eventually she started to shiver.
"Think you're ready to head back?" he murmured.
She nodded, and they turned around.
When they were two blocks from her parents' house, he slowly lowered his arm, rubbing her upper back briefly before letting go of her completely. Immediately she missed the comfort of his warmth and strength.
When they walked back into the house, her father was still napping, and her mother and Jamie were gone.
Madison followed their voices down the hall to the guest room, where Mom was showing Jamie photos of Madison as a little girl. Madison hadn't even known her parents had these. She'd grown up with her birth mother and whichever stepfather of the year was around, only seeing her dad and stepmom every couple of months. They used to stay busy all the time when not at work…going on motorcycle runs, visiting gun shows and craft fairs, going camping in places like South Dakota and Colorado. So, she'd only seen them a few times a year plus either Thanksgiving or Christmas, depending on what her birth mother negotiated with them. And neither of them had seemed all that into photography.
"Where in the world did you find these?" Madison asked with an embarrassed smile as she recognized her kindergarten school photo.
"Your mother gave us some. We had a few others." Mom pointed at the kindergarten shot. "That was the year little Miss Madison decided to give herself a haircut and chopped into her bangs."
There was a noticeable chunk of her bangs missing from one side, which her birth mother had tried to hide by clipping a barrette into her bangs to push them to the opposite side of her head.
"Oh lord," Madison muttered, shaking her head. "I think I'm going to walk away now."
Mom and Jamie laughed quietly, the sound following her down the hall as she returned to the living room where her father was just starting to wake up.
Gathering every bit of strength she had, Madison smiled at him. She noticed Connor had switched to Jamie's spot on the couch away from her father, allowing her to take Connor's spot at the end of the couch closest to her dad.
"That pot roast was pretty good, wasn't it?" Dad asked her with a smile.
Madison nodded.
Her father grabbed the TV remote. "Let's see what we can find on the old boob tube."
***
They left a couple of hours later. Madison felt completely torn about leaving. On the one hand, she was desperate to stay close to her father every minute they had left. But she could also tell by his growing crankiness that he was getting really tired.
When Mom asked which hotel they were staying at, Madison took that as the cue that they should leave for the evening. She waited until Connor finished answering, then stood up.
“We should probably head out,” Madison murmured, her throat tightening up yet again. She wished it would stop doing that.
Her father started to try to get up from his chair. Madison quickly waved at him to stay seated, and she leaned over to give him a hug. He hugged her back with one arm, and even his strongest arm was so much weaker than she’d ever known it to be. She blinked rapidly as she straightened up and turned to hug her mother goodbye.
“See you in the morning?” her father asked with eyebrows raised, not an order but a request. The look in his eyes bordered on a plea, which made it all the more difficult for her to breathe.
She settled for forcing a smile and nodding quickly in reassurance.
Once they were in the car again, Jamie and Connor wrangled with the Google Map app to find the hotel while Madison stared out her side window, her insides twisting and rolling.
The guys unloaded the bags and her small rolling suitcase, insisting on carrying everything for her so all she had was her purse as they checked in then went up in the elevator to their second-floor room. Madison barely noticed the room beyond that it was nice and clean and had a king-sized bed.
They offered to join her in the shower as she prepped for it by getting out her own shampoo and conditioner. But she desperately needed some alone time, so she gently turned down the offer and showered by herself. At least while under the spray the tears could flow freely and she didn’t feel them on her face or have to be embarrassed.
She stayed in until her exhausted muscles begged for sleep. Once she toweled off, she walked through the room in just her towel, digging out a tank top and panties to pull on from her suitcase. Connor closed and moved the suitcase away for her without having to be asked, and she gave him a grateful smile of thanks as she crawled in under the cool, clean sheets.
The guys took turns showering, Jamie going last and watching part of a Jim Carrey movie on the TV till Connor was done. Connor took one look at what Jamie had decided to watch, snorted, and changed it to the National Geographic channel to some travel show.
She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. But her body was wound tight, her stomach still in knots. And she couldn’t turn off her mind, couldn’t stop seeing and hearing her father’s wet, endless cough and the frail way he walked now.
“You’re thinking very loudly over there.” Connor stroked her hair from her forehead.
A tear slid out of her eye into her pillow. She ignored it. How much could human eyes cry in one day? It was ridiculous. Such a useless body reaction to emotion.
Turning off the TV, Connor slid down under the covers with her. He turned to face her. She could feel his breath on her face, soft minty toothpaste scented puffs of heat that made her realize how cold the tip of her nose was.
He bent his long legs a little, his knees nudging her legs. She bent her knees more so her shins could rest against the top of his thighs in the way that he liked, and he rested a forearm on the side of her legs, his hand resting on her hip. She felt some of the tension ease out of her body.
A few minutes later, Jamie finished in the bathroom and joined them in bed, spooning in behind her so his long, hot, hard body lined up against hers. He rested his arm across her waist, his hand resting on top of Connor’s. Their fingers laced together, and she managed the first real smile in hours.
The rest of the tension drained out of her body, and she fell into a deep sleep.
***
They managed to sleep in until Jamie got too restless and had to get up to take a painkiller. Which of course woke up her other morning man. They let her doze while they used the bathroom to shave and get ready.
When they came out smelling great, she winced. “Guys…did you put on cologne?”
They nodded, their expressions confused.
She sighed, hating to do it to them. “I’m sorry, but Dad’s allergic to any kind of cologne or perfume. Do you mind washing it off?” She pressed her lips together, wishing she didn’t have to be so rude.
“Oh! Damn, totally forgot,” Connor said.
“Sorry babe. Wasn’t thinking,” Jamie added as they hurried back into the bathroom to wash their faces and necks.
When they returned, they insisted on taking turns making her smell them.
She grinned as she sniffed each neck and pronounced them ready to go, their hands friskily roving over her body in the process.
Then Jamie grabbed one of her nipples and gave it a little pinch, and her whole body arched as she gasped.
“No, no, no,” she moaned, even as her body arched harder into him. “No time. Gotta get to my parents’.
“Aww, but babe, it’s been forever,” Jamie murmured against that sensitive spot on the side of her neck where it met her shoulder, making her shiver with need.
She sighed. “Fine. But we’ve got to keep it quick.”
The guys flashed each other naughty grins then attacked her.
She was going to have to take another shower before they left.
***
By the time they got to her parents' house again, it was nearly eleven o'clock. But the kitchen was still sending amazing smells wafting into the living room when they knocked and Mom called out for them to enter.
"Merry Christmas!" her mother greeted them from the kitchen.
They called out "Merry Christmas" back.
"Oh wow, something smells good," Madison said with a grin while Jamie closed the front door behind them.
Dad smiled at them from his chair. "Pigs in a blanket."
"Yum." Madison smiled as she gave him a quick hug, refusing to allow herself to think about his illness. Not today. It was Christmas. Time to be happy and grateful they were together.
While her guys settled in on the couch to talk football with her father, she drifted into the kitchen to hug her mother and see if she could help with making any food for dinner later.
"No, everything's good," Mom said. "I made most of it ahead of time. So it's mainly just reheating. Hungry?"
"Starving." Madison peeked in the oven, grabbed one of the hot dog wieners baked inside a crescent roll with cheddar cheese, and made a pouting face. "Aww, it's cold already."
Mom laughed. "Well, that's what you get for taking so long to get your booty out of bed, missy."
Madison shot her a surprised and confused face. "We weren't that late."
Her mother's eyebrows shot up. "Eleven o'clock's not late? College kids. No sense of time."
Laughing, Madison kissed her mother's cheek then grabbed the now piping hot food and a bottle of mustard from the fridge. Calling out towards the living room, she said, "Hey, any of you want some pigs in a blanket?"
"What?" Jamie asked with a laugh.
"Hot dogs baked inside crescent rolls with a slice of cheddar cheese," Madison explained. "They're amazing."
"Sure, I'll take two," Jamie said.
"I'd love some as well," Connor said.
She nuked two more plates for them, then brought the bottle of ketchup to the table too in case they liked theirs with it.
Her dad stayed in his recliner while the guys came to the table to eat with Madison.
"What do you want to drink?" Madison asked, peering into the fridge. "There's orange juice, milk, Sprite, coffee."
Both asked for coffee. Madison was surprised to see her mother dig in a drawer and pull out two K cups to load a Keurig with.
"When did you get one of those?" Madison asked her while pouring herself a cup of orange juice.
Mom rolled her eyes. "Ages ago. Visit more, you'll be surprised less."
Madison smiled ruefully as she carried the mugs of coffee to her guys, almost forgetting not to touch them. At the last second, she remembered and pulled her hand away from Connor's shoulder. A hasty glance at the living room showed her father searching for something to watch on TV.
Slightly rattled now, Madison sat and ate her late breakfast.
After the late breakfast, they all gathered in the living room. Although Madison had begged her mother not to do any presents for her and the guys, she still insisted on pulling out presents and passing them around. The guys got fleece blankets, a nice gesture they had totally not expected but made sure to verbally express their thanks for.
Madison received a faux fur blanket and sequined, faux fur-lined house shoes, which made her laugh.
"Because we know how much you love the glitter," Mom teased her.
Jamie laughed. "Oh yeah she does. The girl's crazy for the faux bling. Try to give her the real stuff, though, and…" He shook his head, grinning, then caught Madison's wide-eyed look of warning at him and stopped talking.
Mom's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really? You tried to give her something expensive?"
Madison jumped in, afraid of what Jamie might say. "Just some silly key chain once. It was so pretty I thought it was made of the real stones and wouldn't take it. He had to explain it was just really good cubic zirconias." She tried to laugh, but it sounded fake even to her own years. She clamped her lips shut, afraid of what her tone might reveal next.
"What was the gift for?" Mom asked curiously.
"Oh, he was just coming back from some trip and brought it back as a souvenir," Madison said. "So what did you two give each other this year?"
Mom smiled. "Oh, let's see…your dad arranged to surprise me with that china cabinet in the kitchen. But he made a total prank out of it. Told me to go to the local antique store and see if there were any good dining table sets there. Then he made this big deal of asking if I liked any of the china cabinets. I saw this one, gravitated right to it, and come to find out, he'd already paid for it ahead of time!" She smiled lovingly at Dad. "He knows my taste so well by now."
Dad grunted. "After this many years of marriage? I'd better."
Madison grinned. "And what did Dad get for Christmas?"
Mom rolled her eyes. "Another gun, of course."
Madison laughed. "Of course."
"Show them the Glocks," Dad said before erupting into coughing, waving his hand at Mom and the gun vault in their bedroom.
Mom hopped up and hurried off to the bedroom, and Madison had to fight the sinking feeling inside at seeing her mother jump to do Dad's bidding. If she'd only started doing it recently when Dad became too sick to get up and get things on his own, that would be understandable. But she'd been jumping to do his command for as long as Madison could remember.
While she was gone, Dad turned to the three of them, leaned back in his chair, and said, "So, how long have you three been screwing each other's brains out?"
Madison forgot to breathe as her mouth dropped open. She just sat there, feeling the blood drain from her face and the air trapped in her lungs straining to get free. "Wh-what?"
Dad stared at her. "You heard me, Daughter."
Madison licked her lips. "Who said we were—"
"Just because I'm dying doesn't make me senile. Now answer the question."
Oh God. Her nightmare was coming true. This was happening. It was really happening.
Mom returned with two black carbon molded gun cases. Then she either saw the look on Madison's face or just sensed the general change in the air, because she stopped in the archway to the kitchen. "Did I miss something?"
"Just asking about our daughter's love life."
Madison's eyes widened farther. She desperately wanted to tell her mother to take the guns away. The last thing this discussion needed was weapons in her father's hands. Because while he didn't physically have the strength to throw a punch at either of her guys now, a gun in his hands would change everything.
Madison resorted to jumping up and going to her mom. "Um, maybe guns are a bad idea right now, Mom."
Mom frowned, scrutinizing Madison's face. Frowning, she leaned past her to ask Dad, "What's going on?"
"Our daughter is screwing these two young men, it seems."
"I did not say that!" Madison hissed, feeling the whole situation cascade out of her control.
Mom drew in a quick breath, turned and carefully set the gun cases on the kitchen counter. She looked at Madison out of the corner of her eye and murmured, "Is it true?"
Shit. She couldn't keep lying to her parents. But she really didn't want to have this conversation with them. What she did with her love life was her business, and had been for years. She was a grown woman fully capable of making her own decisions about who and how many she decided to have sex with.
She closed her eyes. "It's Christmas. Can't we just change the subject and be happy to be together today?"
Awkward silence filled both rooms. Madison was afraid to move, could hardly breathe.
Her mother circled around her to her armchair, without the guns thankfully, and eased down into her chair. She sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Hon, it is Christmas. Maybe we could have this discussion at some later date? Your daughter came all this way to see us."
"And now I know why she never comes to visit," Dad growled, grabbing his oxygen mask and jerking it up to his face to draw a few angry puffs of air.
He wasn't the only one feeling that rising family temper. Madison was shaking with her growing temper, with a thousand and one things she'd always wanted to say to her father but never had out of respect and love and maybe a little fear too.
