He Loves Him

by Tegan Fjerstad

  “Right, well it looks good,” I said with a smile as we sat down.

  “Mom’s almost as good a cook as you,” he said with a smile of his own.

  “Now you’re being a suck up,” I said.

  “Better than a cheat,” he sing-songed smugly before shoving a forkful of potatoes in his mouth.

  I just shook my head fondly at him and started eating.

  Chapter 17 - Riker

  Thanksgiving 2016

  By the time we wandered downstairs, Mom was already in the kitchen starting to cook. There were at least three pies in the process of being put together. A pile of potatoes and other vegetables were off to one side of the counter, next to a knife, a peeler, and a cutting board.

  “Ooo, what kind of pie is it this year?” I asked as I bounded to the bar and took a seat on my stool. Kit followed at a more normal pace.

  “It’s plain Apple,” Mom answered.

  “What?” My entire mood deflated right then. I frowned and tried desperately to keep the sound of utter despair out of my voice. “But you always do something special,” I whined.

  “I usually have help in the kitchen, Rike,” she said.

  “Do you have the stuff to make one if you did have help?” I asked.

  “Yes, but I’m not letting you in the kitchen even if you offered,” she answered.

  I turned pleading eyes to Kit.

  “I can help if you want,” he said. My hero.

  “Thanks, Kit, but you’re a guest. You don’t have to,” Mom said.

  “I love cooking. I really wouldn’t mind helping,” Kit insisted.

  “He’s a really good cook,” I added desperately, trying to get Mom to let him help.

  “Don’t you boys have plans or something for the day?” she asked.

  “No, we were just going to chill around here all day,” I said.

  “Okay, if you really don’t mind. Wash your hands. Riker if you’re going to sit there, don’t touch anything and don’t eat anything.”

  “What if I get hungry?” I asked. There was no way I was going to sit there with all that food around me and not eat anything.

  She lifted the bowl of apple slices she had just cut and placed it in front of me. “You can eat as many of those as you want.”

  I couldn’t even tell you what sort of pies she was making as I watched them make them. I knew there were three different pies being made, and I could see the ingredients, but I couldn’t keep track of what was going in each one—or even make a guess at it. There were marshmallows and oranges, graham crackers and cherries, lemons and chocolate, and about another half dozen ingredients. After an hour, all three pies were in the oven and they moved onto the next set of tasks.

  Mom started making dough for rolls and set Kit to peeling the potatoes. I had already eaten a quarter of the apple slices. My phone was out on the counter and had the Thanksgiving parade streaming on it.

  “Why don’t you just go watch that on the TV?” Mom asked.

  “I like to watch Kit cook.” A commercial break started so I looked up.

  “You’re going to get bored,” she said.

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  The next hour saw the pies pulled out of the oven and put into the fridge. The rolls made it into the oven. While they were cooking, Mom and Kit started prepping the stuffing and the turkey. Kit laughed at my face of disgust when they stuffed the turkey and she simply reminded me I didn’t have to watch. The turkey made it into the oven before noon, which was about the time my dad showed up long enough to make some coffee, say hello, then disappear off to his office. I frowned.

  “The rest of the world doesn’t have a holiday today, Riker, you know how it is,” Mom said as she turned away from me again and back to the food.

  “Is it really impossible to get one Thanksgiving off after all these years?”

  “He promised he’d make it all the way through dinner this year. Just be glad for that.”

  I wasn’t glad for that, or at least I wouldn’t be until I saw it. The bowl of apples was still in front of me, so I reached in and took another slice and started eating it just to give myself something to do. Kit tossed a balled-up paper towel at my face. I startled for a second before breaking into a grin. Seeing him smiling back at me made me realize that making me smile was exactly what he was trying to do, and I was absolutely grateful.

  “Kit, you want to start on the vegetables while I start on the potatoes?”

  “Oh, please let him make the potatoes. Please, please, please,” I said.

  Mom turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

  “He makes really good potatoes.” Kit winked at me as he munched on an apple slice.

  “Alright, have at it then,” Mom said.

  He snatched an apple slice right out of my hand then with a playful smile, “I see I’ve spoiled you.”

  “He was already spoiled,” my mom said.

  “Hey!” I protested. Kit, caught a little of guard, barked out a laugh. I pouted and Kit leaned over the bar to kiss my forehead.

  “It’s okay, I love you anyway,” he whispered.

  After another hour, my apples were confiscated, because, apparently, they would ruin my appetite. The green bean casserole was started upon and more stuffing, because Allie and I refused to eat the stuffing that was in the turkey, nuh-uh, no thank you. There was some mushroom dish Mom made every year that was absolutely disgusting, but her and Jordan both liked it. Mac-n-cheese, once again for me and Allie—I don’t care if it’s a kid’s food it’s magnificent and a Thanksgiving staple.

  Then, with an hour to go, Ashley, Jordan, and Allie finally showed up. Ashley immediately ushered Allie into the living room and in front of the TV. Jordan found us in the kitchen and bear-hugged me from behind. “Welcome home, munchkin.”

  “Not a munchkin,” I said as I tried to pry his arms off of me.

  “You’ll always be a munchkin to me,” he said.

  “You’re embarrassing me on purpose,” I whined.

  “Of course, I am,” he said.

  “Kit, this lunatic is my brother in-law Jordan.”

  Kit smiled, but Jordan beat him to talking. “Nice to finally meet you, Kit. I see you’re already being put to work.”

  “I volunteered actually,” Kit said.

  “I’m impressed. Riker, you’ve got yourself a winner,” Jordan said.

  “Yeah, I thought so.” I tried to reach over and grab a potato right then, but Kit smacked my hand away lightly with a smile. That devolved quickly into the two of us trying to smack each other over the counter.

  “I just want a potato,” I pouted.

  “You can wait another twenty minutes.”

  “You’re not my mother,” I said and stuck my tongue out at him.

  “No, but I am, and you can wait another twenty minutes,” Mom said from over by the sink.

  Kit got in a soft swipe to the side of my head and stuck his tongue back out at me. He won that.

  “You two are adorable, aren’t you?” Jordan said.

  “Yes, we are. Right Kit?” I said.

  “You are, I just benefit through association,” he answered before once again getting distracted by what he was actually supposed to be doing. I turned around then to face Jordan, only to see that behind him Ashley was just leaning in the doorway watching everything. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

  “Your niece wants to know if you’ll play soccer with her in the backyard until dinner’s ready.”

  “Of course,” I said, then turned back to Kit, “Do you want to stay here or go outside with me? Ashley can take over helping out in here. She usually helps cook.”

  We decided that he would join me and Allie outside, so once he got cleaned up the three of us were kicking the ball around in the back yard. Somewhere along the lines Allie had watched me playing once and insisted on playing soccer herself. She took every chance she had to play with me. It was kind of nice, like having my own little protégé
. Except today my protégé was obsessed with my boyfriend.

  Allie was practically in awe of him. Which, to be fair, I was too when I was first getting to know him. Still am in awe of him sometimes. I never understood how kids picked up one adult or teenager or whatever and idolized them from the very first moment they met, but that was what was happening here. It was kind of cute. And Kit was handling it well. I’d have to ask him later if he was faking it or if he was actually enjoying the attention.

  Chapter 18 – Kit

  Thanksgiving 2016

  I hadn’t been nervous to meet his family. I hadn’t been nervous all week with them, but for some reason right then, at the table getting ready to eat a meal together, had me nervous. Food was being passed around so fast I was hardly keeping up. There were green beans on my plate that I definitely never had in my hands, so I was pretty sure Riker put those there for me—thank god for that because I would’ve been upset if I missed those. There was one dish I didn’t even know what it was, but he quickly pulled it out of my grasp and passed it on just lightly shaking his head with wide eyes at me. Apparently, that dish should not be touched.

  As soon as I wasn’t worried about passing food around, I linked my ankle with Riker’s under the table. It was small, but it was comforting. He inched his chair just slightly closer to mine. I was going to give him a huge hug later.

  What was worse than the sheer amount of food, was the room. Riker had mentioned at some point earlier in the day that they only used this dining room about twice a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was easily the most extravagant room I had ever stepped foot in, and it almost seemed out of place in the house. Everything seemed to shine and sparkle, the huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, right above the huge mahogany table. The walls which were the perfect shade of grey to almost pass as silver. The dishes and silverware that looked like they belonged in a palace. It felt grand. Too bad it also felt suffocating. Possibly the only thing that kept me grounded in the room was Riker.

  Thankfully his family didn’t talk like they belonged in a palace. His dad, who did in fact make it through the whole dinner, asked me basic questions like if I liked sports and what hobbies I had. His mom talked to me about cooking. They were normal, or at least they kept it normal around me.

  Despite Ashley and Jordan’s best efforts, Allie insisted on talking to me nonstop, which was fine, I could deal with entertaining the kid. Well, it was going fine until it was time for her to get ready for bed. She said goodnight, then Jordan carried her upstairs for a bath and then bed. So, it probably wasn’t a good thought to have, but I really wished it had been Ashley taking her up to bed so that at least I could have the support of the only other significant other at the table.

  “Sorry about her, she’s overly energetic and too talkative for her own good,” Ashley said as soon as her daughter was out of earshot.

  “I really don’t mind. She’s cute,” I said.

  “She’s a menace, but it’s nice that you think otherwise,” Ashley said.

  “Kit, did you get enough to eat?” Riker’s mom asked.

  “Yes, it was all great,” I answered.

  “You sure you don’t want anymore?”

  “I’m sure, but thanks,” I assured her.

  “There’s more—” she started only to be cut off by Riker.

  “—Mom, he’s fine.”

  “Alright, let’s get all this cleaned up then and we can move to the living room. Kit, you don’t need to help, you already helped a lot with cooking. Riker, you can keep him company until we’re finished.”

  I wanted to offer to help anyway, but I didn’t have it in me. I felt drained, and like I was slowly being crushed. Riker had been saying something next to me and I didn’t even hear it. All I was aware of was my need to disappear. I shot my hand out and latched onto Riker’s wrist. He turned his chair to look at me. Everything crumbled then, every last ounce of control I had left. He pulled me into his arms, and I clung to him harder than I ever had before.

  “You’re shaking.”

  “I think I need a minute. Is it possible to get away for a little bit?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah, come on.” He took my hand and gently pulled me away. The farther away we got from the living room the quieter everything was and that calmed me down a little. We stepped into his room and he shut the door behind us and suddenly nothing existed. It was just us. His family didn’t exist, the cleaning and talking and everything going on downstairs didn’t exist. It was only me, him, and his bedroom. It was the biggest relief of my life.

  I took a deep breath, let it out, and then slumped against his chest to cling again.

  “Whoa. You’re freaking me out a little, Kit, you okay?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back.

  “Yeah, yeah. That was just… a lot. I don’t think you realize how much that was for me to take in. The amount of food, and the dishes are the most extravagant china I’ve ever seen, and that room. That room.” I didn’t know how to explain that. That room expressed everything about his family that the rest of the house didn’t. It expressed the money and the elaborate parties that had been mentioned. It was the part of Riker that he never put on show. He was rich, and it was easy to forget that sometimes.

  “God, Kit, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about any of this being out of the norm. I should’ve warned you or something. I’m so sorry.” I felt a light kiss on the top of my hair. Then his hand was cradling my head and I felt grounded for the first time all night.

  “It’s not your fault. It’s all you know… I wouldn’t expect you to think of it as a problem. Sometimes I forget though, that we do come from very different backgrounds.”

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed softly and heartfelt.

  I reluctantly let go and sat down on the end of his bed. “You know I don’t care about that. I never have and I never plan on starting but being thrown into it all of a sudden takes some getting used to. And I realize I wasn’t thrown into it, I wanted to come, and I’ve been here for a few days now. It wasn’t like today was day one. It was just that today was so much more. I didn’t have a bad time either, I enjoyed it, really, it was just overwhelming. Exhausting really, trying to keep up and take everything in.”

  He sat down next to me and slid his hand into mine. For a few seconds, he looked like he was trying to come up with something to say but couldn’t.

  “I don’t know what to say other than sorry,” he finally settled on, “I forget too, sometimes. If I knew it would be like this for you, or I knew how to make it easier, I would do whatever it took.”

  “I know you would.” I laid my head on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. “I’ll get used to it.”

  Riker’s head rested lightly on top of mine and he let go of my hand in favor of wrapping his arm around my middle and pulling me in tighter to him. Gradually I slumped further and further against him, completely unaware of the fact I was slowly falling asleep.

  Chapter 19 - Riker

  November 25th, 2016

  I woke up to the door cracking open and Kit tucking himself into my side and tugging the blanket over his head in response. Groaning, I curled an arm around the ball of blankets that was Kit and turned my head to the door.

  “Jordan? What the…” I started to say.

  “Your sister had a bad asthma attack. Your parents and I are taking her to the hospital,” he said.

  “Right, I’m babysitting?” I asked.

  “Yeah sorry, Munchkin. I’ll make it up to you,” he promised.

  “It’s fine.”

  “She’s asleep right now, but I gotta go and I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

  I waved him off. “Go, I’ve got it under control.”

  “Thank you. Call if you need to.” He shut the door and I looked back to Kit.

  “Do people always just enter your room?” Kit’s muffled voice came from under the blankets.

  “Only when it’s
an emergency.” I rubbed his back through the blanket.

  “She gonna be okay?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

  “Yeah, it’s not the first time. As long as they get her to the hospital relatively quick after it happens, it’s not bad,” I told him.

  He finally raised his head above the blanket and peeked up at me. “So, babysitting?”

  “Yeah sorry, I know yesterday took a toll on you and you probably wanted to spend the day together.”

  “It’s fine, Ri, we’ll still be together. Just with a small third wheel. Besides, it’s a family emergency. I can’t complain,” he said through a yawn.

  I carded my fingers through his hair and said, “She’s going to wake up soon. I need to get up and get ready, you getting up with me or sleeping more?”

  “I’ll catch up,” he said.

  “Take your time.” I kissed his forehead then climbed out of bed to get changed. He watched me the whole time I was moving about the room and when I glanced back at him before I left he smiled softly at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  He shook his head, “Nothing. Just a little jealous. You’ve never gotten out of bed that fast for me before.”

  “You’re not going to burn down the building if I don’t get up to make you a bowl of cereal,” I pointed out.

  “Fair enough,” he said through a yawn. “See you soon.”

  “I’ll save you some cheerios,” I said as I slipped out the door.

  Down in the kitchen, I made myself a plate of leftover potatoes and turkey for breakfast while I waited for Allie to wake up. I didn’t have to wait long. As soon as I finished eating and putting my plate in the dishwasher, a small, tired voice spoke up behind me. “Where’s my mom and dad?”