Because It's Not Love

by Kitty Parker

  Nick frowned as he tried to remember the last time the four of us spent time together out of town. "Uh…your twelfth birthday?" He guessed.

  "Exactly! That's how long it has been." I exclaimed before cutting a piece from my pancake.

  "I'm just saying that…technically, it's not just the four of us." I heard mom giving us a weak laugh.

  The fork on my hand stopped not far away from my mouth. I glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

  "Please don't be mad! I wanted to ask you both but I also wanted it to be a surprise." Mom gave me and Nick a pleading look. I glanced at my brother and he just shrugged.

  Dad spoke up for mom. "We invited Dr Malloy to come along with us." He said and smiled at me. I had my mouth hanging open. I was going to spend this Christmas with the Malloys? With my…boyfriend? "And your mother is close with the Coopers, Mrs. Cooper is also a nurse at the hospital so you'll be expecting Lisa to tag along." Dad winked at Nick with a flash of his grin.

  Unlike me, Nick punched the air and let out a loud 'yes' that echoed the kitchen. I gaped at him. How could he be this happy? Don't get me wrong, I was as thrilled as he was that I got a chance to spend a holiday season with my boyfriend…but our families were going to be there. Don't you get it? It seemed as if my relationship with Carson was getting a lot more serious. I mean, we were only starting to date but our families were going to spend Christmas together, a big important holiday. I guess it would actually be nice to be with him…but imagine our families staring at us while all we could do was to think of how many things we'd be doing if nobody was around us. And weren't Carson supposed to spend some time together after Christmas?

  I don't think I could spend this year's Christmas calmly.

  "You guys are okay with this right?"

  Nick (of course) beamed at dad. "This is going to be the best Christmas ever!"

  "I guess so." I managed to mumble out but got a frown on dad's face as he looked at me suspiciously. Mom was pretty oblivious as she and Nick grinned at each other. Dad must've wonder why I was not that enthusiastic to spend a vacation with my boyfriend, I would've thought the same too. I gave him a small smile and continued to eat my breakfast.

  Mom clapped her hands cheerily. "Oh goody! At last I get the chance to meet Jennifer after a long time—"

  My head whipped towards her direction. "Wait mom, Jennifer?"

  "Yep! Your soon to be mother-in-law." Mom confirmed as if it was always obvious for all of us. Dad chocked on his drink while my brother covered his grin with his hand. Great. Just freaking great! I was going to meet Carson's mother already? His mother that lived in a different country? When Nick introduced Carson to us, all I ever met was Cameron and Dr Malloy. All I knew was that Dr Malloy was a divorced man. Huh, I didn't even know that mom was even friends with Jennifer that close. Let alone knowing her at all.

  A thought entered my mind. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but why is she spending Christmas with her ex husband?"

  "If you must know, she's going to bring her fiancé along and she's here to spend Christmas with her boys." Mom explained. So okay, there would be me and my family, my best friend and her family, my boyfriend and his family with his soon to be stepfather.

  I think I now prefer spending Christmas with my little annoying cousins now. Like seriously.

  I merely nodded and pushed my plate aside. Nick stood up quickly and walked out of the room to answer a call from someone while mom picked up the dishes and placed them in the dish washer.

  "I'm sorry you have to go through this." I glanced at dad as he gave me an apologetic smile. I somehow reflected back a few days ago when I mentioned to dad that Carson and I were now dating. At first he was worried about me, acting like the overprotective father and all, until he calmed down and gave out his blessings when Carson came over and introduced himself as my boyfriend.

  It was funny, Carson was already close with dad...but that was when he was only Nick's best friend. Now he was the daughter's boyfriend.

  I gave him a small smile. “It’s okay dad, it's just that…" I trailed of and leaned on my chair.

  "What? You're not happy about this?"

  I sighed. "It's just that…I've been dating the guy for about a few days and now I'm about to meet his mother that I haven't met before. Kind of nerve racking." I admitted. The thought of meeting my boyfriend's mother made me even more anxious.

  Dad chuckled at my behavior. "Just relax, Carson's mom is a great woman. She'll love you the moment she'll see you."

  "Well in that case...amen to that."

  * * *

  Our family was the first one to arrive at the ski resort. The place was huge enough to keep twenty fat elephants. Yes, it was that enormous. I didn't know that we could afford all of this luxury.

  "They're late." Mom mentioned again for the tenth time in two minutes as if it wasn't already clear enough for us. I glanced at my watch and the time showed me that it was only ten o'clock in the morning. Mom said that we would all meet at the ski resort before noon so we could have lunch together.

  I sighed at the look of mom pacing around the lobby of the resort. "No mom, we're early." Mom ignored me and kept pacing back and forth. Mom hated it when people were late…even though she was the one that was early.

  "I'll go and give them a call." Dad suggested and walked away with his phone in his hand.

  "Mom it's too cold, can we just go to our room or cabin or whatever it is?" Nick asked mom with his puppy dog eyes.

  Mom crossed her arms and looked at Nick. "Don't be such a baby; it's rude to not wait for everybody else."

  "But mom, it's freezing. My boobs are going to turn into ice any second now." I said to her, receiving a shock expression on her face. She glanced around to see if anyone heard her daughter saying such explicit things.

  "And I can hardly feel my balls now. Mom, I thought you wanted to be a grandmother?" Nick also chirped in. I pressed my lips together while holding my laughter as mom's face went red. An old woman snapped her eyes at us and gave mom a disapproval look before she walked away.

  Mom finally sighed in frustration and glared at both of us. "Okay fine, please stop embarrassing me." She mumbled some words I couldn't hear as she walked away to eventually get our keys to the place we would stay in. Nick and I high fived with a grin on both of our lips.

  "So, are you looking forward to this year's Christmas?" Nick nudged me with his elbow and gave me a suggestive look with a wink of his eye.

  I shrugged. "I guess so. Why?"

  "Oh nothing, it's just funny seeing you nervous to meet your boyfriend's mom." He laughed at me while ruffling my hair. I batted away his hand and sent him an irritated look. How could I not be nervous? Just seeing Dr. Malloy himself made me want to pee in my pants and I've seen him quite a lot.

  I bit the inside of cheeks and ignored my brother who I just had a bonding time with earlier. And of course at times like this I wish I never had a brother.

  "Okay, here are your keys." Mom came toward us holding the keys to our place to rest for this holiday. She first handed a key to Nick. "This is your key to your cabin. You'll be staying with Carson and Cameron." She then handed me a key. "And this is the key to the cabin you and Lisa are staying in."

  I gasped quietly. "I get a cabin to myself? A big cabin?"

  "You and Lisa." mom reminded me sternly.

  "I get a cabin to myself!" I laughed at the look of mom rolling her eyes. I know I would get it to myself because one, Cameron wouldn't use his cabin because he would stay at another cabin full of women, and two, Lisa would stay at Nick's cabin secretly. So then I would get a cabin all to myself—wait, I forgot about Carson. Then I guess I wouldn't get the cabin to myself…a blush crept on my cheeks.

  Nick suddenly hit my back hard and gave me a smug smile. "Your nervousness now isn't about his mother again I see."

  "Go away." I scowled at him which of course I only got a low chuckle in return. He walked away with his luggage calmly getting a few sighs
from women around him. I rolled my eyes.

  "So, what cabin am I staying in?"

  Mom looked giddy all of a sudden. "I got you a special cabin. It's called, get ready…the love cabin."

  I raised one of my eyebrows. "The love cabin? Can it get anymore cheesy?"

  "As cheesy as it sounds, many 'love' encounters has happened to that cabin."

  I wrinkled my nose. "Ew mom, do I really have to know that?"

  Mom gave me an evil smile. "Yes, in fact you do. You and Carson are probably the next couple to do such things."

  "Mom!" I could tell that people were looking at our way when I shouted that. They might not hear what she said earlier but I heard it quite clear enough to be this humiliated. I couldn't believe mom had the guts to tease me when she was that embarrassed earlier.

  "Payback's a bitch, huh?" I gasped at her use of words. "See you at lunch!" She shouted at me and finally turned around meeting dad that was near the entrance door.

  Oh my god…she's evil. She's purely evil…and definitely weird.

  I finally made my way toward my cabin with my luggage in tow. After asking a staff and got lost to a different cabin, I finally managed to meet the cabin I was going to stay at. It wasn't that big, it looked like a small comfy cabin that I would love to live in. I slowly opened the door and was surprised at how beautiful it looked.

  This really was the love cabin.

  It had this eccentric feeling of it…even though it was very cold. I shivered at the breeze and found a stack of logs near the fire place. After the fireplace was on and burning with warm flames, I then looked around the place again. It was lovely, it was so much different from the ski resort we were at. I guess they had a few rooms there but the cabins near the resort were surrounded by the snow that it was that amazing. It was cozy like any house, it was not big and not too small, and the walls were made out of wood that made the room had a comfortable feeling to it.

  I found out that it only had one bathroom, a living room with a fireplace, a big kitchen and only one room with a king size bed in the middle of it. I guess I'd be sharing that bed with Lisa…if she decided to stay here. If she decided to stay with Nick then I'd stay with…

  I shook my head at the steamy thoughts running in my mind. Wow, this was the love cabin.

  After I unpacked a couple of my things…I felt rather lonely. Lisa wasn't here yet and I felt like a single woman who was stuck in this 'love cabin'. If I stay here too long I could get crazy. I found myself tightening my jacket as I stepped outside the cabin before locking the door. I quietly made my way toward the ski resort where we would have lunch at. I glanced around the magnificent scene around me and decided that there was nothing better than Mother Nature.

  I didn't know what made me do this, but I couldn't find anybody that I know of so somehow I was walking toward the bar. I was technically illegal to drink anything with alcohol but yet again my feet was dragging me to the place. My eyes caught a sight that made me frown. Nick was laughing with a blonde woman who by the look of it seemed that they both enjoyed each others company very much. Was my brother cheating on my best friend? I couldn't believe—wait, was that Lisa at the bar with Nick?

  I made my way toward them and when I was near them I saw a glimpse of the blonde woman. Yep, it was surely my best friend. "Lisa? What the hell are you doing here?"

  Lisa turned around and gave me a dazzling smile. She jumped off her stool and hugged me tightly as if I was a big cuddly teddy bear. "And I'm so glad to see you too." She said sarcastically before letting go of me.

  I shook my head slightly. "I didn't mean it like that. I thought you weren't here yet…and where the hell is your suitcase?"

  She gave me a sheepish smile and leaned onto Nick for support. "I'm sorry. I got here a few minutes ago and I met Nick…so I placed my things at his cabin."

  "You're not going to stay with me?"

  She grabbed my hand quickly and gave me an apologetic look. "I must look like a terrible friend! You see Nick; I knew she wouldn't be okay with this!"

  I somehow managed to laugh and sat on a stool beside her. She looked at me as if I was crazy. "I have to admit I'm kind of hurt…but I've got to say I was actually expecting that."

  "What? You want me out of our cabin so you can spend time with Carson?"

  "Lisa! Not that! I'm just saying that I'm okay if you want to spend this vacation with my brother. It is Christmas after all."

  She breathed out a sigh of relief. "I knew you were going to be okay! I knew I could count on you."

  "Yes, yes. Leave it to me when you want to have sex with my brother."

  I saw her blush for a split second before she was tackled by Nick's mouth…ugh, they were kissing deeply again. Not a sight that I want to see in front of me. I guess I should just leave them. I was not that jealous type of friend when her friend was being stolen by her boyfriend…I was actually happy that she had the chance to feel love, especially when the man she loved was my brother. It was just that seeing them lip locking gets me kind of sick.

  I probably should find Lisa's parents and greet them. Seeing that my brother and my best friend were still French kissing, I hopped off my stool and turned around…

  And that was when I saw him.

  He was at the end of the room looking all fine. I could tell that girls in this room had the same thought as me. He looked really handsome wearing his thick jacket, his hoodie and a small smile appearing on his gorgeous face. He looked like a beautiful boy. And more importantly…his eyes were locked with mine. Even though there were many women sighing at his perfection, he was still looking at me.

  His eyes were on me. Just on me. I gave him a genuine smile as he walked closer to me with a bigger smile on his lips.

  Christmas this year was going to be interesting, I thought, before feeling his cold lips on mine.

  Say Love

  I slipped my arm around his own one as we walked together side by side. I could tell that my feet were making its way to a place that I'd rather not be. My brain wasn't even functioning very well now since it couldn't make my feet stop and turn back around to the cabin again. Nope, Carson just had to drag me along.

  "Are you sure you're fine?" I felt him tugging me with eyes full of concern. I nodded my head slowly and gave him an assuring smile.

  "I'm fine. Great. Wonderful, just… peachy." I sighed. You know, that seemed very assuring in my mind but when I just said that out loud, it sounded the other way around.

  He kissed the top of my head when the view of the resort's restaurant came in view of my vision. "Don't be nervous."

  "You can tell?"

  He chuckled lowly as he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his body. "Just don't think about it too much. I promise you that she'll love you."

  "Well she better be…because whether she likes it or not, I'm still going to make out with her son."

  Carson approved my statement by crashing his lips on to mine. After a while, he pulled away and grabbed me toward the restaurant again. I groaned loudly but he ignored me and just kept on pulling me there. "Can't we just skip dinner and stay at the bar or something?"

  "As wonderful as that sounds, my mother is dying to see you."

  I huffed when we finally stepped inside the restaurant. I felt really nervous now…it was already dinner time and it was time to meet the woman who gave birth to my boyfriend. This afternoon it turned out that Jennifer Blakely and her fiancé's flight was delayed so they would join us at dinner now. I haven't met her yet so I kind of felt nervous since I was going to introduce myself as 'your son's girlfriend' and not 'your son's best friend's little sister'. Plus…I don't get why Carson was smiling so much when I was trying not to pee in my pants. Yes, I was that nervous.

  I mean, dinner now would be different than lunch. Lunch was already uncomfortable when I was squeezed by my own brother and my boyfriend. Cameron wasn't helping at all when he kept on flirting with the waitress. The adults literally ignored us teenagers�
�so why force us to have another meal together? And now it would be bizarre, Carson's parents were going to eat at the same table after years of avoiding each other…and there would be Carson's soon to be step-father. How awkward could that be?

  We searched for a big table of our big family…which was the biggest table and the noisiest table at the corner. This was going to be humiliating.

  Carson and I walked hand in hand together toward the table a I realized that everybody was already seated except the two of us.

  "Hey everyone." Carson greeted. Everyone smiled at our arrival but what caught my attention the most was the woman who turned around from her chair, grinning widely seeing the guy who was beside me.

  "Carson!" She laughed while Carson let go of my hand and gave her a tight hug. So…this must be his mother. Wow, just wow. She looked…older than I thought possibly. I thought she would be like my mom but from the wrinkles around her eyes and a strand of gray hair that flowed along with the rest of her brown hair, she looked quite older than I had pictured.

  They exchange words I couldn't hear as my eyes landed on to the people on the table. Everybody was chatting like usual…except for my best friend, my brother and my mother. They were all looking at me with a stupid grin on their face. I rolled my eyes.

  "Mom, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Margaret. Maggie, this is my mom."

  I turned around to meet eye to eye with her. I plastered on my best smile and was about to shake her hand when out of nowhere she embraced me into a warm hug. I couldn't help but hug her back even though I was quite shocked myself. "It's nice to finally meet you, Margaret. My son has told me many things about you."

  "The pleasure's mine, Mrs. Blakely. And please call me Maggie." I saw from the corner of my eye that Carson was smiling at me before he shook his hand with a man I didn't know.

  She chuckled and slowly let go of me. "Okay, but if only you call me Jennifer. How's that?"

  "Okay."

  Jennifer beamed at me again. Wow…I guess I was being nervous for nothing. She seemed like a happy person. "And I would like you to meet my fiancé, David. Honey, come here." She motioned at the man who was talking to Carson earlier. He stepped in front of me with his hand out before I shook it and smiled.