by J. Bengtsson
Michelle took my hand, seemingly mesmerized, as she looked me up and down. “Wow. It’s so nice to meet you. You’re… a friend.”
“Yes, mom, that’s what I said. A friend.”
“I was just clarifying,” Michelle said, grinning at me.
Grabbing Emma’s hand, I gave her an adoring smile. This was not acting on my part. I genuinely found this girl something special. “Yeah, a friend. ”
Michelle’s eyes bulged as she looked between the two of us, and the shocked expression on her face turned to shameless exhilaration.
“Oh, my goodness, this is wonderful, isn’t it, Scott? Emma’s friend.”
“Shoot me now,” Emma whispered in my ear.
“Say ‘hi,’ Scott,” Michelle said, smacking him in the arm. “Don’t just sit there with the stupid look on your face.”
“I wasn’t just sitting here, I was waiting for you to stop embarrassing yourself.”
I extended my hand to her father. “Happy birthday.”
“Ah, thank you. Finally someone who cares. I’m surrounded by ingrates.”
“Just because we don’t infuse every conversation with mention of your birthday doesn’t mean we aren’t impressed you’ve lived this long. Hi Finn, I’m Keith, Emma’s older brother.”
“And this is my sister Grace, and my younger brothers Jake and Quinn. Kenzie and Casey you met last night. Casey is Jake’s fiancée, and Kenzie is my other brother Kyle’s girlfriend. Where is he, by the way?”
“Taking a crap,” the youngest boy offered.
“Quinn!” Michelle admonished, offering me up her sincerest apology. “We have company. Let’s all try to be normal please.”
“This is my birthday, Michelle, and I don’t want to do normal.”
Emma went over to greet her dad with a hug. “Happy birthday. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.”
“Finn, please, come sit. You and Emma can take these seats right here. Scott, move over,” she demanded, nearly pushing the birthday boy from his seat as she made room for me. Emma wasn’t kidding… her mom was practically salivating. At this rate, we’d be married by sundown
“Knocks me off my throne on my birthday,” Scott mumbled as he moved spots. Clearly he was teasing, and it garnered the desired results.
“Oh, my God,” all the kids whined in unison.
“Stop it with the birthday stuff,” Keith added. “No one can milk it like you, Dad.”
“See what I have to put up with?” Scott asked me, grinning.
“Do not feel sorry for him,” Jake spoke to me for the first time. “He was just informing us all of what he wanted for his birthday… and it wasn’t world peace.”
“I hardly think a Lamborghini and a swimsuit model is too much to ask, Jake.”
As I laughed, I was getting a clear picture of how this family worked. It was all sarcastic charm and off-color digs. This, right here, would be the family I would have wanted over my own twisted, backwoods version.
Michelle jumped back in, inching in closer as she gazed admiringly at me. Well, winning her over had been effortless, at least. Emma, seeing her mother’s exaggerated behavior, leaned back and whispered in my ear, “Told ya.”
“My daughter didn’t tell us she was bringing company.”
“Oh, yeah. It was a last minute thing. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” Michelle asked. “Of course not. We’re thrilled to have you. How did you two meet?”
Emma and I exchanged a glance. We actually hadn’t thought this through very well and had no cover story. Somehow I doubted Michelle would appreciate the real one where her daughter plucked a stranger off the road.
“He’s a friend of mine…”
“Oh, from work?” she interrupted, excitedly. “Are you a doctor?”
“No he’s not a doctor. We met at a party.”
“You go to parties?” Keith asked, looking confused. He’d lifted his head off the table to ask the question. It was clear he was nursing a massive hangover.
“Not the kind you go to. But I don’t hang out at home all the time.”
“Really?” Now he looked even more confused. “I was under the impression you did.”
Emma focused her death stare at him.
A young guy entered the room. Kyle, I assumed. His brothers clapped for him and he took a bow.
“What took you so long in there?” Jake asked. “Were you masturbating?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call myself a master just yet.”
His delivery was genius, and the room erupted. Even Michelle joined in the fun.
Kyle’s eyes landed on me, and he did a double take. “Is everyone aware that there’s a strange guy at Dad’s birthday breakfast?”
“He’s not strange. This is Finn, Emma’s friend.” Michelle emphasized ‘friend’ each time she said the word, and her daughter turned to me and rolled her eyes, mouthing Sorry.
I stood up to shake the final brother’s hand.
“I’m Kyle. And you say you’re Emma’s friend?” His eyebrow was cocked at an exaggerated angle.
“They met at a party,” Jake affirmed, nodding.
“A real one,” Keith added.
“A party, you say?” Kyle replied, incredulously.
The brothers seemed overly surprised by the whole party admission, and I was quickly understanding that Emma wasn’t a girl who went out much, and her bringing guys to meet the family was probably a rare occurrence indeed.
They continued to razz her about the party until Emma snapped, “Ugghh. Would you prefer if I met him on the side of the road?”
“It would be more believable, that’s for sure,” Kyle said, nodding.
Emma smacked him in the arm good-naturedly. They did a little bitch-slap routine before he took his seat beside his girlfriend. I smiled at her playfulness. Emma interacting with her family brought out even another side to her… kind, funny, and self-depreciating. I caught her eye, and we exchanged a glance. She was asking if I was okay; I was assuring her I was.
“What do you do for a living, Finn?” Kenzie asked.
“I’m a stuntman.”
“Shut the front door!” Kyle exclaimed. “That’s the coolest profession ever!”
“I don’t know, I think someone else in this room has a cooler job than me.”
“Yes, being a mailman truly is awesome. The long walks, the snappy dogs, the stylish shorts,” Scott said, before scanning the room at all the amused faces and raising his eyebrows dramatically. “Oh, wait – did you mean Jake?”
We all laughed, and Scott lapped up the attention. I loved him already. If I could have handpicked a father, I would have chosen someone like him: fun-loving and devoted.
“Government jobs, man. It’s the way to go,” Keith said. “They even give him a week off for his birthday.”
“No, they don’t give it to him,” Michelle explained. “Your father takes it off. See, he thinks one day isn’t enough to celebrate his birthday.”
“I still don’t understand why Dad gets a week and the rest of us only get a day,” Grace complained.
“Because, honey,” Scott patiently explained. “A birthday week doesn’t just happen; it must be declared.”
“Oh, is that how it works?” Jake asked. “We just have to declare it?”
“That’s right, but it helps to be old and pathetic like me. It’s easier to gain acceptance. People just feel sorry for you and humor your requests.”
“I’m curious – what does one do on a birthday week?” I asked.
“It varies. This one is pretty nice because I got an all-expenses paid trip – thank you, Jake… but normally my birthday just consists of different events throughout the week. All of them include Michelle here, but she usually refuses to come along or indulge me, if you know what I mean,” Scott said, winking.
“That’s just nasty.” Quinn fake-barfed over his plate of eggs.
“Quiet, everyone,” Kyle shushed. “I’m serious.
I want to be a stuntman now. How would I get in to something like that?”
“You could probably go to a stuntman school. What skills do you have?”
“Skills? I thought they just set you on fire and shit.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Emma said. “Finn is an expert at jumping and free running and heights. He does aerial stuff where he gets to fly.”
“Really?” Scott nodded, impressed. “Emma hates heights.”
“I know.” I nodded, grinning at her. “I found that out on the Ferris wheel last night. I still have the claw marks.”
Kyle said something under his breath, and Jake laughed. I realized then that my claw mark comment could have been misconstrued; but at that point, it was already out there, and I hadn’t been punched in the face, so I felt safe enough.
“So, Finn, what type of wristband did Sean get for you?” Jake asked.
“The magic one,” I answered. “And thank you for that, by the way. I was shocked at all the doors that wristband opened up. Have you been to the gift room?”
“No.”
“The gift room?” Scott asked, wide-eyed with wonder. “I’m putting that on my birthday week wish list.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing. Everything is free. I had no idea. I thought they were trying to sell me stuff, so I kept making all these excuses, and then they said it was free and were throwing things at me. Now I have a storage unit with all my free gifts, and they’re expecting my entourage to pick it up.”
That got a laugh from everyone.
“I never told them I was a musician. They just assumed. One girl asked me what band I was in, and I froze. I had no idea what to tell her.”
The siblings looked at each other and laughed. “Too bad you didn’t have our dad with you,” Jake said. “He’s an expert in that arena.”
I looked over at him, confused.
“Well, okay, I’m somewhat famous for my band names, I’ll admit.” Scott’s self-congratulatory tone kept me rapt in my seat for more. “It’s simple, really. Any two random words will do. Someone, anyone, pull up a news story, please.”
Quinn and Grace rushed to find Scott an article before the teenage boy grinned and handed his father the phone.
“An article about smog checks? Really, Quinn. Okay, no problem. I’m a pro. Give me a moment,” he said, putting both index fingers to his temples. Scott was concentrating hard and Emma’s brothers were heckling him something fierce before he looked up with a smug smile on his face. “Gross Polluter.”
Everyone screamed his or her awed approval. It really was a genius name.
“What was the one you came up with the other day? Something about awesomeness?” Casey asked.
“The Vortex of Awesomeness, but I’ve decided that’s too good for a band name. I’m going to use it for my autobiography instead.”
“Are we still having girls’ day?” Grace, tiring of her father’s awesomeness, asked Emma, who then looked at me with a guilty face.
“All us girls were going to the spa for a couple of hours today,” she explained. “But I can skip it.”
“No, I don’t want you to do that. I’ll just go to the festival for awhile.”
“Or you can come with us guys,” Scott offered. “We’re all going over there. Jake’s got a bunch of stuff going on, but we were going to hang around and maybe catch a few shows in between.”
“I wouldn’t want to crash your birthday week or anything.”
“Please – there’s nothing I’d enjoy doing more than spending my day with Emma’s special friend.”
I thought experiencing the festival with my golden wristband would be the highlight of my life, but I was woefully wrong. Experiencing the festival with the McKallister brothers and their wacky birthday-obsessed father was a whole other level of fun. Between Scott’s poor me act and the brothers’ constant vulgar insults, I spent the afternoon with a permanent smile on my face. If I hadn’t already been fully invested in Emma, this little peek into her family life would have sealed the deal. I’d never had this type of camaraderie growing up and was soaking up the moments.
We spent part of the day following Jake around to his various interviews and appointments. I even had a Pretty Woman moment when I walked into the gift room with the festival’s headliner. They all clearly remembered me from the day before and were even more impressed with me this time around due to the company that I was keeping.
Having a concert to prepare for, Kyle and Jake stayed behind as the rest of us went off to explore. Our journey took us to the carnival, where I partnered with Quinn for one of the rides.
After we’d settled onto the bench, he surprised me by asking, “Are you in love with my sister?”
At first I thought he was joking, as we’d been doing a lot of that throughout the day; but when the kid narrowed his gaze on me and pinched his lips together, I could tell he meant business.
“To tell you the truth, your sister and I only met recently. We’re still getting to know each other.”
Quinn nodded and looked off in the distance, seemingly bothered by something. He’d come across to me as some dim-witted teenage boy during the brothers’ competitive insult-flinging portion of the afternoon, but now I could see a more reflective side to him.
“You okay?”
“Just don’t hurt her. Emma… she means a lot to me.”
His admission floored me. What I knew of most teenage boys, they weren’t overly concerned with the feelings of their adult sisters.
“I don’t plan to hurt her. To tell you the truth, I’m more concerned about her squashing me.”
Quinn acknowledged my concern with a nod and then added, “I know you don’t plan on it, but things happen.”
“What exactly are you asking me, Quinn?”
“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. Don’t hurt my sister.”
The ride started up, ending our conversation, but his words bounced through my head. His had been a warning, not a request. Gravity threw us around for a couple of minutes, and Quinn was back to his jovial self as he laughed his way through the ride.
Still affected by his stark words, I said, “Your sister’s lucky to have you protecting her like that.”
He scoffed and removed his seatbelt.
Quinn’s reaction held some meaning that I didn’t understand, but it stood as a reminder of all this family had gone through. It was easy to forget, seeing them as they were today, but Jake’s nightmare was out there, and for the first time I considered the toll it must have taken on Emma and her siblings. It made me wonder if her careful analysis of every situation was a carryover from her earlier life. We all had demons from our past, but the McKallister family’s seemed infinitely more sinister.
“People don’t understand her,” Quinn finally said. “They never have. She’s so much more than what you see.”
He didn’t have to tell me. I already thought she was incredible; yet after meeting her family, I now understood that Emma McKallister was considerably more complex than I’d originally given her credit for. Instinctively I knew I was in for a wild ride.
15
Emma, Present Day: Netflix and Chill
“Can I just say how hot he is?” My mother fanned her face for emphasis. She’d been going on and on about Finn since the five of us arrived at the spa, and I was starting to run out of patience. It wasn’t that I didn’t agree with her about the whole Finn-hotness-meter, but the vibe of the conversation was rubbing me the wrong way. It was as if she were trying to convince me of his superior qualities because she was afraid I’d be my normal, judgmental self and dump him first chance I got. Which of course was exactly how this little dalliance would all eventually play out. “He has it all, doesn’t he? Handsome, polite and he’s a little taller than you, too.”
Right, because we Amazonian women were so picky about things like that. When you reached a certain height, it no longer mattered if your mate was taller, because at that point, it became an issue of just how
freakishly elongated your offspring would be. Finn was eye-level, and that was good enough for me and our fictional kids. It wasn’t like I needed him for baby-making anyway. The relationship I had with him now – the one where my legs were straddling his waist in the middle of a carnival – that was as far as it would ever go. I shuddered at the memory. Had I really done all that stuff last night? I hated public displays of affection as much as the next girl. No, I take that back: I hated them more than your average woman. Who wanted to see happy couples swapping spit? Um… the crowd who’d clapped for us last night, that’s who. Oh, lord, what had I done? Somehow I’d let my libido run away with the show. No way could I let my mother see my infatuation with Finn. He’d be gone before it mattered anyway. No use in getting her hopes up.
“I had no idea you were even seeing anyone,” Mom continued.
“I’m not. We’re just friends.”
“Really? Because the way he looked at you, Emma, he certainly seemed smitten. And the two of you are so compatible.”
How could she know that from a thirty-minute conversation? She was only seeing what she wanted to see. Would Mom be so impressed with our connection if she knew how I met him? Would she be singing his praises if she’d known that this time yesterday, he’d been a faceless ass in a parking lot?
“Maybe if you gave him a chance, Emma…”
“Mom,” I snapped. She whipped her head around at me.
“What?”
“Stop going on about Finn,” I said, harshly. “We aren’t together, and we never will be.”
My mother’s face fell as her eyes clouded over. Was she seriously going to cry? Over that? Jesus. I almost forgot how sensitive she could be.
“Emma, don’t be so mean,” Grace scolded, as she grasped Mom’s hand and soothed her with quiet words. Great – now my sister, the sweet one, was involved, making me look even more wretched. Why couldn’t I be more diplomatic like her?
Having nowhere to place my eyes to avoid the disapproving stares of not only my group but the spa attendants as well, I simply stared at the far wall. Embarrassed at my outburst, I wanted to sink into the background, but when you’re the spiteful white witch, there’s no place to hide. Dammit, why did my mother always have to put so much emphasis on me finding a man? Was I not good enough as I was?
