Ch. 22
"So, do you really think Kaiden knows anything?" Caleb asked in a hushed whisper.
There was silence for a minute. "I mean, he might know something. Who knows?" Tony replied back.
"Yeah, well, that dude really creeps me out anyway so I wouldn't put it past him to know something. And to try and use that against her? What kind of shit is that? He better not ask her for a second try, especially if he's going to pull this stunt on her. What's he going to do, use it as leverage to get her to do anything he wants?"
There was some banging around before Tony replied back to Caleb. "I sure as hell hope not. He'll have another thing coming if he tries."
"Yeah, you bet your ass he does. He hurts her then he has to deal with us. That's not in his favor considering we know others, and she has the whole football team to back her up. We've all got her back. That's another reason why I don't want to leave her alone, though. I know she's tuff enough to handle it on her own, but I just can't help but want to be here to help protect her."
"Yeah, well, we all know the real reason why you want to be here." Tony said back to him. I could only imagine the look Caleb was getting right now. I smirked, but didn't move from my spot on the couch where they thought that I was still asleep.
"Shut up, man." I heard a slap and knew Caleb back handed Tony on the shoulder.
Tony started laughing. "I don't know why you try to deny it. The whole team knows you've had your eye on her since the day she tried out. It's not like it's gone unnoticed. Well, except for Izzy. I don't think she knows."
"Whatever, man. It's not like it matters anyway. You know she thinks of us as brothers and that would just make things weird between us if anything were to happen, and I don't want to lose her as a friend, or a quarterback on the football team. You know as well as anyone else that we need her and I'm not about to ruin that because of my own wants."
Okay, I think this is the time I should pretend to wake up. I shouldn't be listening in on this part. But that did just tell me that Kaiden has been right this whole entire time and that I've been completely blind to it. I mean, Caleb was hot, but he could do so much better than me, and he deserves that. I made sure to stretch as loud as I could and then make an obvious yawn. I heard the guys' conversation come to a silent end and then I heard footsteps coming into the living room. "Well, good evening, sleepyhead."
"How long was I asleep for?" I asked Caleb, wiping my eyes for dramatics, hoping he wouldn't know that I've been awake for their whole conversation.
He shrugged and looked at his phone. "I few hours, I guess."
"Damn. Sorry about that." I shook my head and got up. "Mmm...what's that delicious smell?"
"Don't be sorry. You needed the rest." He smirked at me and then avoided my gaze. Oh please don't start this, Caleb. I need you now more than ever. "Tony and I figured we'd whip up some dinner and save you the time and energy of having to do it."
"Well, thank you guys." We had walked into the kitchen by now.
"It's not a problem." Tony waved the wooden spoon at me. "We make a pretty decent team, if I do say so myself. Not that bozo over here did much, but I guess he did get me the utensils I needed."
Caleb rolled his eyes and Tony burst out into laughter. I couldn't help but smirk myself, considering I knew how he was when it came to cooking, and he wasn't always the greatest. He may know how to throw something in the microwave, but that's about it. "Yeah, yeah. You guys watch... one day I am going to be a WONDERFUL cook and you guys will be totally jealous and will be over at my place all the time begging for me to cook."
"Alright." I nodded. "I won't hold my breath for that day to come. I might die in that case and we wouldn't want that." I patted Caleb on the shoulder as I walked past him to look over Tony's shoulder. "So, what are we having?"
"We are having baked spaghetti. I just have to throw all of this into the oven." He said as he poured basically a whole bag of cheese over the top of the spaghetti and sauce. It looked delicious; especially with that amount of cheese. You could never go wrong.
I snuck a bite out of the pan when he turned around, only to be caught red handed in the act because he turned back around quicker than I expected. "What?" I asked with a mouthful of food. "I didn't do anything."
"Mhmm... just like a kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. I know you better than that. Now back away and leave some food for dinner later! I gotta bake it still." He stuck his tongue out at me and shoved me away from the counter and the stove. After that, he turned back around and threw the pan into the oven and looked at me. "I'm watching you!"
"Yes sir." I said and saluted him before bursting out into laughter.
I loved that it was easy to be like this with these guys. I would probably be gray haired and crazy by now if I didn't have them to keep me down to earth. We all walked into the living room and plopped onto the couches and chair and just relaxed. "Hey! I want the remote!" I yelled at Caleb.
"But you always get the remote!" He whined back at me.
I rolled my house. "Yeah, because it's my house so it's my remote."
"Oh, we're being selfish now, are we?" Caleb teased and then sighed, "Fiiiiine. Here you go!!" He tossed the remote into my lap. "Look what you did, Tony. Now she's gonna make us watch chick flicks."
"Well I wasn't going to, but if that's what you wish for then so it shall be." I smirked and turned the channel onto WETV and turned on David Tutera's CELEBrations. I knew this was going to make them both groan. I actually loved this show, and David Tutera cracked me up. He just gives it to the people sometimes. I miss his show, 'My Fair Wedding'. He would not put up with those bridezillas. I glanced over to see them both giving me the evil eye. "What!?"
"Do we really have to?" Caleb whined.
"Yeah, I mean, I just threw in a splendid meal. Do you have to torture me this way? This is no way to treat someone who just cooked for you." Tony complained.
"Oh fine, you two." I laughed and turned the channel over to 'The Big Bang Theory'. I loved this show and Sheldon cracks me up. Well, everyone cracks me up, but just the pickiness of Sheldon, I do suppose. The one that is on at the moment is when Penny has to clean Sheldon's couch cushion, but he notices that she turned it upside down. It gets me every time!
"Izzy!!" Danny came running out of his room. "Lillie is being mean to me!!"
Danny came running over to me and jumped into my lap. "Oof!" I said and then hugged my baby boy to me. "Just remember what I've said before, sweety. Just ignore her and she'll go away." I tickled his sides. "She will get bored of trying to be mean to you and she'll leave."
"Hey! That's not cool." Lillie came running out into the living room as well. "I am not being mean to you!"
"Yes you were." Danny said and stuck his tongue out at her.
"No I wasn't." She argued.
I started laughing and the guys joined in. "Are you seriously arguing with your six year old brother about if you were being mean to him or not?"
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, thinking about her answer before she actually answered. I knew I had her there. "So! He was in my room earlier, trying to take my phone and text Eli and make him think it was me texting him."
"Hold up..." I put up my hand. "Who is this Eli kid, and why is this the first time I'm hearing about him?"
Lillie blushed and avoided looking me in the eye. Ahha! I knew it!! I could tell lately that she was trying to look cute for some reason. She thought I wasn't paying attention to the extra time she'd take in the bathroom to put on her makeup every day for school, or that I noticed she was trying to dress a lot cuter than she used to. I knew there was a reason behind it, and I figured it had to be a boy. Why else would girls try to girlify themselves up? "He's just a kid in my class."
"Mmm....not any kid, I'm guessing." I smiled at her. "Why haven't you told me about him? What does he look like?"
I was just glad that she was finding someone in her own grade and not having a repeat like a while back with the kid from the park. He was just creepy and all that anyway. Just as she was about to answer me, Ian came out of his room. "He's all 'tall dark and handsome' as the girls say." Ian sounded very annoyed when he said that. "Every girl in all the younger grades, and his own, want him."
"How do you know that?" Tony asked.
Ian shrugged and flopped onto the couch on the opposite end of Caleb. "Because that's all I ever hear them talk about. All the girls generally sit around me in class because they all usually want my help with something, but before class and after, that's all I ever hear about is 'Eli this...' and 'Eli that...' it's quite sickening if you ask me."
Caleb scooted over to Ian and threw his arm over his shoulders. "Sounds like someone is a bit bitter about this Eli kid. Let me guess. You are bitter over him because of a girl."
Ian instantly shook his head and said "no." but I could see the blush on his cheeks and the lie deep in his eyes. "Mhmm...What's her name?" Tony asked, leaning forward and putting his arms on his legs. "What does she look like?"
"She doesn't look like anything!" His face was getting even redder as he spoke. I'm guess he's imagining her right now. "There isn't any girl!"
"Ian, honey, I can tell you're lying." I said and tried not to smile too much. "Come on, tell us who she is!"
"Aww!!! My nerdy little brother is in love with a girl!" Lillie gushed. "How cute! Nerd love!"
"See!!" He said and got up. "This was why I didn't want to say anything! I knew you guys would all act like this!" He said and glared at everyone in the room. "This isn't fair!" He stormed into the kitchen. "I'm hungry! What's for dinner? It smells delicious in here!!"
That's my little brother. So he had a little bit of some ADHD moments and it was always at the best times. I couldn't help it. I burst out into laughter as I put Danny down and got up out of my chair. "Here. You can have the remote now." I tossed it into Caleb's lap.
"Oh, thanks! Give me control of the remote when it's time for dinner." He rolled his eyes and got up, turning the TV off in the process. "I'll remember that!"
"We're having baked spaghetti. It should be done by now." Tony answered Ian and shook his head at Caleb and me. "Alright, well, when you two are done arguing like a married couple, come join us for dinner."
"Shut up!" We both yelled at the same time and followed Tony into the kitchen.
As we all sat around the table, I couldn't help but smile. This right here is what I had always pictured in my mind; a big family sitting at the dinner table, laughing and having a good time. Everyone had smiles on their faces and was teasing each other. A roll or two may have been thrown around, but it was all in good fun. Everything was perfect, or close to being perfect. There was only one person missing and as happy as I was in the moment, I still wasn't completely here, and I wouldn't be until my baby was back to me.
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A/N: Okay, so this was a fun chapter to write. I hope it all makes sense, since I've written it over a few days. It's sort of hard to do that a little and make it all run together!! Anyway, enjoy!