“So full,” Thrane complained from his seat at the table, rubbing his extended stomach appreciatively.
Tobias patted his own heavy stomach, ignoring the very last piece of exquisitely baked turkey that was laying on his scratched plate. Different seasonings and herbs resided in the borders between his gums and teeth, refusing to be flushed away by the chocolate milk he was currently chugging.
The table was covered by huge pots filled with different foods specifically made for the celebration of Thanskgiving. Mashed potatoes with chives and butter, green beans, asparagus, different noodle casseroles and pastas, brown sugared gravy, and stuffing were the dishes covered the table. Everybody had already eaten their fill – well, almost everybody.
Jane was right next to him, picking lazily at her food, a depressed look full of half spirit in her eyes. He didn't blame her. They had eaten a light breakfast with just a bowl of cereal, and she had thrown it all up a few minutes later. It had been the same last night when he had coaxed her into eating at least one banana. Vomit. Everywhere.
It had been a long night the day before. His ribs and sides had hurt him, but that wasn't what had been exhausting. No, it had been waking Jane up every four hours to make sure she didn't slip into a coma. That had been the scariest night of his life, and he was still smarting from it. Tonight, however, was going to be much better. It was only the very first night that concerned the nurse.
“Same,” Trace whined, still continuing to mouth down turkey slice after turkey slice.
Tobias looked over to where Taivon was helping himself to his third serving of salad. The man was always on some sort of health kick or other, always making sure to keep a log of how many carbohydrates, fats, and proteins he consumed in one day. Shaking his head at the extreme ways of the extreme man, he saw his dad giving Jane a concerned look.
“Jane." He turned his attention towards her, delighted when she brought another piece of the golden meat to her mouth. “Is it going any better?”
“Yeah." She grinned, her eyes finally filled with that intelligence that was just her. “I think I'm actually-” She was cut off by the sound of the chair being pushed backwards as she stood up abruptly, clutching her stomach with pale hands.
He watched as she all but sprinted down the hallway and into the bathroom, sounds of hacking and coughing heard even through the thick, bathroom door. Walking over to that same door, he knocked to alert her and then entered the room, wrinkling his nose at the foul smell. Lying on the ground, Jane's face was entirely too pale as she flushed the remnants of her meal down the toilet, pressing her head into her shaking hands.
Pulling her long hair back from her sweaty face, he massaged her back gently, waiting until her breathing was finally normal to help pull her up to her feet. He hugged her tight to his chest then, continuing to stroke her silky hair with his own shaking hands.
“It'll be alright,” he consoled, bending down to look her in the eye.
She avoided his gaze immediately, angling her head down so that he wouldn't be able to see even a hint of her warm, brown eyes. Tilting her chin up with the pad of his index finger, he forced her to look at him, hating himself for being the cause of the tears behind her eyes.
“Just one more week." He kissed her nose, drawing a watery smile from her, “and you should be just fine, okay?”
“B-but,” she stammered, tears trailing liquid paths down her smooth cheeks, “we-e have t-to lea-ave today, and I ruined your-r Thanks-ksgiving!” she cried, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder.
Kissing the tears away, he explained, “No, no, of course you didn't. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving – better than most, in fact. And you know why?”
She sniffled slightly, looking up at him with those tears that broke his heart. “Why?”
“Because,” - he kissed her forehead - “you,” - kiss to the nose - “were,” - another kiss to her cheek - “here.”
“Are you...Are you sure?”
“Yes." He grinned, making sure to look her in the eyes as he said the next few words. "You are the most wonderful, beautiful, smart, sexy, just flat out amazing woman I have ever met, and I can't stand the thought of being away from you.”
“O-okay, thank you so much, Tobias." She wiped her red eyes, life sparking inside of the brown orbs once again.
“See, everything's going to be just fine, Jane.” Checking the clock in the hallway quickly, he explained, “We're going to be leaving in a few hours, and then you'll be back home and will be able to eat a lil' somethin'. How does that sound?”
“Good-d,” she stuttered, following him back into the kitchen where the table was already cleared off.
Taivon gave her a few ibuprofren along with a few other meds, and Jane swallowed them willingly. Hopefully, she would be able to keep down the water, but he wasn't too sure. His mother used the back of her hand to check the temperature of Jane's forehead, and frowning slightly, she looked around the freezer until she came out with an ice pack.
“I'm sorry,” Jane mumbled to his mom before closing her eyes and drifting off into that same sleeping state she had been in and out of all day long.
Ma ran a nursing hand over Jane's face. "She's so sweet, Tobias. I'm so glad you brought her along.”
“Me, too,” he answered back, continuing to help clean the large, wooden table.
“So, Son." His father clapped him on the back, his rough, burly hand causing him to wince as it came in contact with the bruises on his body. "How long has it been since you two started seeing each other?”
“Five months in about two weeks,” he answered without a second thought, remembering the very first day he had ever laid eyes on her, their very first kiss, and their very first time ever being intimate. “Exactly half a year a couple days after Christmas.”
A plate crashed onto the ground then, shattering everywhere on the hardwood floor. Tobias snapped his gaze to the culprit of the dropped plate, surprised when he saw even more tears running a race down his mother's face.
“Not you, too,” he muttered, hating how all was quiet amongst all occupants of the kitchen.
“Tina." His father encircled his mother's frail body within his arms. "Whatchya cryin' for?”
“Titan,” she wailed into his arms, “our boys are all grown up. Tobias has finally found a beautiful, young lady, and Callie's going to turn five soon!”
Backing out of the room, Tobias followed Tawson into the living room, feeling much too lazy to go outside and finish up the last of the chores for the day. “Hey, Bug." He grabbed a two hundred piece puzzle from inside Tawson's toy bag, spreading the pieces out on the coffee table. “Can you help me with this puzzle?”
“Sure.” Tawson sat down next to him, furrowing his brow in concentration as they silently worked on the simple puzzle of a tree shedding its leaves in autumn.
Except for Jane's light snoring on the couch next to them, all was quiet within the house. Callie was down the hallway, taking her nap, and his parents were most likely packing for their departure. He and Tawson hummed quietly to themselves, snapping the puzzle pieces in place as the sun began to set, signaling that it was his and Jane's time to finally depart from this heaven.
“Tobias,” Jane croaked, leaning back on her elbows.
He went to her immediately, asking, “Yeah? Do you need something?”
She stood up and made her way into the kitchen, taking a glass over to the sink once more. “Kinda thirsty. Do I use the faucet?”
“No." He grabbed the pitcher from the stainless steel refrigerator, pouring a generous amount into the clean glass. "You always want to drink water from the pitcher. How's the stomach feelin'?”
“Better,” she explained and sat down at the stool in front of the island table. “I feel kinda hungry, but what if I can't keep it down? I don't wanna make another mess again.”
He didn't say a word, only rummaging through the fridge for an apple, pear, or some type of light fruit item that contained mostly water. “Here,” he cut up a crisp, red apple for her quickly, handing a plate filled with the sweet slices over to her, “try this.”
“Okay." She tentatively grabbed a small sliver of apple, bringing it up to her pale mouth.
He watched as she chewed the piece of fruit, smiling when she finished that piece and reached for another. She made it all the way to the fourth piece when she stopped suddenly and chugged down the rest of her water.
Grabbing the small garbage can from under the sink, he placed it on the stood next to her, just to be on the safe side. As it turned out, the garbage can was a very smart choice, for she puked out everything that was in her stomach until only slimy strings of bile were left.
Brushing her hair back once more from her face, he grabbed a can of white soda and had her gargle then swallow a few sips, hoping that the fizziness of the drink would help calm her rebellious stomach. After taking out that specific garbage bag, he walked in the kitchen to see Jane and Tawson reading one of Tawson's books together.
The sight had him stopping dead in his tracks. He watched her smile gently at Tawson as his oldest brother stumbled on a few simple words. Smiling shyly at Jane, he continued reading, telling her all about Frog and Toad. He sat down next to Jane a few seconds later, holding her hand comfortingly in his as Tawson continued to go on.
“I think it's time that we leave,” he said, his voice bittersweet. He had packed all of their stuff in Titus's truck in the morning. Now, with nothing keeping them there, he regretted planning ahead. It was always like this, and yet, he could never fully prepare himself.
“Boys!” His mother rang the dinner bell a second later, Titan holding her hand protectively within his meaty paw.
In fifteen seconds flat, Titus, Thrane, Taivon, and Trace were all running into the house, breathing heavily from their previous activities of rounding up some of the cattle that still needed to be fixed. One by one, they all embraced, his older brothers all jokingly giving him shit for last night. Like always, his mother almost refused to let go, his father having to finally yank the clingy woman off him.
Like him, Jane received crushing hugs from all of his brothers as well, only they refused to let her go and shot him evil smirks as they continued to hold her. His mother, however, cried even harder as she was pulled away from Jane, bawling about how he had finally met somebody.
Then, Tawson embraced him, holding onto him with his short, little arms. I will not cry. I will not cry, Tobias chanted to himself, mentally fortifying a wall that he vowed would never be broken. And by never, he meant in the next couple of minutes; there was no way he ever made it back home without shedding at least a few, extremely masculine tears.
“I'll see ya later, Bug,” he told Tawson, squeezing one last time before forcing himself to unlatch from his oldest brother's chubby body. “Love ya.”
“Love you too, Toby.” Tawson smiled and then walked back to Ma and Dad, holding onto them tightly.
“C'mon, Tobias.” Titus pushed him towards the idling truck. “You don't want to miss your plane like last time.”
He had no answer for Titus, his only action was to look back longingly at the Circle T, trying to keep the impending tears at bay. Grief from the separation overtook him then, and they were only down the driveway by the time the salty drops began cascading quietly down his face. Gripping onto the his leg tightly, he caused as much pain as possible, needing something other than sorrow to enter his world of emotions.
Jane's hand reached for his, squeezing his to let him know that she was there. He squeezed right back, praying that the tears would stop. After a few minutes, they withered away to thin streams.
In Jane, he found his solace.
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I apologize for the shortness of the previous chapters. I promise that the next will be much longer and hope that you enjoy reading! Thank you!