Shortly after waking up at Victor's house my dad called me.
"Hi daddy!" I answered excitedly.
"Hi Babycakes, listen, I need you guys to do me a favor."
"Alright."
"I need you to go to the furniture store, I don't care which one and replace the furniture I sent to your mom. The living room set, the dining room set, stuff in the kitchen, portraits and so on. I'm going to transfer some money to yours and Ray's accounts, just spilt the cost between you two and pay for the quickest delivery they offer."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, we are having visitors in two weeks and we can't have the house looking how it does now. If you need an adult, call me and I will send someone over."
"Yes, sir."
"I won't be home until Tuesday, but I have some guys coming to work on the backyard tomorrow, so make sure you guys are there. And get a big dining table for like eight people. "
"Dad, we have school tomorrow."
He was quiet for a second, "Okay, I'll figure out someone for tomorrow, just leave a key under the mat."
When I hung up the phone my head was spinning a little bit.
"What happened?" Ray said.
"We have to go buy furniture. Replace everything he sent to mom. He wants it done today. Someone is coming to work on the backyard tomorrow."
Ray and Matthew both looked at each other confused. "Did he say why he wants it done urgently?"
"Apparently we are having visitors in two weeks and the house needs to look presentable."
When we went to the furniture store it occurred to me that we should have measured the rooms to make sure we didn't get anything too big. Ray and I picked a U-shape looking brown leather couch with a lounger at the end and got the matching recliner to go with it along with a coffee table. I hoped it wasn't too big, but it was the most comfortable one we sat on. When we went to the dining sets there were few options that sat eight people. I didn't know much about the different types of wood, but the one I picked captured the eyes. It was thick and heavy, but the edges had little intricate designs carved into them. It reminded me of a Van Gogh painting because they looked like swirling brush strokes that took no particular shape. The chairs had the same designs along the back.
Ray pointed out that we were missing a TV in the living room too, which my dad forgot to mention. So, we stopped at Best Buy to pick up one that Ray said was the same size as the one we used to have. Ray picked one that was fifty inches, but I was sure the one that used to be in the living room was smaller.
They were going to deliver the dining room set that day since they only had the floor model. The couch would be delivered on Wednesday. We went home and cleaned up the dining room since my dad left a huge mess when packing everything up for my mom.
There was a store that sold original artwork and did framing not too far from our house, so that was where we went. I didn't really know where one bought portraits from. I also had no idea how many were missing from our house, so we bought six in various sizes. The pictures themselves weren't too expensive, it was the frames that cost the most money. We had to pick them up in a week.
Since we weren't in urgent need of dishes, I decided to wait on those. We could eat out if we needed to. However, when I did look in the cabinets, they were emptier than the last time I looked. We'd have to buy stuff sooner than later. Instead we waited for the guys to deliver the dining set and pick up whatever mess was left around the house so we wouldn't have to do it later.
Once the cleaning was done, we sat in the kitchen eating whatever snacks we found in the pantry.
"So, you two had sex." Ray said. It wasn't a question.
I felt Matthew stiffen next to me. "Yeah." I said not meeting his eyes.
"I don't think I want to have that talk and I know it is going to happen, I just thought it would be a while." Ray said.
"So, did I, but I guess something took over us yesterday." I said.
"Yeah, I am sure it was the alcohol. Just be careful, we got enough problems, we don't need a Matty Junior running around too." I nodded at him, "And just be mindful of the other ears in the house." We both nodded guiltily. "That's all I am going to say on it. Use protection, be quieter and don't make things weird between the three of us."
Matthew and I agreed and thankfully the doorbell rang. Matthew saw Ray as a friend, and most people wouldn't appreciate being told those things by a peer, but Ray was my parent figure, so there were going to be times when Ray switched from friend mode to take care of my daughter mode. Matthew respected that and didn't complain or talk back.
The dining table fit perfectly into the dining room. It was maybe a foot or two longer than the other one we had.
On Monday when we got to school Matthew told me he had an idea for his talent show routine.
"There is just something I have to do, but I need to go alone." Matthew told me.
I sighed, "Okay, and what is that?"
"I need to talk to the dance team, but I am afraid they will say no if they see you there with me."
I rolled my eyes as hard as I could. As much as I didn't like it, I wasn't going to get in the way of his idea that he was so excited about. I told him to take Ray to increase his chances of them saying yes.
Victor and I strolled into first period together. Since we were early he sat in the seat behind me and I showed him the furniture we picked out and explained why we needed new furniture.
"Let me tell you, my mom would not stop asking about you guys. Oh, they are so responsible, I can't believe he raised her, my own kids can't even clean their own dishes. The twins are so beautiful and the boyfriend is gorgeous, they are going to make beautiful kids." I was hunched over laughing when the girl that sat behind me cleared her throat for Victor to move. He stood up and stood in front of me.
"She is great, you should tell her we even cleaned the house yesterday."
"No! She will complain. When I told her you guys had to go order furniture for your dad, oh my God, forget it. Oh, that is so nice that they do things for him, you guys barely even go to the store for me without complaining. Then she brought up how your brother limited how many drinks you guys could have. Oh, he is such a good brother, you need to look out for your sisters like that because Vivian drinks too much."
"It is not that serious." I laughed, "We were just raised differently."
"Oh! And the cooking! Why don't we help her cook? When are we going to learn to cook? Because you guys have been cooking since you were eleven, and she has been cooking since she was nine."
"Honestly, you guys should learn. Matthew was the same way, I had to remind him that kitchen worked no matter who was in there. We are teaching him how to cook now, when we do manage to cook."
"She also told me to tell you guys to come over for dinner tonight, I forgot to mention it in the car. I'm sure she is going to make you guys a special dinner or something. She is obsessed with you guys." He rolled his eyes as if annoyed at his mother.
"Ask Ray after class, I think we can. I am pretty sure my dad got rid of all of our dishes since the last time we cooked. So, we need to buy more."
The bell rang and Victor went to his seat.
When I saw Matthew, he told me the girls on the dance team agreed to help him. He also made me aware that the girls didn't hate me and they thought we were cute together.
"Oh, my life is now complete." I said to him sarcastically.
Victor mentioned dinner and we did our look thing and Ray agreed that we would go.
"Oh, we need to buy dishes and stuff today." I said.
"Yeah, I noticed. We will do that before we go for dinner."
I wasn't sure where to shop for dishes, but I was sure I saw nice ones at Target every time I went there, not to mention I liked going to Target.
We picked up three sets, since a set of four wouldn't seem to do. We bought new pots and pans, cups, cooking utensils and regular utensils. My dad seemed to have cleared out half the kitchen without us knowing. My mom would not need any of this stuff because she didn't even have a place to put any of it.
"Any idea who the guests might be?" I asked Ray while we threw random things in the cart we figured we could use to stock up the kitchen.
"Not even the slightest clue. I thought maybe like a new girlfriend, but I know he didn't have time for that taking care of mom all the time. Not to mention, that wouldn't explain why he wants such a big dining room set."
"Yeah, I thought I same thing. I thought maybe some work people, but he never brings them."
We didn't really have many guesses left. We hardly had visitors.
We didn't stay at Victor's too long since we still had a lot to do. I put away all the new stuff we bought for the kitchen and Ray and Matthew hooked up the TV and hung it on the wall.
Once we were done we went to check out the backyard. It was dark so we had to find all the lights. The water in the pool had been long gone, but it looked like someone cleaned it today, I assumed someone would be putting water in it tomorrow. The patio had been weathered and dingy for years now. It looked like they mostly cleaned up any debris and prepped the pool for water.
After the couch came and the portraits went up, our house started to look a little more put together. One thing I missed was all the towels for the guest bathroom were gone. Upon further inspection, the entire linen closet for the guest area of the house was empty. So, it was another trip to the store to buy a bunch of towels and sheets. As much as I loved picking out new things for the house I wanted to yell at my dad for giving my mom so much stuff that she didn't need. But I knew what he would say, she picked all this stuff out, so I don't want it. And it was true, she picked out the furniture, the TV, the dishes, the towels and the sheets, all of it.
My dad had approved of the things we picked out and decided we should get more things to make the house look homier. Things like rugs, decorations, throws and decorative pillows.
By the time my dad was satisfied I dreaded going shopping. We probably made about twenty trips to the store because he wanted something else for the house.
The day before our visitors were due to arrive the backyard was completed. The patio had been repainted, the pool was filled and the lights were on. The projector was working and the flowers had been replanted. It was just like I remember it, maybe a little bit nicer.
When the three of us got home from school we could hear laughter and chatting coming from the living room.
We walked over and there were five people sitting on the couch with my dad. An older man and woman, practically elderly and two women that looked to be closer to my dad's age and a man that looked just like my dad, only older. They all went silent when we walked into the room.
When they looked at us I waved awkwardly because I didn't know how else to respond.
One of the women got up and came to hug us. "Oh God! I can't believe how big they are." She cried.
Ray and I looked at each other while this woman kept us in her grips.
"Dad? What's going on?" I said.
He stood up, "Ritakins, this is my family. That one right there is your Aunt Jackie. These two are your Aunt Marie and Uncle Steve. These other two are your grandma and grandpa." I tried to look over but this Ant Jackie wouldn't let us go. "Jackie! Let them go!"
She released us and we stared at them. I felt myself panic a little bit looking at everyone. I wasn't sure why but I had to urge to run upstairs and have a panic attack. It has been so long since I have seen other family members, I was overwhelmed.
I looked to Ray and he was smiling, but when he looked at me his smile faded.
"Guys, can you give us a few minutes?" Ray said, "Dad?" Ray nodded for my dad to follow us and pulled me upstairs with Matthew following.
Ray sat me on the bed and Matthew sat beside me. My dad came in closed the door.
"What's wrong?" My dad said.
"Rita's freaking out." Ray said.
I stayed quiet because I didn't know how to explain it. I was just so unprepared. After my memories came back to me the idea of seeing family kind of scared me. I knew they hadn't done anything wrong to me and they seemed so happy to see us and my dad was so happy to have them, but I didn't know how to handle it.
My dad kneeled down in front of me, "Honey bear, what's going on?"
"I don't know. I think the idea of family scares me."
Him and Ray looked at each other, "Why?"
"It's been so long, I don't remember them and the last thing I remember about being around a family member was him molesting me. I mean being around you guys is fine, it's just it's been so long since we have had any other family around."
My dad nodded. "I'm sorry honey bear. I didn't mean to scare you, I thought it would be a nice surprise now that your mom was gone."
"It's okay, I appreciate it. I'd love to get to know them again, I just think I need a little bit to get used to the idea."
"Of course, Pudding pop, anything you want. Take your time. They know how things are here, I've asked them not to interfere with the way you, Ray and Matthew do things. I know it is weird and new, but you take your time. They are good people who love you and just want to get to know you guys again."
I stayed in my room with Matthew until it was dinner time. He had spent the time discussing why I was so freaked out about the family. As always, he was understanding and talked me through it. I tried asking him about his talent show routine but he said it was a surprise and wasn't telling me a thing. Then we got to talking about us, I asked him if he was really okay with being around me so much and how he hasn't grown tired of me yet. He of course wondered the same, but our answers were similar. We had both grown to a level of comfort with each other that not having the other around felt weird and a bit empty. We didn't look at each other as just someone to have around, we were each other's companions and partners. Matthew was that other half of me that Ray would never be and I was his.
When we went down stairs for dinner and the room fell silent.
"Hi guys, sorry about earlier."
Aunt Jackie came up and gave me a hug, "Oh, honey, nothing to be sorry about. I didn't mean to scare you."
I went around and gave everyone a hug and introduced them to Matthew. My aunts and grandmother had cooked dinner and it looked delicious. There was a whole chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, corn on the cob, stuffing and macaroni and cheese.
While we all ate the family asked questions and Ray did most of the talking since I didn't feel like saying much. They mostly asked about how we grew up and my dad gave the okay to tell the truth. They also asked about my mom, which I tried to block out when Ray talked about it. As much as I tried to hide it, it still hurt so bad to think about what she had said that day. If I thought about it too much I knew it would really get to me and I would never leave my room.
"Rita, how did you and Matthew meet?" Aunt Marie asked. She had kept looking at me throughout dinner and I knew she was waiting for her opening to ask me a question.
For some reason I was still uncomfortable.
"Umm... well..." I started to panic for some reason and looked at Matthew.
"We officially met in the movie theater. You see, we didn't get to meet sooner because Ray was very protective. No one could date or even talk to his baby sister."
Everyone laughed.
"What changed?" Aunt Jackie said.
"Well Ray was dating this girl and Rita was always alone, once we met-"
"He kept bugging me to hang out again." I said without thinking, then I looked at him and we smirked at each other.
"I had liked Rita for four years, I wasn't going to give up easy, besides, I saw the way she looked at me." Matthew said.
"We even got into a fight about it four years ago." Ray said.
"And a few months back." I reminded them.
The aunts and my grandmother all looked as us as if they were very concerned.
"John, doesn't it worry you that they have been fighting?" My grandmother said looking at my dad.
He looked up like he was just noticing there was a conversation happening. "No. They are fine now. They are like brothers now. The three of them go everywhere together."
"Yeah, we are fine now. Besides, that fight a few months back wasn't that much of a fight, more of a misunderstanding." Ray said.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, it was totally your fault." I said.
"What happened with this fight?" Aunt Jackie asked.
"Someone told Ray that we were seeing each other, and Rita was under their sacred promise not to talk to me. We dated in secret for like three months. So, Ray found out and just started beating the crap out of me." Matthew said like he was talking about finding out he lost a sock.
"Then Rita is telling me to stop and I'm not listening. I'm just thinking that this guy had his hands all over my sister when I told him she was off limits. So, Rita punches me in the eye and I still wouldn't back off so she punched me in my other eye. Then all three of us got suspended." Ray finished the story.
My family didn't look too impressed with the story.
"You knew about this John?" My grandmother asked.
My dad shrugged, "Yeah, what do you want me to do mom? Do they look like they hate each other now?" My dad said annoyed. "I don't care how many fights they get into to, Matthew has been there for my daughter through all of this. Most dads pray for a guy half as good to their daughters as Matthew has been."
Matthew blushed and I rubbed his hand under the table.
"Dad is right," Ray said, "We have put all of that behind us. You shouldn't judge him based on our fight. You should judge on the fact that almost every girl in school has been after this guy for years and he couldn't be bothered with anyone but Rita. Even when she didn't speak to him. And maybe Rita hitting me sounds bad, but you know what? I needed it." My grandmother looked stunned. "It made me realize that even if she didn't know it yet, my sister loves this guy and he loves her and if I didn't accept that, then I was the one that was wrong."
Matthew and I looked at each other and he took my hand under the table. Ray was right, I didn't know it, but I did love Matthew.
"Mom, I told you, they have their ways. You said you understood, now please, stop getting bothered."
"Fine." She said.
I finished my dinner and the three of us went upstairs to watch a movie before bed. I knew my dad wanted us to stay to and talk but he knew my grandmother's reaction made us uncomfortable. As we were telling them good night, I heard one of the aunts telling my dad it was early. I found it amusing and nice that my dad told the truth, that my grandmother made us uncomfortable. Maybe it wasn't the nicest thing, but I could appreciate that he didn't lie to them.