Times Like These

The next morning we got ready before heading down to the lobby to check out. Brian seemed really excited to see my little hometown, and I was pretty excited to get back home and see some of my old friends. We got to mom’s house and I smiled brightly when I got out of the car. “What’s up babe?” Brian asked, moving to stand beside me. “Do you know how many memories were made in this house?” I asked, looking up at him. “Is this the house you grew up in?” “Yup. This is the house that built me. That window over there,” I said, pointing to an upstairs window, “That’s the window I almost pushed Dani through when we were in fifth grade fighting over a shirt.” I chuckled, “It’s also the same window that Mark shattered with a football when we were playing catch with Dani when she was supposed to be grounded.” Brian looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “You almost pushed your sister out of a window?” “Yeah.” I shrugged, “We’re past that now. Come on, let’s go see Mama.” Brian laughed and followed me into the house, carrying all of our luggage. Dani and Matt were already here, sitting in the living room with mom. “Hey you guys finally made it.” Mom said, noticing our arrival. “Yeah, Nick was starving so we stopped for breakfast.” Brian said, putting the luggage down. “Figures. What a fat ass.” Dani laughed while I gave her the finger. Come on, we’ll go put our shit in my old room. “Language, Catherine Nichole.” My mom said, making me cringe. “Catherine?” Matt asked with a laugh. “Yeah. That’s my first name. So what?” I challenged him. “It’s mom’s middle name. Dani’s middle name is Grace.” I shrugged, grabbing my suitcase and leading Brian downstairs to my room in the basement. “You lived in the basement?” He asked, looking around the hall. “Yep. This house was originally just a three bedroom. When Dani and I got into our fifth grade fight, dad decided that it was time to separate us, so he enclosed the garage and built another one. There’s two bedrooms, an office, and the laundry down here. No bathroom though, which sucks. Mark originally got the downstairs room, but when he moved out I claimed it.” I explained, opening the door to my childhood bedroom. It looked exactly as I remembered it: the walls were a dark gray with white trim, and icicle lights hung from the ceiling. My bed was situated against the far wall, a queez sized bed with white shelving for a headboard and a white down comforter with a few throw pillows in shades of black and gray. On the wall across from the bed was a white chest of drawers with my tv and DVD player on top and my closet right beside it. On the wall to the right of the bed was my dresser, which used to have a ton of pictures on top, and on the wall above the dresser was a ton of pictures taken from my childhood until right before I moved out, pictures from school, parties, vacations, everything. Every good memory I ever had was documented on that wall. Across the room on the last wall was a vanity with a huge mirror, and beside it was a small desk and chair. “This was your room?” Brian asked, looking at the pictures on the wall. “Who in the hell are all these people?” He asked with a laugh. “Those are my friends. Some of the best memories I’ve ever had are on this wall. Here’s one from senior prom, Dani and I made sure our dates were friends so we could go together.” I laughed. “This is from when I broke my arm the summer before senior year started. I fell through the sunroof on my car. I used to smack the shit out of my friends with that cast. It was awesome.” I chuckled. “This is from our senior trip. Dan and I wanted to go to Disney World believe it or not. And this,” I told him, pointing to a picture of me, Dani, and Mark, standing together with huge smiles on our faces, “Was our very first Avenged concert. Mark bought us tickets for our graduation present.” “Holy shit. You guys could be triplets.” Brian stated, causing me to laugh. “Yeah, people have said that all our lives. He’s less than two years older than us. Mom and dad had their hands full.” I chuckled. “Is this your dad?” He asked, pointing to a picture of me and a man who looked like the older version of Mark. “Yep. That’s him.” I said. “Okay, let’s go see what Mama wants to do today.” I told him, kissing his cheek and leading him back upstairs.

We sat around for a few hours catching up with mom before everyone decided they were hungry, so we decided to go have lunch then surprise our dad at work. He had no idea we were flying in, so hopefully this would be a happy surprise. We walked in the front door of his office, and his new wife was sitting there. Her eyes lit up when she saw us, and she opened her mouth to say something, but we made the signal to be quiet, and she nodded and got up from her chair to follow us into dad’s office. Dani knocked on the door and we waited, hearing him on the phone with a client. Once he hung up we heard his deep voice shout “Come in.” And Dani flung the door open. “Surprise!” She shouted, jumping into the room. “What the hell!” He said with a laugh, walking around his desk to pull us into a hug, “When did you two get here?” “We flew in last night, wanted to surprise mom for her birthday.” I explained. He nodded and squeezed us tight. “I missed you two. How is California?” “California is good. We snagged us a couple of rockstars.” Dani said, pointing to the guys, who were standing there watching us interact with our dad. “Dad this is Matt and Brian. Guys, this is our dad, Terry.” “Hello sir,” Brian said, extending his hand. I giggled at his use of the word sir, and he cut his eyes at me, which made me laugh even more. “She’s laughing because she knows I hate being called sir. Just Terry. This is my wife, Lorie.” He said, motioning to the woman who had rushed into the office to hug Dani and I. Don’t get me wrong, I love my stepmom and I’m glad my dad is happy, but I can’t help but have a part of me who doesn’t like her at all. Maybe because my dad hurt my mom so much, I don’t know. But sometimes she rubs me the wrong way. We spent about a half our talking to dad and Lorie, before we decided to let him get back to work. “I want you girls to come over for dinner one night. I’ll cook whatever you want and we’ll drink and sing.” Dad said as we got ready to leave. “What do you want to eat?” “Beef stew!” Dani and I both shouted, which made our stepmom laugh. “You got it girls. Let’s see today is Tuesday, so how about Friday? Your dad and I both have the day off.” Dani and I looked at each other and shrugged, “Friday is good.” I told her. We said our goodbyes and piled into my rental car and headed back toward mom’s house.

Once we got back to mom’s house, I noticed a familiar looking truck parked in the road in front of the house. “Is that...” Dani trailed off, squinting to get a better look at the man in the truck. I quickly put the vehicle in park and took off running down the driveway. “WILSON!” I shouted, leaping into my laughing best friend’s arms. “Nikki! I heard you were home and had to come see for myself. Looks like California is treating you well” He laughed, spinning me around. He put me down and I turned to look at everyone who had just gotten out of the car. Dani looked just as excited as I was, Matt looked confused, and Brian did not look impressed. “Guys, this is my best friend, Wilson. Will, Brian, and that big guy is Matt.” “Hey Brian, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Wilson said, shaking his hand. “Oh, you’re THAT Wilson.” Brian said, realization crossing his face. “Nick what did you tell him?” The tall blonde asked, looking down at me. I simply shrugged. “Not a lot.” “She told me about that time you two stole her brother’s car when you were drunk.” Brian stated. “Don’t forget about the story when she told us that she and Wilson had gotten themselves kicked out of the bar for starting a fight. Or when you two broke into the high school and released crickets.” “Nichole!” Wilson scolded, “You make me seem like I’m a bad influence! None of that was my idea.” He said, defending himself. “Well, except the last one. That was our senior prank.” “I didn’t step foot into that school for almost a week.” Dani said with a laugh, “Even thinking about it now makes me cringe. Anyway, I’m tired of standing, let’s go in the house. I’m sure mom would like to see her other son.” Dani joked, linking her arm in Matt’s with Wilson following them into the house. Brian and I were standing out on the driveway when I looked at him with a smile. “Will is harmless, I promise.” Brian nodded. “I know babe. He’s your best friend.” “Good, you’re still my number one guy though.” I told him, standing on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. “I know that too, that’s why I love you.” He grinned, making my insides melt. “Really now? Well what a coincidence, I love you too.” I smiled at him as he leaned in for a kiss. “Come on, we better get in the house before Mom comes looking for us.” I told him with a laugh.

We spent the afternoon with my mom and my crazy best friend, going through old photos and telling stories of when we were younger. Mom had made dinner for all of us, which consisted of grilled chicken, baked potatoes, and green beans, and we were currently all sitting at the table when Wilson spoke up. “Hey guys, what about going to Dave’s tonight? It’ll be like old times, except you guys are tan and have boyfriends.” “Dave’s? What’s Dave’s?” Matt asked, looking over at his girlfriend. “It’s this bar we used to go to before Nick moved. We were regulars.” She chuckled. “Nick and Will used to always get really drunk and sing country songs like every night.” “It wasn’t every night.” I defended, “Just like every weekend or so.” “Oh we are so doing this.” Brian laughed. “Yeah Nick, prepare to get wasted tonight.” Matt said with a laugh. I covered my face with my hands and laughed, “Oh god. Looks like we’re going to Dave’s.” “Awesome. I’ll go home and grab my guitar and tell the others. I’ll see y’all in a little while.” Wilson said, standing up to put his plate in the sink before giving my mother a hug and leaving. “The others?” Brian questioned, “Wilson still hangs out with the same crowd from high school. Perks of growing up in a small town I guess.” I shrugged. We all finished our dinner then hung out on the couch for a little while before heading out for a night that Brian and Matt wouldn’t forget.

Notes