Faith, Hope and Love

"Oh, I won't, but you know how some girls get on New Year's Eve. I doubt you'll bring in the New Year without a kiss from someone."

"Great." I didn't even try to hide my sarcasm.

"That sounds like fun!" Ryan cried as he hopped onto the couch pushing between Jean and Eli and inviting himself. "Count me in."

For a second I thought Eli was going to pop him, but somehow my friend held off. I guess years of hanging out with me had mellowed him a little.

"Why not?" Eli shrugged. "I'm sure we can find you a guy to kiss to help bring in the New Year." Okay, so maybe he hadn't mellowed that much.

"Hey! I'm not gay!" Ryan turned bright red.

"It's okay. We don't judge you for your life choices." Two days with Eli and already Jean was developing the same twisted sense of humor.

"Would you guys cut it out? I'm not a homosexual!" Ryan's protests only made the whole situation funnier.

"Are you sure?" I couldn't help asking. "It would explain a lot."

"That's a little unfair." This came from Ryan's little sister Rose as she joined us. I hadn't heard her come down the stairs, but she was a welcome addition. Rose was probably the only other cousin I'd hang out with voluntarily.

"Thank you!" her brother cried. He should have known better. I could never understand how he and Rose came from the same parents. She was two years younger, but seemed a lot more mature. She also had a decent sense of humor, unlike her older brother.

"I know plenty of gay guys who aren't nearly as flamboyant and egotistical as Ryan." Rose's delivery was perfect and Jean, Eli and I started laughing. Ryan got so mad he left the room which made Rose grin somewhat triumphantly.

"You do know he's going to tell you mother, right?" Jean asked, to which Rose shrugged.

"I love my mother, but she's the main reason why he's so spoiled in the first place. I think it's because he reminds her so much of daddy, but she's not doing Ryan any favors."

Rose and Ryan's father died young from a heart attack. It was a sad story, but it happened years ago. Rose was probably right about how it affected her mother and brother and I felt bad about that, but that didn't make Ryan any more bearable.

"So, who is this Faith you mentioned earlier?" I should have known Jean wouldn't let that slip by. At least her question entailed changing the subject which was probably a good thing.

"Just a girl I met recently." Okay, so she was a lot more than that, but I was hoping to cut this conversation short despite knowing better.

"Not just any girl," Eli put in. I gave him a warning look, but it was pointless. "Apparently, she's 'The One'. You know, the Yin to his Yang. His 'happily ever after' girl. Your cousin plans on marrying her."

I couldn't decide what surprised Jean and Rose more. The fact that Eli said it or the fact that despite being pissed at him for blurting it out, I didn't deny it. I refused to answer Jean and Rose's questions, but that didn't stop Eli from describing how I'd acted at the bar when I first saw Faith. I cut him off before he could start sharing what I told him happened after he left.

"And you really feel that strongly about a girl you only met once?" Rose asked, not sounding thrilled with the idea. I was pretty sure my cousins wouldn't understand. That's part of the reason why I didn't want to talk about Faith in the first place.

"I get that part. Love can be like that sometimes," Jean interjected thoughtfully, surprising me. She smiled as she added, "At least Colin acted on his feelings. Some guys take years to man up and admit how they feel."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who dated a complete loser for most of their adult lives." I really think the whole idea of subtlety was lost on Eli.

Instead of being mad at his retort Jean looked at him, smiled and took hold of his hand. They were being careful not to show their feelings for each other in front of the rest of the family so far, but it was only the four of us in the basement right now. Besides, unless you were as oblivious as Ryan, you had to notice the way they looked at each other every so often. Rose obviously had because she wasn't surprise when they drew together and shared a brief kiss before separating again. She did look a little dejected though.

"Okay, now I'm jealous. I could have used some of that Christmas magic you guys found. I hate being alone for the holidays."

"I prefer you if call it holiday magic," Eli grinned, although I'm pretty sure he was serious. "It will make it easier for my mother to swallow when she hears the story of how Jean and I ended up together." I couldn't help it. I laughed. Mostly because it really would make it easier for his parents to accept. Not that it wouldn't have been true for Jean's parents if the situation had been reversed.

"Fair enough." Rose wasn't laughing, but she did smile. "Honestly, I don't honestly what kind of magic caused it. I just wish it hadn't bypassed me."

"Hey, I have an idea," I offered. "If you don't have plans for the New Year, why not come to the party with us? This way I don't have to be a third wheel for these two. And you never know, New Years has a magic all its own. Maybe you'll meet someone. After all, the holiday season doesn't end until New Year's Day."

"That's a great idea!" Jean looked more excited about the idea than Rose. "In fact, I know a couple of guys who might interest you."

"Doubtful." Rose got an odd look in her eyes as she took a long drink from the plastic cup she was holding. She also looked toward the stairwell briefly. I got the impression that she was confirming that we were the only four in hearing distance. "You see, as out there as my brother Ryan may be, he really isn't gay. I, on the other hand..." She didn't bother finishing.

"Seriously?" It slipped out.

"It's not something I'd joke about," Rose snorted sarcastically. "And it's also not something I'm ready to tell the rest of the family quite yet. I figured I'd start with you two since you are probably the most open minded."

Okay, so I was almost dumb enough to ask the stupidest question ever. I'm sure Rose would have really appreciate it if I asked, 'Are you sure?', but for once I was able to filter my thoughts before they made it out of my mouth. It wasn't that I had a problem with her sexual preference. It just shocked me a little. Of course, me being me, I had to say something into the silence that followed so I went for humor.

"That makes it even better!" I joked. "Jean warned me that some girls might try to kiss me at the party when it hits midnight. As fun as that sounds, it doesn't seem right with me stuck on Faith. Now I can just hand them off to you instead." Rose and Jean exchanged a look while Eli simply groaned at my plan. Yeah, I know how silly it sounded, but it had the required effect. Everyone relaxed.

"You know, you really scare me sometimes." Eli was shaking his head now.

"Just sometimes?" Jean put in.

"I will kill you if you try to pass off a girl looking for a kiss at midnight to me," Rose warned, but then she grinned and added, "Unless she's super-hot."

"That's a given."

Suddenly, the four of us were laughing. I'm not sure how comfortable Jean was with the news of our little cousin being a lesbian, but she didn't seem half as surprised as me. I thought that maybe she had guessed the truth already. I'd have to ask her later. Not that it mattered.

I was happy to see that Rose looked relieved to have finally told someone in the family. It must have been tough keeping something like that to herself.

"What's so funny?" Ryan said as he came down the stairs to rejoin us. "You guys aren't still laughing at the idea of me being gay, are you? Because I'm telling you, I'm not." Of course, that only made us all laugh harder.

**********

"One who week and I still can't remember where I saw her before!" I didn't bother mention who I meant by her. Eli knew. Hell, I'm sure he was tired of hearing me complain, but that's what best friends were for.

"Give it time," Eli insisted as he straightened his tie in the mirror. "Even if you never remember, Faith may surprise you and come back on her own. I mean, she did say she just needed some time to think things through."

"She's not going to come back," I said glumly. "Not without me contacting her." I had no idea if I was right, but as the days went by it seemed less and less likely I'd see her again unless I remembered.

"If it's meant to be it will," Eli argued. "Look at your cousin and me. It may have taken us years to get together, but here we are."

"I get that," I sighed, taking my turn in front of the mirror. "But I don't want to wait years." Eli laughed and slapped me on the back. The doorbell rang and honestly, I was relieved to be distracted from my thoughts.

I went to answer it. It was Rose and Ryan and they were dressed to impress. We'd all decided to meet at my place before going to the New Year's Eve party. I brought them to the kitchen where Eli was already pouring them drinks. I stuck with soda since I'd volunteered to be the designated driver.

The doorbell rang again and Eli surprised me by volunteered to answer it. I knew it had to be Jean since she was the only one missing, but it was still unlike him. It took them a few minutes to rejoin us in the living room. They were both a little flushed and I was tempted to tease them about it, but just this once decided to let it go.

The five of us spent the next half hour sitting at the kitchen table, laughing and enjoying each other's company. I had to slow Ryan down on his drinking more than once. The boy seemed to be on a mission. We still had a little while before we had to leave when the doorbell rang again.

"I got it." Okay, Eli volunteering to answer the door twice is in a row meant something was definitely up. Besides, everyone we were expecting was already here.

"No, I'll go," I insisted and moved toward the front door first. My heart picked up its pace as I reached for the knob. I had no idea who it could be because I wasn't expecting anyone else, but I knew who I wanted it to be.

I was more than a little disappointed when I opened the door to find a beautiful blond girl standing there. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but it was the truth. I was hoping for a shapely brunette with a touch of purple in her hair and a nose stud.

"Sophie, you made it!" Eli said from behind me. He stepped passed me and hugged the blond before turning back. "This is a friend from work. I hope you don't mind. I invited her to join us." Eli had talked about a friend from work named Sophie a few times over the years, but I'd never met her before.

For a moment, I was afraid my best friend had tried to set me up, but one look at his expression and I knew it wasn't true. That still didn't explain why he'd invited her along. It's not like he was trying to set up Ryan. Eli would never do that to a friend. That's when it finally clicked.

"Welcome," I smiled, giving her a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek before leading both of them back to the others. Thankfully, Ryan wasn't in the room when we got there because the moment his sister Rose and Sophie looked at each other I could feel the connection between them.

"More holiday magic," I mumbled just loud enough for Eli to hear. Jean was a little slower catching on.

"I hope you don't mind my being here," Sophie smiled, her focus completely on Rose. "Eli described you in some detail and I can't say my interest wasn't piqued. I let him convince me to come along since I didn't have any serious plans for tonight."

"I figured worst case, at least you'll both have someone to kiss when the clock strikes twelve." I didn't quite groan at Eli, but it was a close thing.

"Please tell me you didn't invite your one lesbian friend along as a blind date for my cousin?" Jean did not look pleased.

"Sophie isn't my only friend that also happens to be a lesbian," Eli replied with a shrug. "I invited her because I had a feeling she and Rose would get along. If not, no harm done."

"If my presence makes you uncomfortable I can go." I respected Sophie for making the offer. Instead of responding, Jean looked at Rose. It took her a few seconds to answer.

"This once, I think I'm going to forgive Eli his interference." Again, she and Sophie exchanged a smile.

"Okay," Jean said slowly, finally seeing the connection between the two. "But what are we going to tell Ryan when he finally gets out of the bathroom? You still haven't told your brother yet, have you?"

"No," Rose admitted. "But this is Ryan we're talking about. My guess is that he'll be too busy hitting on Sophie to see the truth."

"And when you two kiss at midnight?"

"If we do kiss at midnight, then so be it." Rose sounded like she meant it. "But that's still hours away and I'm not kissing Sophie just because she gorgeous. I'm not a guy after all."

"Ouch," I laughed.

"We've got time to get to know each other." Sophie's smile was warm. "Although honestly, maybe I'm a little more like a guy than you because I'd definitely kiss someone who looks like you no questions asked."

"Okay, so now we know who's going to be on top in that relationship." Eli was grinning, but he shouldn't have been. His comment earned him an elbow to the stomach from Sophie and a nasty look from Rose. Of course, the worst reaction was from Jean.

"One more comment like that and you'll be looking for someone else to bring in the New Year with mister!"

"Sorry," Eli offered as he pulled my cousin into a hug. I was caught completely off guard and ended up choking on my drink.

"Are you okay?" Jean asked in concern.

"I'm fine," I got out between coughs. "I've just never heard Eli apologize before."

"Fuck you." Eli's comment was without heat and earned him another look from Jean, but she decided not to get in the middle of the mechanics of our friendship. I always thought my cousin was a smart one. Eli frowned and added, "Here comes Ryan."

"We really are sorry for what you're about to face." I was dead serious, but I don't think Sophie believed me.

"Don't worry. I'll let him down gently if he does hit on me."

"Oh, he's definitely going to hit on you," Rose put in, surprisingly the blond. "And don't bother being gentle. You're going to have to stop him cold or he'll never give up. I love my big brother, but Ryan will strut around like a peacock and act like insufferable, egoistically jerk with you here. He thinks that's what girls like."

"This is going to be fun." Sophie wasn't quite laughing, but it was a close thing.

"I see she has your twisted sense of humor." Eli didn't bother being offended by my comment. He knew me too well. I liked his sense of humor despite it being offensive at times.

The next twenty minute would have been mortifying if the whole situation wasn't so funny to begin with. Ryan was as subtle as a Mack truck as he attempted to gain Sophie's interest. He was oblivious to the looks she and his sister exchanged and he seemed to take her coldness toward him as a challenge.

I thought he's finally given up when he left the room, but that's when I heard him begin to play the piano in the living room. I guess he decided to try and woo her with music.

"Oh, this is going to be painful," I groaned.

"Just like that camp video Aunt Claire made us listen to that Christmas." Jean didn't look any happier than me.

"Hey!" Rose interjected. "I was in that video too."

"And you were amazing," Jean smiled. "I've never seen a cello played like that. I especially liked it when you played that television show theme. What was it called?"

"Angel," I supplied.

"It's actually called The Sanctuary," Rose corrected.

"By Darling Violetta?" Sophie asked in surprise. "That's pretty cool."

"So is the fact that you know the actual name." The two exchanged another meaningful smile.

"I expect to be in the wedding party when you two set a date," Eli grinned. "It's the least I deserve for introducing you." Jean looked ready to lay into him once more, but Sophie beat her to it.

"Sure," the blond said with a grin of her own. "You can be my maid of honor."

"Ouch!" I laughed. "Just so you know. Eli looks good in pink."

"Keep it up smartass," Eli retorted. "You're going to be my best man one day and I'm sure I can find a pink tux for you."

"There will be no pink tuxes allowed at my..." Jean began, but then cut herself off in embarrassment when she realized what she'd almost said. I'd never seen her turn a deeper shade of red. The fact that Eli was grinning like a lunatic didn't help. It was time to step in.

"Let's go and see if we can cut off Ryan before he starts singing."

"Too late," Sophie said with an actual flinch as Ryan's voice invaded the room. My voice was pretty bad, but at least I knew it. Ryan's was worse and he seemed to have no clue.

"I can't believe no one has ever told him how bad he is," Eli groaned.

"Are you kidding?" Rose snorted. "He's been told more than once." She started grinning, obviously remembering something she found amusing. "Actually, one of the campers from that summer told him in great detail. It was pretty funny."

"Clearly, it didn't do much good," Eli responded with a flinch as Ryan hit a particularly sour note.

"It did at the time. No one ignored CC. Not even my big brother." Rose was still grinning as she remembered. "She was pretty cool. In fact, CC's the reason why I had a solo in that video. Ryan insisted that my performance follow his. He planned on 'helping' me out since I was still pretty young at the time."

"He thought he could help you?" I asked in disbelief. "You're the best musician in the family and that saying something. Besides, he's the worst."

"I wasn't that good at the time."

"Please," Jean disagreed. "Even back then you were ten times better than him." Rose blushed, but didn't bother deny it. Neither Jean or would have let her.

"I wasn't happy about it," she admitted. "But he was my big brother and it was my first year at the camp. I think the guy in charge was going to let Ryan have his way just to shut him up, but that's when CC stepped in. Not only did she tell Ryan how bad he was, but she threatening to hurt him if he tried to extend his performance or interjected himself into mine. To make sure he didn't she insisted that her performance be between ours."

I remembered Rose telling stories about CC. At the time, there had been a lot of hero worship in her tone. I guess I understood part of that now.

"Wait, she was the one with the rainbow-colored hair who played the guitar?" Jean asked in surprise.

"Yep, I bet Ryan still has nightmares about her." Rose was laughing now. So was Jean and the others. I sat frozen as memories of the video we'd all been forced to watch came back.

"What wrong?" Eli asked, catching my stunned expression. I ignored him and ran to my bedroom. My laptop was on my desk. I started booting it up. "What's going on?" Everyone follow me instead of joining Ryan in the living room.

"Aunt Claire made mom buy that video from the camp's website and download it to the home computer so we could watch. I wonder if mom ever deleted it." I was half talking to myself which only added to my cousin and best friend's concern. "Probably not. She wouldn't want to hurt Aunt Claire's feelings in case Ryan's mom ever asked."

"What does that have to do with your laptop?" Rose asked.

"There was a bunch of my stuff on the family computer. I copied over some key directories when I got my laptop. I took mom's pictures and movies figuring it would be good to have a backup if anything ever happened to the home computer. That thing is ancient. I'm betting I have a copy of the video somewhere on here."

"You want to watch it? Now?" Jean frowned. Her disbelief was pretty obvious. We'd made fun of the video for years, but never bothered to watch it again after that first year.