Stock Ch. 01-18

"Love you," Elizabeth said and gave him a peck on the cheek then started the engine. They purred like kittens, Elizabeth and the car both. Sean could only smile at the way her eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree. They pulled out of the carport slowly and Elizabeth made every precaution to watch out for other cars. When they hit the open road she only added a little speed. "If you're going to drive then drive. Give her some gas," Sean said.

With a big smile Elizabeth stepped on the accelerator and put the car through its paces. Although Sean nagged earlier that he would be watching the road he only had his eyes on Elizabeth as the wind whipped her hair as she smiled in wild abandon. This was what it was to not be lonely, to share the things that made you happy with someone else. Sean would always remember that moment for the rest of his life. Here, with her and the wind. They arrived at the market in record time and got out. Sean immediately wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and tried to put all his love into a kiss that soon had her melting in his arms.

"My! What was that for?" she asked after the floor stopped spinning.

"For not crashing the Jag," Sean chuckled at her flabbergasted expression then gave her a chaste peck on the cheek. "Love you."

The two walked hand in hand into the supermarket. Sean grabbed a cart and then squeaked along the linoleum aisles, picking up things to fill his refrigerator with, when Elizabeth grabbed his elbow. "Sean," Elizabeth whispered. "I just spotted Cheryl."

"Uh-oh," Sean looked over his shoulder and indeed there stood Cheryl with her roommates down the aisle. It didn't look like she had spotted them yet but that wasn't going to last. Cheryl looked up the aisle and recognized them. Sean watched different emotions play across her face, from surprise to embarrassment to anger. She headed their way.

Sean knew it was impossible but it felt like a storm front had just set in, the air was charged with tension. He didn't know what to expect of so quick an encounter but he braced himself for whatever was about to happen. Cheryl stormed towards them, hurt anger and pride evident in her every move. She stopped before them and her hand flashed out to slap Elizabeth. Sean was quicker and caught her wrist before she hit; Elizabeth didn't even flinch. Cheryl stared with open fury at Elizabeth and then Sean. "I thought I understood you, Sean. Never in my life would I have thought that you would sleep with another woman for money. I thought there was something between us."

"Cheryl, there might have been but…"

"Cheryl, Sean isn't seeing me for my money," Elizabeth cut in. "He and I are happy together. I don't know what you might have said before but Sean valued the friendship you had with him enough to not tell me. I suggest you consider very carefully how you act in front of him." Sean noticed Elizabeth didn't say anything about Cheryl treating her more civilly.

"Bitch," Cheryl spat out and wrenched her hand away then stormed off. Sean looked at Cheryl's friends who were also friends of his. They had a confused look on their face, unsure what to make of recent developments. Sean only shook his head in pity for Cheryl. He supposed Derrick hadn't seen her yet.

Elizabeth touched his elbow and guided Sean down the shopping aisle to get them away from the staring crowd. Sean didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. One of the best friends he ever had now hated him and the woman who just became an integral part of his life. "Elizabeth, I'm…"

Elizabeth placed a finger on his lips and silenced him. "You know the rules, Sean. No apologies. And besides, it is not your apology to give. You did nothing wrong. If Cheryl can't care enough about you to see that she put you in a spot then she didn't really care about your feelings, which is what a relationship is about; the person you care about. Come on. There's still a few things on the list that needs taking care of."

The two continued shopping and didn't broach the matter again but it was sitting on the back Sean's mind, Cheryl was a good friend. The rest of their time at the market continued without further incidences, apparently Cheryl had left immediately.

Sean and Elizabeth were soon back at the apartment and were shelving all of the groceries and setting aside what they had planned for dinner. "Sean?"

Sean pulled his head out the fridge and looked up. "What did Cheryl say? Before, I mean."

Sean walked up to Elizabeth and wrapped his arms around her. "She said I didn't need you." He took a deep breath. "I do though. You know that. Just thinking of you reminds me of what I have to live for. I don't have to wake up in the morning and feel empty anymore. Do you know what the loneliness in my life meant to me? It meant that no matter what I did, no matter how good of an achievement I accomplish, it was meaningless because I didn't have anyone to share it with. I consider myself a selfless person. I feel fulfilled when I make those around me happy. You are the only person who I've ever made happy by simply being me. No lies, no facades, no illusions; just me. For once in my life I don't have to worry about being ridiculed for doing what I like, for expressing who I am, even so much as being jested at. And that is only one of the reasons I love you, one of the millions of reasons that I need you. Cheryl never filled that need, neither did any of my friends. I don't need them, I could lose all of them because of how Cheryl is blowing this all up, and I don't care. I do need you, though. If the price I have to pay is them, then so be it. But understand that it is not your fault that I lose them. Whether or not they choose to remain my friends are entirely their choice and their responsibility." Let his friends mill about in confusion all they want. If they wanted to know his side of the story they would ask. So be it.

Sean held Elizabeth as she stood there silently, mulling over what he just said. She didn't say anything but Sean could feel the shift of emotion from the set of her muscles in his arms that she was happy with his explanation and all was right in the world once again.

Chapter 14

"Sean?"

Elizabeth lay cuddled up after a very passionate and fulfilling bout of making love. "Yes, love?"

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving? It's just around the corner."

"I don't know," Sean answered. "I was thinking maybe getting a turkey, inviting Vanessa and Eric, and having a nice dinner with you guys. Why?"

"What about your family?" Elizabeth asked. "I was wondering about when I could meet them. Thanksgiving is a family holiday."

"I don't plan on introducing my family to you."

"Why not?" Elizabeth was now sitting up, a curious and annoyed expression on her face. "I think I'm ready to meet them."

"Calm down, Elizabeth," Sean said and held her hand. "Fact of the matter is that I don't think I'm not ready to introduce you to them. I haven't seen them in a couple of years. They," Sean didn't quite know how to fit the words to how he felt, the emotions were buried so deep. "They embarrass me. I've never mentioned them because, well, I'm ashamed of them. You're going to want to get more comfortable because this is a long story." Elizabeth nodded and lay back down in his arms. "I told you about how my mother died when I was seven. But I left a lot blank as to what happened afterward. In brief my family fell apart. My father tried dealing with his grief and I think it was because of that that he let my sister go out so often. Maybe he just didn't know what to do about her now that my mom was gone or maybe the sight of her reminded him of our mother. Whatever the reason, he just let her go out and wasn't a control factor on what friends were acceptable. Well, she didn't hang out with the right crowd. It wasn't long before she was definitely hanging out with the wrong crowd and had run away. She had gotten into drugs and who knows what else. All this before she even went to high school.

"My dad remarried and at the time I thought his second wife was fine. She brought her own daughter as an addition to the family and I thought she was okay to play with. I knew them for about half a year before my dad got hitched. It was a crazy few years after that with my dad still searching for my sister and then eventually finding her. During that time when things were finally starting to become more normal, if being within the quota of dysfunctional can be considered normal that is, that I started to understand him. Then there came the inheritance. My grandmother died and my sister, father, and I got a lot of money; hundreds of thousands each to be exact. My dad used it to build a business and my sister got her fingers into it quick and pretty much blew it on her boyfriend and addiction to marijuana. I just sat on it. I sat and watched as the money corrupted the household. My father was ever the salt of the earth kind of man but my step-mom, she was a different story. She dug her claws in and spoiled my step-sister rotten. Fights broke out and once again my family was sent spinning into oblivion once again. I kidded you not when I said that I led a very lonely life. I doubt there are that many high schoolers in the upper middle class that could really understand what I was going through, they either had the money all their lives and were used to it or they were dirt poor and would simply resent me. That money and my family nearly drove me insane. I've never told anyone this before but it nearly drove me to the point of suicide when I was twelve." At the telling of that Elizabeth squeezed Sean's hand comfortingly. "Those were some dark days for me. Some of it hasn't gone away. That's why I was driven towards martial arts. It was an outlet. The drawing too." Sean pointed at the mural wall across from the bed. "See that raven? That was my deepest despair, my darkest pain. Those depths that have haunted me for years, for a while I could almost feel a mental shift in me where it took over. Towards the end it became my loneliness." He pointed again at a different part of the wall, to the phoenix that Elizabeth fingered the first day she saw the walls, blazing brightly, beautifully. "And that. That phoenix became you. My hope, my last shot at salvation. That bird has been the only thing keeping me going for the past ten years. The dream of finding you has been the only thing keeping me going for the past decade of my life." Sean took a deep cleansing breath after remembering those dark years, reminding himself that those times were past. "So when Cheryl said that I didn't need you I kid you not when I say that I was about to slap her. She will never know that only thing that stopped me was because of my need to find you.

"And then my father died of a heart attack," Sean chuckled sadly. "Can't say that I blame him. I thought about something along those lines years before him. Then the family really did fall apart. My father was the only reason I ever wanted to go home during my first couple of years in college. Since I was already eighteen I filed for financial independence and moved out. I've never wanted to go back. There's nothing back there for me but painful memories. I don't ever plan on meeting them ever again. Once, they tried contacting me and could you believe they were asking for money? Apparently they blew all of it after my father died. A good chunk of his share of my grandmother's money that was given to him he gave to me. I…" Sean couldn't say another word and broke down with grief. Elizabeth held him to her, whispering soft comforts while he cried like the lost boy that he still kept hidden, even from himself. "I was the only reason that he kept living. He said as much in his will. My empire of money is built on death. Now you know why I've never spent it. I hate that money. It has caused me nothing but pain. But I can't give it away. It's all I have of my parents. I never really knew my mother and my father never believed too strongly in anything so I can't donate it. I don't think it would be right. Besides, I think he believed I was a worthy caretaker of it. Perhaps, perhaps one day I will know what to do with it. But until then I'll hold on to it and only use it when I have to. The Jag was the first time that I've splurged. It has to do with being with you. I can maybe put down the pain now that I have some happiness in my life." Sean had calmed by then. "Anyways, after that one encounter with my family about a year back I changed my address and phone number. I even considered going to a different college. I pretty much disappeared, partially from the pain but also from disgust. No, I'm not going to introduce you to my family. I don't think I could take it. They aren't a part of my life anymore."

It was a lot to drop in Elizabeth's lap but she deserved to know. Might as well get it out of the way, he thought. Elizabeth didn't say anything for a long while, just held him quietly. "Sean?"

"Yes?"

"Will you come with me to meet my family this Thanksgiving? I'm sure they'd love you. They're good people. Charles sort of shoved them out of my life when I married him and this is my first year free of him. It would mean a lot to me if you met them."

"I'd love to," Sean replied. "Maybe what you're thinking will work out and they'll adopt me."

"I didn't mean…"

Sean silenced her with his lips and tasted their tears. "Yes, you did, which is part of the reason I want to go. Besides, I get to hear more of the amazingly embarrassing stories starring our beloved Elizabeth Richards." He smiled at her and she blushed in mortification. "Thank you, ‘Liz. I can't find the words to tell me how much it means to me."

"Don't say that until after you've met them."

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Elizabeth asked as they walked up the thinly carpeted arrival ramp of the Seattle airport.

"As ready as I'll ever be, darling." Sean squeezed her hand to show her his resolve. He really wasn't all that worried. He remembered how in high school most of his friends' parents liked him; even his ex-girlfriend's parents liked him. The tunnel ramp opened up into the main airport lobby and, as always in public places, Sean scanned the whole area for exits, security, and anything out of the ordinary amongst the bustling crowd of travelers busy to be home early for Thanksgiving, it being Wednesday. Sean didn't have to wait long to pick out Elizabeth's parents since she literally jumped and screamed and ran straight for them. He had a good look at them as they gathered up their daughter in a group hug. Her father was a tall man with graying blonde hair and gentle blue eyes. His wife had Elizabeth's slim build with typical Chinese features but was about four inches shorter than Elizabeth and her hair was streaked with gray. Sean stood back and waited with his and Elizabeth's carry on bags at the touching scene of family reunited.

The hugs and smiles took a reprieve as Elizabeth turned around and waved at Sean to join them. He did so gladly, toting their bags and a bouquet of flowers that he picked himself. He handed the flowers to Elizabeth's mother. She accepted them graciously and looked at the arrangement before she sniffed them.

"Sean this is my mother, Alice, and my father, Henry. Mom, dad this is my boyfriend, Sean."

Alice looked at Sean and then the flowers and smiled warmly at him. "Pleased to meet you Sean."

Henry measured Sean up and Sean let him, letting his honest affection for the man's daughter show through. The older man shook his hand, "Hello, Sean. Nice to meet the boy that's swept my daughter off her feet."

"Pleased to meet you, sir." Sean replied. "Sometimes though, I wonder who is sweeping whom off their feet."

Elizabeth blushed at the compliment and tenderly slipped her hand in his.

"None of this ‘sir' business. Call me Henry."

"Yes, sir…err Henry."

Still, Alice was looking at the bouquet of irises, white chrysanthemums, and light pink roses. "Sean these are lovely flowers did you pick them?"

"Yes, I did," Sean said simply and smiled.

The group went on to luggage pick up and soon were on their way to Elizabeth's home.

Chapter 15

The car ride was filled with amiable conversation and the usual interrogation of Sean's character; what his goals were, what he valued, the whole nine yards. Sean bore it all with grace, he'd be surprised if they didn't. Sean liked Elizabeth's parents, they really were nice people. Other than the interrogation the two barraged Elizabeth about her divorce and did some general catching up on recent events. Sean half-listened to the conversation and half viewed the sights around him. There were trees everywhere with almost permanently overcast skies brooding with rain. They pulled up to a rustic looking white house with blue trimming amidst tall evergreens that dripped with the morning's light drizzle. "Well, here we are. Let's say we get you two settled in." Henry said. "'Liz, your room is just as you left it. And Sean, we have an office with a nice convertible sofa."

"Dad!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"It's okay, Elizabeth," Sean interceded. "Sounds cozy. Their house, their rules. I expected as much anyways."

"But…"

"Let me guess," Sean continued for her. "But Charles got to stay with you? I thought as much. Please do not give me the same allowances as that sleaze ball. I'll be fine, love. Look at it this way. You don't have to lose to me in a pillow fight this time."

"Pillow fight?" Henry asked, chuckling. "She still likes to pillow fight? I thought she grew out of that."

"Elizabeth and her sister, Susan, always got into pillow fights. I've lost count of how many pillows those two have exploded."

Sean was grinning widely much to Elizabeth's embarrassment. She reached up and clamped her hands around his ears. "Mom, could you please leave out the embarrassing stories. I'm supposed to try to impress him."

"You've already impressed me, ‘Liz," Sean said. "Besides, I told you I wanted to hear all those fun little anecdotes. If I'm lucky they'll show me the really cute baby pictures."

Elizabeth howled in aggravated embarrassment. "You're impossible, Sean!"

"I think I'm beginning to like him," Henry commented.

"Auntie ‘Liz!" squeaked an energetic eight year old boy that came barreling out the front door. Elizabeth squealed in mutual delight and gave the boy a big hug. "Mom said you'd be coming this time. Did you bring me anything?"

It seemed to Sean that Elizabeth's bright laughter seemed to part all the clouds in the sky and he smiled at the sound. "No, Brian. Sorry, not this time. I didn't even realize how big you've gotten. I didn't want to get you something a young man like you wasn't interested in anymore. Maybe we can find something at the toy store later." Brian smiled all the brighter when she called him a man. Elizabeth caught Sean smiling at her and faced Brian around. "Brian, let me introduce you to someone very important to me. This is my friend, Sean. Sean, this is my nephew, Brian."

"I'm eight, now," Brian chirped.

Sean kneeled down and looked the innocent youth over. "And practically a man. Good to know there's another man in the house. Two many disgusting girls under one roof without us men to fix things and who knows what could happen!" Brian laughed in agreement much to Elizabeth's mild annoyance. "Actually, Auntie ‘Liz," Sean said that with a sly look at Elizabeth, "didn't know that I may have snuck a thing or two for a nephew of hers she mentions so often in my suitcase. Maybe that's you?"

Brian seemed to brim with even more energy if that were possible. "She doesn't have any other nephews."

"We're working on that," came a female voice from the front door. Sean looked up to find a woman who was obviously Elizabeth's older sister. Less delicate than Elizabeth, but more handsome, she seemed to have an almost royal bearing to her even though she was drying her hands with a dishrag. "Hi, I'm Susan," she said, offering her freshly dried hand. "You must be this Sean she's been talking our ears off about lately." There was a measured look in her eyes much like Vanessa had done when they first met.