Traditions Ch. 04

“No, I’m good. You guys have a great Christmas.” With that, Cheyanne turned and exited the café, with a chorus of farewells echoing behind her.

She only walked a few feet from the door when she finally saw the old trucked parked in front of her.

Cheyanne silently stared at Declan as he leaned across the front of his car. His whole demeanor seemed casual to her, while she couldn’t help but feel a little tense as moments of their earlier argument and her conversation with Ginger began to race through her mind.

“You gona get in.” He said stiffly.

After a seconds hesitation, Cheyanne merely nodded and walked over to the car. Stepping into the front cab, she quickly realized how warm it was. The heat coming from the vent easily warmed the chilly feeling that she had gotten from standing outside. The feeling almost made her relax. Almost.

As soon as Declan jumped into the driver’s seat, the tension in her body grew again. She was trying her hardest not to look at him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the seconds past. She could tell the he was still peeved from what happened earlier, and was ready to give him a much needed apology. But as soon as she opened her mouth, the small speech that she had prepared all day at work suddenly vanished.

“You know, if you keep yar mouth open like dat, you’re bound to catch flies.” His tone was not humorous.

She needed to say something. Anything!

“I told you I could walk home.”

She wanted to smack herself.

Declan lightly scoffed, barely hinting towards any other emotion other than annoyance.

“And I told you, I didn’t want you walking around here at night. Some’ting could happened to you.”

“I’ve walked out here at night before. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yes, I do.” He said sternly. “I don’t think I could live wit myself… if some’ting were to happen to you.” The last part was spoken softly, as if saying it any louder would reveal some big secret.

Hearing that he cared about her only made Cheyanne feel worse about what she had said that afternoon. She just needed to hurry up and apologize to him.

“I’m sorry…about what I said earlier.” Turning her head a little, she tried to peak at him through the corner of her eye. His gaze was held firmly on the road. As the seconds past, Cheyanne decided to continue when he didn’t respond. “I shouldn’t have been so pushy with you about trying to share things with me. I understand why you can’t. We’re just different-different people, that is, “she quickly corrected herself, “and we just move at different paces. What I might be ready to share with you, you might not be ready to share with me. And that’s completely fine. I’m not going to rush things with you. I know that you’ll open up to me when you’re ready, and I’m willing to wait till then.” Reaching over, she lightly pulled his left hand off the steering wheel and held it in hers. “I’m willing to wait for you.”

He didn’t say anything at first. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge their hands, only allowing his hand to lie limply in her palm. The long silence was beginning to worry her, and she started to wonder if maybe she had said the wrong thing. Maybe her apology wasn’t good enough.

A good minute passed before Declan lightly squeezed her hand and nodded his head. Silence continued afterwards, but it wasn’t the same harsh silence as before.

After a few minutes, Declan turned into the university and parked the truck in front of Cheyanne’s dorm. Tomorrow she would be leaving, and he wouldn’t be able to see her for four whole weeks. The thought frustrated him just a little. He hadn’t been expecting her to leave, and even when she had told him, the thought of her being gone still had not registered. He had felt unprepared, and was still upset that she had not bothered to tell him.

“Who’s taking you to the airport?”

Cheyanne fidgeted in her seat just a little. “Well…I was going to ask Hannah if maybe she could take me, that is…if you weren’t able to.”

The question of whether he’d drive her to the airport hung in the air, letting him know that he could easily say no and let her find her own way. He was still angry, and she knew it. She was giving him way out if he wanted one.

“What time is your flight?”

Cheyanne lightly smiled. “Ten fifteen.”

He curtly nodded. “I’ll be here at eight.”

Cheyanne didn’t bother to hide her smile this time, and leaned in towards his lips. But instead of the long lingering kiss she had expected, Declan merely gave her a small peck and turned from her. Cheyanne pulled back in order to look at his face. The set of his jaw was tight and his eyes did not waver away from the spot on his windshield he had suddenly taken great interest in. Obviously she wasn’t out of the clear yet.

Feeling a little hurt, Cheyanne quickly climbed out of the front cab and softly murmured a goodbye. Heading toward her building, she didn’t have to turn around to know that Declan had already pulled out of the parking lot.

****

It was nine fifty the next morning and Cheyanne was patiently sitting in her seat waiting for her plane to be called.

Declan was quietly sitting next to her, silently watching people pass by. It seems that things had not changed since last night. She had hoped that maybe a good night’s rest would diminish some of the anger he had felt towards her. Apparently, Declan was the type of person to hold a grudge. She piled that away for future reference.

The ride to the airport had been a quite one, with only a few words passing between them concerning which terminal her plan was at and if she had all the necessary ID. The ride over wasn’t too bad, and finding their way to the terminal wasn’t as bad as she had expected. It seemed the hardest part was having to sit there while Declan gave her the silent treatment.

“Are you going to miss me while I’m gone?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Probably. Of course, I wouldn’t be missing you as much if you had told me that you were leaving sooner.”

“I know. I know I should have told you.” She said. “Believe me when I say that this wasn’t something I was planning on keeping from you.” Shyly she looked down and her hands and began playing with a loos string on her carry-on bag. “You just always have a way of distracting me. We’d always have so much fun, that I’d just forget about the world sometimes.” She nudged him lightly in a playful attempt to loosen him up.

After a moment, Declan cracked a small smile. “Yeah, I guess I can be pretty distracting.”

She smiled. “Very.”

His smile faded slightly. “It’s just…I wish I had known earlier. I would have been more prepared… if I had known.”

“How? What could you have prepared for?”

He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’a know. I might have tried spending more time with you…or something.”

She laughed a little. “You already spend a lot time with me. Really. Plus, you have so many other things on your plate right now. I don’t expect you drop any of those things for me.”

He turned his head and lifted his gaze to her. “Still. Being in this type of…relationship…it’s new to me.”

Cheyanne nodded. “It’s knew for me too.”

At that moment, a woman’s voice came over the intercom announcing that the plane to Dallas, Texas was now boarding. Declan and Cheyanne both stood up as the others quickly headed towards the loading bridge.

“Thank you,” Cheyanne said, “for taking me here. You really didn’t have to, you know.”

“I know.” He said simply. “But I wanted to.”

She nodded her head, a small lump beginning to form in her throat. “So I’ll call you as soon as I land.”

“Okay.” He said.

“Okay.” The smoldering look Declan was giving her right now was making her feel light headed. The small lump in her throat seemed to have grown two sizes bigger, and was now affectively blocking her air way. Standing there at the terminal, with no other choice but to leave, Cheyanne didn’t realize how much she was going to miss Declan until now.

Noticing the saddened look in her eye, Declan reached out to her.

“Come here, dove.” Declan effectively wrapped her in his arms and rested his chin on her head. He knew exactly how she was feeling right now, because it was exactly the same way he was feeling. Even though he knew he was going to see her again in just a few short weeks, up until this moment, they had been able to spend almost every day together. It was going to be difficult not being able to be with her.

Pulling back just a little, Declan leaned in and claimed her lips. Feeling there softness against his, Declan took the small moment they had to saver her sweetness. If he was going to be living without her lips for four weeks, he wanted to at least have a good memory of what they tasted like.

When the second call for her flight was announced, the couple reluctantly pulled apart. Hefting the small carry-on bag over her shoulder, Cheyanne turned and headed towards the loading bridge, taking every moment she could to look back at her man before finally boarding the plane.

****

“Guess who’s finally here.” Cheyanne’s father shouted as they walked through the door.

The announcement of Cheyanne’s return was quickly accompanied by a loud chorus of squeals. From around the corner, a small little girl sprinted around the side, effectively ramming into Cheyanne’s knee.

“Oomph.” Cheyanne fumbled a little, but quickly regained her balance.

“You’ve been missed.” Her father’s deep voice rumbled off to the side.

“I can tell.” She said. “And who might this be?” She playfully rubbed the small girl’s curly hair.

The chubby face looked up and gave a toothy grin. “It’s me aunty Naynay. Simone.”

“Really?” She feigned shock and picked up the girl to place her on her hip. “My gosh you’ve gotten so big.”

“I’m a big girl now. I turned four.” The small child held up her fingers in proof.

Cheyanne smiled. “I know. I’m sorry I missed your birthday kiddo. But,” she place Simone on the floor, “I did get you a couple of cool Christmas presents to make up for it.”

Simone let out another high pitched squeal, and turned to run into the living room she had just come out of.

“Naynay’s here. Naynay’s here.” She said in a sing song voice.

Walking into the living room, Cheyanne was greeted by a few excited family members. Upon seeing her sister, Cheyanne almost had to control the urge to scream like her niece had.

“Oh my God,” Her older sister practically pulled her into her cage like arms. “Don’t you ever ever move that far away again. I just can’t stand you being that far.”

“I can’t live here forever.” With her head firmly held to her sister’s chest, her words came out muffled. “Renee, you have to let go. Your boobs are smothering me.”

“Oh, sorry.” She pulled back.

“Come over here college girl.” From behind her Renee’s husband, Aaron, pulled her away from her sister into a smothering hug of his own. “We’re glad your home, short stuff.”

Cheyanne tried to let out a sigh, but found that she could not muster up enough oxygen to create one.

“Thanks Aaron….um…can’t breathe…over here.” She lightly patted him on his back in warning.

He merely let out a soft chuckle. “Sorry short stuff. Just glad to have you back home.”

Cheyanne had to hold back a groan. “You know how much I hate that name.”

“I know,” he replied. “But until you find some magical way to reach my height, you’ll just have to find some way to get use to the name.”

“And unless there is some sort of magical bean to add eight inches onto my legs, I guess I’ll have no choice.”

Aaron was definitely on the tall side, averaging a height of about six feet three inches, effectively beating Declan’s height by two inches. As a young man, he was able to play college basketball for a few years before changing his focus to law. People always managed to question his choice to switch careers, always stating that he had such a great potential to make it to the NBA. But he’d always reply by saying that if he hadn’t made the change, he would have never met the love of his life.

It was in one of his classes that he had happened to meet Renee for the first time. She was the student teacher aid for his history class and had asked her for her help in understanding the material. Needless to say, it wasn’t her brain that he was interested in.

“I finally see my sister convinced you to shave that beard of yours.” Cheyanne playfully reached to touch his goatee.

Aaron ducked away from her hand and palmed his jaw to touch the smooth skin. “Yeah, well, what can I say? She presented a good case, and I would have been insane not to comply.”

“You had no choice,” Renee turned to her sister and whispered in her ear. “I told him he wouldn’t be able to touch me if he didn’t.”

“Okay,” Cheyanne backed up and raised her hands. “I didn’t need to know that.”

“Besides,” Renee continued, “You’d look more professional with a goatee. How do could people at court take you seriously with a bald head and a full beard.”

“I was winning cases before I shaved.” He remarked.

“And now you’ll win more of them.” Placing a quick kiss to her husband’s lips, she quickly turned and grabbed her sister’s hands. “Come on, mom’s in the kitchen.”

Following her sister’s lead, the two women silently walked in toward the back of the house where the kitchen was located.

Upon entering the room, the two ladies quickly spot the small woman at the stove. With her back to them, the smaller woman failed to notice the two other’s sneak up behind her. As they approached the stove, Cheyanne was able to take in the warm aroma of several different foods. Lifting her head, she lightly sniffed the air.

“Mmm, is that pot roast I smell?”

Quickly whirling around, the older woman gazed at Cheyanne with a surprised expression before letting out a load scream. Cheyanne couldn’t help but scream along with her.

“Whaaaaa, oh my god! My baby’s home!” Cheyanne’s mother, Pam, excited shouted.

Before Cheyanne even had the chance to reply, her mother quickly pulled her into her tight hug.

“Oh thank you Jesus, my baby’s finally home.”

Cheyanne smiled and calmly endured her third suffocating hug of the evening.

“Mom, mom, you might want to let up a bit. Your hugging the life out of Cheyanne.” Renee interjected.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Pam pulled back but did not release her daughter from her arms. “I’m just so happy that my baby is finally safe and home. I don’t know what I was thinking when I let your father convince me to let you move so far away.”

“He was probably thinking about how much he wouldn’t have to pay since they offered her a scholarship.” Renee commented.

With Renee standing next to their mother, Cheyanne couldn’t help but notice how much they resembled each other. Although her mother had grown a bit plump over the years, she still remained as beautiful as ever. Renee was the same way in that regard. Cheyanne was always jealous of how stunning her sister looked. Both her mother and sister shared the same chin length curly hair and smooth chocolate skin. The only difference between the two of them was there height, with their mother being the shorter of the two.

While Cheyanne definitely got her height from her mother, it was her father she favored the most; not just in looks, but in attitude as well. They both tended to laugh at the same jokes, watch the same movies, and enjoyed the same activities.

As if on cue, her father noisily stumbled into the kitchen with two of Cheyanne’s bags in tow.

“Excuse me ladies,” he huffed and dropped the bags onto the floor. “But I do believe Cheyanne has something else she needs to be doing right now.” Turning to his younger daughter and gave her a look. “Now I know you didn’t think I was about to carry all this up to your room by myself.”

“Oh Donald, can’t I have a minute with my daughter.” Pam scowled.

“She’s my daughter too. And I would think that she knew better than to let an old man carry so much weight. It’s bad on my back.”

With a smile Cheyanne walked over to her dad and picked up both bags. “You’re not that old.”

“Maybe not,” he said, “but now that I’m surrounded by you young folks I’m starting to feel that way.”

“Aww, well if it makes you feel any better you can still think of me as your baby girl.”

Donald smiled down at her. “You are my baby girl.” He said, and placed a small kiss on her forehead.

“Now, you better go on up and unpack your stuff,” her mother interrupted. “Dinner is almost ready and I made your favorite, pot roast with roasted potatoes.”

“There better be some macaroni and cheese over there, too.” Donald added as he walked past Cheyanne and into the kitchen

“Honey, tonight is not all about you. I made this especially for Cheyanne.”

“There still better be macaroni.”

“Oh, just relax. It’s sitting in the oven.”

“Thank you baby.” Placing a small kiss on his wife’s cheek, Donald made his way over to the dinner table and took his seat at the end.

“You better hurry and get ready for dinner.” He said. “You know we’ll start eating without you.”

With that, Cheyanne turned and made her way up the stairs into her room.

Ah, it was good to be back. As much as she loved the little England town she now currently lived in, nothing compared to home sweet home. She missed the sea green wall of her small childhood room. Looking around she smiled at the old posters of teen pop bands she no longer listen to and the old worn out furniture she had since middle school. Yeah, this was home.

After placing her bags in her room she headed down the hall to the bathroom to freshen up and place her toiletries on the counter before unpacking.

While in the middle of unloading one of her bags, she heard a small knock at the door.

“Can I come in?” Renee’s voice echoed from the other side of the door.

Getting up from her spot on the floor, Cheyanne went an opened the door.

She gave her sister a look. “Since when have you ever asked to come in my room.”

Renee tilted her head and smiled. “Your right.” Sliding past Cheyanne, Renee plopped herself on the bed. “Ahh, did I ever tell you how soft your bed was?”

“Yes, which was probably why you’d sneak in in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t act so sour. We always had our best talks at night.” She sat up. “Remember that one night we were sitting in here and I had told you that I wanted to be a teacher.”

“And mom and dad had been working doubles because they were saving up for you to go to medical school.”

“And I was so afraid to tell them.”

“Terrified.” Cheyanne laughed.

“Yeah,” Renee smiled. “Talking to you helped me buck up the courage to tell them.”

Cheyanne smiled at the memory. “We certainly did have some good times up here.”
Picking up one of the smaller bags on the floor, Renee unzipped the top and began helping her sister unpack.

“So how is everything up there in jolly old England?” she asked.

“Everything is going pretty well actually.” Cheyanne replied. “I’m doing well in my classes, which is great since I’m also working every week. All in all, I’ve got nothing to complain about.” Taking one pile of clothes, she walked over to her dresser and placed the clothes in one of the drawers.

“And have you made any new friends while you’ve been there.” Renee inquired.

“I have actually.” Cheyanne went on to tell her about Hannah and some of the crazy things that she would do. She even went on to tell her about how Hannah had convinced her to go to the disco.

“You?” Renee asked. “You, miss bookworm, actually went out clubbing?” Renee placed a hand on her chest and feigned shock. “Dear Lord, there must be a God, because he has definitely worked miracles on you.”

“Geez Renee, you make it sound like I was completely boring in high school.”