Chapter Thirty One: It's Our Time

****Jeff****

We had stood at that very same spot hundreds of times in the last twenty one, almost twenty two years. Sometimes we had wondered if we would get in trouble after walking through the front doors; like the time Mom and Dad had told us to stay away from the water troughs and I accidentally fell in. We had stood at that spot with water dripping off of me wondering if we could keep the truth from them, eventually realizing that we couldn’t and had marched in to face the music. Then there had been times we stood there wondering if we could sneak in and grab a snack, usually Mom's cookies, and had developed complex strategic strikes to get said cookies; more likely than not succeeding in our mission. But none of those times had produced the uncertainty, nervousness, and feelings of excitement that the present moment did.
 

"My Mom's going to freak." Star finally broke our silence as she stared at the front door.

"Yup." I kept looking straight ahead at the house and expected a mob of excited family members to converge on us at any moment.

"You're Mom's going to freak."

"Mmmhmm." I agreed.

"My sister is going to flip."

"Definitely."

She turned and looked at me. "Your sister. . ." She started but didn't finish.

". . .I know." I slowly turned to look at her and smiled before placing my hand in hers. We both took a deep breath like we had always done as kids before we faced things together. "It'll be fine. They'll freak out, and then it'll blow over. . ." I said not sounding very convinced. 

She quickly laughed, a sound that especially now filled my heart with joy. "How many times have I heard that before. . .it'll all blow over. I should have started collecting nickels from you every time you did." She teased me and I shrugged while grinning.

"Kind of like you and Hey Jeff, watch this!" She playfully punched my arm and I chuckled. "Truth hurts, huh? How many times did you hurt yourself after you said those words?"

"Hysterical. That's what you are. . .absolutely hysterical." She playfully rolled her eyes and then glanced back at the front door. I watched her face for a moment as different emotions flashed across it.  Her mind had always processed things quickly and she could jump from one thought to the next in blinding speed. Most people missed the subtle changes in her expression and had no idea that her calm exterior hid a flurry of thoughts and reactions; the slight drop of her gaze, the brief flare of her nostrils, or even how her lips barely twitched all provided clues that she felt nervous. I gave her hand a squeeze and she turned to look at me again as I gave her a reassuring smile.  The intense glare in her eyes softened and the smile that appeared first on her lips, quickly traveled across her whole face. Satisfied that she felt less nervous, I squeezed her hand one last time before letting go and reached into the car to get Maggie. 

"I'm surprised no one’s come out to welcome us." I commented as we started walking to towards the door.

"We are early. . ." I nodded and agreed with her possible explanation. Maggie had woken early, and since we had already packed for our trip, we decided to head home a little earlier than planned.

"Still, Mom has always had this uncanny ability to know when we had company; even if we didn’t expect it." We briefly stopped in front of the door and when no one opened it, Star reached for the knob and we walked into the hallway. I quickly turned my head and checked each direction but still saw no sign of anyone. Four adults,  two children and two toddlers lived there, Star's parents should have also been there since Mom had mentioned having both of them over for breakfast. . .the house should have been bustling with activity but it was quiet, too quiet.

The sound of a boy and girl playing in the living room ended the eerie silence and I raised an eyebrow at Star. She shook her head and looked baffled as she motioned with her head toward the living room. I nodded and we took several steps to peak in the room thinking we'd see Scarlett and Charles playing by themselves; instead, we saw the whole family, minus Bridge and hers, plus Star's and Kate's parents. As we walked in the room, they all casually looked up and Mom smiled.

"Oh! You're here!" She jumped up and hurried over to where Star and I stood. "You're early." She hugged me and then Star before she quickly took Maggie and doted on her. By that point the rest of the family had gotten up and the greetings continued. Charlie gave me a hard time as usual, Dad hugged me and then doted on Maggie with Mom, Kate said hi to me and then chatted with Star as both her Mom and Dad said hi to me also and then hugged Star, Charles and Scarlett waved and continued to play. . .All seemed normal, but I couldn't help thinking that something felt off.

"So. . .you didn't see us pull up?" I wondered.

"No. We've been sitting in here since breakfast talking and playing with the kids. We must have been too occupied to notice."

I nodded and smiled. "It gets pretty lively." I added and mom smiled before she asked Star a question but I half paid attention as I looked out the windows and saw my very visible car and knew that if all of them had been in the living room when we pulled up, someone would have seen us. Either she lied about all of them sitting there, or she lied about seeing us arrive. 

"You know, it's funny. . ." I said as I turned away from the windows and faced all of them. "When Star and I walked up to the house, I mentioned how you've always known when someone had arrived here, even when we weren't expecting anyone. . ." I paused as my eyes swept across the room at all their faces and I wanted to take a picture to show them how guilty they all looked. Charlie's face looked innocent but his eyes had a twinkle in them that didn't match his expression; Kate, Ms. Honey, and Mom wouldn't meet my stare; and Dad and Mr. John exchanged knowing looks.

Mom finally met my stare and shrugged. "I guess I'm slipping." She said right before her eyes darted to the windows and her whole body straightened. "Bridge and Carson are here!" She exclaimed and everyone, including Star's parents rushed out of the room to greet them. Star and I stood stunned in the now empty room and I started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute; after I see how Bridge acts." I said and she looked completely confused. I grinned as I walked over to where she stood, and placed my hand on her cheek before kissing her forehead.  "Trust me." I whispered to her and heard what I thought was a gasp from outside. She smirked as she looked up at me.

"Wish I had a penny for every time you said that too. I'd be a very rich woman. . ." She teased and I chuckled as I grabbed her hand.  We walked toward the front doors and I purposely continued to hold her hand as we approached the mass of people. 

"Didn't you even notice that I was here?" I complained to Bridge and everyone turned to look at Star and me, and as I expected, if they saw us holding hands they didn’t mention or acknowledge it.

She turned to look at me and smiled. "Of course I did, but it takes a while to get four toddlers out of a car." She walked over to me and raised her arms. I let go of Star's hand so I could hug her back. "You look good. Really good." She said as we finished hugging and confirmed what I thought. She hugged Star and everyone made their way back into the house. Charles and Scarlett continued to play with their toys, the six toddlers crawled and toddled around the living room, Maggie got passed from family member to family member, and the adults chatted in between corralling the toddlers. Everything seemed normal, but no one paid any attention to Star or me, which would have been fine, except for the fact that we hadn’t seen them since Christmas and normally when we came home they bombarded us with questions about school or Maggie. I glanced over at Star and quietly chuckled.

"I'm, going to get a cup of coffee." I said loudly enough for everyone to hear me and the room got very quiet.

Star instantly understood and smiled. "I think I'll get one too." She said as loudly and as I started to turn to walk towards the kitchen, I quickly glanced around the room and noticed the smirks and looks being shared amongst everyone.

We walked into the kitchen and as I turned around to face her, she started asking questions. "What in the world is going on? They're acting. . .weird. Why? Is there something we don't know?"

I shook my head. "They're lying, and they're doing a horrible job at it, too." She questioned me with her eyes and I continued. "How is it possible that out of six adults, not one of them noticed that we had pulled up even though they admitted being in a room that has windows that look right on to the very spot where we parked?"

She thought for a second. "I'd say that's pretty unlikely."

I nodded. "When I mentioned it, they all looked guilty, like they were hiding something. Then, when Bridge and Carson arrived, they all literally jumped up and ran out the door. Not only my family, but your parents too; everyone, toddlers and all left the room in record time. I know your parents love my family, but there's no way they felt that excited about Bridge being here."

She grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Mmmhmm. . .any other evidence, Mr. Prosecutor?"

I smiled as I continued. "Then there’s our little display of affection right in front of the windows where everyone stood outside. I swear when I kissed your forehead I heard a gasp and I would bet you money that it came from Bridge."

She nodded. "I thought I heard that too."

"But then what happened when we walked outside, holding hands nonetheless?" 

"No one noticed, or commented; and that's when I started to think something weird was going on. I mean, it's our families! Yours freaked out when Bridge and Carson started dating and my Mom’s just as excitable as yours; there should have been some kind of reaction. . ." She admitted.

"Right? But Bridge’s reaction convinced me that all of them had chosen, for whatever reason, to ignore or acknowledge obvious signs that things had changed between us. I knew that even if Bridge didn't say anything specific about us holding hands or me kissing you, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from hinting. She would be too excited to hold it in; and when she told me that I 'looked good. Really good.' she confirmed what I had suspected."

Her eyes got huge. "They know." She whispered and continued to look shocked.

I nodded. "I bet they saw us pull up, talk, hold hands, and for whatever reason, they're trying to downplay it; and they've convinced Bridge to do the same."

"Why would they do that?"

I shrugged. "Maybe they think we want to hide it, or they're waiting for us, to announce it or something. . .I don't know, but I'm thinking if they want to play a little game, we should turn the tables on them and play a game of our own." I smirked and she stepped closer as I started to tell her my plan.

****Star****

I hadn’t seen the look that appeared in his eyes in years, they darkened and twinkled as he told me his simple but twisted plan. He had always had a somewhat twisted sense of humor and he had an uncanny ability to blindside people. He could sneak under people’s radars since his serious personality hid any traces of his mischievousness, and most of the time, people had no idea he had tricked them until he revealed it to them. I used to joke with him that I hoped I never ended up on the receiving end of one of his deceptions or pranks.

When he finished telling me his plan I looked at him and had conflicting feelings. Part of me felt bad for our families since they had no idea what situation they would soon find themselves in; but another part of me loved that I once again caught a glimpse of the old Jeff.  I cherished the moments when his old self peeked through, and while I appreciated those moments, I knew that he had changed in the last several years and that the old and new had fused together and to form the man that he had become; a stronger, more determined, more open version of his former self. . .who still had a wicked sense of humor.

We grabbed a couple cups of coffee before we returned to the living room and spent the next couple of hours as we normally would while home. The only difference being that we kept our eyes and ears open and waited for the perfect time to ambush everyone. It wasn’t until lunch that the right moment presented itself.

As we started to eat, the conversation revolved around the large size of the family and how everyone barely fit in the dining room. All seemed normal until Bridge finally gave us the moment Jeff and I had waited for. "So. . .Jeff, have you found any girls to date?" She asked with a little too much emphasis. I glanced at Carson and watched as his eyes got huge and he reached under the table to grab her hand.

Jeff’s foot barely tapped mine and I knew that he had signaled me.  He slowly looked up at Bridge and gave her a piercing look. "What's that supposed to mean?"  He sounded offended and Bridge didn’t know what to think. She looked around at everyone quickly, obviously confused and started to respond but Jeff cut her off. "You make it sound like I just go around flippantly dating people." I had to use every ounce of self-control to keep the concerned look on my face but the look of terror and confusion on Bridge’s face almost made me lose it.

"I'm sorry, Jeff, we just all thought. . ." She tried to explain but Jeff interrupted her again.

"Well you thought wrong!" The whole room became silent, except for the babbling toddlers.

"Really, Jeff; let me explain." She pleaded.

"How could you joke about something like that?" I again had conflicting feelings. The looks of horror on all of their faces made me feel bad for them, but at the same time I wanted to laugh at how Jeff had done exactly what he said he would do, he’d turn the tables on them and they had no idea.

He subtly tapped my foot again as he lowered his head and I added to their confusion. "Bridge. . ." I looked over at her and pretended to be hurt for Jeff.

"It's not Bridge's fault, we all thought. . ." Kate tried to explain but I interrupted her.

"You all thought? Don't you have a better opinion of him? Why in the world would you all think someone as serious as him would go around dating people for the fun of it?" I acted completely appalled and watched as they continued to scramble to explain.

"That's not what we thought, we thought that the two of you. . ." His mom tried to add.

"What?!" Jeff jumped out of my chair and looked at all of them. "Are you now implying that Star’s the type of person that would do that too? Who do you think we are?! Is that why you've been so quiet? Is that why you've been sneaking looks at each other?"

"No!" His mom said and looked horrified but Jeff continued before anyone else could say anything.

"Or. . ." He hinted with a pause as he smirked down at me. "Is it that all of you are horrible actors and pretended that you didn't see Star and I holding hands and talking outside, or that you saw me kiss her forehead after you rushed outside to greet Bridge and Carson, and that instead of being your usually nosy selves, you for whatever reason decided to act oblivious. . ." He looked around at every single one of them before I stood up and we looked at each other before holding hands.

After several moments of shocked silence, laughter erupted from everyone around the table and Jeff looked over at Bridge. "Sorry, we couldn't help it. You all made it way too tempting."

"I am so getting you back for that." Bridge teased and from the look in her eyes, I knew she eventually would.

“We’re sorry Jeff.” His mom offered. “We all know how private you and Star are and we figured you wouldn’t want us to make a big deal about it. We did see you pull up and we were all about to walk outside when we saw your. . .exchange, and we panicked. We quickly decided to act like we hadn’t seen anything.”

"I want details." Bridge admitted and Kate vigorously nodded her head.

"There's not much to tell." Jeff stated. "There's a saying that there's a time for everything. . ." He looked at me and grabbed my hand. ". . .and it's our time." I felt my heart skip a beat from his words and couldn’t have agreed with him more. I got completely lost in his eyes, and forgot that anyone else was in the room until many voices started demanding information all at once.

"But when did this all happen? Who made the first move? This happened since Christmas, right?” They continued to blurt out questions and I looked back at Jeff.

"At least now they're freaking out; much better than pretending not to care." I teased him and he lightly laughed.

"Before this, I never thought I'd actually want them to freak out, but you're right; this is much better than pretending not to care." He whispered and smiled at me before we sat down and turned our attention back to our very nosy and excited families.