Coming Home (R)

[Aly]

Dani didn’t mean to gasp, but she did.

“You’re serious?” she asked, ducking her head a little in surprise. “You’d do that? That’s amazing!” The excitement was probably too much, but she could hear her sister’s voice in her head: You need an editor. Ash was just what she needed right now: an English genius to help her out. “That’d be perfect. Yes, please! Let me give you my information.” Dani groped for her purse by her side and pulled out a pen and a crumpled-up Chipotle receipt, and twisted it around. “Don’t judge, I made this email when I was twelve.” Bbycks93 was the awful Yahoo screenname her friends convinced her was “totally cool” and would get Bobby Jensen to think she was “totally cool.” (It didn’t.)

“So I’ll—or so you can email me, or text me your email, or whatever.” She scribbled her number below her email and handed it to Ash, probably too quickly to not look desperate, but Ash simply gave a lighthearted laugh and punched the information into his phone. A moment later, Dani had his information too, and the image of an A paper in her near future.

“Thank you so much—it’s not a long paper, just an important one, and it just means a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem.” God, this family was awesome. Well, maybe it was just Ash—but his wife was sweet, even though her parents were kind of annoying. Teresa was a bit standoffish but that would fade.

“Sweet. Thank you so much,” she repeated sheepishly. As Ash reassured her, yet again, that it was totally fine and that he’d be happy to help, Margot stepped up with little Jamie on her hip.

“Dani, will you get home okay? Did your sister answer?” She was referring, of course, to Quinn, who Dani said would pick her up since she had a couple beers with her hamburger with the Reagan family.

“Oh, um, I haven’t called her yet. I didn’t realize it was getting late so quickly. I’ll do it now.” She flicked on her phone and pressed her sister’s picture.

“Okay, well, we’re getting ready to head out,” she said, using Jamie’s hand to wave. “We’ll see you Monday?” The call connected, but Quinn hadn’t answered.

“Yeah, of course. See you Monday, little man!” Jamie blinked slowly and waved, though he was obviously somewhere else completely. It was his bedtime maybe half an hour ago; he was going to get cranky if he didn’t get to sleep soon.

“I could drive you home, if you want,” Ash said as Margot turned around to leave. Quinn’s obnoxious, high-voiced voicemail could be heard from several feet away from the speaker, so Dani didn’t even bother putting the receiver up to her face, and just pressed the End Call button.

“Really?” Dani asked, glancing around to the diminishing party. “Thanks; you’re saving me in many ways tonight,” she said with a nervous laugh. He was being so nice to her. What made a person that nice, that caring? She could only imagine. “God, you’re so nice. I really appreciate it.”

[mercy]

"Yeah it's no problem," Ash reassured with a shrug. She had heard the voicemail screeching out of her phone and figured Dani would have to hang around and watch her do dishes if Ash didn't take her home instead. "I just need to put some of this stuff away first or Alex will have me hung," she chortled.

Dani jumped to her feet. "I'll help you! It's the least I can do." Ash's smile rose on her face again. It seemed to be all she was doing around Dani today. But really, she was such a take charge person - and so gentle, too. She felt fresh and earnest with each motion. Ash wanted to arrange another BBQ, but this time during the day so they could play some games, too.

So the pair went around stacking chairs and folding the tables. Alex, her parents, and one of her male coworkers promised to put away theirs when they finished. Their candle sparkled them with an electric glow. Ash refilled their waters while clearing away the condiments. Dani proved her strength when she carried a giant tower of chairs inside their outdoor shack and barely heaved once. "Damn!" Ash remarked, "I'd be whining the whole way. You're one of those people that only takes one trip to get the groceries inside, aren't you?" Dani's cheeks turned a pink so slight that Ash couldn't see it in the night - but she could hear Dani's honest laughter ring through the night.

Finally, pretty much everything was put away. All that remained was Alex's table, which she would handle, and a regretful tower of dishes. Ash tried to look forward to it by envisioning herself washing everyone's mess with some whiskey in her hand. It would be a competition with herself. How much could she finish before she started breaking plates?

She hurried and kissed Alex on the cheek before hugging her parents goodbye, and then they were one their way. Dani gave decent directions and her place wasn't that far away. Ash realized they couldn't really talk about her paper because she'd read it soon anyway. She'd been beating the topic to death if so, and then if she ever wanted to bring it up again Dani might start taking it as a chore.

"So you and your siblings pretty close?" she tried.

Dani seemed to sense her small talk tactic. "Yeah, we're all pretty close, even given some of the age gaps. It will probably be hard on the youngest, eternally being the baby, but they'll also get spoiled so..."

"How many of you are there?"

"Siblings? Uh, eleven all together."

"WHAT?" Ash shouted. She immediately realized how rude that was. "I mean, uh, that's...so many children. Eleven? Including you?" Dani nodded. "Your mom has to be a pro at being pregnant by now." Thankfully, Dani laughed.

[Aly]

“Yeah, it’s always an adventure, having a big family. Never any privacy either…. Oh, take a left at the next light.” The sun barely even poked out from the horizon. Summers always made the night so late; it was past eight thirty and the street lights just came on a half hour ago.

“Do you live with any of your siblings?” Ash asked, “or are they still living at home?”

“Oh, I live alone for now. My student loan covered it for a bit, then half of it, now none of it—but now that I have a great full-time job it doesn’t matter.” She was sure to add a smile after, just in case she hadn’t made it clear yet that she loved her job.

“That’s really impressive for someone so young.”

Dani let out a laugh. “Not that young.” She was almost positive that Ash wasn’t yet in his thirties. He looked too young, too fresh. He didn’t have the telltale signs of a tiring adulthood yet. That might have to do with not having kids, though….

“I know, I mean it’s hard these days. The recession and all,” Ash reasoned with a shrug. Dani nodded and let out a small “hum.”

“Well, if you had five older siblings I’m sure you’d do the same.” They shared a laugh and Ash pulled his car to the side of the curb, with the only apartment complex on this street on his right. “Yup, this is it. Thanks again for the ride.” Dani unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her purse at her feet, but stopped at Ash’s crunched gaze.

“Where’s the entrance gate?” He craned his neck left and right to try to find it, but it wasn’t there.

“Oh, it’s over there.” Dani pointed on the other side of a giant shrub, just out of sight. “Down the path a bit. The security gate is a bit behind there.” It was a little out of the way since she didn’t warn Ash where it was, but she was caught up in conversation.

“Kind of far….”

Dani smiled and lifted her bag. “I’ve got pepper spray in my purse.”

“I’ll just walk you.” He shrugged, turned off the engine and got out of the car without another thought. Even if she protested, which she didn’t, he’d probably do it anyway just for peace of mind. But she didn’t protest; she didn’t want to, guiltily enough. Even though it was slightly tense when he was around, he was so genuinely nice; being around him had another layer of comfort despite the awkwardness. After her years of helping her mother raise her siblings, Dani got a feel for when someone was being genuine, and he had genuine intentions in every way.

She somehow managed to pull herself out of her head, and in the next moment, he walked her around the side of the brush until they stood at the security gate where Antonio the Security Guard waved.

“Thanks again for the ride. You’re—I mean that’s really nice of you.” Every moment since they stopped walking made her chest feel tight, made her grip the straps of her purse a little more.

“No problem. So—send me your paper and I’ll look over it this weekend.”

“Right, I will, thank you!” All she did was thank him. How inadequate. What did you say to someone that was so giving? Instinctively, Dani reached her arms up to pull him into a hug—something she normally did with every person she said goodbye to, until she realized that this was technically the guy paying for her paycheck and that this wasn’t appropriate—but by then it was too late. He accepted the hug with a warm arm around her back and his chin on her shoulder: a full hug response. A good hug response—he was a good hugger, had just enough muscles on his shoulders to make it comfortable to squeeze—plus he smelled good, and that just made it a little difficult to pull away with a clear head.

“G-good night,” she said finally; before she could get a response or a read of his expression she twisted around to the gate. Antonio buzzed her in, and she managed to disappear behind it without making a bigger fool of herself.

[mercy]

Ash wasn't all that worried about Dani. However, her father and mother had told her to make sure to make sure a woman always got to her home safely and at this point it was reflex to her even if she didn't consider herself a man. But women had to look out for each other, and given she was a pretty tall and strong women, Ash felt no rebellion against her parents' early advice.

Also, she didn't want to leave Dani. Dani was warm and her laugh was hard and soft simultaneously. It rolled in and out of Ash's head so smoothly. Her body loosened and her words came surprisingly easy. Of course, then she looked at Dani again, and the pull toward her betrayed itself. Ash blinked it away, as she always did around a wonderful girl, and refocused. They hugged, perhaps for too long but Ash timed it as best she could. She watched as Dani went her way and trusted she got home safely.

The ride home felt short, but then it was hours and hours before Dani finally sent over her essay. Ash dawdled while cleaning the rest of the mess. Alex managed to finish the dishes, but there was still the grill, litter in the yard, taking up the croquet set. She popped into the bedroom to check on Alex, make sure none of the motion startled her. It was a worthless effort. If she had, Alex would have let her know. Still, Ash poked her head in and paused to hear her rhythmic breathing. She liked this part of Alex. Calm and subdued. Though, she was probably tearing someone out a new one in her sleep. Or giving birth. Beautiful woman couldn't seem to imagine much else for a personal heaven. Ash should probably arrange for someone stupid to visit during the birth so she could scream them to pieces while bringing new life into the world.

Finally, the message came. Ash was just about to give up, after all it had become tomorrow. But she opened the attachment and poured herself into the pages. She was too woozy to stare at a screen so she printed them out, bent them now and again to make a crinkle. Dani was pretty good. Essays probably weren't her forte, but it was also a nighttime cram and the passion shouted through the page. Ash's body eased under the weight of her words. Poetry. A smile had spread across her face after the first two paragraphs and followed her when she eventually floated herself to bed. This was after she e-mailed Dani some pointers, most of which she gave to everyone, but a few particular personal notes too. Of course, she included praise as well - and there was a lot. Mostly "this is so incredible!" and "what a good point!" and "I am speechless so instead I type with exclamation points!!!!!!!" "!!!!!!!!!!"

Her morning hurt once again but at least it was the weekend. Alex asked about why she was up so late, made a face, but Ash threw a pillow at her face and Alex broke into laughter. That's how they'd always gotten over jealousy. It was a good tradition, honestly, ever since Alex first threw a pillow at Ash after a frat party and shouted in exhaustion "THEY DIDN'T EVEN SMELL GOOD WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" And she had been so frustrated, so utterly tired, so desperate to sleep, that Ash crumbled into laughter and kissed her girlfriend all over until the two were fast asleep. But this time, the pillow felt more like Ash was assuring herself than Alex.

[Aly]

“Oh, this is much better.” Dani’s older sister thumbed through the pages of her newly-edited paper for Human Sexuality. She didn’t seem as confused looking through this version as she did with the last. Plus, now they had wine and popcorn in front of them. Maybe she just had to liquor her sister up to get good remarks.

“You think so?” Dani asked, hopeful. Ash said so, anyway. His opinion was probably way more validated than Meredeth’s, anyway.

“Yes, I think you might at least get a C on it.”

“Oh, shut up,” Dani cried with a spray of giggles. Meredeth tossed the paper back on the coffee table and sat back into the couch to get more comfortable.

“So you like this new job, then? The family sounds nice, if they just accepted you under their wing like that,” her sister asked with a snap of her fingers. Dani’s heart skipped a beat, but she couldn’t really pick out why. “The uh…uncle, was it? He edited your paper for you for free?” Dani nodded while she picked at her fingernails, and Meredeth gave a look of concern. “He could tell your paper was that bad without looking at it, huh?”

“Oh my God, shut up.” Dani threw a decorative pillow and the two broke into giggles again.

“But you like your job, right?” Meredeth threw the pillow on the floor—their parents were out on Date Night Saturday, so there wasn’t anyone there to yell at them for doing that. Dani shoved another pillow on the floor at the realization—the only bit of rebellion she really cared to do. She didn’t need to rebel—she could get away with quite a lot, having so many siblings. She turned back to her older sister.

“Yeah! The family’s pretty cool. Jamie is a little bit of a handful, but nothing like how Serina and Laura were when they were toddlers.”

“What about me?” called a high-pitched voice from the kitchen. Serina poked her head around the doorway.

“Nothing! Just reminiscing about how you and Laura are a pain in my ass,” Dani called in a sing-song voice.

“Plural. That should be plural,” Meredeth corrected.

“No, singular. Twins count as one.” Dani held up a finger jokingly.

“You’re not a piece of cake either, you bi—” Serina was interrupted by her twin sister.

“Did someone say my name?” she called from up the stairs.

“No!” the trio called before anyone else could get involved.

“Sometimes I think there’s just too much estrogen in this house,” Meredeth sighed under her breath as she reached for a handful of popcorn.

“Psh,” Dani continued, “No such thing as too much estrogen.”

[mercy]

Alex liked to keep busy. Ash never felt that way, always assuming people that couldn't relax did so in order to cope with their own mortality, and she'd accepted hers when her father died. She never confirmed with assumption with Alex, but the way that woman moved she definitely had the speed of someone fleeing from Death. Because she was planning for a baby and didn't want any over zealous activity to somehow threaten the baby's life, she had abandoned her daily run and had turned to yoga. Ash watched, pretty damn aroused, while munching on her french toast breakfast.

Her mind started wandering before long. Dani's paper kept stealing all her focus. That Dani, too - how did she know all this? Ash had tried to research and mostly found statistics about suicide, death, and unspeakable mistreatment. It hadn't helped the process. She rejected herself once again, hid indoors, and stayed up late on her computer watching all the Die Hards. As if that would prove this was some weird phase and she was really a man. The next morning, Alex had complained about her never coming to bed and groaned, "Boys" when she found out why. Despite her goal, the comment had stung bitterly.

She wanted to ask Dani more, but she also didn't want to arouse suspicion. Ash figured she at least had Dani's bibliography to tide her over...and then maybe she wouldn't need anything else from Dani. Jessica could keep helping, though Ash's body began to drag around her. She could tell Jessica was a bit tired of carrying her through. Nobody had been there for Jessica and Ash was so stupidly helpless.

By midday Alex wanted to go baby registry shopping - again. They'd gone probably 10 times already, and this was after Alex had spent several days researching. What they'd do is visit a store that had online registries and she'd add to her own personal list for when she was finally pregnant. Each trip resulted in long discussion as she came across a product that rivaled a previously adored product she'd already written in her list. She asked Ash questions that basically summed up to "What do you think?" and while Ash had given her full input for the first three shopping tours, her answers became "Whatever you think" cleverly disguised as Alex hated that answer. But, not-so-secretly, she also loved it because if she held any person's opinion in high esteem, it was her own.

There was also a lengthy period where they fawned over the cute baby clothes. Ash particularly enjoyed nearly crying over the "tiny baby feeties" as she so elegantly called baby shoes. Alex adored this part of Ash. In addition to cooking and apparently expert lovemaking, Ash gave wonderful clothing feedback. Alex's friends had borrowed her many times in order to get her opinion on outfits. Honestly, mostly for the support. Ash's mind wandered to Dani and her friends - did she need anybody to help her shop?

"Speaking of," Alex tangented during one of their conversations on baby boy onesies, "Are we having dinner at our place or your brother's this week?"

Ash paused, "Pretty sure his. Margot wants to try something new on us."

"Can you text him to make sure?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, for sure," and in a few minutes her brother responded Yep. "Yep," Ash echoed. "That good for you?"

Alex nodded vigorously, "Oh yeah! I just wanted to double check. We should get groceries today, anyway. Hey, what do you think my pregnancy cravings will be like?"

They'd had this conversation too. Ash tried to answer fresh. "Probably the same as that time you got high - chocolate milk for cereal with a side of a block of cheese? You go hard on dairy." Alex's laugh was like a double shotgun blast as her face reddened. Ash grinned and tossed her head lightly.

[Aly]

Monday came and went. Dani submitted her paper to her professor via email Monday morning, which was good, because she couldn’t wait to be done with the stupid thing. There were always papers to write, for some reason. But there wasn’t much school left for her to finish her certification. Already, she felt like an expert, but there were theories that perhaps she could know better before opening her own place. Jameson kept her grounded during the day when her daydreams got out of hand. The little tyke was consistent, at least.

She’d consistently rubber-band from sitting on the couch, staring off into space, to answering a question for Jamie or getting him something he needed. For some reason, today her head was up in the clouds, and she had a difficult time coming down from them. The little boy noticed, too, which only made her feel bad.

“Play preten’?” he asked her at one point.

“Yes, I’m playing pretend,” Dani decided to say. In a way, it was true. When she wasn’t giving him her all, she imagined herself getting comments back on her paper, or graduating, or opening her own daycare.

When Margot and Jordan got home, it was as if someone took a big needle and popped the bubble that surrounded her head.

“Welcome home,” Dani said with a smile. “How was work?”

“Before I forget,” Jordan interrupted, “would you like to join us for dinner tomorrow night?”

“Did you—” Margot tried to steal his attention.

“No, I didn’t forget about the dinner!”

“Sure sounds like you did,” Margot said in a sing-song voice to herself.

“Anyway, want to join us, Dani?” The couple began to strip themselves of their keys, work badges and so forth while they waited for her answer.

“Um, sure. What’s for dinner tomorrow?”

“It’s a surprise!” Margot said, beaming. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”

“Not that I know of….”

“Perfect. Ash and Alex are joining us, too. It’ll be nice for them to get to know you more.” Margot stepped out of her high heels and kicked them by the door with the other pairs. As Dani stood there, a little lightheaded, the parents fawned over their little boy and bid her good night.

[mercy]

As Ash sat in her office editing a client's book and writing extensively in the margins, she wondered if she should find a new job. Yes, she loved to read, she enjoyed discussions of a story's meaning and how it developed those ideas, but her body was hollowing. Emptiness crept inside, between her bones and skin, as each hour rolled by. She could be doing so many other things that would actually have some impact on the world. Mostly, this job allowed her to help people realize their dreams of getting published. Which was nice, but she also helped knock down the same type of people when they didn't want their story.

She had been reminiscing over Dani's paper and thinking perhaps she could work for some magazine all about causes to fight for and how to get everyone the rights and representation they deserved. She even found herself googling magazines just like this and searching for "career" tabs. The money wasn't great, though, and even though Alex paid more on their mortgage Ash still needed to contribute. Also, she couldn't really support her brother on that kind of wage.

So she swallowed the emptiness and finished her workday. Alex beat her home and had set the table for dinner. She continued her yoga as Ash made dinner. While the meat cooked in the oven, Alex tiptoed behind Ash and wrapped her arms around her waist. "Mmmm you smell good," she breathed and sighed. Ash squeezed Alex's hands and bent her head.

Alex told Ash about her day as they passed the plates and chowed down. "Yum yum," Alex grinned intermittently. They traded ideas of what Margot would feed them tomorrow. Alex really couldn't get over the idea of a vegan dinner. "I don't know, I mean, they just seem like the kind of people that would go vegan. I'm surprised they haven't already."

"Well, Jordan is mostly vegetarian, you know," Ash commented. "He will eat meat but he does so very sparingly."

"Really?"

"Yeah...Haven't you noticed that? I guess since he doesn't always it could be hard to notice."

"Why doesn't he go full vegetarian?"

Ash had never asked Jordan, but she had a pretty good idea. "Well, mostly it's that our dad and Jordan used to hunt together. They'd only done it a little before my dad died, but Jordan doesn't want to lose the ability to eat meat if he can ever take it back up again. He probably wants to go hunting with Jamie one day."

"Hmm," Alex chomped thoughtfully. "Why didn't you go hunting with your dad? You're older."

Ash shrugged, "Never really sounded fun. Whole lot of getting dirty and waking up early."

Alex rolled her eyes. "So laziness." She tossed her head.

Ash went stiff and stuffed more food in her gullet. Alex eventually brought something else up, but Ash mostly stopped contributing.

[Aly]

Six-thirty in the morning, Dani found herself standing in her towel, staring at her closet. She couldn’t sleep last night. Well, she could at first, but then at four in the morning she woke up from an awful nightmare that she couldn’t shake.

She was at dinner with Jordan, Margot, Alex, Ash, and little Jamie. Somewhere along after the salad course, she got an email response from her teacher about her paper.

“I’ll read it out loud!” Ash announced as he snatched the phone from her hand. “’Dani, this is the worst paper I’ve ever read. I thought you said you had an editor.’ What the hell is this?” The table stared at Dani, angry, ashamed. Her stomach sank lower and lower into her lap. Her face burned. All the doors to the dining room were shut tight, leaving her no escape. “I gave you everything you needed to succeed and you just throw this piece of garbage at your teacher? You don’t have a message, or a voice, and you certainly don’t understand anything. How are you going to do anything with your life if you can’t even grasp something this simple?”

“I knew there was a reason I couldn’t like you,” Alex grumbled quietly next to her husband.

Tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and Margot grabbed at Dani’s phone before she could take it back.

“Oh, God. Look at this. This is awful. And you’re helping raise my child? Jordan, look at this—!”

“I don’t need to,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “It’s clear she doesn’t know what she’s doing. If she can’t grasp theory or even write a simple paper, why are we letting her anywhere near Jamie?”

Dani let out a sob and looked to the little toddler in his high chair, who pouted.

“Sucky,” he blurted.

Dani’s eyes seemed to already be open when she woke up from the ridiculous dream. Really, the things her brain did to her when she wasn’t constantly policing it. After a cold glass of water, some deep breathing, and checking her email several times, she managed to sleep for another hour until her alarm went off, without any memorable dreams.

Now she stood in front of her entire selection of clothes, searching for something appropriate to care for a toddler in, yet also classy enough to attend a dinner in. There weren’t many options available.

She eventually settled in jeans and a black tee, figuring they would at least hide any possible stains she could accumulate over the day, and set out for work. And, by the time she pulled up to the curb of Jordan and Margot’s house, she had an email from her professor.

[mercy]

Unease lubricated all of Ashley's joints now. It had seeped in slowly over time, but the transformation had completed. Alex's comments had mounted on her back. As she thought about how she would come out as a woman to her wife, she also grew sour and entertained arguments. They always snowballed into arguments with others, battling a whole army of questioners. The imaginary arguments left her weak and nearly silent around Alex. The insensitivity, ignorance, idiocy buried her voice. She feared bursting into a reveal she would ultimately regret. She still knew that it was important to do this the right way. And she had to do it soon. Alex could already be pregnant - it was a mystery why she wasn't already.

They slid into Alex's car and cruised on over to her brother's. Alex chatted while behind the wheel. Something about work. Something about dresses. Something about divorce. Everything whirled together in Ash's mind but she nodded along and feigned amusement in hopefully the right places. She wasn't upset when she parked so their conversation apparently went well. She opened Ash's car door for her and for a twenty or so minutes guilt bubbled in Ash's gut.

Alex was right, Margot tried vegan. Alex glanced with a tilted head and a smug smirk on her polished face after Margot said what they were eating tonight. Two kinds of lasagna: pumpkin with mushrooms and cinnamon paired with a typical vegan lasagna - only super packed with veggies. She explained that she didn't want to make a main entree she wasn't sure they would survive. She included sweet potato fries with an intriguing sauce that Ash missed the name of. There was a simple salad as well that Dani helped put together. Dani wasn't there at first, apparently still working with Jamie, so the siblings, by law and by blood, chatted it up.

Alex started by complimenting all the dishes and thanking Margot for cooking and quickly swerved into an investigation one-on-one with Jordan about the extent of his vegetarianism and why. It was pretty much as Ash supposed.

They finally sat down and Dani was beautiful. She didn't know why that was the first thing that came to mind - perhaps because she had dressed so simply? Actually, it was because she wanted to know how the paper turned out and that paper was beautiful. The other chitter chatter began and Ash waited, focused, for when the conversation split among different parties and she could do her own investigation with Dani.

[Aly]

Dani wasn’t too much of a dump truck when it came to food; she wasn't, considering her siblings seemed much more picky than her, and they all had some weird allergy to something or other. Considering what her mother had to go through to provide for all her children, Dani wasn’t picky at all. The straight-up vegan lasagna wasn’t bad. Not that it was something she’d ever try to eat again, but she could stomach it for the night. The mushrooms, though. She didn’t quite see how well cinnamon went with mushrooms. Everyone else was sweet and loved it, so Dani didn’t draw any attention to them.

“How are you liking it, Dani? You’re in a great mood today, it seems,” Margot asked sweetly from the other side of the table. She and her husband and little Jamie took one end, with Margot at the head, and Dani sat across from Ash, with his wife at the other head.

“I have to say I never thought I’d try vegan,” she admitted with a laugh. “The first lasagna is my favorite. I never used to be a cabbage person, but it works in this case.”

“Aw, thank you!” The table chatted politely. Alex, how was work; is your boss still a B-I-T-C-H. Ash, hope there wasn’t too much cleanup after the barbeque, sorry we had to leave early. Oh, it was nothing. How’s work for you? Jamie behaving okay?

“Hm?” Dani asked, blinking. Through the many threads of conversations, it was hard to keep track of each one. This question seemed to be aimed at her, and after a moment of staring through the words that whizzed by, she noticed Ash staring at her politely. “Oh, yes. Jamie’s wonderful.”

“You have a knack for this stuff, don’t you?” As Ash helped himself to more salad, Dani beamed at the compliment.

“It seems like I do. I got an A minus on that paper you edited, anyway.”

“You did?”

“Yes! I got specific remarks on how I’ve learned to communicate my thesis better since the last paper—that one I got a C on.”

“Dani, did you say you got a C on that paper you were talking about?” Jordan asked from across the table.

“No, that was the last one. I got an A minus on this one.”

“Oh, congrats!—what? No, honey, that was Robert Davidson—” Already sucked into the other conversation that Alex and Margot were having, Jordan didn’t pay much attention to the little victory dance Dani did in her seat.

“Anyway,” she started again, catching Ash’s gaze, “thank you so much. Again. I needed that A.”

[mercy]

Ash bowed her head. "You deserved it. You have wonderful ideas, you merely need more work on expressing them. I only had to give you a few tips - most of which I give to anybody." She wanted to press further about her ideas, but perhaps she should space it out. Make herself less obvious.

"What's it like hanging out with a bunch of married people?" she tried. "I guess it probably comes with the job. Are you seeing anyone?"

That was maybe two too many questions that Ash realized at the very last moment weren't all that nice. Actually pretty awkward. What was she becoming - her mother? "Ah, sorry, you don't have to answer that. I forgot how to talk to new people. How's your gigantic family?"

She laughed a little at that. "They're gigantic. Same old, same old." Ash swore she saw Dani wink.

"Oh yeah? What are they all like?" She shoveled more food into her mouth. "Names, ages, occupations?" With a grin she finished, "Deepest fears?"

Dani enlightened her best she could. They exchanged a few stories - her brother did something stupid so she chimed in with some idiotic scheme Jordan came up with in his teen years. She was sure not to tell any stories too recent - people needed their dignity. In her head, she kept reciting the siblings's names while Dani told her story, as if there would be some test later. Anessa, Arista, Demitri....Mary? Alexander. Matt and Quinn! Larry...Serenity...Frank. Most of those were wrong, but she figured she could pretend she had given them cute nicknames if it came down to it.

"Will we ever get to meet them one day?" She pressed as they finished off their entrees. "I don't mean all of them, I don't think we can fit them all in the house. But if you want to bring them, one at a time, to our little dinners, they are more than welcome. Next dinner is at our place," she nudged Alex, "right? Our place next?"

"Yes!" she seamlessly turned out of her other conversation. "I have a lot of recipes I want to try on you. Nothing vegan, yet," she chuckled, "but now that I know you're mostly vegetarian," she nodded to Jordan, "I'll be sure to include something. Probably good to diversify, anyway."

Ash would have made big eyes and a squished up her cheeks but her wife was literally right there and would notice her mocking. Good to diversify. Now that I know you're mostly vegetarian. She really didn't know how to pay attention to people. Perhaps that was fair, though - it's not like it was her job. Still, how long had she known Jordan and not picked up on how often he bought veggie sandwiches and veggie lasagna and veggie burritos? What else could she not see in people?

[Aly]

“That sounds wonderful,” Dani said with a nod, eager to get on Alex’s good side. It was obvious Ash at least liked her, but she couldn’t turn off the urge to people-please tonight. The dream scared her—Ash was so, so sweet about it, though. How could her subconscious even think he’d be anything but kind to her? Perhaps the anxiety of the paper and the anxiety of Alex’s approval mixed and created a toxic, unrealistic scenario. That was the only explanation.

“How many siblings did I hear you say you had?” Alex asked, shoveling the last bit of her lasagna in her mouth. Dani waited for her to finish chewing before she muttered the word “eleven” as if it was a bad thing she regretted saying. When Alex choked on her food, Dani shrugged and smiled.

“I’m a middle child,” she explained quickly. “Three of my older siblings are out of the house; the other two just got out of college so they’re looking for work and all that.”

“What are the age ranges?” Alex prodded, wide-eyed. Dani could understand. Not having any children, she must have been overwhelmed with the thought of ten times more than she probably even thought of having.

“Franklin is the youngest—he’s ten,” Dani repeated from her earlier conversation with Ash. “The oldest is Anessa, and she’s…uh…five, six, seven…” She hid her fingers under the table so they wouldn’t see her counting on them. “She’s thirty; she’s married and planning a family of her own with her husband.”

“Your mom must’ve….” Margot whistled. Dani let out a small laugh, suddenly feeling the gazes upon her. She didn’t like this. Could she rewind time a few minutes and go back to just talking to Ash? He at least made it seem like a friendly interest, not that…well, she didn’t know what this questioning was. It felt more as if she was a subject to be prodded at for cracks and weaknesses than a friendly conversation. That, though, might have just been the test Alex sprung on her that she might have been failing.

“My mom’s great,” Dani insisted. “She and my dad planned most of us.”

“Do you mind if I ask if they’re still together?” Margot prodded through a napkin on the corner of her mouth. Her lipstick smudged somewhere between this bite and the last—the only hint of imperfection that Dani had seen yet. These questions weren’t harsh in the least bit; in fact, it had only just occurred to Dani that she knew way more about the family she had been eating dinners with than they did, her. A twinge of guilt flooded her stomach.

“Still happily married,” she said with a nod. “They set the bar high, though. I hope some day I can follow in their footsteps and find someone like they found each other.” That sounded like a positive ending note to her.

“That’s sweet,” Ash piped up with a genuine smile. It was infectious, and the table mirrored him.

Alex said with a grin, “I’m sure that some day soon you’ll find that lucky man.” It was a little presumptuous to assume that “man” was the right kind of person for her, but the good intentions were there. Nowadays people tended to use more general umbrella terms.

“I’ve got time to find whoever this person might be,” Dani corrected slightly. Alex gave a quick glance to her husband; that uncomfortable tightness formed in her chest again, so she rose from the table with her plate.

“Um, let me take your plates. It’s only fair, since you cooked,” she said to Margot with an outstretched hand. After a few courteous and half-hearted rejections, Dani held most of the silverware and some plates.

“Oh, let me help,” Jordan insisted without moving an inch. One hand rested on his stomach, and the other on the head of his son, which was covered in his own version of the dinner. Jamie blinked slowly; putting him down for bed would be easy tonight with a tummy as full as that one.

“I’ve got it,” Ash said with a laugh. “You look like you’re going to burst.”

“Oh, God, I totally am. That was delicious, Margot.” As the youngest couple shared a peck, Alex piled on some more plates and serving dishes so that Dani and Ash could take them to the kitchen.

[mercy]

The pair carted all the dishes into the kitchen while the rest cooed Jamie to sleep and stroked their overstuffed bellies. Ashley heard their conversations rise and fall like the tides. It was pleasant next to Dani, who hummed while she scrubbed. They made a cleaning unit, split up the work. Probably took longer than they needed to.

"You know," Ash said at one point, "Alex isn't used to people showing her up like that. She's going to be watching herself much more carefully around herself now."

"Well," Dani said with a squish of her sponge, "perhaps she should consider the different varieties of people when she makes all-encompassing statements."

Ashley grinned, "Perhaps." She wanted to be meaner for a moment but caught herself. Probably would raise Dani's eyebrows if she badmouthed her own wife a little too much. A tease was one thing, but only one tease at a time. Still, it was great watching Dani take her down a little notch. Also eye-opening as Ashley hadn't caught her assumption either....

Also - that could mean Dani liked girls. Of course, it could have been her simply wanting to point out the assumption that was made. Ash was sure she'd heard her sister make a similar comment once, however her sister was definitely all about the boys. She merely hated being asked about them. Ashley thought on these myriad of situations and explanations through one of Dani's questions.

"Ash?" she poked finally. "You gonna dry that?"

She'd paused halfway through the serving platter. "Oh, sorry, my mind wandered." She dried furiously and Dani chuckled.

"So what else you have planned this week? Any outings with friends? Long homework nights? Family meetings? Any more essays for me?"

[Aly]

“Good god, I hope there aren’t any more essays,” Dani answered with a sigh. “I just can’t write like everyone else can. I think it’ll help to have my own personal editor….” She nudged him gently, though part way through she wondered if that was appropriate. So far everyone was very friendly to her—she took a liking to Ash for the most part. Would that make everyone else uncomfortable, or more comfortable? Most importantly, just because he teased verbally didn’t mean that nudging was okay. Why did she keep overanalyzing everything?

“I might go out with my sister sometime this week. I don’t know. We kind of sort of got banned from our favorite place a few months ago.” She didn’t quite mean to say it like that, but Ash’s amused grin pulled the rest out of her. “Well, I should say Meredeth got us banned.” When she handed Ash the last serving dish to dry, he gave her an excited look.

“You can’t just leave it there,” he prodded. Dani laughed and turned around to label the leftover containers with a pen.

“She was dating the owner of the bar and he cheated on her, so she kind of…took a bottle of whiskey and dumped it on the floor on his end, then made out with his brother as he cleaned it up.” The two shared a laugh, but as he set the final dish down and flopped the towel over his shoulder, he leaned closer.

“Why are you banned?” Oh hell no. She needed liquor in her body for that part.

“That is a story for another day!” Dani insisted, pointing at him with the pen she just capped.

“You guys are having fun,” Margot called in a singsong voice as she came through the doorway.

“It’s a party,” Dani said with a wink. “I don’t know what your labeling techniques are for your leftovers. I usually just put dates and the main thing on the lid….” She presented Margot with the clear container, who looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Label? We just leave everything blank and let it go bad until we smell it enough to throw it out! Thanks!” The trio shared a few more jokes, a few more laughs, until Alex and Jordan came into the kitchen to see them all stand around the counter.

“So what’s dessert?” Jordan asked with a yawn.

“Oh, lord,” Margot called while everyone else groaned in protest.