The Christmas Surprise

Getting out of the shower, I make sure that I clean the rest of my chest off and that there’s nothing left from my fun and wrap my towel around myself. Wandering into the bedroom, I can’t even get some privacy from Bec as she is sitting on the bed.

“Have fun in there?” she says to me as I just look at her smirking as I just roll my eyes. “It’s just that… wait a minute, I don’t need to be explaining myself to you, little sister.” Bec just nods her head at me “I know what you or more who you were thinking about in there and it makes sense why you have been making out like you haven’t wanted to see or talk to Corey”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, what are you talking about?” I ask Bec genuinely not sure what she could be meaning as her facial expression shows genuine surprise that I don’t know what she is talking about.

“Wait, you don’t actually know anything?” she says as I shake my head. “I just thought when you said that you were talking to Corey and…” she trails off as I shake my head again.

I’m as even more confused now than I was when the conversation started between the two of us. “Nah, we talk infrequently at best, we caught up when him and whatshername came over to the States and it was alright albeit really awkward but otherwise I just haven’t really been in the mood to talk or deal with him,” I say as Bec nods curiously about our situation.

“Well I guess there’s a hell of a lot for you to catch up on with him then,” she says as I try to push her for more answers but she won’t give me anything more which is annoying but then it’s up to me to ask Corey about what happened.

Bec tries to stop me from asking more questions about Corey “You know, you’re still looking pretty fit and built” she says trying to make up for insulting me and calling me chubster when she saw me at the station. “Told you I was, I still hit the gym six times a week but admittedly not at the intensity I used to,” Bec says as she nods understanding the point and finally giving me some space to get changed.

I head downstairs and have some lunch before heading back to the bedroom for a nap given the jet lag starting to kick in and that my body clock is telling me that it’s the middle of the night and that I should be sleeping. I fall asleep almost instantly and sleep for about three hours before checking my phone and seeing both Sophie and Corey have texted me.

I leave Sophie’s message until later but reply to Corey’s straight away. “Yeah, I got here alright, I’m picking up the car tomorrow morning so any time after that we can catch up” I send to him before adding to the text, “Bec says there’s stuff that we need to talk about”.

Like always, Corey replies instantly “Yeah, how about tomorrow night's catch-up? I’ve gotta fly to Brisbane for an auction on Monday and be up there for a few days he says as I just reply with a thumbs up.

“Afternoon sleepy head” Bec smiles at me and has a chuckle as she takes a good look at me. “What is so damn funny?” I ask as I realise that I’m wearing my glasses and that it’s a strange look because none of my family would have seen me with them because I’ve only had them for just under a year and even then they are only for when I desperately need them.

“Oh, my glasses? Yeah, they are new but normally only need them as a last resort and for when I’m working looking at the screen” I say as she still giggles at me wearing them. “I’m only wearing them because I forgot to get my contacts before I left,” I say explaining my situation which is nothing too major.

The shops are within walking distance from Bec’s place so I take a walk and just take in Aussie life again and see how much different living in the Sydney suburbs is to the streets of metropolitan Chicago. The walk is interesting looking at the houses and just how everything is built as I compare life here to America.

The walk to the Shops takes me about 15 minutes and I call into the chemist to get some more contacts which are luckily stocked there before grabbing another coffee and having a walk around the Supermarket which again is something that Australia does totally differently. I buy Bec a surprise before I start to head back to her place where she has a stern look on her face as I stand there worried about what could be wrong.

“Mum’s invited me for lunch tomorrow down at the river,” she says as I don’t quite get why she is so worried before she starts to explain a plan she’s quickly made. “I was thinking about how we can deal with it you know because maybe we can avoid the big deal and just surprise her like you want,” she says as I look interested at how we could fix the situation to work to our advantage.

‘What if we get there early and I sit with my back to the entry and so that she think’s that Jase is there with you but gets the surprise when she sees me” I say knowing Mum is too clever for this but Bec is smiling at the idea and gives me a thumbs up liking the plan and then smiles even more as I give her the Custard Tart that I bought for her knowing its still her favourite.

It’s just after 5:30 when Jase gets home “BLAKE, it’s about time I saw you” he says as he hugs me and his muscled, burly frame dominates me as he hugs me and even as just my brother-in-law. Jase and Bec have been together for close enough to 10 years and it was love at first sight between them but for my parents, it wasn’t given how wild Jase could be as a teenager and despite still having that streak in him, my parents absolutely adore him.

I talk to Jase for a while as Bec cooks dinner for everybody and we just talk about life in general as he tells me about the work that he is doing supervising on the new Metro building project and then asks about my work. “Oh by the way Bec, Jack’s gonna be here about 7:30,” he says as my youngest brother is coming around so that he and Jase can watch the Basketball together.

Having dinner, I can tell that Bec has told Jase not to ask too many questions about my life back in the States which I appreciate but then also am surprised about. “I’m surprised that I’m not getting 50 questions about America or anything like that tonight,” I say as Jase just smiles.

“Thought you would get sick of them all and especially when you see Julie tomorrow, plus I see it all on Instagram as well,” he says as I appreciate the space knowing that tomorrow is set to be just wall-to-wall questions.

After finishing dinner, I chill out for a while which is nice just to take a break as I’m still pretty tired as I just message Sophie back and then head to the living room and watch the pre-game with Jase before my brother gets here. “So how much sport do you actually get to over there?” Jase asks as I realise that I don’t get to as many games of any sport as I would’ve liked before moving over there.

“Not really, I’m working most nights so don’t get a chance to get to as many games as I want to, though I’ve been to a few games around the place and got to see LeBron in person and talk to him,” I say making him jealous which is fun and even then that wasn’t through going to a game, it was at work when he was doing interviews and I was still working as an assistant”.

Jase is jealous as he goes out and grabs a beer from the garage fridge and Jack turns up not long after 7:30 when they walk up the entrance together. “We’ve got some company tonight, if that’s cool,” Jase asks Jack. “It’s just someone I haven’t seen in ages and he’s chilling in the living room right now”.

Jack wanders straight past the living room out to the kitchen to see Bec and Ava as they talk for a little while before I quietly wander out behind them.

“Did you see in the living room?” Bec asks Jack as he shakes his head. “Nah, wanted to see you first because I wanted to see my favourite sister and niece,” he says as I smirk to myself. “By the way, have you heard anything about what Blake wants for Christmas seeing I got him for the draw,” he asks as Bec shrugs her shoulders at his question.

“Maybe if you asked him yourself then you would know, “ she says as he rolls his eyes as Bec is giving yet another non-answer that she is famous for. “Yeah I know, but I don’t want him to know and spoil the surprise,” he says as I sneak up behind him.

“Too bad, I already know,” I say as Jack jumps in total surprise as I put my hand on his shoulder. “WHAT THE FUCK?” he says turning around and seeing me standing there smiling at him.

“Fucking hell bro, what are you doing here? Thought work was too busy again” he says to me as I hug him tightly looking at how much he’s changed and in particular that both his arms are covered in tattoos.

“Yeah, that was the story I told Mum because I didn’t want her making a big deal about picking me up and having a party and everything” Jack just nods as he gets what I mean and he grabs his bottle of water out of the fridge and heads in to watch the game with Jase

“Mum must freak at all those tatts?” I say to Bec who just nods; “Yeah, have you seen it covering his pecs now too?” she says as I shake my head as she tells me that his sleeves also cover the whole of his pecs.

I hover between chatting with Bec about things and trying to get some more information about what’s going on with everyone as I steer the conversation back towards Corey and what’s going on in his situation. “So what’s the deal with Corey because I don’t want to go in empty-handed and say something stupid,” I say trying to build up some idea of what is going on.

Bec just shakes her head and looks at me sternly “Firstly, you’re gonna say something stupid no matter what Blake, that’s just you BUT secondly, Corey is your best friend and honestly, I don’t know anything other than his cryptic Instagram posts” she says as I sigh.

It’s frustrating not to get any more information about what is going on in Corey’s life and everything but I do get the sense that something has happened since he came to America with him and his fiancé whether that being they broke up or something”.

“Yeah ok, but then I just don’t want to have any potential to get hurt again, especially with Corey because… well you know why,” I say as Bec just nods and looks at me.

“Blake, you’re old enough and hopefully smart enough to know how to deal with this, Corey is your ex, yes, BUT mostly you’re best friends and that’s what matters tomorrow ok?” she says as I know that she’s right and that I’ve thought of Corey as just my ex which is probably why I’m so upset by this all rather than thinking of him as my best friend. Standing there, thinking about it all and I realise that I’ve always talked to Sophie about the situation with Corey being my ex and not really about our friendship.

The atmosphere around Bec’s place is amazing and it’s just like old times having three of us all under the same roof together even if we are all doing our own separate things. I join the boys in watching the Basketball for a while until halftime when Jase goes outside to water the grass and the garden.

“So heard a rumour that you’ve got some more tatts that you’re hiding,” I say as Jack doesn’t need to have any invitation to take his shirt off as he reveals the work that went into the ink across his chest.

“Fucking hell bro, that’s amazing,” I say as I’m trying not to be turned on by how amazingly smooth his body is and how ripped he is these days. “It’s cool bro that you’re turned on by it, especially with how high the standards you have are,” he says as I just look at him confused about things.

“Come on bro, I know you’re gay, it’s not hard to work out,” he says as I just smile and hug him knowing how relieved that I am that it’s one less person that I have to tell whilst I’m here.

“Nobody else knows right? I mean obviously other than Bec” I ask as he shakes his head reassuring me. “Nah, I’ve never told anyone else because it’s not my business it’s up to you to say something if you want to,” he says as I start to get the sense that Jack might not necessarily be talking about my situation although it could be another case of me putting 2 and 2 together to get 5 which I’ve done before.

“Yeah exactly and appreciate that sentiment bro and I mean the way Bec found out the way that she did wasn’t the ideal way to go about things,” I say as Jack looks at me interested in what happened as he is keen to know.

“Oh come on bro, I mean we’ve all been walked in on with our cocks having a wank before I mean she’s done it to me and whatnot,” he says laughing as it doesn’t surprise me. “Bro, I’m not telling you alright,” I say as Jack smirks and nods suggestively.

“Right, she walked in on you and Corey with him having your cock in his mouth,” he says as I just roll my eyes and try to change topics. “Holy shit… you two were mid-fuck right?” he says as he finds it hilarious right now as I just laugh about it because it’s all I can do. “So you’re literally in the middle of plowing Corey’s ass and Bec just walks in on you two? Like seriously how do you not make sure that nobody is gonna be home?”

This is a conversation that I don’t really want to be having nor did I ever think that I would be having with my brother. “Firstly bro, it’s none of your business and secondly we thought we would be alone because everybody was supposed to be away up the coast and… wait a minute how did you know or did Bec tell you?” I ask surprised about how he knows.

Bec walks past and rolls her eyes at Jack having his shirt off “You could’ve just shown him your many pictures or your latest thing, go on tell him your brilliant idea”.

Jack just smiles as Bec shakes her head at him “Why are you laughing? You know how pissed Mum is.”

Jack is just shrugging his shoulders at Bec “Why? Because I was supposed to be the nerdy one, the one stuck at home? Well why can’t I get the tatts, see the world, show my body off?” he says as I totally get his frustration because whilst we’re not a conservative family, my parents aren’t what you would necessarily say are that progressive either.

“Nobody has a problem with that bro and at the very least I’ve never thought of you as just the nerdy one, you are the smartest one of all of us but that doesn’t mean you can’t do or be what you want to be, that’s what we’ve all done,” I say making him feel better as Bec nods her head to agree with me.

“I’m sorry about putting that on you, I know how hard you worked to outscore Blake and be the Dux of the school, So I just didn’t want you to waste all that effort,” she says as Jack nods and smiles and feels a bit better.

“Yeah I know and I think though none of us wants to be under Mum’s thumb because like you moved to America, Adam’s in the army, you and Jase got married so just sometimes I want to be free,” he says as I nod and totally get what he means and I feel like there is a lot more going on to Jack right now with what he’s doing.

“You know you can always talk to us about anything, I mean we’re able to keep secrets for each other, Bec never told anyone about me or at least I assume she didn’t tell you about me and Corey,” I say as Bec nods and I work out that Jack just worked it out himself. “And I never told anyone about Bec being the one who left the dent in Dad’s ute,” I say laughing as she hits me

“That was a secret and you were never going to tell anybody that,” she says hitting me again “Well then I could tell a lot more about you Blake,” she says as we all just laugh before Bec goes and checks on Ava who is crying.

I sit back in the living room with Jase and Jack watching the Basketball while Bec is in her room watching some reality crap. The game finishes and Jack heads outside to go home after he says good night to Bec and I chase him out.

“Hey, you alright because I think something upset you big time and just because I haven’t seen you for so long, doesn’t mean that I still can’t tell when you’re bothered about something,” I say to him as she shrugs still not really opening up to me.

“Nah, as Bec said, Mum’s not really talking to me because I just want to push Uni back for a year because it’s breaking me at the moment,” he says as I can see him trying to keep the emotions in control right now. “I’ve gone from school to uni doing my degree and then onto my masters which is just burning me out”.

I nod as Jack says that because he spends so much time studying and working which is the exact same thing that I did growing up and still do thinking about the time I spend working now.

“Look, I’m only here at Bec’s for a few days then I’m staying in Newtown until the end of January, so come spend some time with me just to have a break and we can talk ok?”

Jack nods and hugs me tightly “Cheers Blake, I’ll definitely do that and we can get a few drinks, maybe tomorrow?” he says as I feel bad for not being able to go with him for that tomorrow.

“Well I’m having lunch with Bec and Mum tomorrow then I’m catching up with Corey but you can join us if you wanted, as in with Corey I mean although you could come to lunch” Jack pulls a face at both ideas which again shows how much I am out of the loop at the moment because I thought that he and Corey were good friends even after what happened with him and me.

“I’ll see bro and if not tomorrow, then we could do it Wednesday at least,” he says as he heads home and I head back inside and go straight to bed tired.