Fraternizing (39 page)

I woke up Monday
with a pinch of sadness, knowing that our wondrous escape from our dreaded
reality was coming to a close. We’d have to head back to base today, leaving
behind the beauty of an unrestricted relationship free of bitchy roommates,
suffocating rules, and nail biting secrecy. The weekend flew by so quickly, and
everything had whizzed by so fast, that I couldn’t completely wrap my mind
around it all. The rough and tough bulldog that I saw on a daily basis in
cammies, with a permanent scowl attached to his face, was gone. Alex had packed
him away and brought out a sweeter, softer guy that I had to get to know all
over again. And even though I was in lust with the bulldog, I fell in love with
the other one.

We finished
breakfast and checked out. Alex walked me out to the truck with his hand glued
to my ass, not a care in the world that people were looking at us as we walked
by. He opened my door and kissed me before I climbed in, then tipped the valet
and went around to his side and took his seat.

He looked over to
me before starting up the truck, my dismay at our weekend coming to a close
darkening my face.

“What’s the
matter?” he asked, rubbing the top of my hand.

I tried to smile,
but the sadness of what we were heading back to filled me, making it hard to
hide. “I just hate that we have to go back. I wish we could live like this
weekend. I hate hiding.”

He sighed. “I
feel the same way, but it’s only a couple more weeks.”

Another bout of
sadness hit me.

“Yeah. And then
at the end of that, I’ll probably be leaving.”

 
He sat quiet for a minute before raising
my hand to his mouth and gently kissing it.

“I’m not thinking
about that right now, and neither are you. You understand that?”

I nodded my head.
I wish I could have been honest about my answer, but the fact of the matter was
that I was thinking about it, and the thought terrified me.

We pulled off, my
head resting against the headrest while I gazed out the window, staring at the
waves crashing against the shore. It amazed me how unsure I had been about us
going into this trip, but left feeling like I couldn’t live without him. Silence
filled the truck. I just wasn’t quite sure what to say since my mind was filled
with everything Twentynine, and none of it was good. A burning question did
finally come to mind, and since nothing else was being said, I decided to go
ahead and ask it.

“Where was Jensen
the other night?”

“Wherever he
needed to be,” he answered in a very monotone voice, tension showing in his
forehead. He glanced at me straight faced, then back to the road. “He moved
out, and I think we’re all better for it.”

“You two had a
fight?”

“We haven’t been
seeing eye to eye. It’s for the best.”

My heart
constricted. Alex was so close to all of his buddies, and the fact that things
had gotten so bad between them that Jensen had to move out tore away at me like
crows on a carcass.

“I’m so sorry,
Alex.”

He looked over,
the scowl now back. “Do not apologize for his shit. If he couldn’t handle us,
then that’s
his
fucking problem. I’m not going to own his reaction.”

“I know,
but—“

“There is no but.
Either he’s on our side, or he isn’t. I’ve gone too long without being
completely happy, and I’m done with that shit. Dropping the dead weight on the
way does nothing but make things easier for me.”

I had no words. I
couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As much as I wanted to jump for joy,
scream from the rooftops, and bask in the glow of our happiness, the black
cloud of being a ‘home wrecker hovered over me, raining on my parade.

After only twenty
minutes or so of driving, Alex took the Bristol exit, surprising me.

“Do we need gas?”
I asked, unsure of where we were headed. He hadn’t mentioned
anymore
stops for the day.

“Nope. I have one
place I want to take you before we head back to hell.”

“What is it?”

“Sit back and
relax. You’ll see when we get there.”

He took a few
turns, passing shopping centers and a sign that read:
Welcome to Santa Ana
before making a left that took us into a
residential neighborhood. We passed an abundance of older, single family homes,
and Alex pulled up to a nice white one, trimmed in navy blue with two large,
navy blue doors. There were cars for as far as the eye could see. My stomach
rose to my throat as the realization of where we were hit me.

“Are we at your
family home?”

He smiled at me,
unbuckling his seat belt before leaning over and unbuckling mine.

“Yes we are.”

I could have
fainted. I didn’t think we were ready for this. Everything I had heard from him
about his family detailed the immense love and appreciation he had for his mom,
sister, and grandmother. If he was going to bring a girl home to meet them, I
thought for sure the L word would have been used and cemented before treading
such dangerous waters. Tiny beads of sweat instantly coated my hands as my
stomach began to twist.

“I’m sharing my
life with you. This is a big part of it.”

He hopped out of
the truck and came around to my side, opening the door and taking my hand to
help me out.

“Don’t be
nervous. They’re going to love you.”

He kissed me hard
then took me by the hand, shutting the door behind me, and leading us up the
paved walkway to the front door. Alex guided me through the house without even
knocking. It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway, since music was blaring
from the backyard and no living soul could be found inside of the house. As we
walked through, moving at a brisk pace, I took notice of the homey feel, the
family pictures on the wall of a young Alex clear up to adulthood. He looked
like he was always an intense guy, and for a second I smiled, catching a
glimpse of the little boy that had turned into this remarkable man.

I held tight to
his hand as we reached the back door. Seeing the multitude of people sitting,
drinking, and partying in the yard made me a bit squeamish. He stopped just
before opening the door and looked at me. “You ready?”

“Not really,” I
stammered out, feeling my legs tingle and grow weak. He gently kissed my
forehead, then held tighter to my hand as he turned the knob and stepped out
onto the patio. The earth stopped moving as all eyes swung to the door, landing
on Alex and me. The blaring music was the only reminder that a party was going
on because by the reaction that our presence elicited, you would have thought
the royal couple had just stepped in.

A beautiful,
youthful looking woman was the first to step forward. Her caramel complexion,
long, luscious, dark brown hair, big brown eyes, and figure to die for had me
in awe. She looked like Alex, so I knew she was either his mom or his sister. And
the fact that I couldn’t immediately tell made me smile just a bit.

“It’s so good to
see you, mijo,” the woman said, wrapping her arms around him in a warm embrace.
He let go of my hand, hugging her back and picking her up off the ground. When
he placed her back down, she reached up, framing his face in her hands and
smiled. “I haven’t seen this handsome face in forever.”

“I know. I’m
sorry, Mama.” An accent that I had yet to hear was coming through loud and
clear.

“I’m so glad you
came. But you didn’t tell me you’d have a guest with you.” Her big, coffee
brown eyes swung over to me, appraising me while her mouth curved into a warm
smile.

“I know. But I’m
so glad that you two get to meet. Mama, this is Cassie Bennett, my girlfriend.”

I reached out my
hand for hers, which she completely bypassed and pulled me in for a hug
instead. I was caught off guard, a bit taken aback, not expecting such a warm
welcoming.

“It’s nice to
meet you, Cassie. I’m Imelda, Alejandro’s mom.”

It was so nice to
put a face to the name. After everything Alex had told me about him and his
childhood, I wasn’t expecting his mother to be such a radiant looking woman. His
story was enough to give me grey hairs.

“It’s very nice
to meet you as well, Mrs. Cruz.”

“Imelda is fine,”
she said, stepping back, a look of pride plastered to her face. “Stay right
there. I’m going to get Adriana.”

She took off in a
flash. I looked to Alex who had pulled me close, kissing my forehead.

“You tried to
give me a heart attack,” I mumbled.

“What do you
mean?” he asked, feigning innocence. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Bringing me to
meet your family. This is something you want to prepare for.”

“Hey,” he said,
turning serious, “they see how much you mean to me. They have no choice but to
love you.”

Before I could go
back at him, Imelda came back with Adriana, a petite young girl, about my age,
a shade lighter than Alex with hazel colored eyes, and long, light brown hair. She
had a nose ring, a tongue ring, and a few tattoos covering her upper arms. She
looked a lot like Alex as well, only less refined. She had a bubbly
personality, grinning from ear to ear as she made her way over to us.

“Cassie, this is
my daughter, Adriana, Alejandro’s younger sister.”

I once again
reached my hand out for hers, which she too bypassed, engulfing me in a fervent
hug.

“Alex hasn’t
brought a girl home in so long. I didn’t think he was even interested anymore,”
she joked, laughing as she pulled away.

“It’s really nice
to meet you, Adriana.”

“So how did you
and Alex meet?”

I froze for a
second, ill prepared to answer that question. Luckily, Alex answered,
simultaneously wrapping his arm around my waist.

“We met in
Twentynine. Cassie is a Marine.”

“Oh shit, really?
No offense, but you don’t look like a Marine. You’re really pretty.”

I laughed. Between
her comment and Natasha’s a few nights before, I wasn’t sure what the standard
for a female Marine was supposed to be.

 
“Well, thank you—I think. But there
are actually lots of beautiful females in uniform.”

“I just haven’t
seen any, that’s all,” she said, brushing it off. “Anyway, I’ll let Alex take
you around because curious eyes are on you two. Everyone wants to know who
Alex’s mystery girl is.” She leaned closer to Alex and muttered, “You better
get her to Grandma before she chops your balls off.”

Alex grinned, but
the comment made me nervous. His grandmother sounded like a hard-nosed, no
nonsense woman, and the warm and fuzzy reception I’d gotten from Imelda and
Adriana just didn’t seem likely.

“I have to take
you to meet Guadalupe, the glue that holds this family together, my
grandmother.” He started to walk, but I stood still for a second longer, my
eyes begging him to prepare me. “What’s the matter?”

“Alex, your
grandmother. She doesn’t sound like your mom and sister.”

“She’s a tough
old lady, but loving. You’ll see. No formal handshakes, just hug her.”

I swallowed as he
began walking. We passed tons of
people,
all of them
greeting us with friendly hellos for Alex and assessing looks for me.

The garage was
unattached, sitting directly behind the house. Passing through the throngs of
people hanging out on the patio, I took in the unfamiliar surroundings. There
were people young and old, eating, drinking, dancing, and laughing. The plot of
grass just to the right of the patio was filled with children, laughing and
playing. I was completely out of my element, but excited at the thought that
Alex wanted to share this part of his life with me.

When we reached
the garage area, Alex let go of my hand and made a beeline for an older woman
sitting on a sofa, engaged in conversation with another elderly woman.

“Hola, abuelita!”
he said, stretching his arms wide for her.

She looked up
from her conversation, mouth agape, looking like she hadn’t seen Alex in years.
A smile stretched across her face as she stood, then wrapped her arms around
his middle, clutching him tight. “Alejandro, donde has estado?”

“I’ve been busy
with work,” he replied, shocking me that he chose to say it in English.

She pinched his
cheeks, pointing and wagging her index finger at him while saying something in
a chastising manner that came out much too quickly for me to make out.

He took her hand
and walked her over to where I stood. Here it was, the meeting that had me
turned inside out, upside down, ready to pass out.

“Abuelita, I’d
like you to meet my girlfriend, Cassie.”

I did exactly
what Alex said and forgot about the handshake, instead grabbing her and pulling
her in for a hug. Sadly, the gesture wasn’t reciprocated. She kept her arms
down
as I held on tight, making me feel supremely stupid. I
finally pulled back, looking into Alex’s startled eyes, feeling completely
embarrassed.

“It’s nice to
meet you,” I said, unsure of how I should address her. The stale air swirling
around us made me wish for an escape route, but there was none. She stood measuring
me for a few seconds, filling me with apprehension.

“Hello,” she
coldly replied.

She turned to
Alex and asked, “quien es esa huera?”

“Abuelita, she’s
my girlfriend. Her name is Cassie, and she’s a great girl.”

I smiled
awkwardly because I had no clue what the hell to say or do in front of her. Disapproval
was all over her face, and she made no qualms about trying to hide it. After
rubbing Alex’s cheek, a loving look finally emanated from her, and she turned
back to me.

“Nice to meet
you.”

She turned and
walked back into the garage, sitting back down and going back to her earlier
conversation.

“She hates me,” I
said, finally feeling like I could breathe again.