Chapter 40: Family

Family aren't always people that are related to you by blood. Family are the people who want you there with them and will be there for you. They're the people that truly know you. They're the people that care.

-EthrealShadow

P.S (I actually wrote that. That's what I think family is ^^)

___

Jaimie-mae hopped off the bus and slung her backpack over one shoulder.

She was getting excited because she was seeing Fabian one day earlier than they had originally planned.

She walked down the small hill towards his house and laughed when she saw Fabian literally skipping towards her from his driveway.

She ran down to meet him halfway and he immediately grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder when she reached him.

She squealed loudly. "Hi Faby," she gasped out.

"Hey Jaimie," he said with a grin. She couldn't see it, but she could hear it.

She giggled the whole way to the house and when they got inside he gently placed her down on the welcome mat.

He slipped off his shoes and she did the same and then followed him into the kitchen like a little puppy.

He walked around the island and sat down on the stool with a smile on his face.

Jaimie-mae looked at him with a smile. He was literally radiating an excitement of some kind.

She went over to the fridge and looked through it, then she went through the pantry.

"What did you guys feel like eating," she asked as she bent down to look at some of the stuff in the pantry.

When she got no reply, she turned around. "Fabian?"

His eyes snapped up to her face and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Huh?" He asked, slightly still in a daze.

"What did you feel like eating?"

"Um, i don't know. I was just in the mood for some of your cooking. It doesn't really matter. What do you want to eat?"

"Ummm... maybe i can make some chicken fajitas."

"Cool. We might have to go to the grocery store though."

"Thats fine. You have a car. Let's go."

He laughed and got up from the stool. "Okay."

***

Jaimie-mae grabbed the chicken and placed it in her basket.

Fabian came around the corner with a basket filled with foods that weren't meant for fajitas.

"Faby, what is all of that?" Jaimie-mae asked with a smile.

"Remind me not to come grocery shopping when i'm hungry."

She giggled and shook her head. "Put those back and just grab one snack. I'll make some extra stuff for later."

He grinned at her. "Your literally my favorite. Be right back." He dashed around the corner and then came back with just a bag of Milano cookies.

"I need some lettuce," she said as she read off the list on her phone.

"Okay." He went over and grabbed a bag of lettuce and placed it into the basket. "What else?"

"Cheddar cheese."

He pulled her along to the dairy products and scanned the different cheeses.

Jaimie-mae looked up from her phone while she was waiting for Fabian to choose a cheese and had to hold in a gasp at what she saw.

"Jaimie, whats wrong?" Fabian asked as he looked at her frozen in place. He followed her line of sight and his jaw immediately clenched.

"What the hell?" he muttered under his breath. "What's my mom doing shopping with another man?"

He immediately stormed forward and Jaimie-mae scurried behind him, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"Mama?"

Madison looked up from a slightly bruised apple and gasped. "Fabian! Oh my boy, i've missed you so much," she said as she rushed forward to hug her much taller son.

He stepped back. "It doesn't really seem that way. Why haven't you called, or come back?" He asked with a low, defeated voice.

Jaimie-mae subtly moved forward and grapsed his fingers in her smaller hand. He didn't react to her but she squeezed his fingers anyway in comfort.

"I've been busy. And your father hasn't said he wants me to come back yet."

"So? Mason and me want you to come back. Who's the dude?" He asked as he nodded towards the man standing behind her.

She turned and looked at him, then turned around with a smile. "I got promoted so i have a new boss. Isn't that great. I can get Mason new things for school next year. And his gifts."

"Yeah. But why are you shopping with your new boss?"

"Oh. Well, we are having a dinner party for our co-workers and he's asked me to assist him with cooking and things like that. Let me introduce you."

She stepped aside. "John this is my son Fabian, Fabian this is my boss Mr. John Stable."

Her boss stepped forward and reached out his hand. "Nice to meet you young man," he said as he shook Fabian's hand.

Jaimie-mae noticed that he was oddly handsome for an older guy. And she also noticed that they were on first name basis. This probably seemed so wrong to Fabian.

"Hi Jaimie-mae. It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too Madison. I'm happy for you. I can't wait to see you back at the house."

Madison gave her a tight smile. "Yes. Ugh, what are you doing here with Fabian?"

"I-" Fabian cut her off.

"She's hanging out with me. We are gonna cook dinner together. I love her cooking anyway and she can keep me from burning the kitchen down as well."

When Fabian said the word 'love' her heart stopped and she thought she would pass out from forgetting to breathe. She was being silly.

"That's nice. How is my little boy?"

"He's good. He loves when Jaimie-mae's around. So do i. She basically spoils us with attention."

Jaimie-mae blushed and she could feel her hand start to get sweaty despite the air conditioning surrounding the store.

"Good. I'm glad. Thank you Jaimie. It seems like you've been taking my place while i've been gone."

Jaimie-mae's face immediately fell. "No! I haven't. The boys still really need you. Isn't that r-"

Fabian stopped her. "We're done here Jaimie. Come on the icecreams going to melt."

Jaimie-mae furrowed her brows and bit her lip. They hadn't picked up any icecream yet.

The air suddenly got suffocatingly awkward so Fabian pulled her away and down the aile.

"I can't believe this," he mumbled. "How could she do this? She looks... happy. Without us. Without dad." His voice cracked and Jaimie-mae immediately felt weak. It was like she could feel his sadness.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him to check out. "Come on Faby. Let's go home."

He looked down at her and she looked up at him. He was smiling at her.

"What?" she asked as she tilted her head at him.

"I liked how that sounded."

"Huh?"

"When you called my house 'home'. I liked that."

"Oh." She blushed furiously and covered her face.

"You are so. damn. cute," he said as he dropped the cheese into the bag.

After they scanned everything and payed, they walked to the car and placed the bags into the back seats.

Fabian opened the door for Jaimie-mae and she smiled at him before climbing in and buckling up.

When he came around and sat in his seat, he rested his forehead against the steering wheel with a frustrated groan.

"Do you think my mom... is like... i don't know; cheating?" He asked in a whisper.

Jaimie-mae had no idea what to say or even think. She didn't want to say the wrong thing to him. Instead, she just put her hand on his back and rubbed circles on it for comfort.

Sometimes silence was the best answer.

"Jaimie, i don't want my mom to leave us," he said softly.

He sounded so vunerable to her in that moment. She watched as a tear dropped down onto the steering wheel and she suddenly felt like crying for him.

"Faby..."

He looked up at her with watery eyes. His narrow cheeks were flushed and his hair was falling down onto his forehead.

That one look made Jaimie-mae loose it.

'Just one kiss. Only one and then we'll wait for the the day i turn 18' she thought.

She leaned up and put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

He watched her curiously with furrowed eyebrows.

"After this no more, okay," she said as she neared his face.

He was confused but he nodded anyway.

His breath hitched in his throat when she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and Fabian's face immediately lit up with a smile.

She kissed his jaw and then down his neck.

He leaned his head back slowly and groaned when she pressed a kiss right on his collar bone. His hands tangled in her hair as she peppered feathery kisses all over his neck and face.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he grabbed her face and kissed her on the lips.

Hard

***

"Jaimie!" Mason shouted as he ran into the kitchen. He must have heard her voice after he came home from school.

He collided with her waist and she slipped backwards a little but Fabian immediately caught and steadied her.

"Thanks," she whispered.

He nodded and returned to heating up the wraps for the fajitas. She made sure he wouldn't burn these like the last two.

"Hi Mason."

He smiled at her and looked up, trying to see over the table.

"What are you making?"

"Fajitas."

"Fajitas?" He asked as he tilted his head.

"Yup. Wanna see?"

He nodded his head and immediately reached his arms up to her.

"No Mason. Your too old for that, you don't need her to pick you up," Fabian said.

"But i can't see. And i saw you picking Jaimie up a few weeks ago. She's much older than me."

Both Jaimie and Fabian blushed a little though Jaimie-mae's blush was much more obvious.

"Fair point," Fabian mumbled.

Jaimie-mae laughed lightly and picked him up for Mason to see the chicken sizzling in the pan.

"That smells good," he said as he reached for the wooden spoon in the chicken.

"It does doesn't it," Fabian said as he sniffed the air. "Jaimie-mae's cooking always smells good."

She giggled. "Thanks."

"Can i try a peice?" Mason asked as he reached for the chicken.

Jaimie-mae stepped back so he couldn't reach.

"Heyyy," he whined. "I'm hungry."

"You can have the chicken in the wrap later. But, you can have a peice of bell pepper for now."

Mason scrunched up his face. "Ew."

"No, look. I promise it tastes good."

She took a peice and bit it. "See it's good," she said with a smile after she finished with the pepper.

He grabbed a peice and hesitantly ate it and then nodded. "Oh. Its kinda sweet."

She set him down and smiled at him. "I promise dinner will be ready soon."

"Okay. Can i have one more pepper please."

She nodded and passed him a small peice.

"Thank you," he said as he ran away with the pepper in his hand.

Fabian chuckled. "I didn't think i'd ever see Mason willingly eat vegetables."

"It's not a vegetable. It's a fruit."

"Yeah whatever."

Jaimie-mae went back to seasoning the chicken and Fabian came up behind her and placed his chin on the top of her head, watching her movements.

"It's kinda hard to cook with you leaning on me," she said with a small smile, placing the pepper back down.

"Sorry." He backed up, but she could still feel him behind her. "I don't know what looks better right now. You or that chicken. Im literally so hungry."

She laughed and turned down the heat a little.

"Actually you look a whole lot better but that chicken still looks good."

"Thanks." A small blush covered her cheeks.

All of a sudden, Jaimie-mae felt Fabian's warm hands on her hips. He brushed them under her shirt and rubbed small circles with his thumb. She immediately shivered and began to feel weak in the knees. She hadn't known the weak feeling was a real thing until now.

She moved over to cut up some lettuce and he followed behind her, his hands still slipped under her shirt.

It was becoming hard to think for Jaimie-mae. She could hardly cut the lettuce.

"Is this okay?" Fabian asked as he skimmed her sides with his hands.

She couldn't get a word out so instead she just nodded silently.

He pushed his hips forward, trapping her against the counter and she gasped. She kind of liked the feeling of him pressed up against her.

The sound of a door opening and closing shut interrupted them and they sprang apart.

"Something smells good." Justin's voice rang through the house and his footsteps came louder and louder.

Justin came into the kitchen and Fabian averted his eyes. "Hey Dad."

"Hi Fabian. Are you c- Oh Jaimie-mae. It's good to see you. Whatever you're cooking smells wonderful."

"Thank you Justin. It will be ready soon if you want some."

"Yes. I think i will try some. Both boys are always telling me your cooking is good. I'm going to go wash up."

Justin left the kitchen and Fabian let out a breath of air. "Do you think i should tell him about my mom?" He asked as he went back to the spot behind Jaimie-mae.

"I-i don't know. Maybe she was only excited because of her promotion and she was really truly helping to put together a dinner party."

"Yeah, but she could have come by to tell us. Or at least called to check up on us. We've tried calling her and she hasn't answered. They've gone straight to voicemail."

"Oh. Um, whatever feels right to you, that's what you should do," she paused and looked back at Fabian. "Sorry, i'm not the best at giving advice."

"That's cool. But you know what you are the best at?"

"No what?"

"Cooking, hugs and kisses."

She giggled and shook her head. "That's so cheesy."

"Yeah, well if you can't give me advice you owe me hugs and kisses."

She groaned. She was beginning to have a hard time saying no to him.

One glance from him was all it took for her will to fall.

She turned around and hugged him close to her and he immediately wrapped his long arms around her. She heard a quiet sniff and she smiled into his chest.

"Did you just smell me?" She asked into his chest.

He chuckled. "No. I sniffed your hair. It smells nice."

"Oh," she said through a giggle. "Thanks."

His hands slid down her back and he placed one hand over her butt, giving it a quick squeeze. She gasped and pushed into him.

"What the heck Fabian. Your brother or dad could walk in here."

"Yeah. But i can't help it. Your ass just looked so good," he whispered playfully.

She pulled away from him and punched his arm.

"Ow, what the what! Remind me not to get into a fight with you."

Jaimie-mae finally got back to what she was doing and had Fabian bring out some plates.

She set up the fajitas and brought them to the table.

"Dinner's ready!"

***

"That was good Jaimie-mae, thank you," Justin said as he wiped his fingers with a paper towel.

She smiled. "No problem."

"I'm full," Mason groaned as he slumped down in his chair. His eyes were beginning to droop and his head was dipping towards his plate.

All three of the boys had finished off the fajitas but Jaimie-mae still had a half left in her plate.

"Jaimie, you are going to eat that right?" Fabian asked quietly into her ear.

"Um, yeah I will," she said, however it sounded more like a question.

"Jaimie," he warned. "You need to eat."

"I'm not that hungry," she argued.

"Come on Jaimie. Eat a little more, please," he pleaded. "It isn't good to eat so little."

Jaimie-mae looked at him with sad eyes. "I can't," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Fabian don't push her," Justin said quietly. "You can make her eat something later."

Fabian nodded and looked over at Jaimie-mae who was trying to stifle a yawn.

"Are you tired?"

She nodded slightly.

"Fabian take her upstairs. I'll clean up since she did such a good job with cooking," Justin said as he stood up.

"Okay."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the chair and through the kitchen, right up the steps to his room.

"Your moms home this week?"

She shook her head no and collapsed into the cool sheets.

"Can you stay here tonight?"

"If you want me to," she said through a yawn.

"I always want you here," he said as he jumped face first into the bed beside her.

"Night Faby."

"Night Jaimie-baby."