What's The Name Of The Game

The next morning, Jonathan and Tianna both woke up when there was a knock on the door.

“Breakfast!” David called from the other side.

“Okay,” Jon groggily said back to let him know they were awake and coming.

“Mom says to hurry up before it gets cold, so stop whatever love making you’re doing and get downstairs!” He yelled, bounding off. Tianna and Jon’s eyes both snapped open and Jon rolled off of her immediately. The fact that he had been on top of her during David’s comment had been a total coincidence, but Jon’s cheeks still flushed pink.

They both got up silently and went into the kitchen, where Jon’s family was.

“Morning,” Jon said, kissing his mom and then glaring at David.

“Morning,” Jon’s dad answered, patting Jon on the back. Their breakfast area was more like a nook, so instead of chairs there were long benches. Jon’s dad was on one side and David was across from him. Jon sat next to his brother, knowing his mom would sit next to his dad.

Tianna was still standing when out of nowhere Jon’s mom grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug.

“Um,” Tianna sounded, hugging back. Jon’s mom pulled away and handed her a plate totally packed with food.

“Here you go sweetie. Eat up, there’s plenty here. You need some meat on your bones,” she smiled. Tianna couldn’t help but notice this was almost the complete opposite of what happened at her own house, and suddenly it all clicked.

Jon told them. She looked over at him, and he looked away from her quickly. Suspiciously.

Jon’s mom also handed her Jon’s plate, and then nudged her toward the table.

“I’ll be over with drinks and such in a minute,” she said, making her own plate. David and Jon’s dad already had their plates. Tianna set Jon’s plate down, and noticed the bench they were seated at wasn’t really made for three people.

Jon and David, who were both young, growing men, had taken up most of the room.

“Jonathan, make room for your girl,” Jon’s dad had said. They both started to protest, but David cut them off.

“Oh stop stuttering and put her on your lap. It’s not like you two weren’t all cuddly in bed last night,” he said.

“David, knock it off. One more foul comment out of you, I swear,” Jon’s mom said, setting her own plate down. “Don’t worry, hon, we’ve had to fit lots of people in here before. It can be done.” She gave Jon a look after bringing the drinks over and he adjusted himself so that he was sitting sideways. One leg was under the table and the other was over the end of the bench, leaving Tianna just enough room to sit down.

She would have to sit between Jon’s legs, with her back against his chest. Also, he’d only be able to eat with his left hand unless he reached around her. She felt bad, but Jon motioned for her to sit, letting her know it was fine.

As soon as she sat down, Jon’s right arm went around her waist, securing her. She felt awkward in front of his family, but obviously they didn’t mind, because they were all eating and engrossed in their own conversations. Midway through the meal, Jon’s arm around her relaxed a little, and now his hand rested on her inner thigh.

She froze, about to say something to him, when she realized he had no idea he even did it. He was laughing about something David said, and was absentmindedly running his thumb over the hem of her shorts.

She choked on her food a little bit, and Jon’s hand suddenly went to her stomach.

“You okay?” he chuckled, still oblivious to the heat he had just put her in.

“Yeah,” she answered, taking a sip of her OJ. “Wrong pipe.” They all nodded and went back to talking, and Jon’s hand stayed firmly across Tianna’s waist. Every once in a while Jon’s mom would catch her eye and wink at her, and Tianna would just look away slightly embarrassed.

Once everyone was done with breakfast, Tianna helped Jon’s mom clear the table.

“Alright boys, let’s go get hitched up and ready,” Jon’s dad said.

“Ready for what?” Tianna asked.

“Camping,” the three men answered.

“Camping?? But it’s December!” Tianna exclaimed.

“We always camp the two nights before Christmas Eve,” Jon told her. “We go ice fishing too.”

“It’s December,” she added again. Jon chuckled, walking away. Tianna turned to Jon’s mom as they did the dishes. “It’s December.”

“Yes, it is,” she laughed. “Don’t worry, we have everything to keep us warm. It’s really not that bad. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Tianna stayed silent, wondering why on earth people would want to camp in December.

“Mrs. Toews,” Tianna voiced.

“Andree,” she corrected

“Andree,” Tianna restarted. “Um, I was wondering…if maybe you could take me to a mall around here? I owe Jon so much, and I wanted to get him a Christmas gift, and I was wondering if you could help-”

“Of course!” She said excitedly, drying her hands. “We’ll go now, while the boys are getting ready for camping. Go get dressed!” She pushed Tianna upstairs to go get ready.

When she came back down, Andree was already ready to go. They walked outside, where Jon, his dad, and David were all getting stuff together.

“Where are you going?” Jon asked them.

“Shopping!” His mom cried excitedly.

“Mooom,” Jon whined. “Leave her alone. Tianna, really, you don’t have to go with her-”

“Oh hush. We’ll be back soon!” Andree yelled, grabbing Tianna and pulling her toward her car. The ride to the mall was quiet, but once they were walking around the stores, Andree spoke.

“Tianna,” she said, grabbing the young woman’s arm and halting her. Tianna looked at her confused. “Jon told us about your mother.”

“I figured,” Tianna nodded.

“Don’t be mad at him, we forced it out of him,” Andree explained. Tianna chuckled.

“I’m not mad,” she assured. “I never told him not to tell.”

“He cares for you, you know,” Andree added wistfully as they began walking around again.

“Nah,” Tianna smiled weakly. “He just feels bad for me, that’s all.”

“Sweetheart, there’s a difference between pity and compassion, at least with my son there is. And I know my son. He cares about you, deeply,” she insisted. Tianna didn’t know what to say, so she settled for remaining quiet.

Andree helped her pick out a gift for Jon, and then they went their separate ways for an hour to get other things. Tianna said she needed stuff for Patrick and Kara, but she also bought stuff for Jon’s family. Andree said she needed stuff for Jon, David and her husband, but she bought stuff for Tianna as well.

They met up at their rendezvous point and headed back home. Tianna and Andree disappeared to other parts of the house and wrapped all their presents while the men still tinkered with stuff outside. Tianna then got ready for camping, which she really didn’t mind.

She loved camping, she was just worried about the whole, it being December, thing. Jon came into the room suddenly, startling Tianna.

“Hey, you getting ready?” He asked, grabbing an empty duffel bag. She nodded, and silently prayed he wouldn't need anything from under his bed, since that’s where she put the presents.

“How exactly are we not going to freeze to death?” She asked him, remembering the frigidness of being outside earlier.

“Aren’t you from Chicago? You’re supposed to be used to it,” he mused, throwing clothes in his bag.

“I am used to it,” she affirmed. “That doesn’t mean I like it.” Jon chuckled and looked at her.

“Well, we’ll probably build a fire, but we’ve got generators and space heaters, battery electric blankets, and of course, body heat,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows. He actually managed to get Tianna to laugh at that one, and he remembered why he was so attracted to her. He snapped himself out of it. “We’re almost ready to leave,” he told her, finishing up his packing.

Tianna nodded and grabbed her bag, which he took away from her.

“I got it,” he said, not allowing her to argue. They walked downstairs and met everyone else, who was ready to go. The ride took a couple hours, which confused Tianna. The place they ended up didn’t look any different from the rest of the places she saw, but she didn’t say anything.

“This is the best lake for ice fishing,” David stated, answering Tianna’s silent questions. They all got out and unloaded, leaving Andree and Tianna to watch over the camping stuff while the men went and scoped out the lake.

Tianna started setting up the tents, surprising Andree. When Tianna eventually looked up at her and saw her expression, she paused.

“What?”

“You go camping a lot?” Andree asked, motioning to the already set up tent. Tianna nodded. “Oh, you are perfect for my son.” Tianna went to argue, but Andree turned her back and busied herself with something else. By the time the men came back to get their fishing equipment, Tianna had set up all the tents.

The men all stood at the edge of the camp, looking confusedly at the two women who were now unpacking the coolers. They all knew Andree couldn’t set up tents to save her life.

“How’d you get the tents up so fast?” Jon’s dad asked.

“Oh, Tianna did it,” Andree answered, sending Jon a prolonged glance. He looked over at Tianna, who was bent over a cooler with her arms full. He bit his lip, not liking where his thoughts were going, especially with his parents in the immediate vicinity.

“You camp often?” David asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Not in the middle of December, but yeah,” she joked. Jon felt himself grin, knowing she wasn’t going to let this December thing go, even if it didn’t really bother her.

“Jon, Tianna. Why don’t you two go gather some firewood,” his dad suggested. They both nodded and headed off into the forest together.

“So…you like camping?”

Was everyone seriously going to keep asking her this question?

“Yes Jon,” she answered, laughing.

“You’re not like most girls,” he said, suddenly stopping. She turned toward him with a raised brow.

“You mean, most girls aren’t as messed up as I am?” she joked.

“No, I mean most girls aren’t as cool as you are,” he smirked. “It’s a good thing,” he added, resuming his pace. She followed him as they continued picking up firewood. “Listen, I’m sorry about telling my family about your mom.”

“Oh, Jon, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you did. It’s not like it was a huge secret,” she assured him.

“It still wasn’t my place to just blab it out,” he argued. “I should’ve asked you first.”

“I forgive you,” she waved off.

“Remember the day we met, and I asked if we could start over?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can we do that again? You know, just forget all the bullshit,” he murmured.

“No,” she answered. He looked up at her, frowning.

“You have been really great to me through all this bullshit,” she said. “And I don’t want to forget that.”

They both stood there for a while, just looking at each other, and Jon finally smiled.

“Let’s go get this stuff back there, eh?”

She nodded and they headed back to camp with the firewood, Jon stealing glances at her the whole way.