Luck & Intuition

AUTUMN TUGGED AT her hair, trying to place it into some type of style that wouldn’t seem like she was raised in a barn. She pulled down her solid black dress to make sure it covered her ass and didn’t seem too slutty. She felt as if she were a complete mess and ready to be humiliated. She couldn’t understand why she was so nervous over something so little. It wasn’t like Joe was going to get down on one knee and propose to her in front of his parents. They hadn’t been dating for years; it had only been a few months.

“Autumn, you’ve been in there forever. We’re going to be late unless you come out.” Joe’s knuckles scraped against the door as he knocked lightly. Autumn sighed, standing up from sitting on the edge of the bathtub. She slipped on her bracelets, looked at herself one last time in the mirror then twisted the knob and walked out.

Joe rose from his position on the bed and smoothed down his tie. A smile broke out upon his lips as he laced his fingers with Autumn’s. “You look beautiful.” His voice was just above as whisper as he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly. A rosy tinge darkened her cheeks and she nodded so there would be no disagreement. Joes seized the matching black clutch from the bedside table, handing it over to Autumn. “Are you ready?”

Autumn breathed out deeply and answered with a nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

-&&-

The palms of Autumn’s hands were moist as her nerves built up inside quickly with every mile closer to Denise and Kevin Sr home. There would be times when Joe would reach out to hold her hand but she would make some kind of movement so they were out of reach. Instead, Joe rested his hand upon her lower thigh where he would softly make with his thumbs. Autumn sent a warming smile in his direction, a very loose one at that.

The purr of the engine droned out easily and soon there was no sound to be heard. Joe removed the keys from the slot and slid the keys into his pocket. Autumn stared out of her window at the beautiful house that appeared in front of her. There must have been thousands of flowers planted in neat little rows evenly on each side of the front door. The hedges were trimmed to perfection and the stone path shimmered with the gloss on top.

The door to her side opened and Joe’s hand was offered to help Autumn down from the high car. She stepped down onto the path with her heels making a clicking sound as they walked hand-in-hand towards the front door. He turned the knob on the door and walked inside to the castle-like, but the home-sweet-home feeling of the Jonas household.

“Joseph? Is that you?” Denise’s voice echoed through the tall ceilings. The sound of her own heels tapping on the hardwood floor made Autumn alert that it was show time. There is no room for pathetic answers and stupid fill-in laughter. As Denise Jonas rounded the corner, Autumn instantly could see the resemblance of all her boys. It was their eyes, hair, and smile. She was even more beautiful than in the pictures placed on the mantel in Joe’s living room. No wonder why the magazines considered Denise to be a Hot Mom.Her smile was impeccable when she was fully in the room. Her eyes lit up seeing a new face in her second eldest son’s life. “So this must be the Autumn you’ve told me about.” Joe nodded and chuckled. “It’s nice to meet you, dear. You can call me Denise, please. Mrs Jonas just sounds so old.” Denise engulfed Autumn in a surprising hug as they both laughed shallowly.

“Where’s dad? I didn’t see his car in the driveway.” Joe shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and looked around at the familiar room.

“He’s out golfing with Uncle Josh. They should be finishing up soon. He and Angela are going to be joining us to. Why don’t you show Autumn around the house you used to live in since every child I gave birth to decided to abandon me.” Denise pouted playfully and walked back into the kitchen.

“You still have Frankie, mom. Even though he is probably at James’ house like always.” Joe called out and attached his hand to Autumn’s and pulled her into the living room to start the grand ol’ tour. “So here is the living room, isn’t it ever so exciting? Oh here’s the best part.” He walked over to the coffee table and picked up the remote for the television. “This little box can broadcast you any channel in the whole wide world!”

Autumn rolled her eyes and snatched the remote from him. “Really? This looks like a replica of the one at home.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll scratch being a tour guide off my list.” Joe crossed his arms like child.

“Oh come on,” Autumn’s eyes wandered to the stairs. “I want to see your room.”

“My room? There’s nothing special about it. There’s just a bunch of boxes in there and two beds because Nick and I shared the room.” Joe, however, followed Autumn as she walked up the stairs with great interest. She didn’t care if it was filled with boxes or nothing at all.

She stopped on the top of the stairs and glanced down at the hallways with doors on either side. Her head turned as Joe pointed to a door in the middle. “Second door on the right.” Autumn pushed the door open with the tips of her fingers. It creaked as it opened slowly. Low and behold there was nothing but boxes, two beds and even a desk.

"I told you it was nothing much." Joe said as he leaned against the wall. Autumn wandered around the room; peaking in open boxes to see books and CDs from when he was a kid. Autumn smirked and pulled out what looked to be a dinosaur bank. She started to laugh. "Autumn, put it away."

"You had a Barney 'piggy' bank?"

"No. It was Nick's."

"Oh, so if I call him right now, he'd tell me that he was a Barney's kid and not a Blues Clue one.” Joe rolled his eyes and looked away. "Yeah, I do my research." Joe muttered under his breath. Autumn giggled and set the dinosaur back in the box and touched Joe's arm. "I don't know why you're embarrassed. I think it's cute, okay?"

He shrugged, not really believing her. Autumn sighed, and reached up to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Joe smirked and turned so that their lips were aligned perfectly. Autumn giggled along his lips as the kiss began to linger on. Joe's hands gripped Autumn's sides, pulling her closer to eliminate the space between them. Autumn stumbled forward over a box on the ground which caused a chain reaction of Joe falling back towards one of the beds. Autumn's hand pressed against Joe's chest as the made impact with the bed. She stared down at his eyes noticing how much of mix there was. She noticed how they could be a solid brown like Nick's or how when Joe would turn his eyes would be a shimmering hazel like Kevin's.

"What are you staring at?" Joe whispered. He removed strands of hair from her face and placed them behind her ear. It seemed like he was about to pull out every cliché but she didn't mind because his next move was a light kiss on the lips. "Hmm?"

"Just something beautiful." Autumn whispered back. Joe furrowed his eyebrows together. "Come on. I think I heard Uncle Josh's voice coming from downstairs." As Autumn went to get up, Joe pulled her back down with a wicked grin. "Joe..."

"How about we pretend that we got lost when I was showing you the house?" Joe pressed his lips directly on Autumn's neck and slid his lips down to her collarbone.

"Your mom is going to walk in and I'm going to be the last girlfriend your parents will ever approve up. Then you're going to grow alone as an old man making wooden owls that freak people out."

Joe immediately stopped and sat up slightly. "I think I want to keep you around. Let's go eat."

"Good idea."

-&&-

The laughter circled the table as each story brought to Autumn by a family member made Joe's cheeks become a deep red. She had learned the reasons for his nickname DJ Danger and why he had that cute scar on his nose from running into a wall.

"Honestly, I still blame Kevin for this accident. He was the one that encouraged me that everything would be fine and we just had to create a video of having superpowers." Joe explained with his tone severely serious as everyone else laughter and finished the delicious food that Denise made.

The nerves inside had subsided from Autumn's emotions. She loved how open everyone was and you could say anything and not get harassed or anything.
"I'll get started on the dishes." Denise rose from the table and stacked the plates.

"I'll help." Autumn said.

"You don't have to do that." Joe said and grabbed a hold of Autumn's arm as she began to stand.

"It's the least I can do since she went through all this trouble of preparing a three course meal, Joe." Denise smiled, knowing that if she dared to refuse that Autumn would protest. Autumn picked up the empty bowls and the trays then followed Denise into the kitchen with Aunt Angela trailing behind.

"You really don't have to help me, dear. Angela and I got it."

"I know. But I bet that they are going to check the sports scores and argue about teams. Although I do like sports, I think I'd rather stay in here and clean some plates with stuck on grease."

"I like her." Angela said bluntly and shrugged. She turned on the water and handed Autumn a sponge. Autumn laughed and started to scrub the dish.

"Yes, so do I." Denise nudged Autumn so scoot over. She also had a genuine smile hanging on her lips. Autumn sighed in relief silently. "But can I ask you what it is you see in my son? I don't mean that to sound rude, I always ask this question because every answer is usually the same."

Start up the sweat because the nerves have just kicked into overdrive. Autumn set down the dish in the sink and placed her hands on the counter.

"If you want something obvious I'd have to say his eyes and his smile. But I think you want a more clear answer." Autumn shifted and cleared her throat. "It's more than just his outer complexion because he brings so much more than what meets the eyes. The way he wants to make sure your okay by sending text messages throughout the day just to check in. That he gives up his time to watch Ella Mae when he shouldn't have to. How he accepts me for who I am even though I wanted nothing to do with him. At first I just thought he'd be some rockstar that would play with my heart. Joe is much more than that. He's a human being that would give his life just to make sure that the people that he loves are alright."

Autumn laughed and brushed her hair away from her eyes. She shifted her body to face Denise and Angela.

"He's not perfect, I'm not perfect. We're going to be imperfect together and that is what will make us perfect. There's going to be fights, there's going to be times where he is going to leave for a while. There is going to be times where I'm going to feel so jealous because there will be girls screaming his name when he's on stage or celebrities that want a piece of him. But if that's what I have to go through, I'd walk through hell and back for your son and your nephew."

Denise and Angela kept quiet as Autumn's speech came to a close. She didn't know if she said too much or said the wrong thing.

"Different." Denise broke the silence.

"Different." Angela repeated and walked into the living room.

-&&-

Joe and Autumn waved as they backed out of the driveway.

"Well that was fun!" Autumn clapped and squirmed in her seat. Joe laughed, fixing the volume of the radio. The car ride home was filled with silence but the kind that felt right. The kind that fell over two people who didn't mind.

Joe laced his fingers with Autumn's. He brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles three or four times. He let the wheel slide through his fingers as the car turned onto their street. Red and blue flashing red lights surround the street. Autumn sat up straight in her seat as she looked around. Joe manoeuvred the car carefully until he came to a complete stop.

Autumn dashed out of the car soon after seeing the police cars surrounding hers and Joe's home.

"Excuse me, Miss. Do you live here?" One police officer grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him.

"Yes. Now let go." She glared at him.

"Autumn!" Storm yelled out from the front entrance of the house. Autumn broke away from the officer and ran towards Storm.

"What the hell is going on? Where's Ella? Where's Nick?" Questions flew out left, right and center. Nick appeared in the foyer of the house with an officer by his side as they were in a deep conversation. “Storm, what the hell...?”

"Miranda's back."