While You Were Away

“I’m pretty sure my mom likes you more than she likes me,” Val said, laughing as we drove down the road, on the way back home. We had spent Christmas with his parents at Ilari’s house while they were in America visiting. They had come a few days early so they could see both Val and Ilari play on their respective hockey teams. Now we were on our way home to relax and just enjoy the night. I turned to Val to say something when my phone rang, interrupting me.

“Hello?” I asked after fumbling around my purse to find the phone.

“Hey Amy, it’s Mom. I just have a quick question, are you and Val stopping by for Christmas dinner tonight?” As she asked, I squinted my eyes shut and leaned my head back against the headrest.

“I thought you weren’t doing that this year Mom.”

“Well Aunt Nancy decided to fly in so I decided it was back on. I could have sworn I told you.”

“No. You didn’t. Val and I are on our way home from his brothers. Do you think we could have some time to relax a bit before we come over for dinner,” I said giving Val a pointed look and he smiled before nodding his head slightly, telling me in a way that he didn’t care if we had to go to my moms.

“Yeah sure! Dinner isn’t going to be until at least seven. You’ll have plenty of time. So I’ll take that as a yes?”

“I guess so.”

“Okay honey, I’ll see you then.”

“So we’re going to your moms for dinner?”

-

As Val parked the car in the street, I took notice of the cars in front of my moms house. There were three of them, one of which I had never seen before. It looked really nice from what I could tell, and I had no idea who of my moms friend would be driving it.

Val came around and held out a hand to me so I could get out of the car easily without falling into the snow. He laced our fingers together as we made our way up to the door of the small, yet cozy house. We entered the house without knocking and were greeted with loud Christmas music coming from the kitchen and laughter. I smiled at the thought of spending time with my family.

When we entered the kitchen, my mom immediate notice and rushed over to Val and I, hugging us right away.

“Oh, I’m so glad you guys could make it. Come here Val,” She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him over to my aunt who was currently leaning against the island in the kitchen with two glasses of wine in front of her.

“Hello there,” She said, looking Val over, a smile on her face. “Damn Amy, you did good with this one.”

“Thanks,” I said, laughing at the way Val’s cheeks turned bright red. I always loved it when he got embarrassed, to me it was one of the cutest things.

“Well Nancy, this is Valtteri, but you can call him Val, right sweetie?” My mom asked, looking up at him.

“That’s right. It’s easier to say for most people.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you Val,” My aunt said, sticking her hand out to shake his.

“HEY MA!!” Upon hearing a voice yelling up from the downstairs, I looked over at my mom.

“You didn’t say she was going to be here,” I said sharply. To be honest, I still wasn’t over the whole situation involving her yet. Val returned to my side, wrapping an arm around me when we heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“I didn’t tell you? I must have forgotten,” My mom said, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she snapped her fingers.

“Her boyfriend is here too,” My aunt said. This caused me to glare at my mom. I had figured out who Emily’s boyfriend was when I had looked her up on google. What? I’m her twin, you can’t blame me for being curious. I found out she was dating Jack Johnson, who I currently was rather annoyed with after the most recent game against the Kings because he hadn’t left Val alone the whole time.

“Did someone else come over Ma?” Emily voice sounded a lot closer.

“Yes. Your sister.”

“Really?” She suddenly came into view, Jack following her closely. When she saw me standing there with Val her eyes widened. “Oh wow.”

“Is that by any chance, the guy that thought you were his girlfriend?” Jack had obviously tried to keep that question quiet so just Emily could hear it, but everyone in the kitchen heard.

“Yeah. How have you been Amy?” Emily asked and I looked from Jack back to her.

“Alright. Been better I suppose, and yourself?” I asked to be polite. What can I say? When I hold a grudge, I hold a grudge. It’s a character flaw really, but oh well. And now there were currently two people I had grudges against standing in the same room as me, and I didn’t like it very much at all.

“I’ve been pretty good actually.” I nodded and turned to go sit at the table. Everyone started moving around the kitchen. I watched as Jack approached Val and offered his hand.

“Sorry about shoving you so much in the last game dude,” I heard him say and watched as Val just shrugged before walking over to sit next to me. I tried to hid the smile on my face when I saw the look of annoyance on Jacks face. Val had his moments where he wasn’t much of a conversationalist when he’s around new people. This was obviously one of those times.

“Pysyttävä rauhallisena,” Val said to me quietly and I turned to him with a smile.

“Don’t worry, I am,” I said and he smiled, most likely at the fact that I actually retained some of the Finnish phrases he had been teaching me lately.

“Love you,” He said and kissed my cheek leaving a smile on my face.

“Rakastan sinua.” I laughed at the look on his face. He had been trying to teach me Finnish for a few months now and I had only just begun to retain it.

“Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes everyone!” My mom called out loudly, even though there was only six people total in the house.