Goodnight, Beautiful.

Pulling open a bag of flaming hot Cheetos, Bristol popped a few of the hot chips into her mouth and held the bag between her legs. It wasn’t her ideal breakfast, but she was starving and often turned in to a raging bitch when there wasn’t food in her stomach. Traffic was heavy—as expected—for eight o’clock on a Wednesday morning. She had twenty minutes to get to Philadelphia International and pick her brother. If she was even five seconds late, Bristol knew she’d never hear the end of it.

Blowing her bangs out of her sunglass clad eyes, Bristol turned down the radio as she stopped in front of yet another red light. Pedestrians crossed the cross-walk in front of her, dressed professionally in business suites as they held briefcases and spoke on cell phones. Bristol embraced the fact she no longer one of them; following the same routine day to day. She was a spontaneous person who hated making plans. Just go with the flow and live with whatever life decides to throw at you.

She was ten minutes late showing up to the airport. As she pulled her Jeep to the curb, Bristol spotted Matt standing outside with his suitcase in one hand and the other on his hip. The infamous Giordano smirk plastered on his lips and a pair of Prada sunglasses shielded his eyes.

“You’re late.” Matt—Bristol’s mischievous and openly gay older brother—pulled his sister in to a hug. She apologized multiple times, blaming her tardiness on traffic. Holding her at arms length, he looked up and down. “What’s his name?”

“What are you talking about?” Bristol grabbed his bag and tossed it in the backseat before getting into the car.

“You’re glowing, Bristol. What’s his name?” Matt knew his sister better than any of his other siblings. The two have always been the closest.

Pulling away from the curb and merging back into traffic, Bristol took off her sunglasses. She was stumbling over her words. “His name is Danny.”

“Danny,” Matt opened the window and let his arm hang out. Both could tell already it was going to a nice day. Capri’s and tees kind of weather. “Please don’t tell me you’re getting back into those kinds of guy who only shave once every six months and only own one clip on tie. Does he listen to that horrible music you used to listen to high school?”

She was caught off guard. She shouldn’t have been through; Matt was only trying to get every bit of information out of her. “He shaves if I ask him too and yes, he listens to that horrible music I listened to—and still do—in high school. For the record, there is nothing wrong with Rob Zombie and Guns ‘N Roses.”

“Next you’re going to tell me he’s a Guido from Jersey who has an obnoxious accent.”

“Well, he is a Guido, but no. He is not from Jersey and he doesn’t have a Jersey accent. It’s Canadian.”

Bristol could tell Matt was rolling his eyes from behind his sunglasses. “Jesus, don’t tell me Kris introduced you to one of his teammates.” When he didn’t get the quick defending answer from Bristol, Matt knew he had hit the nail on its head. “He’s a hockey player, isn’t he?”

Bristol nodded her head. She had the ‘no dating any of Kris’s teammates’ once the two had first become friends. Matt insisted male athletes were self-centered and conceded.

They stopped for a better breakfast at a small diner close to Bristol’s house. She was craving a stack of blueberry pancakes and a cup of coffee. With the way she had been feeling the past couple of days, she didn’t know if the pancakes were the best thing to be eating. She was so sick yesterday; she had barely been able to drink a bottle of water before running to the bathroom. The nauseous felling had still been there when she woke up in the morning, but thankfully there was no vomiting.

She listened to Matt talk—something he did best—about work and the condo he just moved into in Manhattan. He badgered Bristol about Dan, trying his best to suck every detail of their sex life out of her. But she refused to tell, Bristol was a lady and wasn’t one to kiss and tell. The topic of their younger brother came up; sending them both to down moods for a shot while.

“How’s Nick?” Bristol stirred more sugar into her coffee.

“He’s doing good. Mom said he got a job and is planning to move in with Brandi.”

Pushing hair behind her ears, Bristol shook her head. “I’d rather have him come out here and live with me instead of her. She’s bad for him.”

Nick and Brandi were like oil and water. They fought constantly, pushing Nick to pick back up the needle which everyone tried desperately to get him to put down. Bristol and Matt loved their brother dearly, but didn’t trust him one bit. He lied and stole; manipulation had become his number one talent. And their father didn’t help much either. He felt if everyone ignored the drug use, Nick would stop due to the lack of interest people put in his lifestyle. Bristol learned the hard way ignoring it only made the problem worse.

When they finished with breakfast, the two headed back to Bristol and Dan’s house. He had left already for practice, which Bristol knew of. With the first playoff game only three days away, she could see the stress it was putting on all the guys. The first round was always the hardest to get through. No team wanted to be eliminated first round. Most of them would much rather lose in the Finals again than lose to Buffalo. Besides, they wanted to play Boston again.

“So, what do you think?” Bristol flopped down on the sofa and Matt followed. He looked around, taking his surroundings in.

The décor defiantly reflected his sister’s style. Simple and sophisticated with a touch of punk. Bristol was a punk-ass growing up and she’d be one forever. “I like it.”

Bringing Matt and his bag upstairs, Bristol showed him to the guest room. She had rewashed all the sheets last night and made sure it was clean. No unpacked items under the bed and she even folded the sheet back just how he liked it. The walls were plain white and the bed was fitted with crisp, white sheets and a black and white quilt. It was her bed which she had brought with her to Philly and the mattress was like sleeping on a cloud.

“I want to see your room.” Matt hopped off the bed and made a dash down the hall to the master bedroom. Bristol tried to stop him; it was a disaster. It looked as if both a tornado had gone through it, and later a bomb went off. A few boxes were still left unpacked and a few laundry baskets full of clothes were lying around.

Between games, watching the boys and parties, Bristol and Dan needed more than 24-hours in a day to get this place in tip-top shape. She couldn’t wait until the summer and a little down time headed her way. Caelan, Carson and Cameron would be spending more time at Sylvie’s, putting her off babysitting duty for a while.

“I’ll help you get this room into shape before I leave.” Matt took it upon himself to make the bed. They had black cotton sheets and a plaid comforter on their bed. Not Bristol’s desired bedspread, but, until she had time to get to the store it would have to do.

Taking a seat on the floor with Chief, Bristol scratched at the dogs head. “I will love you forever if you do. But anyway, Dan shouldn’t be home until maybe six. He has practice and a team meeting. I planned on making dinner if you want to come shopping with me, or you can stay here.”

“I’ll come with you.” He looked out the window and on to the quiet street. “This city scares me; I don’t want to be here alone.”

---

What was meant to be simply food shopping turned into a whole day of boutiques. Matt insisted Bristol needed more things to spruce up her new home. It wouldn’t feel like home unless she bought a few candle holders for the dining room table or, hand towel for the power room. Bristol tried to talk Matt out of it, mainly because she was taking what Dan had told her to heart. She didn’t want to make it feel comfy until they were absolutely certain about what would happen next season.

Each carried three bags as they headed down the Philadelphia streets. Matt told her she had to come out to New York and visit him next time. With the sun beating hot on her skin, Bristol enjoyed the slight tan she was getting. Before she knew it, it would be time to break out the bathing suits and hit the beaches. She and Dan were planning on heading out to Cabo sometime during the summer. The date of the trip would be unknown until the playoffs ended but at least she’d be hitting the Jersey shore with Danny and the boys in July.

Rearranging the bags on her wrists, Bristol was in mid-sentence when Matt abruptly stopped. She looked into the window of the store which he stopped at and her jaw immediately fell.

“No way. Let’s keep going.” Bristol tried to walk away but, she was stopped.

“Why not? Stop being a baby.” Matt grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the lingerie shop.

Bristol rolled her eyes as she followed Matt around. It was a nice place; on any other given day she wouldn’t mind looking around for a few new bras, but when her brother is trying to pick out things to get her laid, that’s where she drew the line.

From a rack, Bristol pulled a red baby doll with pink lace trimming. It was something she wouldn’t mind wearing. After looking at the price on the tag, she put it back. “Matt, can we please get out of here?”

“No,” he pulled a white corset and held it against Bristol. He put it back, searched for another color. She always looked good in black. Shoving it into her hands, Matt took her bags and pushed her into the dressing room.

She was a minute away from ringing his neck and pulled the curtain closed with frustration. There was no way Matt was going to let her leave without at least trying something on. Removing only her shirt, Bristol unlaced the corset and put it against her chest before letting Matt try to lace it back up.

As he pulled tighter at the satin ribbon to close it up, Bristol let out a short breath of ache and frustration. It felt as if her chest was being crushed and she couldn’t breathe. Never before had she had so much trouble getting into one. “I think your tits got bigger.” Matt joked.

Looking into the mirror, Bristol turned to the side and examined her own breasts. He wasn’t joking, they had gotten bigger. “I’m not sixteen anymore. They shouldn’t be getting bigger.”

“Bristol Marie,” Matt took a few steps back and laid his eyes on his baby sister’s belly. “Are you pregnant?”