Unexpected Turns

I woke up the next morning in a daze. The sun was beaming into whatever room I was in and it was unbearabley hot. The smell of the grill came in through the window and I covered my face with a pillow. I slowly looked over at the clock. It read 4:37. I groaned and sat up. I slept all day. Again. It had been three days since my arrival in Thunder Bay and I had yet to leave Jordan’s side. Eric was confused on why I was being so distant, and Jared had his girlfriend to bang. I didn’t care though, I was closest to Jordan. We were in the same grade in school and had at least 4 classes together every year. To say the least, he was my best friend. I told him everything and when I was sad, he was always there.
“Jor, I need to talk to her.” I heard a voice plead from the window. It took all the strength I had in me to pull myself off the bed and onto the floor. The blinds were up and I peeked my eyes over the open window ledge. Jordan was sitting in a chair with his feet on the table and Eric stood next to the grill. Tanya was in the back yard playing with who I assumed to be their son, Parker. The only thing I couldn’t see was the person who just talked. His back was to me, and he had a hat covering his hair.
“No. You put her through enough. If she doesn’t want to see you, she doesn’t have to.” Jordan said back in a no nonsense tone and I smirked. He always stood up for me no matter what.
“What about what she put me through? I hurt too. Christ I still do and you think I don’t care about her? I need to talk to Macy.” The person begged. I finally recognized the voice I tried so hard to forget. Marc stood on Jordan’s back patio begging to see me.
“You did a damn bad way of showing it. You hooked up with Lindsay four days after she took off. You wouldn’t support her, you wouldn’t help her. What do you think would of happened if you would of just became a man and took care of her?” Jordan almost yelled. He gripped the chair and his knuckles turned white from grasping it s hard. Eric tried his best to ignore the situation and not get involved. He never got involved with me. He was practically my older brother and loved me, but he hated the fact that I hooked up with his younger brother.
“I was pissed! I was sad! I didn’t know what to do! Lindsay was just there and I did what I did. I’m ashamed I handled it that way, but what do you want me to say?” Marc said harshly. They both were having a hard time keeping their voices down around Parker and Tanya looked worried.
“I want you to leave her the hell alone. You married Lindsay. Macy is off limits from now on and I swear to god if you ever try and contact her I will make sure you are out for the whole season.” Jordan said and Marc slammed his fist off the table.
“I can’t! I loved her!” Marc half yelled and put his face in his hands. The backyard fell silent and I shook my head.
“Go fuck yourself Marc. That is a load of bullshit.” Jordan sneered. I had enough. They were fighting endlessly about me and I couldn’t take it. I tossed my legs over the window and slid out onto the ledge of roof. I then walked across and carefully sat down on the edge, facing the boys.
“Stop fighting over me. Jordan you don’t know what went on between us and Marc shut up.” I said and everyone turned and looked at me. Jordan stood up and caught me as I pushed myself off the ledge. He cradled me effortlessly and I sat down in a chair next to Jordan and across from Marc. Marc was silent and just stared at me. Eric was smirking and Jordan was just plain old pissed.
“Now Marc, what do you want to say? Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of everyone because we all know I will tell Jordan and Jordan will go to Eric all pissy.” I said and stole Jordan’s beer. Marc visibly swallowed and was nervous. He played with his hands a little and Jordan bounced his leg impatiently.
“Macy, I’m sorry. I should of never made you make the decisions you made. I didn’t want you to find out about me and Lindsay that way either.” He tried to go on, but I interrupted him with my hand.
“You made me do nothing.” I said and put my hand down. “Why does it matter how I found out? I’m not yours anymore, we haven’t talked in years, and you shouldn’t care about me like that.” I finished and he looked confused.
“You’re my sister. Of course I care about your feelings.” He said and I froze. The ‘s’ word made me cringe.
“We have been through and done too much to be brother and sister.” I replied coldly. His eyes flashed hurt, but he nodded. Jordan calmed down a little, and Eric placed a plate of hamburgers and hot dogs in front of us and Tanya brought Parker over. I silently thanked her for getting us out of that conversation. It was taking a wrong turn and fast. Parker ran up to his dad as fast as he could and jumped into his arms. He was very cute and looked exactly like his dad.
“Parker, this is Macy, she is a very close friend of mommy and me. Can you say hi?” Eric asked and got him a mini hamburger.
“Hi Macy.” Parker said loudly and waved at me.
“Hi Parker.” I replied with a big smile. He was about 3 ½. Only about 2 years older than Natalie and Nico. I smiled at his resemblance with Nico and felt my heart tighten. I missed them so much it almost hurt. Five more days. Just five more days. I told myself and smiled brightly at Tanya. Marc looked at Parker then me, and probably thought the same thing, only his version of what he thought happened was different than mine, the real one.
“Parker are you excited to be an older brother?” Jordan asked. Parker grinned and nodded his head.
“I want a youngwer broder.” He said with his little baby voice. I smiled and chuckled. He was just too cute.
“What if it’s a girl?” I asked. He shrugged.
“Then I will have a baby sister. She will have to pway with me.” He said and took a bite of his hamburger. I smiled and Jordan looked at me, as if he was seeing how I was holding up. I gave him a little head nod to show I was doing just fine.
“Well, I’m going to head out. I’m going back to New York tomarrow. It was good seeing you again Macy.” Marc said and waved good bye to everyone. I gave him a warm smile and watched him walk away. As soon as his car was gone, and Parker went to go play in the yard, Eric sat down and gave me a stern look.
“What the hell happened after you took off and I want the whole story. I know Jordan knows, and I want to too. Marc is my brother and I have a feeling what he knows isn’t the truth.” Eric said and I sighed. I set my half eaten hamburger down and took one last sip of my water. I knew this day was coming and I was finally ready to open up, somewhat.
“Where do I begin?” I said with a little laugh, but Eric’s serious face and Jordan’s irritated look, got me to take a deep breathe and begin explaining. “I left because I was scared. I was scared of what happened and didn’t know what to do. I left for Vancouver and stayed there until I made my ultimate decision, from there, I went to Paris and studied medicine. I got my degree and lived there for a little more before coming back home.” I said and explained. Jordan nodded, and Tanya looked confused.
“Why didn’t you come to us?” She asked. I shrugged. I left because I was scared of what everyone would say. I was terrified of Marc’s family, the family that almost raised me. The feeling of being rejected and pushed away was a new feeling and it overwhelmed me. I needed to get out, and that’s what I did.
“Your decision still impacted us.” Eric said harshly and I winced. I knew he wasn’t going to take this lightly, but I just shook my head. He didn’t know the truth. I did the opposite of what everyone thinks. For once in my life, I did the responsible thing. I made a decision without thinking about me. I thought about everyone else before myself. It felt good to do the right thing, and that’s what got me out of bed every morning. They woke me up and made my whole life worth living.
“I know. It impacts you more than you know.” I said and Jordan looked at me like I was crazy.
“What, more than we know? What is that supposed to mean? I think I know how it impacts me.” Jordan said in a low voice and it almost scared me.
“Jordan-“ I tried to say.
“No, you are my best friend and you left with no explanation and made the stupidest decision of your life. I would of helped you. You could of came to Pittsburgh and I would of taken care of everything.” He said and stormed inside in frustration. I ran my hands through my hair and tried to calm myself down. He would find out soon enough he was wrong. They were all wrong. I am just going through what would of happened if I would of made the wrong decision.
“It will never be the same Macy. Your decision can’t be forgiven in Jordan’s eyes. I’m here if you need me, but it will take some time. Everything is finally sinking in.” Eric said and went to get Parker. Tanya squeezed my hand and followed him. I sighed, This secret was harder to keep than I thought.

~5 Days later~

Jordan mostly ignored me for the next five days. I knew I deserved it, and he would talk to me after I got home. I talked to Tanya the day before and convinced her to drive me to the airport. She had no idea why, and didn’t really talk to me the whole drive. She though she was taking me to the airport so I could take off again. Once we pulled up, we parked in the temporary parking and I had a huge smile on my face.
“Where are you headed to this time? If its tropical I’m coming with you.” Tanya said in a flat voice from behind me. I could tell she was smiling, and I smiled back.
“It’s a surprise.” I said and bit my lip as we walked into the doors. I led her to the gate B14 and waited anxiously. Tanya was confused and looked at the screen.
“What? Do you have a hot French boyfriend coming in from Montreal?” She asked. I shook my head and searched the people coming out of the gate. After everyone came out, a flight attendant came out with two little suitcases in hand. After her, was the pilot. In his arms were Natalie and Nico. They looked tried and confused. Nico looked around and finally spotted me. He poked Natalie and pointed to me.
“Mama!” They both screamed and the pilot set them safely on the ground before they came running over. He smiled and nodded at me as I crouched down and gave them both a big hug. Tanya was stunned into silence. She stared at them in awe, and tears welled up in her eyes. Natalie locked her arms around my neck as I picked her up and Nico grabbed my leg when I stood up.
“Tanya, this is Nico and Natalie. Guys this is Tanya.” I said and Nico waved hello. Natalie hid behind my neck and Tanya let a tear slip while covering her mouth.
“How?” She whispered and looked from twin to twin. I shrugged and smiled. “We were all wrong. We thought you got rid of them.” She whispered.
“I know. I was scared and bolted without correcting anyone. I thought I would never come back, but the guilt got to me.” I said and took the suitcases from the flight attendant. Tanya took them from me and I carried both of the twins out of the airport. I set Nico in Parkers car seat and held Natalie. In the car, they both fell asleep and Tanya looked at me in shock.
“So Nico and Natalie right?” She asked. I nodded. I was full Italian and named them after family.
“Yes, Natalie is my grandma’s name and Nico is my Dad’s middle name.” I explained.
“They are beautiful. Nico looks like Jordan and Eric, but Natalie looks like her daddy.” Tanya said with a big smile. “We need to bring them to Jordan. He needs to know.” She said and I nodded in agreement. Tanya took her phone out and called him as I held Natalie. She was so small and gentle. I was caught in a day dream when Tanya snapped in front of my face to catch my attention.
“We are going to surprise the Staals. They are all having a cook out right now and we are needed. I told Jordan we had a surprise. Are they ready to meet there family?” Tanya asked. I bit my lip and nodded. I made it through the hard stuff. It would only get easier from here on out. 30 minutes of driving and nervousness later, we pulled up to the Staal farm. A different kind of nervousness was settled in my stomache. I wasn’t scared this time, I was happy. I woke Natalie up and Nico jumped out of the car in excitement.
“Mama, where are we?” He asked.
“We are at a house that belongs to very good friends of mine. You are going to meet a lot of people and they are all going to be shocked to see you so just smile and be yourself.” I said and took his hand. Tanya went in first, jumping with excitement. I walked in thirty seconds later and watched her walk out on to the patio. Mr. Staal was on the grill and greeted Tanya first. Soon everyone had their attention on her as she waved me to come out. I pushed the door open with my hip and led Nico outside. I stood in front of every in silence and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Staal.
“Linda and Henry, I would like to introduce you to your grandkids. Nico and Natalie.” I said and you could hear a pin drop.