Dirty Little Secret

The events that circled Halloween have been long forgotten. Life went back to normal. Every morning I would get up in time to make Steve coffee and toast and lay out the business section in the newspaper. Tate would get up and shower before coming down to eat the breakfast I made him then I would get ready for school. Liz never had a set time on getting up, she seemed to be in and out of the house at various hours of the day but that never stopped her from calling in the morning to wish everyone a good morning.

Tate and I would go to school in separate cars, leaving his house at different times. Once we got to school we acted casually. He'd ask me for a pen or to borrow my notes and I'd pretend to be annoyed when anyone was looking.

After school I normally worked out in the work out rooms at school with Courtney and Allie so I could stay updated on all of the latest gossip. Once our muscles couldn't take anymore, the three of us would buy protein smoothies; talk a little more than say our goodbyes and head off in different directions.

I'd kiss Tate hello, who was normally covered in sweat, dirt and grease from his motorcycle. I would start a little bit of my homework then cook dinner just in time for Liz to walk through the door before her emergency beeper would go off again and she had to go back to the hospital.

For weeks it went on like this until Thanksgiving rolled around and I was told the every year Tate's entire family came in for the holiday. Some of them had to stay the night because they lived too far away to drive.

"You are spending Thanksgiving with us right?" Liz asked at dinner a couple days before Thanksgiving day.

"If that's alright with you. Normally I go to New York with my parents to watch the Macy's Parade but I don't think they'll notice if I'm gone."

"Of course it's alright; I think it would be weird if you weren't with us."

I smile and my heart warms. "Who is all going to be here?"

"Well, all three families will be here."

"All three?"

"Yeah Paul's family comes in too. They used to celebrate Thanksgiving with us before Paul passed away and after the death I offered if they would still like to come over. Everyone gets along and it's nice that my Tate's entire family can get together."

"That is nice, I forget the last time I saw my family."

**

The day before Thanksgiving rolled around and I was nervous for Tate's family to come into town. His grandparents, his Aunt and her two children were all staying until the day after Thanksgiving.

"How do I look?" I ask while sliding into my shoes.

"Why are you putting shoes on? We aren't going out."

"It completes the look. Now opinions on how I look."

"You look amazing, you always do," Tate bends to kiss me.

"I just want to make sure I look nice for your family."

"You look nice every day. They'll love you."

"How do you know? What if they think I'm just some trust fund baby that is stuck up and always gets her way? People think that you know."

"I know that some people think that, but they won't, because I love you and that is all that will matter."

I smile wide, kissing Tate again. "Say it again."

"I love you."

I always made him say it twice, to make sure I heard him right. I hadn't said it though. I haven't told him flat out that I loved him. It's come out during fights but never just to say it. I was scared to tell him, scared to admit it out loud. I was afraid that after all this time we finally had a good thing going for us and I didn't want to jinx it with saying how I felt.

Tate kisses me again. I push my body against his and deepen the kiss. If I wasn't going to tell him that I loved him out loud, I could definitely show him.

I placed my hands at the nape of Tate's neck, toying with the back of his hair. He took hold of my waist and started pushing me backwards towards the bed. I fall on my back on the mattress, taking Tate with me.

Tate drags his lips from mine, allowing me to catch my breath. His lips followed the curve of my neck, lingering at that one spot just below my ear. Tate's hands were busy bunching up my top, running his fingers over my naked side. Tate brings his mouth back to mine but only briefly before he lowers his head to caress my stomach.

His lips move to the skin that meets the hem of my jeans. "Why are you wearing jeans?" I hear him growl.

I giggle to myself. I run my fingers through his hair. "You can take them off," I whisper carefully.

Tate only stops for a second before popping the button and pulling the zipper down quickly. He kisses me where the denim used to be as he tries to pull my pants off my body.

Just as my jeans hit the floor the doorbell rang. "No, no, no," Tate complains, sitting up.

I laugh full heartily, sitting up as well and kissing Tate on the cheek before fetching my jeans to put them back on.

"Come on, I want to meet your family."

"Hold on," Tate shuts his eyes. After a moment or two he finally opened them, "Okay."

"What were you doing?"

"Thinking of something awful. I couldn't go downstairs all hard and shit. What would my grandma think?"

I laugh again and take his hand as he leads me down stairs. In the living room and older man and woman stood talking to Steve. Liz was on the couch with girl that looked no older than ten and a girl who looked our age who was holding a baby. A lady who I assumed was Tate's Aunt walked through the door carrying a few bags.

When they notice us coming down the stairs the talking stops and everyone stares.

"Cori this is Judith and Bill," Steve says pointing to the man and woman he was talking to.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too dear, don't you look lovely," Judith says smiling sweetly.

"It's nice to meet you too," Bill says. "And this is our daughter Rachel."

"Hi," I give her a small wave.

She smiles at me, "And these are my girls, Bridget," the oldest smiles at me, "this is Beth, and this this little guy is my grandson, Sam," she says picking up the baby that was cradled in Bridget's arms.

"It's nice to meet you all."

We ordered pizzas for dinner so I didn't have to cook, since I would be doing a lot of that in the morning. I really like this side of Tate's family. They are down to Earth and funny. I really liked Bridget who was a year younger than me.

"How old is Sam?" I ask her as I rock him back and forth in my arms.

"Seven months. I had him at sixteen. My mom cried when I told her, she always told me to use protection and the one time I didn't, nine months later this little man was born."

"She seems fine with it now."

"Oh yeah, she's come to terms that the first born will be cursed with having a kid before they're twenty. My grandma did it, Aunt Liz and Uncle Paul had Tate in their senior year and I had him. The curse goes back for like twelve centuries when some witch used like voodoo magic to make my family extra fertile so the blood line goes on forever, or some shit like that. You and Tate better be careful."

"Oh, Tate and I aren't having sex. Not currently, at least."

"Good, break the cycle. I didn't believe it either, I thought it was just some bullshit story my mom and grandma would tell me so I wouldn't do anything but low and behold, I'm a mom."

I giggle slightly, maybe they weren't as down to Earth as I thought, but everyone was still friendly all the same.

**

I wake up before everyone in the house to start preparing dinner. First I started with the turkey and ham. I was thankful that they had a double oven so I could cook twice as much. After sticking the meat dishes in the oven, I started to prep the casseroles.

Tate came down stairs; he had only managed to put on sweatpants, leaving his broad chest bare.

"No pancakes?" He asked sadly.

"No pancakes today. You'll have to eat cereal."

Tate pouted as he got the cereal out of the pantry, milk out of the fridge and a bowl from the cabinet.

"If you really want me to make you pancakes, I will."

"No baby, this is fine. I'll eat this cold cereal and waste away to nothing and I'll die."

"Oh stop being a drama queen."

"I'll stop being a drama queen if you kiss me," Tate smirked.

I happily obliged, rising on my tip toes to meet his lips with mine. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he cupped my face and we deepened the kiss.

"Good morning," Judith says walking in. I quickly push Tate away from me and blush deeply.

"Sorry, good morning," I say quietly.

"Oh don't be embarrassed dear."

Bridget came walking into the kitchen with Sam sitting on her hip seconds after. "Did grandma walk in on a make out session? Shame, shame," Bridget joked.

My already flushed face deepened color.

"Oh Cori, dear. It's going to happen, especially in this family."

"Oh grandma, not with this, please. This family isn't cursed. Just because I'm the first born doesn't mean that Cori is going to pop out a baby. We're not even doing what needs to be done to have babies."

"It's going to happen, Tate. Bridget didn't believe either and now Sam's here."

"That's because Bridget is a whore," Tate laughed; I knew that he was kidding by the look on his face.

"Am not," Bridget pretends to be hurt. "Austin was my first boyfriend, thank you very much."

"Austin wasn't the smartest person in the world. I'm sure if you were with anyone else at the time then he wouldn't be here," Tate says taking Sam out of Bridget's hands.

Liz's family came first. I had already met Alex, her dad. He introduced me to his current girlfriend, her name was Brittney. Liz's and her mom, Karen looked a lot alike.

Steve's family came later in the day. His parents, John and Rebecca, were lawyers and had their own firm together. His sister Melissa and her husband Dante had come with their three young children. Steve's other sister Susanne and her family couldn't make it due to scheduling conflicts.

I loved it. The whole family together, under one roof sharing a home cooked meal without a care. I envied Tate for having this close of a bond with all three families.

"What's the matter?" He whispered in my ear.

"Why can't my family be like this? The only time I've heard my dad say he loves me was when you told him I was almost raped and everyone thought I was dead. Steve isn't even your biological father and he tells you he loves you like every time you see him. There is just so much love here and I'm jealous of it."

"You do have a family that loves you, mine. I love you, my parents love you and Judith and Bill haven't stopped talking about our future since she walked in on us kissing. Everyone here loves you. Your biological family may not love you but this family is more than willing to adopt you."

I kiss him quickly before Judith or anyone else has a chance to notice. "I love you," I finally say, and I couldn't be happier.