Hello Beautiful

When we reached the bottom of the stairs I heard the TV playing from the living room. Joe glanced at me and smiled.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I didn’t move.

He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I shrugged, “Joe, I’m scared,” I replied honestly.

He smirked, “Don’t be,” he said, “if they say anything, I’ll pound them.”

I laughed, “Ok, fine,” I said.

We walked into the living room, Joe led us to the couch, and we sat down.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.

Kevin and Nick’s eyes were glued to us.

“What are you looking at?” Joe asked his brothers.

“Did we miss something?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, what happened upstairs?” Nick asked.

Joe smiled, glanced at me, then back at his brothers, “I asked her to be my girlfriend,” he said.

“And you said yes?” Nick asked.

I felt my cheeks burn and nodded.

“I knew you liked him!” Kevin said.

“It’s about time you two got together,” Nick added.

“I know,” Joe said in agreement.

“Does mom know?” Kevin asked.

Joe and I shook our head, “Not yet,” Joe said.

“I’ll tell her, MOM!” Nick shouted.

“Shut up!” Joe said throwing a pillow at his brother as I laughed.

Denise came walking down the stairs.

“What is it Nicholas?” Denise asked.

“Look at Jewel and Joe.” Nick said.

“What about them?” Denise asked.

“Look how they are sitting together.” Kevin added.

“They’ve always sat next to each other.” Denise said missing the point.

“Look how Joe’s arm his around her.” Nick added.

Joe slapped his hand onto his forehead.

Denise’s mouth dropped, “Oh,” she said with a smile.

I looked down in embarrassment.

“I was wondering why it was taking you two so long to get together,” she added.

My head shot up, “What?” Joe and I said at the same time in disbelief.

“I knew you two liked each other, I just didn’t know what was taking so long for you two to
figure it out,” she said.

I smiled, “Oh,” I said.

“Okay, anyways, mom, this is awkward so you can go back upstairs now,” Joe said.

She laughed, “Okay, sorry,” she said as she walked back upstairs.

“Dang it, Nicholas, don’t you know when to shut up, I mean seriously!” Joe said glaring at Nick evilly.

Nick shrugged, “It’s better she found out sooner rather than later,” he said, “You know how mom gets when she’s the last one to find out about something.”

Kevin nodded, “He does have a point, Joe,” he said.

Joe shrugged, “Yeah, I guess,” he said sighing and looking at me, “I told you they would take it fine.”

I smiled, “You’re always right aren’t you?” I asked him.

He nodded, “99.9 percent of the time, I am,” he said in a cocky voice.

I shook my head and laughed.

“So, have you two kissed yet?” Nick said with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it, gosh,” Joe said.

“I bet you twenty dollars that they made out already,” Kevin said looking at Nick.

“I bet you thirty they had sex,” Nick said.

Joe scrunched up his face, “What is wrong with you two?” he asked his brothers.

“I bet you both forty dollars we didn’t do neither of those things.” I said looking at Kevin and Nick.

“The bet is off,” Nick said quickly.

“Yeah, I agree,” Kevin said.

“That’s what I thought,” I said throwing a pillow at both of them as we all laughed.