Not So Discreet

Chapter 4 of Love from Above

We walk up to the front door of Jeremy’s house and ring the bell. I hear locks clicking and when the door opens, Jeremy is not the one behind it. Instead, we see a tall man with a buzz cut staring down at us with alarmingly strong distaste.

 

“Can I help you?” The man spits at us sarcastically.

 

“Um, is Jeremy here by any chance?” Janie says bravely.

 

“Who’s asking?” He says raising his chin. Before we have a chance to answer, Jeremy comes flying down the stairs behind the man.

 

“Thanks dad, you can go now. I’ll take care of them.” Jeremy says glaring at his father. The man glares back for a moment before spinning on his heel and stomping away. A few seconds later we hear a door slam and the garage door opening.

 

“Sorry about that. He’s not a very welcoming man.” Jeremy says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and smiling apologetically at us.

 

“No kidding,” Libby mumbles under her breath. Janie bumps her shoulder and smiles back at Jeremy sympathetically.

 

“Come on in.” He says stepping to the side. We walk in and look at our surroundings. Jeremy’s house is truly spectacular. He leads us into the kitchen where we see Cheyenne, still in her work uniform, and a woman who I assume to be his mother. I brace myself for her to act the same way his father had, but her response is the exact opposite. Instead of sneering, or anything else unattractive like that, her face brightens when she sees us. She walks over and wraps the three of us in a warm group hug. Well at least one parent accepts us, I think to myself.

 

 “This is my mom, Cynthia,” Jeremy says.

 

“It’s so great to finally meet you all. Jeremy has talked so much about you,” Cynthia says as Jeremy’s cheeks flush pink. I notice that he looks quite adorable when he blushes.

 

“It’s great to meet you too,” I say, stepping out of her embrace and taking a look around. “You have a beautiful home.”

 

“Thank you dear,” Cynthia says, smiling to show off a pair of dimples that perfectly match her son’s.

 

“Are those the same cookies you brought us?” Libby asks, eyeballing a plate on the kitchen counter.

 

“You tried to bribe them into liking you with your baking?” Cheyenne asks Jeremy, sending a taunting grin his way.

 

Jeremy blushes once again “Maybe a little,” he says with a laugh.

 

“You made those?” Janie asks. “They were amazing! Or at least the one I had was amazing, before Libby inhaled the rest.” Janie shoots Libby a chastising glance, which Libby dutifully ignores.

 

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Cynthia says, giving Cheyenne a similar look.

 

Cheyenne freezes with one of the cookies stuck in her mouth. Slowly she takes the bite. “Eh, worth it,” she says, chewing happily.

 

“Yeah, I enjoy baking and cooking,” Jeremy says. “And Cheyenne enjoys eating the things I bake. So why don’t we take these upstairs with us before they disappear.” Jeremy says, snatching the plate of cookies as Cheyenne reaches for another one.

 

Jeremy leads the three of us upstairs and down the hall to his room. Against one of his white walls by the window is a cozy looking black couch. Another wall had a large emerald green queen size bed. His window has black and green curtains hanging from it and there is a massive black love sack in the corner.

 

Janie quickly claims the love sack, even though she has her own back at home, the brat. Libby and I plop down on the couch and Jeremy sits cross legged on the bed, passing the plate of cookies around before setting it on the bedside table.

 

“So how are three teenagers living in a house with no parents?” Jeremy asks with genuine curiosity.

 

The three of us share a quick look, of course we had had to think up an answer to this question. It was a natural thing for a human to wonder. Angels don’t really do the whole “parent” thing.

 

“Our adoptive mom travels a lot for her job, she pops in when she can,” Janie gives the spiel.

 

“Adoptive mom,” Jeremy repeats, “So you three aren’t related?”

 

“Not by blood. We were all orphans who never knew our parents. We ended up in the same foster home where we got adopted and have been a dysfunctional family ever since.” Libby winks at Janie and me.

 

"It's great that you found each other. Speaking from experience, sometimes your found family can be infinitely closer to you that the family you're born into," Jeremy says, fidgeting with his hands in a way that I know he must be thinking of his father given the way they were staring daggers at each other earlier. I feel a sharp pang of sympathy if that's the demeanor this lovely family has to put up with from him regularly. "But enough with the heavy," Jeremy says, shaking his head as if to clear it of the unpleasant thoughts. "Tell me about yourselves."

 

***

 

“Well, we should probably head back,” Janie says after a few hours of talking and laughing as she stands up from her seat in the love sack.

 

“You guys don’t have to go,” Jeremy says looking directly at me.

 

“Well, I suppose we could…” Janie starts to say, but Libby interrupts.

 

“No, I think you’re right Janie. We should go back.” Libby stands and stretches her arms high.

 

“I think I’ll stay a bit longer,” I say, catching Jeremy's eye and giving him a small smile.

 

“Well then why don’t we all…” Janie begins but Libby cuts in again. “Come on Janie,” and starts pushing her out the door. Before they are gone, Libby says to Jeremy, “Thanks for having us, we'll have to do this again sometime.” Then, making sure he isn’t looking, she winks at me.

 

I owe her big time.

Reviews

[Ballpark Frank]

Nice. I'm getting hooked i think.