34. Epilogue
Epilogue
Hudson
Six Months Later…
Trey’s arms come around my waist and I meet his eyes in the mirror as I tie my tie for the third time.
“It’s going to be fine,” he says.
“Hard not to have PTSD after the other year.”
He rolls his eyes, smiling. “It wasn’t that bad. In fact, I think it helped us.”
I pull the tie, straightening it. It finally looks right.
I turn in Trey’s arms, kissing him gently.
“You’re right,” I say. “Which is something I never thought I’d say.”
He gives me a playful shove. “I’m right all the time.”
“Not about that. About… the autism thing. I’m glad you know. It’s taken me a long time to get used to it, but I think it gave you another way to understand me, and that’s important.”
Trey cups my cheeks, his lips pressing against mine.
“I think you’re right.”
“Now that sounds better.” I smirk, giving him one more kiss before going to the bedroom and getting my shoes.
It’s Thanksgiving and we’re off to my mother’s house again.
Every year is a disaster. Every time I deal with them it’s been a disaster.
But Trey suggested I should stop looking at it that way, and I’m trying.
It’s easier now that our relationship is going better, and I do believe him knowing about my diagnosis helps.
It’s not because he judges me, but because he’s now able to understand me a little better.
It’s not a negative thing. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing. And we’ve even talked about telling the other guys, which I’m not ready for yet, but the thought doesn’t make it hard to breathe like it used to.
“Whose car are we taking?” Trey calls from the kitchen.
“Doesn’t matter to me.” I look at myself in the mirror one last time before heading out of my bedroom.
Trey already has his coat on, so I take mine from the coatrack and put it on. He grabs his keys from the hook by the door.
“I’ll drive then. This way if you need to drink to deal with your family, you can.”
“And you don’t think you’ll have to deal with them too?” I ask.
“I have Mandy.” He shrugs. “And we’re used to doing this.”
We get into the car, Trey puts the address into his GPS, and we’re off to my parents’ house.
I got out of visiting for Halloween because we spent that time in Miami.
Halloween in the sunshine is much different than it is here.
I expect all the holidays would feel different there.
They don’t get snow on Christmas, which to me, doesn’t really feel like Christmas.
Not that going there is an option, but maybe it will be one day.
Right now… I’d like to keep up this tradition with my family.
I’d like to work on understanding them better and helping them to understand me better instead of making it a fight all the time.
Trey has helped me understand a lot of things about myself which has helped me grow as a person. I appreciate him so much for it.
“So, have you thought about what we talked about?” Trey asks.
“Don’t do this to me now,” I say.
“What better time than now?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I add, looking out the window. “I have thought about it, though.”
“And?”
“And I think it’s a good idea, just… not right now.”
“When?”
“Don’t be pushy,” I say with a smirk.
“I’m sorry that I want us to live together.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to live with you, Trey, but I need to prepare for this. It’s a huge change.”
“I know that, and I’m not trying to make you do something you don’t want to, but I’m excited.
Now that I have this new job, I don’t have to travel.
Our houses already aren’t far from each other, so what’s the point of having two?
Unless… you intend to leave me?” He narrows his eyes suspiciously but playfully, as he comes to a red light.
“Yes, Trey, that is totally part of my evil plan.”
“I knew it. You’re just using me.”
“Uh huh… and what exactly am I using you for?”
He gasps. “Are you saying I have nothing to offer?”
I reach for the radio and turn the volume up.
“Wow, I see how it is.”
I smile the rest of the way to my mother’s house.
Dinner goes off without any issue, and I realize I was stressing myself out for nothing.
I try paying attention to everything a little more, for what it is and not what I’m seeing it as.
I try not to think about what people are going to do before they do it and just let things happen.
It’s not easy but my anxiety is certainly less…
and we got through the entire meal and dessert without a single crazy thing happening.
“So, Hudson, how are things?” Mandy asks, sitting on the arm of the couch. I look up at her, wondering why she’s so close to me.
“Fine,” I say.
“Trey’s treating you well?”
“As well as he should be. Why?”
She shrugs, sipping from her glass of wine. “Just wanted to check on my brother.”
“Step-brother,” I correct.
She rolls her eyes.
“I don’t know why that matters to you so much.”
“I don’t know why it matters to you that it matters to me.”
“Okay,” she says, turning her attention to the TV.
“How’s work going, sweetheart?” her dad asks, sitting on the other end of the couch.
“Fine, as usual.”
“And that man of yours? How’s he treating you? Good I hope.”
“Yes, Reid has been an absolute gentleman,” she says with a smile that I’m not entirely sure is genuine.
“Would have been nice if he could have come,” he grumbles. “I’d like to meet this gentleman someday.” He narrows his gaze at her. “Especially if he intends on being a part of this family.”
Mandy groans, rolling her eyes. “Dad…”
“I mean, I’d like to ask him myself what his intentions are.”
Mandy buries her head in her hands. “Please, don’t get me started.”
“So, you can ask about my relationship, but we can’t ask about yours?” I cut in.
She removes her hands and shoots me a knowing smirk.
“Wow, so you can act like a brother. Nice attitude, Hudson.” She winks, and I finally get up and go into the kitchen to see what is taking Trey so long.
He’s leaning against the counter, eating yet another piece of pumpkin pie, while my mother scoops the leftover potatoes into a Tupperware container.
“Really?” I ask.
“What? It’s good.”
“You need to control your friend.”
“She’s your sister.”
“Stepsister,” I argue.
“Yeah, whatever. What’s she doing?” he asks with a grin, looking over my shoulder.
“Being nosy.”
Trey chuckles as he licks his lips.
“That’s what sisters do, Hudsy,” my mother says. “And it’s about time you realize it.”
I look at Trey. He shrugs. “I don’t have any siblings, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
My mother brings the stack of containers to the fridge, and I pull the door open for her.
“Will you stay a while?” she asks me, trying to sound casual but I hear the sadness in her voice. I glance at Trey again, and then back at my mother.
“Only a little while.”
Her eyes brighten, and she reaches out to touch my arm. “I’m so glad to have you here, Hudson. You should come by more often.”
“I’ll try.”
She goes into the living room with everyone else, and I walk over to Trey. He offers me a bite of his pie, which I take.
“See, it’s good.”
“I never said it wasn’t,” I add.
He finishes the last bite, and I take the plate to wash and put in the strainer.
“Are you sure you’re okay staying a while?” he asks.
I glance over my shoulder, through the door and to the living room. I see them all talking animatedly and laughing.
“Yeah, I think it’ll be fine.”
Trey kisses my cheek. “Good. Now let’s go sit with them.”
“You’re pushing it,” I say with a laugh.
He laughs, grabbing my arm to pull me into the living room.
Trey
Six Months Later…
“This was a mistake,” Hudson says, shaking his head. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
I implore him with my eyes, dramatically trying to be as appealing as possible as I hug Rocket’s small, furry body tight.
“Come on, look at this face. How can you be mad at this face?”
Hudson looks at me, then to the eight-week-old menace whose tongue is hanging out of his mouth adorably. The slight tension in Hudson’s jaw is not missed, nor is the way his gaze drifts back to me. When his gaze finds mine, he smirks.
“I mean… you’d be singing a different tune if it was your socks he was chewing on,” he says as he gingerly throws the slobbery sock he’d wrestled out of Rocket’s mouth into the trash.
I squish my face against Rocket’s oddly enormous head.
He might still be a puppy, but of course he was the biggest in the litter.
He’s going to be a big boy when he is fully grown, and I can’t wait.
Rocket squirms and jumps out of my arms like a damn frog, slipping onto the living room floor and falling right against Hudson’s leg.
Hudson sighs as he leans down to pick him up, and I swear it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“He’s just a baby, Huds. He’ll learn.” I lean back into the couch as Hudson rubs Rocket’s ears, his eyebrows furrowing. Rocket puts his oversized paws on Hudson’s chest and licks his neck, his tail wagging with excitement.
“I know,” he says, craning his neck, trying to get away from Rocket’s sloppy tongue, but I don’t miss the smile on his face.
“I just wish he’d learn faster ,” he says as he sets Rocket back down. Rocket leaps like a damn rabbit as Hudson collapses on the couch next to me, leaning his head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around him without a second thought, glancing down at him.
“Yeah…” I say with a grin. “But they’re so cute when they’re little and fuzzy.”
“Mhmmm.” Hudson rolls his eyes before he shifts next to me.
Rocket barks, and Hudson closes his eyes.
“And he’s loud,” he adds.
I kiss him swiftly before I get up. “I got him. You relax, you just got home.”