Chapter 27 #2
Liv followed Quinn to the main floor, where an absolute flurry of motion was happening.
Quinn’s brothers were carrying in groceries, while her sisters pulled dishes from the dishwasher and placed them around the kitchen.
Quinn’s mom appeared to be starting dinner, pulling things out of the refrigerator, and her dad was…
Well, right at that moment, he was kicking his foot out to try to trip Nico, who jumped over his foot.
“Hooligans,” Quinn muttered under her breath, drawing attention and causing her siblings to dutifully greet them.
“Nicholas, please do not break that child,” Quinn’s mom scolded. “At least not in front of our guest. ”
“Liv has been around far too long to be a guest,” Quinn’s dad replied, and he reached his hand up for a high-five. When she tentatively tapped her palm to his, he beamed at her, a smile so reminiscent of Quinn’s that she felt her own tick up in response. “Liv is family.”
It shouldn’t have impacted her the way it did, but Liv was choked up at his words, at the kindness in his eyes.
It seemed like Quinn sensed it, too, because she spoke before Liv needed to. “Wow, Dad, why do you have to be so cheesy?”
He laughed at Quinn genially and pulled his oldest into a hug. Liv took a few deep breaths to steady herself, and then shot out at Quinn, “So that’s where you get it from?”
Quinn did an excellent job pretending to be offended, while her parents both cackled. And Liv felt a warmth settle in her chest that was equally beautiful and unfamiliar.
“Where are your parents traveling to?” Jennifer asked.
Well, that could certainly douse the positive feelings she was having. “They’re in Paris.”
“Christmas in Paris,” Jennifer replied, sounding dreamy. “That sounds lovely.”
“That’s our retirement trip,” Nicholas said. “She’s wanted to go to France for as long as I can remember.”
“It is…nice,” Liv replied simply, trying to manage her emotions around the topic.
“Well, that all said. We’re glad to have you here this year,” Nicholas said, directing his attention squarely on Liv.
She could sense that he was about to tease them, recognizing it in the tone of his voice.
“Not sure it’s going to be that different, though.
Normally we just have to hear about you the whole time. ”
“So true,” Quinn’s brother, Pete, agreed.
“Peter!” Quinn said, adopting a scolding tone.
“Sorry, bro. It’s true,” Pete replied, shrugging .
The taunting was relentless, but Liv found that she didn’t mind.
She didn’t mind that night, as they all made dinner together, and Quinn’s parents found multiple opportunities to make jokes about their sleeping situation.
She didn’t mind that Quinn’s mom referred to them as a “cute couple” during a particularly amazing round of Pictionary, after which Quinn reminded her parents that just because they were roommates didn’t mean that they were “roommates,” repeating that they had their own rooms at their apartment.
Which was technically true, although Liv could count on one hand the amount of times that they’d intentionally slept apart since they moved into the apartment, and those times had been because one of them had an exceptionally early day or, once, because Quinn got home from a swim trip so late she passed out in the extra bed, not wanting to wake Liv.
But each time, they’d ended up back in bed together the next night, wrapped around each other as if returning from war.
So, it did feel strange when they went to the basement that night, dragging enough blankets to make up both couches so that they could sleep separately.
“This is weird,” Liv said, as she laid opposite Quinn, in the dark, that first night.
“Being here?” Quinn asked, and Liv heard her shift so that she was facing more towards her.
“Not sleeping next to you,” Liv corrected, too honest.
“Wow, Palmer, couldn’t even make it one day, huh,” Quinn teased, her words infused with affection. “Come over here.”
Liv knew she shouldn’t. She knew that if anyone in Quinn’s family caught them cuddling, they’d never hear the end of it, and they’d certainly never make them believe they were just friends.
But she joined Quinn anyway, laying down so her body was half pressed into the back of the sofa and half on top of Quinn, snuggling in, loving the heat that enveloped her.
“We’re still not having sex,” Liv whispered .
Quinn laughed, in a way Liv thought was maybe too loud, but extremely endearing. “I’m not trying to fuck you in my parents’ basement, when anyone can walk down here. Be quiet and go to sleep.”
And so the visit went. They had fun, honest-to-goodness fun , with Quinn’s family, which just, well, it broke Liv’s brain a little, if she was being honest. They all just seemed to like each other.
They were silly and they liked to torment each other, sure, but they also genuinely enjoyed each other’s company?
It was mind blowing, and the way they included Liv was just so special.
When they made cookies and let her have the first one; when everyone got matching PJs on Christmas Eve and Liv got her own set; when they piled into Jennifer’s van, all of them , to show her the best neighborhoods to see Christmas lights.
And, each night, after everyone went to sleep, they would lay down together, and Liv would let Quinn just hold her, in a way that was sweet and warm and made her feel cared for, in a way that made her think thoughts that she wasn’t allowed to think and wish that things could be different.
On Christmas Day, Liv relished the opportunity to see Quinn’s siblings open their gifts.
She’d sent Christmas presents home with Quinn since their freshman year.
She loved her friend, not like that , and she liked treating her family, especially since Quinn was so staunchly opposed to receiving gifts for herself, but it was a totally different experience to get to see them open the gifts she’d gotten them.
It was a particular highlight when Juliette exploded in tears when she opened the small rectangular package Liv had brought her to find a picture frame that held a document explaining that Liv had purchased Quinn’s still-fish-obsessed sister naming rights to a whale, with promises from the organization she’d bought it from that they would send pictures whenever they encountered said whale in the wild.
Quinn’s other siblings, in receiving gifts straight from their wish lists, were just as appreciative, if less emotional about it .
And Liv had her own little pile of gifts.
Her parents, along with their “Merry Christmas” text, had deposited some extra money in her account, with a note to buy herself whatever she wanted, but Quinn’s family had put actual thought into her gifts, like her own deck of the card game that Liv had wiped the floor with them playing, and a bunch of kitschy mitten paraphernalia because, as Quinn’s dad said, Liv just needed to embrace the fact that she was a “Michigander” now.
Maybe it was things that she wouldn’t have bought herself, exactly, but it was all just so sweet, making her feel cared for in a way she didn’t think she could even try to express.
Again, Quinn sensed that she was overwhelmed, as she felt her friend sneak a quick grasp of her hand, allowing the surreptitious squeeze because Nico had opened a new set of tools for his robotics ventures and was loudly exclaiming the features.
“I’m okay,” Liv assured her softly.
“We’re a lot,” Quinn replied, just as quietly, as if she needed to apologize.
“No, you’re all great,” Liv said, squeezing Quinn’s hand back.
In that moment, she felt lucky and so incredibly grateful to have Quinn in her life. It was because of Quinn, Liv knew, that all this goodness surrounded her, and she never again wanted to experience life without her.