Chapter 28

"Liz. You're back." My mom said as I walked down the stairs leaving John and James in John's room talking about James's projects from the past. She had just walked through the door. I nodded.

"I am." I said. She took off her jacket and had a bag full of stuff in her hand.

"Uh, I thought you would've left already." She said.

"I am going to help you with anything for dad's funeral." I said trying to ignore my own word choice. She smiled.

"Very kind of you, but I think we are just going to cremate him and spread his ashes in the forest somewhere." She said waving it off. I walked the remainder of the stairs to be even with her face.

"No. We are in fact going to have a service, with a casket, and we will bury my father. We are using his life insurance to make sure he's sent off properly." I said because I knew she'd use the remainder of the insurance money to do whatever to her face. My mom looked me dead in the eye as I stood my ground.

"Sure, if that's what you AND John want." She said as if John would side would her.

"It is." John said from the top of the stairs next to James. I smiled at them as they walked down.

"Who is this strange man in my son's room with him?" My mom asked as if James was some sort of pedophile.

"Oh yes, you haven't met James. Mom, this is James. My boyfriend. James, my mother." I said as John came to stand next to me on one side and James on the other.

"Nice to put a face to the name." James said offering his hand. She shook it looking starstruck by James which gave me the creeps.

"Honey, you can call me-" she started as she played with her hair.

"Mrs. Allen." I said before she could stop.

"It's actually Johnson now." She said.

"Mrs. Johnson." I corrected myself. James then grabbed my hand and took the other one away from my mother.

We then all went into the dining room and sat at the table while Mike yelled from the living room.

"So I was thinking closed casket," I started as my mom was staring at James. "Mom? Hello?" I asked as James had his hand on my knee uncomfortably. John then groaned.

"Mom's checking out your boyfriend." John mumbled. My mother then gasped.

"I am not." She said sounding shocked to 'hear such a thing'. I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, mom." I said as she redirected her attention from James to me.

"Yes honey." She said overly sweet.

"I want it closed casket. Our last memories of dad should be when he was at his healthiest." I said speaking for John's sake since I in fact was left with the worst memory. Mom nodded.

"Whatever you feel is needed, sweetie." She said letting her eyes drift to James. John looked from left to right seeing his mother make googly eyes at his sisters boyfriend and he took a breath.

"Mom." John then said. James then cleared his throat then looked at me.

"I have to go make an important business call. John, okay if I use your room?" James asked. John nodded.

"Take your time. Please." John said annoyed. My mom watched James leave the room, checking him out.

"Sweet Jesus." I mumbled frustrated. John then moved where James had been sitting and we were across from our mom.

"Okay, well, closed casket. Let's get to ordering the casket. Which do you like?" I asked John ignoring our mother. John pointed to a very pretty glossy white oak casket. We picked that and set up the time with the mortuary and picked a plot all in one day. Our mother tried going for cheaper items but John and I made it a point to spend the most money because we weren't the ones paying for it. "Alright, that's all." I smiled finishing ordering all the white flowers available. Mom was stressing out over the cost.

"This is all too expensive." She said shaking her head. "There will be none left over, you guys used the insurance almost to the cent." She complained as John and I glanced at one another.

"Life insurance is in fact for the life that was lost to be laid to rest, you know that right?" I asked my mom. She sighed.

"Yep." She said aggravated.

"Oh mom, I was also wondering," I started making John look worried. "John was wondering if he could spend some time with James and I until the funeral? Ya know, like stay with us at the hotel, we will get a different room with two beds so John can have his own. Ya know since we haven't seen each other in a long time." I asked making John smile brightly. I winked as our mom shrugged.

"Do what you like kids." She said standing up and walking out of the room. John and I walked upstairs and into his room where James was sitting in the desk chair on his phone scrolling through Twitter.

"How'd it go?" James asked us.

"Spent the quota to the cent with nothing left over for her." I said. James smiled.

"Good. Your mom freaks me out." He said. I scoffed and sat on the bed while John dug in his closet.

"I know! I wanted to jump over the table and scratch her eyes out." I said sounding jealous as it intrigued James and got his attention. He smiled and rolled close.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded and bit my lip. I leaned forward as he did the same and we kissed sweetly.

"Oh my God. Can you not? Does this happen a lot?" John asked. I giggled and pulled away and hugged James from where I sat.

"Yes. You signed up for this." I told him. He rolled his eyes.

"I didn't realize I did for THAT." John said throwing a bag at me.

"What's happening?" James asked moving the bag off my shoulder. I smiled.

"Well, we will get a different room so that we all can hang out and get to know one another or get filled in over what we missed all these years. John's coming to stay with us at the hotel until the funeral. I asked mom." I said. James smiled.

"Awesome." He said genuinely looking forward to this. I nodded.

John grabbed his outfit for the funeral and hung it up in the back seat of my rental car. He sat then and had his bag filled with clothes and whatever else for the next few days next to him in the back. He had said bye to our mom who barely waved without looking away from her glass of wine and tv. James sat in the passenger seat and we all were ready to go but I had to check.

"You have your pajamas? Toothbrush? Comb? Or should we get you a haircut first?" I asked looking in the rear view. James chuckled as John grunted and ran back inside for his toothbrush.

"What?" I asked James. He smirked and licked his lips.

"You sound like a mom already." He told me grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it. I sighed.

"He's not my kid, he's my brother. I'm not a mom." I told James. He smirked again.

"But you worry like one. It's sweet and I dig it." James said relaxing in the seat as John ran back down the sidewalk and into the back.

"Alright, I've got everything." John assured me. I then started to pull away from the curb as James called the hotel. They gave us a two room suite and said they would move our bags and personal items to the new from the old one.

That evening, we went out to eat at a place we used to when John and I were together as a family with both parents. We went to an arcade afterwards and we all laughed and enjoyed ourselves. I watched most the time as the guys got competitive and I couldn't help but feel like this was how it was suppose to be.

"Alright, you two. It's close to midnight." I said as we were still at the arcade that stayed open until the last people left, and we were in fact the last people here. James stopped playing as John sighed.

"Alright." John said. James smiled at me with a wink. I smiled. We drove to the hotel and got our new keys. We found our new room and opened the door. John got the smaller room and James and I of course got the bigger one. We settled down as John watched tv in the sitting area. James and I changed and I used the mirror in the sitting area to remove my makeup.

"What's that on your arm?" John asked me. I had changed into a tshirt and yoga pants and you could see both tattoos on my shoulders. James walked in and sat in the chair next to the couch where John was lounging.

"Uh, well. I have a few tattoos." I told John. John raised his eyebrows and sat up.

"So you are both inked up and pierced?" John asked pointing to his eyebrow meaning my two eyebrow piercings. I nodded. "Wow. Does that mean I can get one?" John asked. I laughed.

"No." I told him. He frowned.

"You have one." He said. James laughed again.

"I'm twenty two. I got mine when I was eighteen. You're fifteen." I said taking out my earrings and then walked closer to the sitting area. John scoffed.

"I don't see a difference. I've been wanting a tattoo since I was eleven." John said. I giggled and shook my head.

"John, you're not even in my care yet so I can't confirm an age when you're ready for anything yet." I told him. He sighed and flipped back down. James patted his arm.

"You have to be a man to get a tattoo anyway." James said. I giggled. "What?" James asked me.

"You're a man and you are too chicken to get one." I told him. He smirked.

"That's what you think." James said as if he had a secret. I glared at him.

"What?" John asked looking at James. James smiled and pointed at his wrist where the heart I had drawn was. I laughed.

"That doesn't count! I drew that in sharpie!" I exclaimed. He raised an eyebrow.

"It counts enough that I want to get it done permanently." James said loudly and smiling. I gaped and John sat up.

"Dude, you'd get a heart on your wrist?" John asked almost humorously. James nodded.

"You'll understand when you meet someone who means as much as your sister does to me." James said to my little brother. John nodded in approval.

"Right on." John said and fist bumped James. I was confused as James looked at me.

"John, we're going to bed. Don't stay up too late. We will find something to do tomorrow." I told John and James stood up. John waved.

"Night." He said.

"Love you." I said as James walked past me into the bedroom and John looked at me.

"Love you too sis." He smiled. I smiled back and stepped into the bedroom closing the door.

"I guess I know what the guest room is going to be, that is if this works out." I said quietly to James. James chuckled and got into bed.

"Yeah I guess so." He said with his hands behind his head. I then crawled onto the bed and lied on my side.

"James..." I said.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Do you really want to get that tattooed?" I asked him nodding towards his left wrist. He took out his hand away from his head and looked down at the heart. James smiled as he touched it.

"Yeah." He said.

"But what if we-" I started to ask as James covered my mouth and rolled onto his side.

"Shhhh. We love one another. We are meant to last baby. I know we are." James told me then removing his hand and leaning down to kiss me. His hand tangled in my hair away from my staples and me letting him kiss me this passionately.

"I want yours then." I pulled away. James looked surprised.

"Really?" He asked. I giggled and held onto him.

"Really." I told him.

"Let's do it tomorrow." James said excitedly. I giggled.

"I know of a few shops, but I don't know if they take walk ins." I told him. James then sighed.

"What about John?" James asked. I furrowed my brow and acted confused even though I knew what he meant.

"You want to get matching tattoos with John?" I asked him. He laughed and hid his face.

"You know what I mean." James said. I nodded.

"Well, if we do end up taking him home with us, I want him to be at least sixteen and his first one has to be a meaningful one." I told James tracing a heart on his bicep.

"Are you ready for that?" James asked me.

"Yeah, I really think I am. Tonight felt good. Like it was natural for all of us. I mean Alexa and Carlos will be shocked when we show up with a fifteen year old high schooler." I said laughing. James nodded.

"They'd love him. He reminds me so much a younger boy version of you." He said with a smile plastered to his face. I giggled and hid my face in his chest.

"We got a lot of growing up to do if we are going to raise him. I mean people say babies are hard, I say adolescence is harder because they can talk back." I told James. James nodded in agreement.

"Remember, we aren't his parents, you aren't his mom. You'll be his guardian, while you can be stern you can also be very much his cool older sister still who ya know just punishes him when he does something wrong and can do it legally." James teased as I giggled.

"Okay, we should probably get some sleep." I told James after few seconds. He nodded and kissed me again.

"I love you more and more, the more I spend my time with you." James said in my ear. I smiled.

"I love you James David." I whispered.