Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Amber

A mber glanced up at the clock. Crap, I need to get moving or I’ll be late to the party! Despite feeling awkward from the fight and getting no response from her sister since yesterday, she knew things would only be worse if she skipped the family event. So she put on something a little nicer than gym shorts, grabbed her keys, and padded toward the bus stop on the corner.

In contrast to Amber’s small, dark apartment, Jade’s home was large and bright. Every light was on and every piece of furniture held a family member while the air hummed with conversation. Amber arrived a few minutes late and slipped into the kitchen to find out what snacks had been set out.

Jade must have accepted some of Amber’s terms; nobody looked at her funny when she walked through the doors, but that didn’t mean she’d been forgiven. In fact, Jade spent the first few minutes pointedly ignoring Amber’s existence. She busied herself with ensuring the rest of the family was happy and comfortable, well-fed and entertained. No one seemed to notice her shunning of Amber except Amber, which suited her fine.

But she didn’t go unnoticed for long. “Aunt Amby!!” screeched the trio of nieces and nephew who dropped what they were doing to hang from her gangly arms.

“Hello, munchkins,” Amber replied, lifting the kids into the air and causing them to giggle. They filled her ears with the million questions of youth as she stumbled into the living room, attempting to carry the three kids still hanging from her arms and her food in her hands without spilling anything. She smiled fondly as she indulged their favorite game until she reached the couch and they scattered back to their cake.

No sooner did she sit down and shed the kids than other attention turned on her. “Hey sweetpea, Jade tells us you have an announcement to make!” Amber’s elderly father, Harrison, clapped a warm and worn hand on his daughter’s shoulder with a beaming smile. “She wouldn’t tell us what it was, so we’ve all been waiting eagerly for your arrival!”

Cold horror began running through Amber’s veins and she momentarily considered running out the door. But she’d already made the choice to come, and if she didn’t break the news herself…Jade surely would. So she nodded to her dad and began piling the desserts on her plate into her mouth while attempting to write herself a speech.

She’d had little success by the time every eye swiveled to rest on her form, and Amber collapsed in on herself. She remained frozen for a long moment until her mother patted the seat next to her.

“Come on, Amber. Come sit here with your mama. I haven’t seen you in a while!” Ivy Marcus’s gentle smile managed to melt her daughter’s frozen muscles and Amber hurried across the room to take the offered seat. She wrapped her warm arm around Amber’s shoulder and pulled her close to her side before planting a kiss on Amber’s cheek.

Safe in her mother’s arms, Amber’s brain rebooted. Jade shot her a look across the room which said ‘hurry up or I’ll tell them myself,’ and Amber took a deep breath.

“I’ve…met someone,” she said.

The room exploded into shouts of joy and questions that overlapped like the waves of the sea. Amber remained silent until everyone had calmed down somewhat and stared at her for more information. “H…His name is Reuben. We’ve only known each other a few weeks and have only been on a few dates, so it’s nothing super intense or anything.”

Again the room exploded. “TELL US ABOUT HIM!” was the most prevalent exclamation, though thankfully it was accompanied with mostly bright eyes and surprised smiles. However, Amber was unwilling to give up any more details, and eventually Ivy used her matriarch status to quiet the family.

“Now, now, everyone. Just relax. I know you’re all as excited as I am, but don’t overwhelm poor Amber. She’ll tell us more when she’s ready, won’t you, dear?”

Amber nodded and with that, the ordeal was done. Her family went back to chatting animatedly amongst themselves and she began devouring the chocolate cake and lemon bars on her plate.

Surrounded by her loved ones, the author felt herself relaxing back into her normal life. Here, in this home, all the complications of her situationship could be left at the door. She felt a little bit silly for all the spinning up she had done about telling her family about Reuben, only for it to be over in less than five minutes.

That didn’t stop Jade from glaring at her for not spilling all the beans, but both girls were sure everyone would figure it out soon enough.

Amber could feel Jade’s eyes boring into the back of her head the entire evening, until everyone started going through the motions of heading home. She caught Amber at the doorway, pushed her into the foyer, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Amby. As your older sister, I want you to be careful. Don’t let yourself be tricked by how handsome that vampire is and forget how dangerous he could be. Or ignore the possibility that he could be using you like the articles floating around the internet are saying. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

As much as Amber wanted to shout at her again, she’d had enough time to cool down that she could see the real concern in her sister’s eyes. Jade never had anything but Amber’s best interests at heart her whole life and she knew it.

“Don’t worry,” Amber sighed. “I don’t know if we’re still together anyway. I don’t know if you heard me telling him the other day that we’d need to talk about things later, but…well, I kind of never responded to his messages after that.” The guilt was white hot now that she had admitted to purposefully cutting Reuben out, especially after she’d been taking strides to make things real.

But Jade looked relieved. “I see. Well, perhaps it’s for the best. At least he got you out of your apartment. Maybe now that you’ve had a taste of what dating is like, you’ll be more willing to meet people. I’m sure you’ll find a cute husband someday!” She wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister and pressed their foreheads together. “If I find any candidates, I’ll send them your way.”

Amber blushed and struggled out of Jade’s arms, causing her to laugh brightly. “We’ll see how that goes,” she responded before giving her sister another hug and disappearing into the night.