25. Monica

25

MONICA

F lamboyant? Loud? Childish?

All three adjectives would be a fitting way to describe the Crawford family and they would all do justice to them. Their mannerisms were unlike anything I had come across. Ray, the youngest brother, was quite the joker.

According to Raul he was twenty-four, but, judging by his behavior, he had the mental age of a ten-year-old. He pulled practical jokes on everybody, except me. His sister was his most common victim. In one instance, she had tried to sit down, and he slid the chair out from under her. The result? Nora dropped to the ground, before taking her frustration out on him. She had some serious fight in her. A couple of slaps ended Ray's chuckles, much to the amusement of Raul, Sam and Helena.

For all their strange behavior however, I enjoyed myself. The four of them were clearly very close and it was nice to see such a tight-knit group. Even after Nora's angry outburst, Ray didn't complain about her getting physical. I could think of a number of people who would have torn the place apart if anybody had laid a hand on them. Not so for the Crawfords. Instead, they kept on teasing each other, amid a hearty dinner, lively conversation and plenty of wine.

It wasn't long before they started singing. It seemed that alcohol worked its magic on shifters as well. The quartette wasn't bad. In fact, they were so good that I started to miss Erica. As a singer and a pianist, she would have known a lot better than I did how to make the most of this.

Raul and his brothers became too drunk to stay up, so they excused themselves for the night. Minutes later, Helena left, too, leaving me and Nora alone. Having taken every dish and glass to the kitchen, she invited me back outside for one last drink. I would have been crazy to pass on that. The night was a bit chilly, but it was a good chance to enjoy its stillness, without the brothers' distracting mannerisms.

"So, Dr. Greenwell…" she said, squeezing a slice of lime into my gin with a soft smile, her eyes flashing with curiosity. "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes, I did," I said, watching her pour some of the beverage into her own glass. "You're all a little too loud for my personal taste at times, but you sure do know how to have fun. I wish some of the fundraisers I've attended were half as loud and fun as you were tonight. Then I wouldn't have been bored out of my mind."

She snorted in amusement.

"Been there, done that. Fundraisers are the humans' way of pretending to care," she said, raising her glass between us. "Cheers to you and my brother."

"Cheers," I said, clinking the rim of my glass against hers and taking a sip.

"He's very fond of you," Nora remarked as the drink moistened my lips. "And I'm starting to like you, too. I think it'll be nice to have someone like you in the family."

Gin shot out of my nostrils and my mouth as I banged my glass onto the table. "What?"

"Oh, crap…" She groaned, snapping her eyes shut. "Yeah, uhm, I screwed that up. Bad. I take it you guys haven't talked about this?"

"What this ?"

"Mating," she said, but the way she uttered the word made it both sound completely natural yet heavy, as if there was some hidden implication inside of it.

I swiped at the spilled gin that had pooled across the table, avoiding looking her in the eyes as I turned the subject over and over in my head.

"Well, you're right that we haven't talked about anything… longer term," I confirmed her suspicion. "What is it like?"

"There is a ceremony, if that's what you're wondering," Nora stated. "We dress in our favorite outfits, but we leave wedding dresses and suits to humans. Someone close to us is chosen as the minister and at some point, during the ceremony, we offer something close to our hearts to our mate. Last but not least, our vows are not just empty words that we forget when the going gets rough. We actually mean them."

"You're very knowledgeable about human customs," I said, choosing praise over debating the bomb she had dropped.

"I have a few human friends," she said smiling but I didn't miss the bitterness in her words and on her face. "They live in Miami. Both of them made the same mistake. They got married too young."

I nodded and took a sip of the gin to give myself some time to think. I like him, sure, and he excites me. But is this love? Am I ready to commit to him? And the way she said they mean their vows; I'd be committing forever .

"Thanks for the information, Nora," I said quickly and set my glass down on the table. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

I walked away from her, my eyes focused on Raul's cabin down the street. I had been heading in its direction; yet, in truth, I wanted to turn around and run towards the forest. Deep in the lush vegetation, I could take my fears, my frustration and give in to my desire to scream at the top of my lungs.

I couldn't believe that Raul had already made plans for us. Plans that he had never brought up to me, which seemed like a pretty big outpoint, since those plans were for my entire future. And yet, it was clear that he had been discussing them with his sister while I had had no idea about them.

He had elected to keep me in the dark, as if I had no say in it. Anger was riding right over the deeper emotions, the ones that found his take-charge attitude thrilling. The ones that wanted a man to care for and to care for me. This was the modern world, after all, and I was and always have been an independent woman. What right did he have to be making plans for my future without so much as a "by your leave"?

Acting on my impulse, I stride into the wood. I'm going to let out that primal scream.