Chapter 20

Bree and I walked hand in hand from Sue’s house all the way to mine.

I reached for the doorknob and Bree said, “Wait.” We were now looking into each other’s eyes. “Are you sure you want to tell your family about us now? We could wait until later. Like after the wedding. We could elope.”

I rubbed her cheek and said, “I can’t wait to tell them about the greatest thing that’s happened in my life up to this date. I wish I could tell the world.”

Bree smiled, “I so want to kiss you right now. You said what I was hoping you’d say.”

“Why won’t you kiss me now?” I asked.

In a flirtatious voice, she said, “We want to tell them sometime soon don’t we?”

I was about to respond when her meaning registered, “Oh. In that case, maybe we can make out before getting ‘those’ rings.”

Bree laughed, “I was serious about those. But if you really, don’t want to get one I won’t force you to.”

I was about to go in for a kiss when the sprinklers went off. What we didn’t know was that one of the sprinkler heads was broken. Since we were standing so close to it we both got soaked. Okay maybe soaked is a bit of an overstatement. My right side got wet and I was about to take a look at what happened to Bree when we heard my Mom call out.

“Kyla, Bree? Why are you just standing out there? Come on in so you don’t get wet,” my Mom called from the garage door.

Bree said low enough that only I could hear, “Too late.” I quickly looked Bree over to see where the sprinkler hit her. I was happy to see that She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her shirt was mostly see-through. She grinned, “Not the kind of wet I meant.”

I kissed her cheek then handed her jacket then we went inside. While my Mom, Bree, and I were sitting down in the living waiting for my Dad to fix the sprinkler Bree and I looked through old photo albums.

“So this is the man I believed was my father for most of my life. He’s kind of cute isn’t he?” I said.

Bree shrugged, “I’ve seen cuter. Who’s that girl with your actual Dad? She looks familiar.”

“Oh. That’s the girlfriend he had after he had to break up with my Mom and moved away. And that one is my Aunt Cindy. I never got to meet her. But I love hearing the stories about her. She was even the original inspiration for the Kyle suit,” I told her.

Bree seemed focused on Dad’s ex. She finally responded, “How did she inspire your suit?”

I didn’t get to answer at that time.

Dad came into the house and said, “Thanks for telling me about that, girls. And I’m sorry about the water getting all over you.”

“I’m not Dad. It was fun,” I said.

Bree nudged me.

Mom said, “I think the girls have something to tell us. I have a good feeling about this.”

I looked at my hand to see if I had left the ring on. I had meant to hide it until after we told my parents. Yep, it wasn’t on my finger.

“Me too darling,” my Dad told my Mom but he winked at Bree.

I tried to stand but my legs didn’t want to work. So I cleared my throat, “Mom and Dad. Mmm, that’s nice.” Bree had taken my hand in hers and kissed the back of my hand. “Bree and I have something important to tell you.”

I looked at Bree, I nodded.

Her voice cracked, “When I’m nervous I usually like to make some kind of joke. And now I’m more nervous than I’ve ever, been. I wanted to make a joke about us joining a convent or something. But considering the real news, I don’t find that would be a good idea. Jeez, I’m finding it hard to speak.” She took a few deep breaths. “Kyla and I are joining as one.”