Chapter 12

Jess’s Point of View
I opened the front door to my house and walked over the threshold, down the hall and into the kitchen where my dad was sitting at our little table reading the sports section in the newspaper.
“Where’s Mommy?” I asked.
“I think she went for a walk or something, why?”
“Because we-I have to talk to her,” I stated blankly.
“Oh, don’t worry, I talked to her about you two,” he said, nodding at Sid who was standing behind me. “I convinced her that you really do need someone to help you through this. Jess, I’m so sorry we won’t be there for you. You have no clue how much this is killing me. I feel horrible,” he said, his voice filled with sadness.
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine, but you’re sure she’s OK with Sid and me being together and everything? Because that’s my main concern,” I said anxiously.
“Sweetie, she supports your decisions, even if it seems like she doesn’t. We’re behind you, whatever you choose to do,” he said with a small smile.
“Thank you Daddy! I just wanted Mommy to be OK with us. I want her to like Sid,” I said, grabbing his hand. “I want her to see that he’s good for me.”
A sad look crossed my dad’s face, and I think he realized how far I had fallen for Sid, and knowing that, he knew that I was slowly slipping away from him. I was no longer Daddy’s Little Girl.
“Sir, I promise, I’ll take care of Jess after her surgery. I’ll help her through it. Rest assured,” Sid chimed in. His arm was around my waist, and I was beaming at my dad who nodded and said, “I’m sure you’re more than capable. I don’t want any harm to come to my daughter. I’m relying on you to help her through this.”
“I’ll do my best,” Sid said with a loving tone in his voice and a kiss on my temple, and right then and there, I knew that everything would be OK.
-
Sid’s Point of View
After we had lunch and sorted everything out with Jess’s dad, we ended up driving down to Yorktown Beach, a major hangout spot according to Jess.
“There’s this place, called Crawford Road near here, and everyone says that it’s really haunted at night,” Jess said. “I’ve never been. I’m way too scared to go anywhere near it.”
“Is it really that bad?” I asked, an idea creeping into my head.
“It’s what I’ve always heard. Apparently the Ku Klux Klan used to hang people off of the bridge that Crawford Road goes over.” she replied as we got out of the SUV, and fighting the cold wind and mist from the water, walked over to a cluster of shops, all with weird names, like The Yorktown Onion. We wandered through each and every one of them, some with better things than others, and ended up in a little coffee shop called Aromas around 4.
“I actually really like it down here,” Jess said once we sat down and got our coffee. “This is one of the better places around here. It’s really nice in the summer.” She took a sip of her coffee and settled further into the cushioned armchair she was occupying.
“Like I said earlier, I like it here in general, but there is possibly one thing I like better…” I said leaning towards her over the coffee table between us. She leaned forward out of her comfort and met me for a kiss halfway. Our lips lingered and I tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, still inches apart.
“I like you,” I whispered.
“I like you more,” she said, her competitive side coming out, and a smile spreading across her face as we settled back into our respective chairs.
-
We talked about everything for the next hour, from what could be happening back in Pittsburgh, to why it was so cold this winter. It was beginning to get dark outside, so we decided that it would be best to head home to the newly reconciled atmosphere. We wandered out the door and into the biting wind and mist, our hands intertwined, exposed to the cold, but warmed by each others grip. As soon as we got in the car, Jess kissed my cheek quickly before sitting back in her seat. “What was that for?” I inquired, a little confused.
“For being here with me here,” she said, gesturing around her head wildly. “I appreciate it.” A smile was creeping across her lips now, and I leaned over to kiss them. I could feel her smiling into my lips as she kissed me back.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered as we parted. Her smile grew even more and she blushed a cute shade of pink as I backed the SUV out of the parking space and headed towards the hill we came in on. About halfway up the hill I asked, “So where’s this Crawford Road you were talking about?
“It’s up here on the left,” she said nonchalantly while looking around the window twirling a curl around her finger, but once she really realized what I asked, her head snapped around to look at me and she said, “Don’t you do it Sidney Crosby. I know what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, come on Jess! It’ll be fun,” I said with a smirk as we neared the turn. I was going to turn regardless.
“No Sid! I’m so scared of all these things!”
“I’ll comfort you if you get scared,” I said, turning onto the street. She seemed to perk up at this.
“Oh? And how would you go about doing that?” she asked, curiosity replacing the fear that was there seconds ago. I pulled down the street a little ways and parked the SUV.
“Let’s get out,” I said, opening up my door and stepping out into the darkness. I had to admit, it was kind of creepy. Jess hesitated for a second, but then opened her door and ran around the SUV to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Oh, God, something just moved in the bushes!” Jess yelled, hugging me even tighter.
“It’s OK, don’t worry, nothing can hurt you. I’m here,” I said, hoping that would calm her down.
“Sid, you’re too good to me,” she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before getting spooked by a noise in the trees and jumping between me and SUV.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God.” She was backed up against the car now like a deer caught in the headlights. I realized that if she was this scared of a made up story, she’d be even more scared of her surgery. I turned around to face her, and it was as if she knew what I was thinking.
“Jess, baby, come on, don’t be scared,” I said, brushing the hair out of her eyes and resting my hand on the side of her face.
“How am I going to have surgery?!” she wailed. “I can’t even deal with some road that’s supposedly haunted!” She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“Come here,” I said, and pulled her into my chest. “You’re going to have to face your fears eventually. Better sooner than later, eh? Let’s start with this road. Now tell me, what’s so scary about a bird in a tree? Or a mouse in the bushes?”
“Nothing...” she said, her mouth near my ear.
“Exactly. Nothing is truly scary if you think about it logically,” I stated. “Now, what’s so scary about surgery; surgery that’s going to allow you to play basketball again.” I asked, hoping this would help her overcome her fears.
“I really want to play again, but I’ve never had surgery before in my life. Surgery’s scary,” she whispered in my ear, her voice constricting. She paused for a few moments then said, “I can do it though. It has to be done.” Her voice was coming back to its full strength now. “I can do this. Thank you Sid, you make me…” she paused searching for the right words. “You make me so happy, and safe, and I feel like I can do anything if you’re there with me. I just-“ I cut her off with my mouth against hers.
“Don’t ruin it,” I said when I pulled away. “I know how you feel. I feel it too. You do so many things to me that I don’t understand,” I said before kissing her again.
-
Jess’s Point of View
With those last words of his, all of my fears melted away into a puddle on the ground. I felt so much better with him there. We stood in that embrace, my arms wrapped around his waist, his stroking my back, for awhile more before getting back into the car and driving home. Words weren’t needed for what we had just created between us: a bond that, hopefully, could never be broken; an understanding.
I wandered down the hallway to the kitchen when we finally made it home, Sid behind me. My mom was cooking something over the stove, but by the look of things, dinner was almost ready.
“How was the beach?” my mom asked, throwing me off guard.
“Oh, it was fun. I showed Sid that haunted road up there. I freaked,” I said with a small smile, a little skepticism peppering my voice. I glanced over at my dad to see if he was witnessing this as well, he just grinned warmly at me, and I realized this was his doing. He must have convinced her to let me be; that I could make my own decisions. Part of me was elated, but the other part was desperately seeking her approval.
-
There was no shouting match over the mashed potatoes during dinner, so that was a good thing, and my mom seemed to be trying to accept Sid. With a forced smile, she asked him things like, ‘Where are you from?’. General cookie cutter questions like that. My dad and Mitch genuinely seemed interested in getting to know Sid, but my mom just sat there saying the bare minimum, with a smile plastered on her face the whole time, attempting what seemed like the impossible to her: accepting that I had found someone good for me.
Over the dishwasher later that night, while Sid was in the other room with Mitch playing NHL 09 or Rockband, I said, “Mommy, thank you for being nice to Sid. I really care about him.”
She smiled back at me in response and said, “Well, your father told me that I should back your decisions. I don’t have anything against Sidney personally, just the fact that you could be making a huge mistake.” Then after a pause she continued, “But I’ll let you find that out on your own. I won’t interfere with your relationship. He genuinely seems to really like you. The look he gets in his eyes when he looks at you…” she trailed off, remembering what it must have been like when she was young. “And to offer to take care of you after your surgery… Steven never would have done that. Anyway, I really do hope this works out for you, and just know, I’ll always be here for you,” she finished with a smile.
I was tearing up by now, knowing that I really did have her support. She actually wanted this to work. Of course she does. She doesn’t want to see this fail like your last relationship. “Thank you Mommy. Thank you so much,” I said as I hugged her tight. “This means so much to me.”
“Just be careful with your heart,” she said, a small, sad smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She too, realized that I was floating away from her and towards Sid. She realized that I wasn’t a little girl anymore and that she couldn’t just kiss my boo-boos and make them better when I was hurting. She couldn’t fix my broken heart before, and now, she had to let me make my own decisions about who I should be with.