Authors: Cassandra P. Lewis
We’ve spent hours talking about books, films and
music; we’ve cooked together, shopped together and even been out clubbing together. Jackson took Rafe out for a beer and filled him in on everything with Sasha, he knew that I needed Rafe to know and be ok with it all so he took it upon himself to make that happen. Rafe wanted to kill him at first, but Jackson was wise enough to have Matthew on standby to calm him down.
After a few days, Rafe
like Pippa before him, calmed down and realised that what Jackson and I had was worth holding on to and he and Jackson have been getting closer by the day, helped along by Matthew.
Jackson
has some work to do in London for the next couple of days so he can’t join Rafe, Pip and I as we head up to Buxton. Rafe’s wedding is just a week away now and we’re travelling home to put the final touches together. Matthew also has work, so is going to travel up with Jackson. The two of them have become great friends recently so I feel more comfortable leaving Jackson knowing that Matthew is around.
He has lots of friends in London of course, but
they’re all more familiar with the old single Jackson, so he hasn’t really seen much of any of them of late. I did feel a little guilty for that but Jackson insists that he doesn’t really have much in common with his old set anymore, all they want to do is go out, get wasted and take a different girl home each night.
We did bump into one of his friends in the supermarket a few weeks back, Andy I think his name was.
He was probably the tallest man that I’ve ever met and given how tall Rafe, Matthew and Jackson are, that was quite a shock.
Andy, based on appearances
seemed like the kind of guy I’d get along with. Before he spotted Jackson and came over to say hello I had noticed him, his impeccable dress sense and his perfectly coiffed hair as red as my own drew my attention to him. I love the geek chic look that he was completely owning, and his model good looks were certainly eye catching.
When he turned and spotted ‘Jacko’ and came over to shake his hand however
, I changed my mind. Andy decided that I was best ignored until he felt that the time was right to ask if I was Jackson’s ‘bit of stuff’ and then proceeded to piss himself laughing when Jackson introduced me as his fiancée. Apparently Andy found it utterly hilarious that ‘Shagger’ James is settling down, and he had no qualms about expressing all of this with me standing right there. After meeting Andy, I have to say that I couldn’t be more pleased that Jackson is staying away from his old group of friends.
Matthew is exactly the kind of bloke
that Jackson should be friends with, for a start they can both have a bitch about the crazy Alvez’s whenever they need to, but mostly they just have a lot in common. They both love sport and fitness, they like old pubs, good food and travelling, and they’re both really great blokes. I like that they spend time together, and that it’s not a third wheel situation when Rafe joins them, they’re just three guys having a laugh together.
Since we got back from Yorkshire after New Year, Jackson has been training with Matthew and quite often Rafe too, and
I’ve really noticed the difference in his physique. Jackson has always had a great body but the training he’s been doing of late has really trimmed him down and defined him, it’s really sexy. Rafe joked that he’d have to stop sparring with Jackson if he continued getting hotter, but Jackson just laughed it off with a ‘
what happens in the gym, stays in the gym’
comment.
I love that he accepts that Rafe is gay and is not threatened by practicing a martial art wit
h him and having to be so close. Michael was scared that his own brother would fancy him; little did he know that not even his fiancée did.
Jackson and Matthew have come along to the station to say goodbye to us, I’m a little anxious to leave him after so long being so close, and I can tell that he feels the same when he hugs me tighter than he ever has and tells me that he can’t wait to get to Buxton. It’s bittersweet because he’ll be there in just three days, but it’s my birthday in two.
“I’ll see you in a few days then Mr Alvez-English” Rafe in grinning like a small child at Christmas as he addresses Matthew by his new double barrelled name. He’s changed it in advance of their wedding and Rafe’s will change to match after the ceremony,
“You will indeed, I can’t wait Rafe” Matthew takes Rafe’s face in his hands as he kisses his fiancé “I
cannot wait!”
We
say bye to Jackson and Matthew and the three of us take our seats on the train. Pip is giddy to be heading up to see Ben. They’ve been going strong for a couple of months now and she is the happiest that I’ve ever seen her. We wave our goodbyes as the train leaves the station and Rafe wastes no time pulling out a bottle of wine and three plastic cups from his bag,
“Classy Alvez, real classy!” I can’t help but laugh at my brother, always prepared.
Forty five minutes into the journey Pippa’s phone rings, it’s Ben. Rafe and I
heckle her while she talks but both of us are really pleased to see her so settled. She tells Ben where we are and how long we have to go, and I can tell that if she could get out and push to make the train go faster, she would.
“So, how’s the lovely Ben?” Rafe asks as a smiling Pippa places her phone back down onto the table,
“Lovely” she grins her response and we all laugh,
“And how is he in the sack?” My brother never was one to mince his words,
“Rafael!” Pip answers, pretending to be shocked, “A lady never tells!”
“Good job you’re no lady then…
spill!” I laugh at the banter between Pip and Rafe. It never fails to amuse me and I know Pip really can’t wait to disclose intimate details of her relationship,
“AMAZING!
Seriously the best ever!” Pip has placed both hands on the table as though trying to stop herself from floating away and Rafe presses on,
“That’s not detail Philippa
, come on…is he big? I bet he’s big!” Rafe has a glint in his eye, eager for a full description of Ben’s manhood,
“
Perfect Rafe, beyond perfect. It’s like he was made to fill me completely!” she’s now leaning forward and looking my brother in the eyes, driving her point home,
“Jeez, he must be big then!” Rafe raises his eyebrows as Pippa and I burst into uproarious laughter.
The rest of the journey is filled with stories about our men and the things they do to us in the sack. Rafe shares more information than a sister should know, but I return the favour when I tell him about Jackson going down on me at the back of the cinema and about the amazing sex that we had in the back stairwell up to Rafe’s flat this morning, to which my brother laughed that he didn’t know whether he should beat Jackson up or shake his hand!
These two are the only people in the world that I would share that information with and the feeling is mutual, I am just grateful for the empty train carriage.
Dad is waiting in the car park when we arrive at
Buxton station; he steps out of the car to welcome us when he spots us leaving the station,
“My babies, you took so long” Dad hugs Rafe and I in turn before pulling Pip into a huge hug and joking about her being his favourite. When we get into the car the usual moaning starts and Rafe and I laugh at the
familiarity of it.
“Your mother! S
he wants me to go to the shop and get all these things, she knows I’m not well” Dad is convinced that because he is sixty now, he’s on his way out. The truth is that he’s probably fitter than I am,
“You’re fine
Papá, there’s nothing wrong with you” Rafe tries to convince Dad who just waves his hand to shut his son up, Rafe turns to Pip and I in the back seat and rolls his eyes,
“Rafael, what do you know?
I’m an old man mijo! You should look after me now!”
I
can’t help but giggle as I wrap my arms around the back of the driver’s seat to hold my Dad, “I’ll take care of you Daddy, te quiero Papá”
“I love you t
oo mija; you should have sat in the front!” Dad slaps Rafael on the thigh and we all laugh. After a few moments of waiting for it, Pip doesn’t let us down,
“You know mijo means piss in Portuguese right?”
And a resounding “Yes Pip!” echoes around the car before more laughter, it’s so great to be home.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSETTA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…Wakey Wakey Little Sis!”
I’m woken by Rafe’s terrible singing and the welcome smell of fresh coffee,
“Is Dad making breakfast?” I ask sleepily as I attempt to pull my head together. Rafe and I drank quite a lot of wine last night and my head is more than a little fuzzy.
“Of course he
is! The full works for his little girl!” Rafe rolls his eyes sarcastically and I can’t help but laugh as he pulls me up to sitting and I reach for my phone,
‘Happy 27
th
Birthday my beautiful girl, I love you and I’ll see you soon x”
I
’m a little sad that I won’t see Jackson today but we have work to do writing name cards and putting wedding favours together, so my birthday will pass in a flash. I quickly text Jackson back before heading down for breakfast,
“Thank you, I feel old! Still, I’ll never be as old as you…love you x”
“Feliz cumpleaños
mi hermosa hija” Dad greets me with a huge hug as I walk into the kitchen, and the smell of the food that he is cooking immediately makes me feel famished.
Dad is a great cook. He learned to cook by watching his grandmother and mother in the kitchen and was determined that he’d cook for a living one day. Experimenting with flavours and different ideas gives him so much joy, and it was f
ood that brought him to my Mam. He was working in a tapas bar when they met and he fell instantly in love with her.
Since I was a little girl Dad has
told me that one day I’m going to walk into somebody’s life with my flame red hair and eyes as green as the hills and they will feel like their heart has stopped, that’s how he felt when he met my Mam. I loved to listen to the stories of their love for one another, he made her sound like a princess and he a prince, and of course to me, they were.
Mam is still striking today and Dad
has always been a handsome man. Mam told me how she had to mark her territory when they moved to Buxton. Apparently the women here had never seen a man like Dad and they were all after him. I still find that hilarious because it conjures an image in my mind of my Mam, like Boudicca standing guard and ready to attack as the Romans approach. The Romans of course being the deprived, horny women of early nineties Buxton, identifiable by their uniform of permed hair and stonewash denim.
To
this day my Mam is ready to pounce whenever she greets any of the women that used to flirt with Dad, their false smiles and her poisonous venom hidden beneath a mask of coffee mornings and the WI!
“This is great Dad, thank you” I’m
starving and eager as a full English breakfast and a steaming hot coffee are placed down in front of me. I haven’t been home on my birthday for a couple of years so my parents are enjoying making a fuss. “Where’s Mam?” I realise that I haven’t yet been attacked by my mother with birthday hugs and kisses,
“She’s gone to get the papers I think sis, she’ll not be long”
Rafe seems solemn as he picks at his food and I can’t help but wonder if the nerves are setting in. He adores Matthew, but he lived a pretty wild life up until they got serious, I am curious as to whether he is anxious about giving all of that up. Maybe I’m really wondering more about Jackson than Rafe,
“Are you ok Rafe? Y
ou seem quiet. You’re not getting cold feet are you?” I ask before shovelling more bacon and mushroom into mouth,
“No sis, no way. I honestly
cannot wait to be married to Matthew; I guess I just miss him. I’m used to him going away and me having work to distract myself, and having our things around me to feel like he’s close. It’s not normally me that goes away without him, it’s strange” Rafe takes a bite out of a piece of toast and I realise that I’m grinning at him like a crazy person, “What?”
“You just, really love him don’t you? I
mean I know you do, but for a while Rafe I thought you were on a downward spiral with no way of getting back up, I was worried” I put my knife and fork down and reach across the table for my brother’s hands, “But now, when I see you two together, and even more now that I see you apart, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a love like yours, and it makes me so happy Rafe” I can feel tears starting to gather in my lower lids and I roll my eyes and giggle as I dismiss them,
“Oh don’t start Ro, I
can’t take it!” Rafe laughs as he squeezes my hands and then leans forward and looks at me with intent, “I couldn’t have done it without you Rosie. You are my saviour”
When Mam walks into the room to see her children holding hands across the breakfast table with tears visible in our eyes, it’s enough to set
off her own tears,