Chapter 5: This Isn't A Part Of The Plan

My eyes fluttered open to the morning sunlight making its way through the curtains. I squeezed my eyes shut as I rolled over on my back and stretched out my limbs. My fingers slammed the nightstand in search of my phone and once they found the corners, I brought it in front of my face.

10:13

I was surprised that I slept through the early morning chaos. Unless there wasn't any. Kiley looked exhausted keeping up with her little rugrats. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and I noticed during the movie that she nodded off for a few minutes.

Mom had a long day preparing the cookies and dinner for our arrival and dad hadn't slept well the night before. This was one of those mornings where everyone had to sleep in.

Otherwise, World War three would commence. I rolled onto my other side and noticed Sammy already awake, messaging someone on his phone. Flashbacks of what happened in the middle of the night came to me first thing.

I was in a dead sleep when my eyes fluttered open to darkness. There were no sources of light unless you count the little red light at the bottom of my TV.

I looked around for what would've woken me up from my beauty sleep, but didn't find anything. Baby Jasmine was sleeping soundly and I heard no snores coming from either side of the house. I felt pressure on my waist and stomach and in my sleepy state, I realized that Sammy was spooning me in his sleep.

Wait...

Sammy was spooning me?

It was too early in the morning for me to start overthinking myself into a spiral. It didn't necessarily mean that he had any romantic feelings for me. Plus, he was asleep. He had no idea what he was doing.

"What are you thinking about?"

I hadn't realized he rotated his body to face me until he spoke. He finished the rest of his text and put his phone on his stomach to give me his full attention. I dismissed it with a wave of my hand and offered him a hot chocolate.

I forced myself out of my cozy sheets and downstairs where I heard footsteps wandering around the kitchen. There Kiley was by the coffee maker pouring a whole cupful into her Christmas mug.

"Good morning," I greeted cheerfully. "Where is everyone?"

"Good morning, Bails. They're getting ready to go to the store for the gingerbread competition tonight. How'd you sleep?"

"Alright." I opened the fridge and found the forgotten Peppermint Latte behind the tupperware of leftovers. I reached for it and placed it in the microwave before starting to make the hot chocolate for Sammy. "Although, I woke up in the middle of the night and found Sammy spooning me, but—"

All the coffee that Kiley was sipping was now all over the kitchen floor next to her after she had taken a spit take. I tried to hide it, but the corners of my mouth twitching upward was a dead give away that I was entertained by that. "He what?!"

My eyes darted between Kiley and the coffee spot that was bubbling on the tiled floor that mom definitely spent the good part of the day yesterday cleaning. "Mom's gonna kill you."

"He was spooning you? Like, he had his arm draped around your waist?"

"That's literally the dictionary definition of spooning, yes."

"I told you he has feelings for you!"

"No, he doesn't! Look, I don't want to overthink this. It happened in his sleep, so obviously he didn't know what he was thinking." Once the hot chocolate poured into the blue tumbler, the smell made me thirsty for one myself. I snuck a tiny sip of the hot liquid and disregarded the burning sensation on my tongue. As long as that burning heat spread through every inch of my body, it didn't bother me.

"If you didn't want to talk about it, then why did you tell me?"

I shrugged one of my shoulders. "You asked me how I slept and me waking up in the middle of the night to see him spooning me was an important detail in the answer, so there."

Delivering the tumbler upstairs, I found Sammy starting to watch Home Alone. His face lit up at the sight of the hot chocolate in my hands and the movie was already forgotten.

"We need to get ready to go to the store. We have our gingerbread competition tonight."

Sammy scoffed. "That should be fun with your competitive ass."

I acted surprised, but I wasn't that good of an actor. Since age five, I'd take snowball fights, basketball and trivia quite seriously. That made things interesting when Kiley, who was just as bad as I was, and I would compete in these gingerbread house competitions.

Before I did anything else, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I got dressed in my white turtleneck bodysuit, my high-waisted jeans completed with my black knee-high boots.

I curled my hair on the floor of my bedroom in front of the full-length mirror while Sammy was taking a shower and applied lipgloss.

I gave my final look a once over, spinning my heels from side to side to see it in both angles and nodded my head in approval.

"Are you almost ready, love?!" Mom shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah!"

"Is James?!"

"I don't know! One second!"

I stormed into the bathroom to see what was taking so long, but completely froze when I opened the door. His sopping wet hair was dripping down every bump and curve of his abs. His v-line disappeared underneath his towel and his fingers ruffled through his hair, his eyes were raking—

Wait.

My face heated up at being caught checking him out. He didn't seem at all fazed that I just walked in on him naked behind a towel which made me feel even more mortified. He made a dramatic show of leaning his head back and using both of his hands to ruffle through his hair again. At this point, he was trying to make fun of me.

He seemed to have been enjoying my nervousness with a smirk across his face. "You're blushing."

My hands flew up to my face in an attempt to cover my blush and to block my view of his abs so I didn't blush harder. "My mom wants to know if you're almost ready."

I didn't hear a response.

"Yeah. I just need to get dressed."

"Gotcha." I was in such a rush to get out of there, I ran into a wall. I felt pain at the impact that spread to my whole forehead. My teeth bit down on my lip to prevent myself from groaning.

Dammit!

I heard a chuckle from behind and felt a hand on my forearm, turning me around to face him.

"Open your eyes."

I shook my head. "I don't have to."

"I know you don't have to, but I know you're blushing and I wanna see." He pried my hands away from my face and I was forced to look into his brown eyes that were centimeters away from me.

I froze when he cupped my face with his hand. My heart was fluttering, my hands were shaking and my palms were sweating at the proximity.

Well, proximity implied that you were close in space, but there was no space. I found myself getting lost in his eyes.

They reminded me of a bowl of melted chocolate and I was getting drowned in it. I was pulled back to reality when I heard his soft voice.

"You have beautiful eyes."

My heart stopped.

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

My heart was pounding to make up for the beats it missed.

What do I say? Do I say anything?

"Thanks." It turned into a whisper when I opened my mouth. I found myself waiting in anticipation for his lips to graze mine. All I wanted to do was pull him closer by his towel and let our lips move in sync. What the hell was he doing to me?

I used to be so innocent, hardly ever daydreamed about doing stuff like that. Sammy was shifting something in me. I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. Our breaths were mingled together and were one movement away from kissing until...

"Are you ready or not?"

I flinched at the sound of Kiley's voice. I spotted her at the door frame, looking at the scene unfolding in front of her. With the way this looked, him only being in a towel and our lips being centimeters away from touching, I knew she was going to tease me about it.

Not just tease me, but the whole damn day. My cheeks couldn't be more red at this point watching a devilish grin form on her face. I narrowed my eyes to slits at her, inwardly threatening her to keep her mouth shut. That didn't do anything. It only made the grin grow.

She threw her hands up. "I'm not even gonna say it." She slowly backed away, taking this all on before she spun on her heel and hurriedly raced downstairs.

"What was she talking about?"

"Nothing. She was just... being weird."

He nodded. He smacked his lips together and rubbed his neck. "You can tell your mom I'll be ready in five minutes."

He backed away from me and proceeded to get dressed. Suddenly, I felt cold without his warm body against mine. This bold part of me wanted to pull him back and kiss him, but I had to control that urge and walk away.

***

Everyone was downstairs and ready to go to the store. We all grabbed our winter coats and filed through the door and inside mom's and Kiley's car. Oliver was with mom and dad and the rest of us were inside Kiley's with the girls in the back and the boys in the front.

It was a quick drive into town. It only took about ten minutes which Kiley and I spent singing along to Christmas music. Even though Kiley used to be embarrassed with my singing in the car, she finally learned that, if you can't beat them, join them.

Upon arrival, I got a box of the gingerbread walls for houses that came with icing, but I didn't get much candy seeing as I already got some for the trip up here.

"What's the plan for tomorrow after the gingerbread house competition is over? I mean, what other holiday traditions do you have?" Sammy asked as he drove the cart through the candy aisle.

"A personal tradition of mine is to go to the Albany Mall to go Christmas shopping." Procrastination. It was something I'd always been good at. Last year, I didn't go shopping until Christmas Eve and by that time, the mall resembled a zoo of other last-minute shoppers racing passed each other from shop to shop.

It's a quality of mine mom always hated, but she always insisted on going shopping with me saying that 'shoppers the day before could be mad crazy'.

"What do you want for Christmas? I should probably get my shopping done too."

I hadn't given much thought to what I wanted. As I got older and the more Christmases that had passed, the less I needed. "Ummm..." I heard a gasp coming from the next aisle over before mom showed up beside Sammy. Of course mom would be listening in on our conversations. No conversation was ever private as long as she was within a few feet away.

"You could get her a ring."

"He what?" I paused in my tracks.

"I mean, you'd been dating for three years, right? I always thought that a man should propose after a year and a half to two, so actually, this is overdue."

"Mom, he's not gonna propose."

"Why the hell not? Do you love him?"

I hesitated. Of course I loved Sammy, just not in the way that she thought. "Yes."

"And do you see yourself spending the rest of your life with him?"

My eyes were fixated Sammy's. I absentmindedly moved my head up and down. I wanted to forget that what happened happened.

I wished it was James that was here and that he never tore my heart into thousands of pieces. I wish he was the one spending the holidays with me and my family because despite what he did, a small part of me still loved him.

I had to stop myself from thinking these thoughts. He was unfaithful and I had to remember that.

"Then I don't see the problem. You should pop the question." Mom left us alone and returned to where she was before.

I loved my mom, but I wished she didn't care so much about this aspect of my life. I caught a glimpse of Sammy who was admiring the handle of the cart.

"That isn't a part of the plan. If you don't want to propose, you don't have to." I used a hushed voice directly in his ear this time in case mom was still eavesdropping.

"I feel like I have to now. She's expecting me to."

I sighed. He was right. He'd only known my mom for a day and he already learned that once she got her mind set on something, there was no arguing with her.

Now that we were done and that everything was paid for, we reunited in the same cars we were in coming here. I sat in the front this time with Ryan to avoid the inevitable questions from Kiley. I thought it was working. Until halfway into the car ride.

"So about earlier... what did I walk in on?" She whispered in my ear.

One option would be to pretend that I had no idea what she was talking about. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

However, that option failed. She tilted her head to the side and I could tell she didn't believe me. I wouldn't believe me. "It wasn't anything. It was just... a little moment. That's all."

"Really? Because it looked more intimate than that. He was shirtless—no. Naked. In a towel. There was no space between you two as he cupped your cheek."

I was taken back to that moment. His body's warmth pressed up against me. His warm hand against the skin on my cheek.

Drowning in the melted chocolate that was his eyes and being rescued when I heard his voice saying that my eyes were beautiful. I was snapped out of it when Kiley waved her hands in front of my face.

"Admit it. It was more than a little moment."

I glanced over at Sammy. I didn't think I saw him as a best friend anymore. I saw him as something more. "I guess it was."

***

The Christmas tree was officially ready for the big day; there was a blend of red and white balls and personal ornaments that we made in school, old pictures of the family when Kiley and I were babies and other ornaments that Mom received as presents.

As mom was making my sister and I take pictures in front of the tree, I spotted Sammy and my dad exit the guest room together.

Since mom insisted that he propose, I'd been keeping an eye out for him and dad. I wouldn't put it past her to tell dad to talk to him about proposing to me.

"Who's ready for the gingerbread competition?!" Dad yelled into a megaphone. Everyone in the room hollered and clapped, stoked for the competition.

"Dad, why the megaphone? We're literally right here."

"I know, but I figured this would hype everyone up more. Plus," he held the megaphone to his lips again. "this is more fun."

The living room set was rearranged to fit the tables for the gingerbread houses with white cloths.

There was one on the other side of the room while the other was five feet away closer towards the tree.

"This year, we decided to change it up a little. Instead of an individual contest, you would be paired up with your partners.

Each team is given fifteen minutes to complete their house and you have to only use the tools in front of you," mom announced into the megaphone she stole from dad.

I wonder who came up with that idea.

Sammy and I stood behind one of the tables. The box of gingerbread walls and icing, along with the candy I bought today and before the car ride were spread out before us.

"Is everyone all set?" Mom asked, her eyes moving between Kiley and Ryan to Sammy and I who responded with nods. "Ready... get set... go!"

Chaos instantly started to ensue. Kiley was like a drill sergeant, throwing instructions at Ryan. Oliver was cheering for his parents and Sammy and I were discussing our plans for our house. We started with the bottom and the walls for the foundation and the roof, gluing them together with the icing, but it wasn't going as smoothly as we thought.

The walls kept falling, the roof kept collapsing and icing was getting everywhere. At one point, we gave up and started squirting icing at each other and eating the candy.

Normally, I would be super competitive. I would be super stressed trying to stick the candies in the right place and neatly using the icing on the roof and for the exterior. This year, I didn't feel that same obsessive need to win.

Mom was rolling her eyes at us, but I could've sworn she was smiling at our antics. Her smile was wiped off so quickly, for a second, I thought I imagined it.

Ryan must not have been doing a good job because he held Jasmine as she took over the building of the house. She looked like a mad woman with her eyes intensely paying attention to the house adding peppermint candies along the roof, icing along the edges and candy canes in front.

She had a green candy on the front door for a wreath, different colored icing neatly bordering the windows to look like lights and she used gummy bears to hang from the roof.

"Aaaand, stop."

We stood behind the final product (if you could call it that) with our arms behind our backs and Kiley stood behind hers which looked beautifully decorated.

Mom's brow arched as she examined our mess. It was a pile of gingerbread walls with icing that was all over the table and gingerbread pieces. There were also half-eaten pieces of candy piled on top of each other on the plate where the house was supposed to be.

"I love you, baby, but I think it's obvious who the winner is this year." Mom gestured toward Kiley and everyone in the room erupted in applause to which she responded with a celebratory dance.

I noticed that mom and Sammy shared a look together. I scrunched my face up at the exchange. My first thought was the proposal. That look hinted that she had something up her sleeve which could never be good. I inwardly groaned at my mother, hoping to God that she didn't get anything in Sammy's head. However, there was no point.

"Excuse me!"

The room was dead silent when Sammy spoke. He appeared to be nervous with his eyes trained on his fiddling thumbs.

The knot in my stomach grew as I anticipated the question. "I have an announcement I need to make." He rotated his body to face me. Initially, his eyes were on the floor until they flickered up to meet mine.

"Bailey, these three years that we spent falling in love were the best years of my life. From the first moment we met, I'd known that you were the one for me and that I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my life without you."

The way he spoke and looked at me, it looked like he wasn't even acting. Like he actually felt that about me. I didn't want to get my hopes up so I kept watching him. He got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out from his pocket. I trapped my gasp between my hands at the sight of a gorgeous diamond ring whose sparkle was shining in the light.

I saw mom in the middle of the room with her phone filming the whole thing.

"Bailey Anne, will you marry me?"

Everyone held their breaths in anticipation for my answer. Kiley's hands were covering her mouth with her eyes fixed on the ring. Dad was tearing up and Ryan was bouncing Riley up and down, but his eyes were on us.

I turned back to Sammy and it was like we were the only ones in the room. In the world. The corners of my lips danced into a growing smile and I excitedly nodded.

"Yes."

-

AUTHOR'S NOTE-

Again, I added a LOT more details to this chapter before publishing. Any mistakes or suggestions, kindly comment them so I can fix it right away.

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