Pregame(33)

"Wes! Wes!" two tiny voices shouted when our presence was noticed. The  two little girls dropped their crayons and ran over to us, both of them  attaching themselves to Wes. He laughed and scooped them up. They had  their mother's light hair with their father's light brown eyes. The  twins were dressed in matching pajama sets and if it weren't for their  hair I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. One girl had her  blonde hair in pigtails, while the other had he hair piled high on her  head in a ponytail with wisps falling into her eyes.





Anne smiled at the exchange and Roy got up from the table and headed our  way. "Wes! What a great surprise." Wes placed the girls back on their  feet as Roy pulled Wes into a manly hug, slapping him on the back  gently. "And who to we have here?"





"This is my girlfriend, Brookelyn. We were visiting her parents which is  on the way so we figured we'd stop by and say hello," Wes explained.  "Brooke, this is my father Roy."





I shook Roy's hand, "It's nice to meet you."





"You as well, Brookelyn. I see you've already met my wife, Anne.  Ariana's probably on her way down here now." He explained and we all  followed after him and sat down at the kitchen table.





A tiny hand poked me in the shoulder and I turned to find the little  girl with pig tails standing beside me, "Hi cutie, I'm Brookelyn. What's  your name?"





"I Princess Madeline," she told me.





"And I Princess Melanie!" Another little girl popped up on the other  side of me and I couldn't help my smile. They were adorable. "Do you  wanna be a Princess too?"





"I would love to be a princess," I told them and they both broke out into wide smiles.





"Princess Brookyn!" The girls couldn't pronounce my name and it ended up  sounding like broken. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. I was  surely a little bit broken.





I looked up to see Wes smiling at the exchange, as was Roy and Anne.  Footsteps turned our direction to the kitchen entrance and we all turned  to find Ariana strolling through the archway. She stopped in her tracks  and squealed when she spotted Wes. Wes stood just as she ran and threw  herself into his arms.                       
       
           



       





"What are you doing here!" she exclaimed as he set her back down onto  her feet. She was just as beautiful as the rest of the family. Her long  brown hair was lighter than Wes's but her blue eyes were just as  striking. She had dark eyeliner lining her eyelids but the rest of her  face was natural. She had the same tanned skin and the same full lips as  her brothers and father. She was wearing tight light blue jeans and a  loose dark blue t-shirt with a band name across the front.





"We came to surprise you," Wes told her as he ruffled her hair. She  swatted his hand away but smiled. The exchange was sweet; anyone could  see the close bond the siblings had. Ariana glanced over and noticed me  sitting at the table with Madeline now seated on my lap, Melanie sitting  on the chair beside us as they continued coloring.





"Hi," I said to her, "I'm Brookelyn."





"Oh, so this is the famous Brookelyn?" she said, turning to Wes and  raising an eyebrow. "It's about time I got to meet the girl you won't  shut up about."





Wes rolled his eyes and Anne spoke up, "why don't you three head into  the living room and catch up? I've got to get the girls dressed for the  day anyways."





The twins pouted but didn't object. They stopped coloring and Madeline  hopped off of my lap as I stood to follow Wes and Ariana into the other  room. Both girls gave me a hug before I left and I felt a tug on my  shirt. I looked down to see Melanie motioning for me to lean down. I  bent down and she moved towards my ear, cupping her hand around her  mouth as she whispered loudly to me. "After our we change can we play  princesses?"





I laughed, "Of course we can!" The two girls clapped and smiled.





Wes grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through mine as we followed  Ariana into the living room. The room was a dark red with two beige  sofas surrounding a coffee table. There was a grand piano in the corner  of the room and pictures of the family were spread across the mantle of  the fireplace. I settled into the couch next to Wes and he pulled me  closer to him and put his arm around me. Ariana sat across from us,  crossing her legs as she studied us intently.





"So what have you been up to, Ari?" Wes asked her. "Have you finished all of your college applications?"





Ariana rolled her eyes at her brother, "Yes." Wes chuckled. "So Brookelyn, how long have you been dating my brother?"





"Uh," I muttered, not expecting an interrogation from Wes's little sister. "Since the beginning of November."





"Huh," she said thoughtfully. "Wes never introduces his girlfriends to the family."





"Ariana." Wes warned his little sister, "Quit it."





"What?" she asked innocently, "I'm just stating a fact, Wes. She must be pretty special for you to bring her here."





"She is," he told her, shaking his head at his sister before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.





"Wes can you go get me a glass of water?" she asked him and I tensed.





"Go get your own water, Ari."





I didn't want to be alone with Ariana since she clearly had something  she wanted to say to me without Wes around, but I knew that if I wanted  to be with Wes I needed his sister to accept me. I nudged him, "Go, it's  okay."





Wes looked unsure and glanced between his sister and me before standing  up and leveling his sister with a look. She rolled her eyes and laughed  lightly. When he was out of the room she uncrossed her legs and leaned  her elbows onto her knees.





"Do you love my brother?" she asked me, scrutinizing me with his gaze.





"Yes," I replied uneasily. "I do."





"Good. You better not hurt him." She told me, still penetrating me with  her stare. I would expect this speech from his mother but all things  considered, Ariana was clearly taking over the motherly role.





"I would never hurt Wes." I said softly, "That's the last thing I would ever want to do."





Ariana was quiet for a moment but then visibly relaxed. She sighed and  smiled at me softly. "I like you, Brookelyn. Wes has had it rough since  mom passed away but I've seen a change in him since he meant you. He's  happier. I just don't want to see him in that dark place again."





I smiled at her, "I understand. I don't want that either."





Ariana returned my smile just as Wes returned with a glass of water and a  mug of coffee for me made just the way I like it. He set the cups on  the table in front of us, placing coasters underneath them.                       
       
           



       





"Have a nice chat while I was gone?" he asked, studying my face. I smiled reassuringly and Ariana rolled her eyes.





"Relax Wes, I didn't scare her away." She told him and I laughed.





Wes sat back down and placed his arm around me once again. We spent the  next half hour chatting easily about everything and anything. Wes asked  all about what Ariana has been up to and we told her what to expect at  college next year. The conversation was light and Roy even joined us at  one point. I was pleased to see that he was concerned about Wes and  questioned him about grades and everything, much like a father would do.  When it was time for us to head back to campus everyone exchanged hugs  and told me that I was welcome back anytime. The twins were sad that we  didn't get to play princesses but I promised I'd come back soon and play  with them. Roy pulled Wes aside and spoke to him for a few minutes  while Ariana and I exchanged phone numbers. She wanted to come visit the  campus sometime and I promised her I'd give her a tour since we both  knew that Wes would spend the entire time threatening any guys that  looked at his baby sister.





When we got inside Wes's truck he had an odd expression on his face. I  placed my hand on his cheek and he turned to me. "What is it?"





Wes sighed and furrowed his eyebrows. "Roy wants to cover the rest of my tuition for next semester and senior year."





"That's great isn't it?" I asked, confused by his strange reaction.





"Yeah, I guess, it's just weird, you know? I feel weird taking something  like that from him." He told me as he shifted the car into drive and  pulled away from the curb of the house.