A Series Of Firsts

Twenty-One★ Parent's arrival

          Annie had woken up the next morning feeling extremely hungover and embarrassed. She had dodged all of Jack's questions that morning and quickly made him take her back home before he had the chance to corner her and get his answers.

           She had gone to Elle's house empty-handed but she came back with a duffle bag that housed the bralette she wore yesterday, the jacket Jack gifted her, and the gown Elle had made her wear the night prior. Elle had said that the gown fitted Annie better and Annie had tried to refuse because—let's be real—her mom wouldn't let her wear anything like that, but Elle had insisted and she couldn't say no to Elle. She ended up shoving the dress in the far far corner of her closet.

          Her brothers had looked at her funny when she arrived in Jack's shirt and her track pants with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder, but she quickly dismissed them, telling them they needed to clean up before their mother arrived because the boys had thrown another party. Well, not exactly a party, but they'd invited a few friends and they all knew how messy boys could be.

          She'd gotten a few texts from Jack asking her what exactly she'd wanted last night, but she passed it off as being drunk, too embarrassed to admit that she actually wanted to have sex with him, knowing her time with him would be cut short with the arrival of her parents.

          "Is everywhere clean?" Dave shouted from the kitchen.

          "Yes!" She yelled back. "Are you done with the dishes?"

          "Yup," Dave answered, coming to stand with Annie in the living room.

          "Good. Matt says they're a few minutes away from the house." Annie informed her brother and just then, they heard the sound of a car entering the driveway. "Or they're already here." She concluded before rushing to go open the door. She reached the car just as her father exited the backseat and she jumped on him excitedly. She did miss her parents after all.

          Her father laughed, seemingly finding her tight hug amusing. "Okay, honey. I've missed you too."

          Annie grinned, detaching herself from him. "Did you bring anything for your favorite child?" She asked as the boys helped with the luggage.

          "Of course, I did."

          "Hey!" All three of her brothers yelled, offended, making Annie and her dad snicker.

          "Where's mom?"

          "You know your mother." He waved dismissively. "She stopped by her restaurant to check on how things were running." Annie shook her head; only her mother would go to work straight after such a long flight.

          "Thank you for acknowledging me," Dave remarked sarcastically, standing directly in front of them.

          "I've known you were always jealous of our bond, but I didn't expect you to be this bitter about it."

          He snickered at Annie's words. "Everyone around knows I have the best relationship with that, but okay, mislead yourself."

          Annie didn't grace her brother with an answer because they all knew his words held no truth. Suddenly, their father sighed dramatically. "You guys can fight about me when I'm older. I'm too young for this." All four of his children snorted and his time took an offended turn. "Hey!"

          "It's okay Dad." Annie chuckled looping her arm through her dad's to guide him inside the house. "Come in and tell me all about Nigeria."

          "I can never get over how different it is. But first, tell me what you've been up to." At that, Annie blushed, remembering all she had done last night. Why didn't the memories fade alongside the alcohol? "Don't tell me you got in trouble." She shook her hesitantly. Was getting drunk and seducing your boyfriend her father's definition of trouble? Or was it having a boyfriend? "Wait… No way. A boy?"