"Speaking of, have you slept with Axel yet?"
I bite the inside of my cheek.
She stares.
"Oh, my god." She claps her hands. "Theresa and Axel, banging in a tree. F-U-C-K-I-N-G," she sings at the top of her voice.
I scowl, "Shut up! See? This is why I don’t like telling you anything. In some ways, you still haven’t grown up at all."
"Theresa and Axel banging in a—"
I slap my hand over her mouth, or at least try to, for she ducks, then jumps up and races toward the door. " F-U-C-K-I-N-G."
Heat sears my cheeks. I jump up, lunge forward and grab at her dress. I manage to grip the back of her shirt and tug. The shirt tears with a ripping sound.
Sara screams, "Mom, look what T did. She tore my shirt."
Footsteps sound, then my mom pops her head through the door, "Hush, your father’s trying to take a siesta after lunch. And aren’t you girls grownups? Surely, you can sort things out without squabbling like you were ten."
"Mom, Theresa and Axel are—"
I manage to slap my hand over her mouth this time. She tries to speak but the noises are indecipherable.
"What are you doing?" My mom frowns at me. "What is Sara trying to say?"
"Nothing," I say at the same time that Sara nods frantically. She gestures with her hand, says something, but again, the noises that emerge don’t make sense.
"What is she trying to tell me?" My mom comes inside the room. "Is this about Axel and the wedding?"
I nod.
"Well?" My mom looks between us, "Are you going to remove your hand, so she can tell me?"
I shake my head.
"Don’t be silly," my mom’s scowl deepens, "and you can’t indefinitely gag your sister like this, you know?"
I nod, "She was saying that Axel and I are getting married."
"And?" She eyes me with a funny look.
"And…he’s taking me on a honeymoon." I cringe. What the hell? That’s a big fat lie. Okay, maybe not, but I certainly don’t know if he has a honeymoon planned. Or if he’s even going to be strong enough to travel. Although, seeing how he’d stormed across town and to the nightclub, his recovery is progressing by leaps and bounds.
"Is he now?" My mother’s face breaks into a big smile. "After your father and I married, we honeymooned on the Amalfi coast. It was so hot, and we had this small beach house by the sea. We swam every day, ate dinner and—"
My sister digs her nails into my forearm. She widens her gaze at me.
"I’ll release you, only if you promise to stay quiet," I hiss as my mother continues to relate the same story she has narrated to us over and over again throughout our lives.
She nods vigorously.
"Not a word out of you, you hear?"
She holds up her pinkie in the gesture of making a promise.
I lower my hand, and instantly, she bursts out, "Theresa and Axel banging in a—"
I leap toward her. She screams, dodges my outstretched arm, and runs around my mother, who watches us with a bemused expression. She hides behind my mother and I try to reach around to grab at her. She screams again and takes off running, and I chase after her. "Wait until I catch you, you stupid girl. I am going to pull on your hair and make sure you regret this for a very long time."