Chapter 24 – That Explains Alot... “Ok Nathan, this one's from Kaira.” Haley said brightly, handing Nathan a present that had been wrapped in black paper It was now Christmas Eve. It also happened to be Nathan’s 18th birthday, so Haley, Kaira, and Jake had come over to give him their presents. And to eat, of course. After Nathan finished opening his presents, I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Happy birthday.” I said quietly. Then I kissed him, taking my time. “Hey, looks like my wish came true.” He said with a small smile. I kissed him again. “Hey, come on, we don’t wanna see that!” Haley said playfully. She was getting used to the idea of Nathan and me being together. “Yeah, come on, hurry up and get the cake already, I’m starving.” “Jake, you just had like, 6 pieces of pizza.” I pointed out. “But, I’m still hungry!” He whined. I got up, grabbed a piece of cake, and gave it to Jake. Then I sat back down on Nathan’s lap. “Now…Where was I?” I asked with a smile. “Hey, I thought you guys couldn’t do that anymore since Nathan’s legal now.” “Well, I guess he’s gonna have to get used to doing a few illegal things then.” I hinted, smiling at Nathan. Haley rolled her eyes. “Do whatever you want, but just make sure little Jacob isn’t around.” Nathan rolled his eyes. “I told you, we are not naming our son Jacob.” “Aww, why not? I like the name Jake.” She looked at Jake out of the corner of her eye. Jake looked up, his face covered in frosting. “What?” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing, Jake.” I turned to Haley and Nathan. “So, what is his name going to be?” Nathan shrugged, but Haley spoke up. “I really do like the name Jacob, Nate.” “And I really don’t like the name, Haley.” She stuck out her bottom lip. “Please?” “No!” Nathan whined. “Yeah, I’m with him on that one Haley, the name Jacob sucks.” Jake said, looking absolutely serious about it. I turned to him. “You do know that your name is Jacob, right?” He looked at me, pretending to be surprised. “Is it really? So how come everyone keeps calling me Jake?” Everyone laughed. Kaira spoke up. “How about…Jathan?” I looked at her strangely. “Where the hell did you get that?” She laughed. “It’s a mix of Jake and Nathan.” “I don’t want his name to sound like mine though, it’s too confusing. You say Nathan, and we both answer.” Nathan responded. “Then what about… Hake? It’s Haley and Jake.” “Ok, we are not naming my son after Jake!” Nathan said; sounding slightly annoyed. “How bout Blake?” I suggested. “No, my brother’s name is Blake.” Haley answered. “Do we have to decide this now anyway? The baby’s not coming for a while.” “You’re due in mid February; that’s only a month and a half away.” “Am I really?” She asked, a surprised look on her face. “Yeah, Hale.” Names were thrown around for a while longer. Finally, Jake brought up something that everyone liked. “What about Ben?” “For the last time, we are not naming him… Wait, Ben?” “Yeah.” “Hmm… Actually, I kinda like it. What do you think, Hale?” “Ben… I like it.” She said. “Now, would that be short for ‘Benjamin’ or ‘Benji’?” Kaira asked. “I like Benji.” I voted. “Me too.” Haley said. “Well, then Benji it is.” Nathan decided. “Now he needs a middle name.” “Great, here we go again.” Haley said with a grin. After a while, the conversation turned to other things. I really wasn’t interested in hearing Haley and Nathan argue about the Red Sox and the Yankees, so I went outside and sat on the porch for a little while. Then the door behind me opened, and someone else stepped out onto the porch. She had long, jet-black hair and bright, greenish-blue eyes. She was lightly tanned, and dressed in a black tank top and black pants that were accented with chains and zippers. She also had on leather arm warmers, and her right eyebrow was pierced. It was almost like looking in a mirror. She stepped over to me and offered me her hand. “Hi, I’m Amy, Nathan’s sister.” She was only about an inch taller then I was. I managed to contain my surprise and smile at her. “I’m Lily.” She smiled back. “Oh, so you’re the one my brother always talks about.” “I must be.” I said, still smiling. We sat in silence for a few minutes, then she looked at me curiously. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Amy Lee?” I grinned. “I try.” She laughed. “She’s awesome, isn’t she?” “Yeah, I love her music!” “Oh, me too! My favorite song is that one she did with Seether, Broken.” “I like My Immortal.” I replied. Nathan came outside. “Hey Lil, I see you met my sister.” He grinned broadly. “Yeah, I did.” “Does she remind you of anyone?” I looked at Amy and smiled. “No, not really.” He laughed and sat down next to me. “So Nathan told me that you guys are getting married.” “Yeah, we are.” I said, smiling. “I just hope it isn’t for my looks… That’d be a little creepy.” “Hey, I met you before Amy looked like this, ok?” Amy laughed. “Well, I’m glad it’s you and not that little gold-digger bitch.” I looked at Nathan with one eyebrow raised. “Little gold-digger bitch?” He gave Amy a scathing look. “Yeah, erm… My ex-girlfriend Debbie.” “Debbie? You’ve never mentioned her before…” “They went out for like, what, 8 months? She was after Natey’s money.” Amy said. “Don’t call me Natey.” Nathan said with a scowl. This confused me even more. “What are you talking about?” Amy looked at Nathan in a surprised way. “You haven’t told her?” “I didn’t think it was important.” He muttered. “Told me what?” I asked impatiently, getting slightly annoyed. “Well Lil, I… actually, my parents, they’re um…Fairly well-off.” “Which means what?” I asked. “They’re millionaires.” Amy spoke up. “And Nathan will be too, when he turns 18.” I looked at Nathan curiously. “Really?” “Yeah, erm… They set up trust funds for us when we were kids.” “Well… That explains your house… And our engagement ring.” I said with a smile. “Yeah.” He said, smiling back.