Is Love All or Nothing? Ch. 10

They both breathe heavily for a few minutes, not saying anything with Keith's arms still wrapped around her and his hands holding her breasts. Jackie turns over to face Keith and looks him in the eyes. He looks back with the same look he always gives her after a good fuck, the 'look of I can't believe I'm with this woman who loves me for who I am and lets me make love to her'. She loves that look because she knows she is cherished by him. One day, she hopes, this will happening every day with him.

Jackie tucks her head into Keith's chest and he wraps his arms tightly around her. Thoughts come into his mind that he still can't believe she is with him. The few months they had been together seemed like a dream to him, but it was indeed reality. He could only hope that the more she saw what Asperger's was really like that she would stay with him.

*************************************

The next morning Jackie wakes up still in the arms of her man. She feels refreshed after what seemed like a very long sleep. However, with Keith still having his arms wrapped around her she couldn't get out of bed to get dressed for the morning. This wasn't the first time she had woken up first and needed to get out of bed to take care of something, but this was the first time she had to put some clothes on so no one else would see her naked.

She gives Keith a light kiss on the lips and that wakes him up. "Thank god he's a light sleeper," she thinks to herself.

Keith slowly opens his eyes to see the smiling face of his girlfriend. "Hey you,' he responds.

"Hi, sleepy head. Would you mind letting me get up. I need to pee."

Without a second wasted Keith lets go of Jackie and watches her exit the bed and puts on her shorts that were thrown off the bed the night before and a t-shirt. She leaves the room and quickly heads into the bathroom where she relieves herself. After she is done and washes her hands, she walks out and bumps into Melinda.

"Twice in two days," Melinda says. "You need to be careful with me carrying some precious cargo."

"Trust me, I don't want to hurt my future nephew," Jackie says with a smile. "I want my auntie cuddles."

"Doesn't Keith cuddle you when you sleep together?"

"Oh, he does," Jackie says with a smile on her face, thinking how much she loves having Keith's arms around her when they sleep. "He knows how to make me feel loved."

Melinda gets closer to Jackie to whisper something to hear. "He definitely knows how to make you feel loved in bed."

Jackie blushed a very dark red hearing that. "Oh my god, you heard that?"

"Only the bed creaking." Jackie's face showed horror at the fact other people heard her having sex with Keith, but Melinda knew how to calm her down. "If it helps any, Derrick and I were already going at it before we heard the bed in your room. Knowing we weren't the only ones actually helped us relax."

That made Jackie giggle and helped her relax as well. A few seconds later Jackie's mom appears and sees the ladies just standing and talking. "Would you two like to help me make breakfast for the men?"

They both nod their heads and all three of them walk down the stairs and enter the kitchen. Jackie looks into the family room and sees her brother, Caleb, passed out on the couch. She shakes her head knowing he was out all night at the bar again.

Mary got out the bacon and breakfast sausage from the refrigerator while Melinda got the pancake mix. Jackie got the pans and griddle out and started making a pot of coffee. Slowly but surely the women got everything cooking and one by one the men came down the stairs, smelling the delicious food.

Bob immediately works his way between the women to get the plates and utensils so he can set the table. Keith helped Bob set the table while Derrick got glasses and mugs out.

As Keith is helping he sees Caleb just sleeping on the couch. He looks over to Derrick and asks, "Should one of us wake him up?"

"No," Derrick responds sadly. "Let him sleep. He's going to have a bad enough hangover as is."

Keith looks back at Caleb and is unsure how to feel. From Derrick's tone he guesses this isn't the first time Caleb has done this before. Having had his own struggles with alcohol in the past he wants to feel sympathy but at the same time mad because he knew family would be coming to visit and yet he still got wasted. He wanted to wake him up and have a serious talk with him, but now was not the time.

Soon after the table was set Melinda walks over with a big plate of pancakes. Keith and Derrick sit down and grab a few for themselves. Bob got a bottle of orange juice and poured some for is son and Keith. Next came two plates of bacon and sausage that was almost immediately emptied. Keith hesitated to take the last few pieces of bacon and sausage until Derrick told him there would be more.

Soon all the food was cooked and the women joined the men at the table. Light conversation took place between everyone as they ate without any mention of the activities that took place during the night. About a half hour later Caleb finally woke up and joined them at the table. Keith could tell he was pretty hungover and looked over at Jackie concerned for her brother. She simply shook her head with a depressed look over her face letting Keith know this wasn't the first time or a rare occurrence.

Once the food was all gone Bob said he would clean up the dishes and pans. Keith and Derrick volunteered to help out as well. Caleb wasn't in any mood to help and walked upstairs to take a shower.

"Is everything ok with Caleb?" Keith asks Derrick as he scrubs one of the pans.

"I don't know," Derrick responds in a melancholy voice. "He has his good and bad days, but just seems like there has been more bad than good lately."

Keith wants to press the issue but doesn't know if he should.

"He'll be fine," Bob says confidently. "He just needs some time to figure some things out. So tell me Keith, what made you fall for my daughter?"

"She has a warm heart and is very kind," Keith says smiling, looking back at Jackie as she is talking with her mom and sister-in-law in the family room.

"I've seen her be with a lot of boys, but you are the first one I've seen make her smile like I've never seen before."

"What type of smile would that be?"

Bob looks over at Keith with a smile of his own. "A smile that says you treat her right and make her feel beautiful every day. I know this may be earlier for me to say, but just know if the time ever comes you have my blessing."

That made Keith almost drop the pan into the sink. He looks over at Jackie's dad wondering if he just heard right. Did he just say he has the blessing? Even Derrick stopped what he was doing in shock.

"Dad, are you feeling ok? Didn't you once say you would need to have your shotgun pointed at the head of the guy who wanted to marry Jackie?"

"I did," Bob says remembering the conversation he had with Jackie when she first started dating in high school. "But I've never seen her smile this much or be so happy before." He looks back over at his daughter, not seeing a little girl anymore for the first time. "I know you'll protect her Keith from all harm. You care about her more than anything and I trust you."

Those words stuck with Keith. He is trusted by her dad. While this should make him happy, he is worried at the same time but Bob doesn't know the real him yet.

**********************************

"Oh come on!" Derrick screams at the TV. "How is that not pass interference?"

"Fucking refs will never call anything for the Lions," Bob yells agreeing with Derrick.

Keith just sits back in his recliner, enjoying watching the game with Jackie's dad, brothers, and Uncle Mike. While Keith has no real rooting interest in the game, he would cheer anytime anything positive would happen for the Detroit Lions. However, at least at this point in the game, not many things had gone well. He didn't mind as long as he got to bond more with the men of the family.

The game goes into a commercial break and he tries to take a sip of his beer. However, nothing comes out as it is empty.

"Does anyone need another beer?" he asks figuring might as well get new bottles if anyone wanted one.

"I'll take a Budweiser," Derrick replied.

"Bud Light for me," Uncle Mike said.

"If you can find a Coke, I'll take one," Caleb responds

Bob shook his head. "No thanks. I need to pace myself. Don't want you to get wrong impression of me."

"Wrong impression," Keith says to himself in his head. That makes him want to tell everyone at the house he has Asperger's even more so, but is worried about the bombardment of questions he would get. He walks over to the fridge and grabs everyone their beer first. He screws off the tops and walks back to hand them to Derrick and Uncle Mike who thank him. He then gets his beer and the Coke for Caleb.

He sits back down and takes a long sip of his beer, enjoying the taste.

"So I hear you like playing Halo," Caleb says looking over at Keith.

"I do," Keith responds confidently. "Think you and your brother can handle the new guy beating your asses?"

"Oh, you're asking for it," Caleb says with a grin while leaning forward.

"Not until after dinner and we've at least helped clean up," Bob interrupts. "You boys know the rules. No fun until we do our part."

Caleb leans back into the recliner. "Why?"

"Because it then our women are happy and let us have our man time," Uncle Mike responds. "Trust me, you'll understand when you find the right woman."

"Whatever," Caleb says, shaking his head in frustration.

The game comes back on and the men focus on the TV. The Lions get a stop on defense that gets everyone excited. The offense finally gets clicking on all cylinders and they end the drive with a touchdown. That gets all the men out of their recliners and high fiving each other.

"I'd hate to ruin everyone's good time," Jackie says while standing at the bottom of the staircase, "but dinner is just about ready. Time to come up and eat." All the men, except Keith, groan wanting to watch the end of the game. "Hey, you know the rules. Either come up or you get nothing."

With that everyone walks up stairs and sits at the table. All the couples sit next to each other with Caleb sitting between Keith and Derrick.

Plates started getting passed around so everyone could get what they wanted instead of moving all the heavy bowls and plates. Keith was worried he wouldn't fill up his plate with a lot of different food, but found there were many things he actually liked and didn't have to worry about explaining how picky of an eater he was.

A lot of the conversation centered around Keith and Jackie as they were newest and most exciting thing to happen to the family, other than the baby coming to the family soon. After a while Derrick and Bob asked more about Keith's life. He explained how he met Andy and how their friendship developed and their love of playing basketball. Derrick offered to join in pickup games if he found time and Keith thought it would be nice to get some games of two on two if Melissa's boyfriend could play as well. After a while the conversation turned to the rest of the table with everyone asking everyone else what is new in their lives and such.

Talk at the table slowly died down as everyone had their fill of food with almost all the side dishes gone and most of the turkey meat eaten. Everyone helped clean the table and all the men helped get any stray food off the plates and into either the sink or garbage.

Satisfied with their work, Mary told the men they could go play their game. Not needing to be told twice, they immediately ran downstairs to the basement and Derrick changes the input on the TV for the one the XBox One is connected to and Caleb gets the controllers. They start the game up and a debate takes place. The Halo Master Chief Collection contains Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. Each of them has their own multiplayer maps and settings unique to each game. After a thirty minute debate they settle on Halo 3.

They agree to make the games worthwhile by playing to fifty kills, that way there was always a chance to make a comeback. The first game they played wasn't even close with Derrick getting on a streak where he just couldn't be killed. Caleb and Keith split the next two games, but they were much closer than Keith was expecting.

The fourth game will be there last as Keith has to take Jackie home because she has work the next day and he wants to win badly. Doesn't help that Jackie came downstairs to watch him play feeling even more pressure.

The game starts off badly for Keith as he is killed very easily by Derrick and Caleb many times in a row. After he gets killed for the tenth time, he takes a deep breath and loosens up. Before Caleb and Derrick know what happens he is up there with them in kills. Before long all three of them are tied at twenty-five kills and they all feel the pressure. They just trade kills after that with none of them getting more than two kills ahead. Even after what some would consider amazing kills there was no celebrating. With each kill the tension builds and Keith feels his anxiety getting to levels he hadn't felt in a long time.

Before long the game slows down to a crawl, each of them taking them time moving on the map. They constantly check their motion trackers, trying to figure out where each other are. Anytime an exchange of fire happens the person losing the most health retreats and throws grenades to cover his retreat while his shields recharge. Luckily for Keith he seemed to be coming up behind whoever was retreating at the right time to get the kill. All Keith needs is two more kills and he wins with Derrick and Caleb needing four kills more each. However things start going badly for him.

While exchanging fire with Derrick, Caleb kills him from behind and finishes off Derrick. Keith is upset he was killed so easily but when he respawns he finds himself very close to someone. However, his back is to the person and starts getting shot in the back, dying very fast and finding out that Caleb got the kill. Derrick tried to catch him off guard but Caleb throws a sticky grenade that sticks to Derrick right before he dies. With that kill Caleb wins and he jumps out of the recliner screaming and yelling at his victory.

"What now Keith!" Caleb says in a showboating fashion. "So much for kicking our asses loser."

If losing the way he did wasn't bad enough for Keith, having Caleb openly mocking him and being rude wasn't helping any. Nevertheless, he knows it is better to control his anger and try to be a good sport.

"Nice win Caleb," Keith says extending his hand out. However Caleb smacks it away.

"Why would I want to shake the hand of a loser?"

"That's enough Caleb," Jackie says. "You're acting like an idiot."

"Shup up Jackie. No one asked you," Caleb says too absorbed in himself to care about anyone.

"That is enough," Derrick says, as he stands up from his recliner and grabs Caleb by the collar of his shirt. "I don't know what has happened to you the past couple of years but you will never, ever talk to your sister that way and you owe Keith an apology."

"You're just a sore loser too Derrick."

"Tell yourself whatever lie you want, you still have no excuse to act like a douchebag."

Caleb breaks Derrick's hold of his shirt and walks away, ignoring his brother as he walks upstairs. Silence fills the basement for a few moments before Keith speaks up.

"Well I think it is time I get you home Jackie. Want to make sure you are rested for work tomorrow." Keith stands up and extends his hand out to Derrick. "It was nice meeting you Derrick. Maybe when it gets warmer you can stop by the apartment and we could shoot some hoops."

Derrick takes Keith's hand and shakes it. "I'd like that. It was nice meeting. I'm sorry my brother was such an asshole."

"Don't worry about it. If he is the worst your family has to offer, I think I'll be fine."

Derrick smiles at that remark. "You will fit in fine with the family. Take care of my sister and have a safe drive home."

"I will. It was nice meeting you Derrick."

With that Derrick lets go of Keith's hand and gives his sister a hug. After they separate, Keith and Jackie head up to the main floor to say their goodbyes to everyone, except for Caleb who was nowhere to be found. Jackie had already packed everything from their room and had the bags waiting for them at the front door. They grabbed their bags and packed them in the car. As they entered the car Jackie noticed that something was off about Keith, like something was on his mind.

"Are you ok Keith?"

"Yeah, I'm just worried and annoyed by Caleb."

Keith starts the car and starts the drive home.

"I'm worried about him too," Jackie says. "Something about him has changed."

Keith grabs her hand to try to comfort her. "I wish I knew what we could do to help but this might be something he has to figure out on his own."

"I know. I just wish you could have seen him when he wasn't like this."

"Me too."

That would have ended the conversation for Jackie except she noticed Keith's body language wasn't relaxed. He still seemed tense, angry. The grip on her hand which was gentle at first was now constricting and starting to hurt.

"Keith, you're griping my hand really tight and it is starting to hurt."

"Oh, sorry," Keith says as he lets go and puts his hand back on the steering wheel.

"Why are you so tense?" Keith doesn't answer and just looks ahead onto the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel even tighter. "Please tell me. I don't like seeing you mad like this," Jackie begs.

Keith takes a deep breath and loosens his grip before he speaks. "How Caleb acted is still playing in my head and...how I wish I could just have smacked him and let him have a piece of my mind."

"I don't blame you for having that thought process. I think anyone would be thinking the same way."

"Yeah, but my mind keeps replaying it over and over and I'm trying to stop but..." Keith trails off not wanting to talk about it anymore. He has gone down this road far too many times and it just makes him more upset than anything.

"Is there anything I could do to help you?" Jackie asks concerned.

"Would it be ok if spent the night with you? I know you have to get up early but I feel more at peace when you're in my arms."

"Of course. Anything to help get your mind on a good path."

The rest of the drive home was silent. The roads were pretty clear as most people out were Black Friday shopping and still in the stores getting cheap deals. Once they got to Jackie's apartment they unpacked the car and brought in what was needed. Once settled in, Keith informs Jackie he is going to take a shower to help him relax and she asks to join him. Minutes later the shower is going and they are in a warm embrace. They let the water fall on them as they just hold each other, neither of them making any attempts at sexual play. They then washed each other's body and hair and once that was done they embraced for a few more minutes before Jackie turned the water off.

They help dry each other off and Jackie tells Keith to wait for her in bed while she dries her hair. After about fifteen minutes of having it blow dried, she is convinced her hair is dry enough. She walks into her bedroom and sees Keith is already fast asleep.

"He may be a light sleeper but my gosh it doesn't take him long to fall asleep when he is tired," she says to herself. She gets under the blanket and snuggles her way up to Keith, laying her head on his chest. Almost instinctively he wraps his arms around her and Jackie immediately notices how much more relaxed he is. He was right, he is more at peace with her in his arms. She gives him a kiss on his chest. Even with the little hair he had, she didn't mind. Whether she had a good sleep or not, she wanted Keith to be at peace. She wanted Asperger's to go away. She wanted for Keith to not feel the torment it plays on his mind, but maybe it was also the reason why she fell in love with him to start. He always seemed genuinely happy and in great spirits. No matter what bad she might have been having, he always found a way to make her smile or laugh, even at his own expense.