Her voice rose an octave and in that second it was the fastest I had ever seen Chase move. He let go of me and moved a hand to cover Tabitha’s mouth.
“I don’t know why you freak out about it so much, Chase,” his mother admonished him and he couldn’t get to her quick enough before she started speaking again. “It has to do with Chase’s real name.”
His hand covered up the last part of the sentence, but I had heard enough to ask more questions.
“Your real name?” I raised an eyebrow at him and the defeated look on his face caused me to laugh. He was all about keeping whatever this was a secret, but I had every intention of knowing exactly what it was.
“Mom might have been a little nerdy at one point in her life,” Tabitha chimed in.
“You take that back.” Addison composed herself, making it look like she went from a mom to a wife in just a few seconds.
“Then you explain our names,” Chase spoke up next and now I was more intrigued.
“Chase’s real name isn’t Chase.” His mother started. “When I had Chase I was fixated on a particular movie.”
“She was just as obsessed when she had me too. Don’t let her fool you.” Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest and gave her mother a knowing look.
“Okay!” Addison threw her hands in the air. “I’m obsessed with it still. It’s my all-time favorite movie.”
She turned toward me. “Chase’s real name is Cornelius Chase Ruthen, but we’ve always called him Chase for short. It was George’s only way of letting me name him Cornelius, so I gave in.”
I looked from Addison at Chase, then over at Tabitha, trying to not let the giddiness inside of me spill out. I could tell by how Tabitha and Chase spoke about their names, they weren’t fond of them, but the light in Addison’s eyes showed just how proud she was, and I understood that.Thumbelinawas one of my all-time favorite movies and I was about to burst Chase’s bubble that I only watched horror movies. That’s all we ever watched when we were together and I never let him know about my obsession with animated children’s movies, but there was no time like the present.
I placed my fingers to my lips and tried to hide the smile that was growing with every second.
“Wait. Why are you smiling?” Tabitha gave me a look of confusion and then her eyes went wide. “No. No. I refuse. This can’t be.”
She knew, she had to, but Chase was still oblivious.
“What?” he asked, seeing his sister’s expression. I placed a hand on his arm, trying to brace him for what I was about to say.
“Thumbelina.” I said the movie title with such pride and a smile finally graced Addison’s lips. She took a slight step toward me, reaching a hand out. I grabbed it and gave it a squeeze.
“No.” Chase’s word rang out like a shout, but it seemed more like a sign of betrayal.
“Chase.” I tightened my hand on him, trying to calm him down. A few of the partygoers were now looking toward us.
“You can’t like that movie. No.”
“Cornelius,” I said the name and it shut him up immediately. The smile on my face reached to my eyes with how it sounded on my lips. I loved it even if he hated it because Chase was absolutely a Cornelius. He was selfless and adventurous, but also so loving and loyal to no fault.
“Don’t call me that,” he whined and Tabitha laughed next to me.
“Shit, dude. You’re literally dating Mom.” Tabitha was now buckled over with laughter, holding her stomach, trying not to cry.
“Tabitha Marie Ruthen,” Addison scolded her daughter and it was my turn to laugh.
“What is going on here?” Chase’s father came up to us, a stern look on his face.
“I was just telling Cornelius how much I loved him.” I placed a hand on Chase’s chest and smiled up at him. He squinted his eyes at me, pure intent of a punishment coming later. I looked back at George whose look hadn’t changed, but his body had become stiff.
“That fucking name.”
I stood there, shocked at his words.
“George,” Addison scolded him, taking one of his hands in hers.
“It’s one of my favorite movies,” I blurted out, trying to break the tension that had grown around us. Everyone else at the party seemed to have gone back to what they were doing. It was just us standing in our own little group again.
