"Of course we get stuck with the heavy lifting." Aubrey's brother Jackson grunted in front of me as the two of us lifted a huge square of wood up.

"I thought your mom said she only needed a few things done with the booth, not that we had to build it from the ground up."

Once we got the piece of wood up and secured with some nails, we stepped back to look at the work we had done so far.

"That's my mom for you. Makes it seem like an easy task but its not."

As soon as Jackson and I made it to where the festival was being held, Aubrey's mom descended on us telling us where to go and what to do. I lied to Aubrey earlier when I said I could handle her mom...she was worse than any drill sergeant I have had, and trust me I've had my fair share.

Somehow us helping finish her booth turned into us building the entire thing, with a promise we'd help with others afterwards.

"You guys do this every festival?" To which Jackson nodded. "How many are there?"

"There is a Spring one, a Summer one, a Fall one, and then Winter. So basically for every season." Seeing the look on my face he nodded. "Yeah it's a lot. The people around here love their festivals. But they aren't too bad."

Seeing that Aubrey's moms booth was basically done we made our way towards the one next to hers to finish putting it up as well. I hadn't realized I would be working out or I would have worn a short sleeve shirt instead of layers. Despite it being cold outside and snow was even on the ground I found myself sweating underneath my jacket and long sleeve shirt.

When Aubrey described the festival I for some reason thought that it would be inside some huge tent structure, away from the cold and snow. I was only partly right with that as the baking competition was taking place in a tent like structure a little bit aways but mostly everything else was outside.

"I should have said I'd go to the bakery." Jackson muttered.

"Where is your brother anyways? Shouldn't he help?" I questioned as I hammered in some nails on my side of the wood.

"He's gotten out of helping by claiming he has last minute work. Which," Jackson popped his head around the booth. "is a lie. The company isn't doing any work until the new year."

"That's your dads business right?" I heard Lucas talking to his mom about it last night at dinner.

"Yeah. He pretty much took over the company when dad got too sick."

"You didn't want to run it with him?" I found myself asking.

"Nah not really my thing. My dad made us work there over the summers but I was more into Football. Even after I got hurt and couldn't play anymore I decided to do what I wanted. Lucas was running it better than I ever could anyways."

On the drive up here the other day I was hell bent that I wouldn't like Aubrey's family. I had it in my mind that they were going to be horrible people. I'm ashamed to admit that I even planned on being the biggest dick so Olivia and I could leave. I never planned on actually liking her family.

So far this trip hasn't been at all what I thought it would be. When a random girl puts an ad up for a fake boyfriend over Christmas its bound to be a disaster. I had prepared for it. But coming here...wasn't what I expected. Aubrey's family was great. They were a loud bunch but from an outsiders perspective you could tell they loved each other.

It reminded me of what life was like before I joined the military, when we would have dinners where everyone talked over one another and laughed at every little thing. Sure being in the Marines I made friends that became my family but it was never the same.

Being away for 8 years with only a few leaves in between made life with my family hard. Especially when I re-enlisted for a second time. My parents were so against me going back and when I did it without telling them it didn't go over well. I can still hear the yelling from our argument.

Ever since then it was strained between my parents and I for awhile. Neither of my parents wanted ton see their own child killed in a war thousands of miles away. When I got hurt last year and sent home the look of devastation on my mom's face hit hard. I've never seen my dad cry until that day in the hospital. I hadn't been home in almost a year and seeing Olivia and how grown up she was made me realize just how long I had been gone for.

Since it was already my last year with the Marines, unless I re-upped, they gave me a Medal of Honor and let me come home. While I healed, my relationship with my parents mended and it was like old times again. Then like everything else in my life shit hit the fan. Only a few months after I got back they were hit by a drunk driver coming home from a date night.

Now being here with Aubrey and her family I realized just how much I missed that feeling of being around those you love. And seeing how happy Olivia has been the last two days has let me know I made the right decision in emailing Aubrey back about coming here.

"I need to thank you Knox." Jackson suddenly said.

"For what?" I finished up my side and took a step back to see how we did.

"For bringing Aubrey home for Christmas. Its nice finally seeing her happy." He came to stand beside me as he spoke

"She hasn't been home in a while hasn't she?"

"Yeah it's been almost a year. After everything with my dad she's stayed away."

"She's never told me why." I was curious as to why Aubrey hasn't been home in almost a year and why she was so hell bent on bringing a stranger back for Christmas.

"Things with my dad got...hard. It was really hard on all of us but more so for Aubrey. Her and my dad were inseparatable. While Lucas and I were busy with sports, girls, parties; she was with my dad. She would help him build stuff, throw a football together, watch all different kinds of sports. Even when she went to college she would call my dad and FaceTime daily."

I waited to hear some sort of jealousy in his voice but none came. Jackson wasn't at all jealous of how close his sister was closer to their dad.

I stayed silent as he took a deep breath, crossing his arms across his chest. I could tell it was a sensitive topic to him just as much as Aubrey.

"My dad had been sick for a long time...kidney cancer." I stilled as what he said sinked in. I hadn't known Aubrey's dad died from cancer. All she's told me is he passed away but not how. "They found it Aubrey's final year of college and by time they found it the cancer had spread pretty fast. It was a very....very aggressive cancer.

"But my dad did everything they told him to; Chemo, medication, radiation, medical trials but none of it worked. He would be perfectly fine one day and the next he could barely get out of bed."

Hearing the way Jackson talked about it and how thick his voice got it made my heart clench in my chest. In a way it was worse for Aubrey and her family losing their father, they had to watch as cancer ravaged his body. A part of me wanted to tell Jackson it was okay not to continue but I wanted to hear the whole thing.

"It finally got to the point where the doctors said he'd need a whole new kidney or he wouldn't make it much longer. We all got tested but were weren't a match....aside from Aubrey. As soon as she heard she was a match she left school and showed up at the hospital and demanded they do the surgery right then and there." He chuckled while shaking his head. "She literally bullied the doctors to schedule the surgery right then and there."

I found myself smiling and shaking my head. That sounded like Aubrey.

"Well after the surgery Dad got better. He was up and moving around the house, he even went back to work and helped out at the bakery. It was Aub who got the worst of it, she was practically bed ridden for two months. Apparently the donors get it harder than the recipient. But Aub didn't mind cause Dad was finally better. Didn't even care that she had to make up her finals because of the surgery."

He took a long pause and I knew exactly where this was going.

"About four months later the kidney stopped working, the cancer had basically destroyed his insides. Dad and Aubrey were in the living room putting the last of the presents under the tree when he fainted. We took him to the hospital and the next morning he passed."

Jackson turned his head to the side as he wiped at his face. I clenched my fists at my sides as my throat tightened. It took him a moment before he spoke again.

"Aubrey blames herself. It was her kidney that should have helped him but it didn't. She thinks somehow that she is the cause of dad dying. Obviously its not her fault. My dad had been sick for so long and her kidney gave him another four months. Four months of finally being himself again. Instead of being stuck in some hospital bed he was able to spend time with us. Aubrey doesn't see it that way though."

All of it made sense now. Why Aubrey was so stuck on making her mom happy this Christmas. On why she hasn't been home for so long. In her head it's all her fault. It also makes sense why she has a huge scar on her stomach. This morning when I got up Aubrey was sprawled out on the bed dead asleep, but her shirt had ridden up to reveal her stomach and the scar.

"Having you here with her and seeing her smile and laugh again..." He trailed off. "I just hope she's slowly forgiving herself."