“Mom. Dad. I gotta go already.”
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Dad says. “Have fun and be careful.”
“I will.”
“Alex, you’ll walk her to meet the others?”
He nods. And with that, my parents’ backs are to us and they’re heading home.
Alex and I walk, hand in hand, to where the buses are already lined up. Students are boarding and I try to pick my friends from the crowd.
“This is kinda familiar,” Alex says.
We shared our first kiss on Alex’s graduation day, just as he was about to board the bus to grad night.
“I don’t quite remember,” I tease him. “Can you show me?”
“Gladly.”
He curves his hand around my neck and angles my face toward him, and then presses his lips to mine. Soft, gentle, and warm. His tongue flirts with the edge of my lips before I open to him completely. Our tongues brush against each other with such an intensity I have to remind myself to breathe.
He backs away from me, breathless. “Have fun with everyone tonight. For your birthday, you’re all mine.”
Just then, Keesh and Steph walk up. “There you are. Sorry to break it to you, Alex,” Steph says, “but we’re stealing her.”
“Have fun, ladies.” He presses one last kiss to my temple before I leave with my friends.
Chapter 33
My birthday surprise begins at the post office. Alex and I pack Ben’s care package along with a stack of Flat Ben pictures that have piled up since our last shipment. He’s going to crack up when he sees his mug at prom, senior awards night, at graduation walking across the stage with Josh. His next video should be plenty entertaining with his reaction to Andi’s idea to include him in all our end of the year activities.
Now, we’re at the drive-in. We watch a movie from the backseat of Alex’s car. We chow down on popcorn, KitKats, and Coca-Cola Slurpees.
When the movie ends, Alex asks, “You wanna stay for the second feature or do you want to go back to my house for cake?”
“Do you have to ask?”
“I’m guessing, cake?”
I smile. “You’re guessing right.”
When we get to his house, it’s dark inside and out.
“Your parents gone for the evening?” I ask.
He laughs. “More like, gone for the weekend.”
“Where did they go?”
He chuckles. “They went to Berkeley. They thought they’d surprise me but the surprise was on them. They didn’t realize I’d made arrangements to take one of my finals early so I could come to your graduation.”
“So why didn’t they just stay home?”
“They like to say they travel up there to visit me, but they really just like San Francisco. So you ready for cake?”
“Of course.”
Alex opens his refrigerator and takes out a small pink box.
“I can’t believe you remembered all this stuff. It was so long ago.” On our first kinda date, he took me to the drive-in. He also surprised me with a cupcake.
“Happy eighteenth birthday, Megan,” he says, as he opens up the box and lights the candle.
“Thank you, Alex. Tonight has been perfect,” I tell him. “But there’s only one more thing that can make this night complete.”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s go up to your room and find out.”
He takes a deep breath. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I am. But let’s just see what happens. You never know. I could change my mind.”
He reaches out and grasps my hands. “And you know that would be okay with me?”
“I know.”
He doesn’t seem to be moving, so I make the first move. Backing up, I start to lead him down the hall.
His room is clean as always when he flicks on the lights and we walk in. He closes the door and locks it.
“Give me a minute while I do a few things in here.” I watch as he transforms his room into a candle lit bedroom, with soft love songs playing in the background.
“You’ve put some thought into this,” I say.
He steps in front of me, reaching out and smoothing my hair with his hands. “I want tonight to be perfect for you. For us.”
“As long as we’re together, it’ll be perfect.”
He dips his head and his lips touch mine. Slowly and gently his mouth caresses mine, his lips soft and plump with desire. I tilt my head to deepen the kiss and our tongues dance, brushing against each other in a steady rhythm.
My hands curve around his waist and trail up the back of his shirt. The heat of his smooth skin on my fingertips sends fireworks throughout my body. His mouth feasts on the tender skin under my ear and I moan with extreme pleasure. I lift his shirt to reveal that sexy chest in Andi’s picture. My palms flatten against his collarbone and then drag down toward his V. I trace the outline of his muscles with my fingertips, soaking in the view.
I feel Alex’s grip on the bare skin of my hips first, and I relax into his touch. Then his hands travel to my back and my shirt begins to rise over my head.
Little by little, we take turns peeling clothes off of each other until we’re standing stomach to stomach with nothing but our underwear on.
I turn toward his bed and pull back the covers. He starts to put a knee on his mattress, but I stop him.
“Not yet. I wanna be naked with you first. I want you to see me and I want to see you.”
Suddenly, his mouth is on mine and he’s feasting on my lips, my tongue, my neck, and my chest. “You are amazing, babe.” He reaches behind my back and unhooks my bra. Slowly, he slides the straps off my shoulders, following them with gentle kisses before he pays tribute to my breasts.
With my heart beating faster than ever before, I hook my thumbs inside his boxers and slide them down his hips. I take in the sight of him and I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life. This is going to happen. I love Alex, and I’m completely, absolutely ready for what’s about to come.
Alex drops slowly to his knees and places a gentle peck to my belly. He kisses each of my hips and then slowly peels down my panties, past my hips, past my thighs, and then they drop to the floor.
As he rises to his feet again, Alex trails kisses all the way up my body sending flashes of heat all along the way.
“You have protection, right?” I ask.
He nods, and then reaches to his desk drawer and pulls out a foil packet. I take it from him and climb into his bed. He follows, settling himself on top of me as I get comfortable on my back.
His eyes gaze into mine before he sprinkles soft pecks on my lips, cheeks, and chin. With one last peck to my forehead, Alex looks deeply into my eyes. “I love you. No more holding out on me, babe. You’re my girlfriend now, right?”
“Yes, I’m your girlfriend,” I say with a slight chuckle. “And I love you too, more than anything. You’re my best friend and you’re the love of my life. Now, will you make love to me?”
We’re both still for several beats, our eyes closed, our lips gently connected, the love pouring through each of us. Then, his eyes flutter open and lock to mine. He leans back on his knees, takes the foil packet from my hand, and tears it open. I watch as he slides the condom on. His warm hands touch my thighs, and my legs fall freely apart, completely ready for what we’re about to share. Alex never takes his eyes off mine while he settles himself above me.
“I love you, Megan,” he says, barely grazing my mouth with his.
“I love you too, Alex. This is it. This is our someday.”
His gaze is filled with emotion. “No, Megan.” His soft lips brush against mine. “This … is our forever.”
Epilogue
“What are you doing up?”
My cereal sloshes around in my bowl, almost spilling over the top. My mom whose never been known for her grace just scared the bejeezus out of me. “Couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d get an early start and have some breakfast before the crazy begins.”
It’s the first day of school and the whole entire crew is coming over today. It’s been a tradition since me and the girls hit kindergarten. I can’t remember back that far, but I have the pictures to prove it.
I glance over at my mom, who’s chuckling and shaking her head slowly back and forth.
“What’s so funny at four in the morning, Mom?”
“You are, Em,” she stutters through a snort.
“I’m being responsible on my first day of school and you’re laughing at me?” Where’s the logic in that?
“Your mom’s laughing at herself, actually,” Dad murmurs as he strolls up to me and plants a kiss on the top of my head, then moves on to my mom to do the same. “If I remember correctly, your mom was late the first day of school every year except her senior year. And even then, she was only on time because your aunties kidnapped her.”
Mom stares up at dad, giving him the raised brow look. “That’s not exactly how I remember it, Alex. And you know it. I had five alarms set that morning.” She pokes him the chest with her index finger and he swipes it up in his big hands and kisses it. Other kids might think it’s gross to see their parents all smootchie poo, but I don’t mind. I think it’s adorable actually. Very romantic. Mom says I’ve read one too many romances and watched way too many romantic comedies. It’s my grandma’s fault. She has shelves and baskets all over her house full of love stories in print and film.
“So what’re you doing in the hallway?” Dad asks, his arms curled around my mom’s shoulders.
“I was just looking at your picture,” I tell them.
“Again?” he asks.
“Hey, it’s my favorite thing in this house to look at.”
“Andi painted it for me for Christmas one year,” Mom says, touching the glass gently with her fingertips.
“I know. I remember.”
“You do?” Dad asks.
I look up at them like they’ve sprouted horns. “Of course, I do. I loved this painting more than I liked being read to when I was a kid. Mom used to tell me stories about everyone. It was like our very own fairytale.” I glance at the picture again, remembering every time I sat in my mom’s lap, listening to her animated voice tell me all about my honorary aunts and uncles.
We all stare at the picture in silence. Mom and Dad are probably recalling all their high school memories. I’m reliving the nights my mom would tuck me in and tell me all about how she, Auntie Keesh, and Auntie Steph were princesses and they found their princes. I’m fourteen now and that should be totally dorky, but I still love it.
“Hey, Dad. Since Mom and my aunties married their high school sweethearts, do you think I might meet my future husband today?”
He cringes at the question, but Mom laughs at my joke.
“Andi and Travis were high school sweethearts too, you know,” Mom says.
“I know.” Of course, I do. Mom would always start her story with them first. Unfortunately, I don’t know them too well. They got married and moved to Boston where Andi opened an art gallery. We’ve only visited them a few times but they come to visit every year at Christmas. I’ve always thought they are such an odd couple, Andi with her spiky hair that’s been a different color every time I’ve seen her, and Travis with his hulking Marine turned cop presence. What’s more odd is that the grown woman says ‘dude’ more than any teenage boy I know. Even though I don’t know them well, I’m so thankful to Andi for giving my mom and me our special time together.
“Look at you guys, back in the day. That could be me today. My prince charming could be roaming the halls right beside me.”
Dad almost chokes this time. Mom has to pat him on the chest before he regains a steady breath.
“That’s not even funny, Emma,” he says, even though his tone says different.
“Yeah, your dad didn’t propose until I graduated from college. So you have a long way to go, missy.” Mom raises a brow at me. That was one of my favorite parts of the story, when she would describe how my Dad proposed to her in front of everyone at her graduation party. What she loved the most was that Uncle Dom proposed to Auntie Steph too, on the same day. The two men planned it and got down on bended knee at the same time. I wish I could’ve been there to see it. Grams got plenty of pictures, but it’s not the same.
“Hey, Auntie Keesh got married right after high school.” I sigh. Yet another part of the fairytale romance. Auntie Keesh was like Sleeping Beauty. She had to wait a long time for her prince to find his way back to her, but Uncle Jon Jon did. He moved back to California and started school in San Jose with Auntie Keesh, Uncle Dom, and my mom. My uncles, Jon and Dom, lived together off-campus while my mom and Auntie Keesh lived in the dorms. That is until Keesh and Jon eloped, moved out, and had Gavin, the oldest of all us kids.
At the same time, Dad had just graduated from Berkeley, got a job at an architectural firm, and moved to San Jose. Mom moved out of the dorms and in with Dad and Uncle Dom.
When my mom and Auntie Steph finally finished college and got married, the two couples moved out on their own. Two years later, the three princesses had little princesses of their own. Auntie Keesh had Faith first, then came Victoria to Auntie Steph, and I’m the baby.