Battle Scars, page 6
"See ya around kid," I say quietly as I wink at her and walk out the door.
I struggle to hold back tears as I walk around the front of the house from the back porch and approach my cab.
"Andy! Andy! Andy!" she yells and then she is running at me like a cheesy scene from corny love story where the lovers are about to part but change their minds at the last second and start running towards each other. And I hear this song playing in my head, something about always loving you, and it's so cliché as we laugh and embrace and kiss and cry. But as cliché as it sounds, it really is an overwhelming and emotional moment, and I have no idea how I'm going to live without her.
"You changed my life too," she says into my neck as we hold each other tight not ready to let go.
"I love you," she says multiple times against my face.
"I love you too," I say back, finally letting her go.
Flashback Ends
Chapter Twenty-Six
Raquel:
It's so quiet as I sit with my laptop and school books spread out in front of me. All I can hear is the soft snoring of my grey and white Pitbull puppy Layla. She was a gift with the intention of her being a guard dog, but she was an epic failure in that department. However, no one knew that, and at forty-five pounds at six months old, her size and bark would be a good bluff.
I hear my phone buzz, and my face immediately lights up with a smile.
ANDY: hey love, how are you feeling?
ME: I'm okay. Feeling a little overwhelmed but nothing new.
ANDY: how much longer do you have left?
ME: Two more classes and then I graduate in the spring!
ANDY: I am so proud of you! That is… you are amazing!
ME: Thank you, baby. That means so much to me. It’s like starting over here. I’m happy no one knows me, and I can just live you know? Anyway, when do you start working overnights?
ANDY: Next Wednesday! It'll be rough, but it'll only be until the next set of recruits goes through in about six months. Then I can move to four to midnights or maybe even days depending on this year’s retirees.
ME: You must be so proud of yourself. I know I am.
ANDY: For the first time in a long time I actually am. Of both of us. We’ve come a long way, baby. Except...
ME: Except what?
ANDY: I just...
There is a long pause in between texts.
ANDY: I miss you. I know it sounds crazy but...
ME: I miss you too.
ANDY: You can’t see me, but I’m smiling right now. A big, goofy, happy, genuine smile. Thanks love.
ME: No, thank you. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.
ANDY: Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a brilliant, resourceful woman. You would have figured something out.
ME: Maybe. But you made it so much easier.
ANDY: Well, it’s getting late now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good luck with your quiz!
ME: Thanks, babe. I should be alright. It's open book. LOL
ANDY: Then you will absolutely ace it! Good night.
ME: Good night.
And just like that my happiness turned to sadness as the weight of her absence weighed heavily on my heart.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Andrea:
I enter my apartment, and it's quietly depressing. I have the bare minimum of furniture, and I have yet to add any personal touches. I throw my keys on the counter and use my phone to order a pizza before I head to the bathroom for a shower.
Fifteen minutes and one steaming hot shower later I am in my pajamas and slippers. As I begin towel drying my hair, I hear a knock at the door.
“Perfect timing,” I murmur to myself. I’m starving!”
“How much do I owe you?” I ask as I pull the door open.
“Hi,” I say my mouth hanging open in shock.
“I intercepted your pizza,” she says looking even more beautiful than the last time I saw her.
Within seconds she has dropped the pizza on the floor, and she is in my arms kissing me. It’s fast and urgent and messy, but neither of us can get enough. It takes us a minute to realize that Layla has taken advantage of the fallen pizza, and we break apart long enough to scoop up the pizza box and put it on the counter. Raquel shuts the front door and unclips Layla’s leash as she immediately hops onto the couch and curls up. I reach my hand out to her and lead her quickly into the bedroom.
“You weren’t supposed to be back for three weeks,” I state between kisses as I tug her jacket off and she kicks off her shoes.
“I couldn’t stay away. I missed you too much.” Her hands go to the hem of my shirt, and she pulls it over my head.
“What about your class?” I ask as I unbutton her pants and start unzipping them.
“My professor said that I could finish it online. Especially after he heard how sick I was...” she says as she runs her tongue from my collarbone up to my ear making me tremble.
“What’s the matter?” I ask as I unbutton her shirt and quickly pull it down off her arms.
“I have a fever. I’m burning up,” she says in a low voice as she pulls my hand towards her center and pushes it down her underwear.
“You are so corny,” I laugh.
“But you love me,” she states confidently as she grasps the sides of my pants and pulls them down my thighs.
“Yes, I do,” I declare as I slide my finger over her wet slit and then settle it on her hard nub.
Working her slowly with my finger I turn us around and sit down on the edge of the bed with her in front of me between my legs. Her hands go to my head, and she buries her fingers in my hair. I use my other hand to tug her underwear down as I lean forward and kiss her right breast and then the left, taking care to suckle each nipple until I feel them pebble against my tongue. Kissing my way to the middle of her chest I drag my tongue down her sternum to her stomach. It has just barely begun to swell, and the feel of the slight bulge under my tongue makes me so happy.
“And how are my babies?” I ask placing a light kiss just above her belly button.
“Moving around a bit. Still coming to the appointment next month?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I bet it’s a boy and a girl,” I state as I pull my hand from her center and move down to kiss her mound.
“I think you might be right,” she says as she puts her hands on either side of my face and tilts my head to look at her.
“Are we crazy?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Everything just happened so fast with us. I’m just...”
“Scared?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. But years from now I don’t want to look back and think “we could have been magnificent, but I was afraid.” Years from now I want to tell our kids, our grandkids, about how fear tried to cheat me out of the best thing that ever happened to me in my life, and I didn’t let it. Now come here.”
I take her hands and pull her down on top of me. We won’t be able to do this much longer, but I plan to take full advantage of it until we can’t.
For the next three hours, we make love gently and slowly with fingers and tongues and hands over and over and over and over again. When we are finished, and we are both covered in each other’s sweat and essence and utterly exhausted, she rolls off me, and I spoon her from behind. Tenderly, I place my left hand over hers and interlock our fingers enjoying the feeling of our rings pressed together and fall asleep confident this is exactly where both of us belong.
***
"If you had told me one year ago that I'd be married with babies on the way today I'd have thought you were insane."
"Ummm... hello?" she says laughing.
"I know, I know. It's crazy."
"It was fate."
Turning her slightly in my arms so I can look at her I say "Thank you" quietly.
"For what?"
"For saving me."
I trace down the side of her face with my finger then stop at her chin.
"No. We saved each other."
Smiling, she takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
I tilt her face towards me, and I kiss her with a slow urgency, savoring the feel of her tongue swirling against mine and the delicious taste of our essences intermingling.
"I love you," I whisper.
"I love you too."
Camilla Porter, Battle Scars
