I Don't Want to Lose You (22 page)

             
“I would have had them put your picture on there, but I didn't want you getting worried or mad about putting that much ink on myself.  Are you happy?” he asked skeptically.

             
I nodded. 

             
He covered the tattoo back up. He leaned over to kiss me, starting off sweetly and then turning passionate.  Hands were going all over the place and then he was on top of me.  Just as I was thinking another thing might be getting checked off of the list that day, we were interrupted.

             
“What are you doing?” Manny asked standing right next to the bed looking at us. 

             
We immediately stopped and started speaking at the same time.

             
“Dang it, Manny, why are you in here?” yelled Theo while I said, “Oh my goodness.”  Theo got off of me.

             
“I always come in here when I have a nightmare,” Manny answered.

             
“You have to knock before coming in here,” stated Theo.

             
“Why?  I never had to knock before,” Manny said.             

             
“Because Monica's here now and you can't just walk into a room that a girl is in without knocking,” he answered.

             
“Okay.  Sorry Monica,” Manny said innocently.

             
“It's okay,” I told him.

             
“Can I get in the bed with you guys?” he asked.

             
“No,” Theo said forcefully as I sweetly said, “Sure.”               

             
Manny decided to listen to my answer and climbed into the bed in between us.  He looked at Theo and noticed the pad on his chest.  “What happened to your heart?” he asked.  Theo showed him the tattoo.  “Whoa, that's so cool! Don't you think that's cool, Monica?”

             
“It's the coolest thing I think I've ever seen,” I answered.  “Your brother and I read at night.  Do you want to listen to us read?” 

             
He nodded unaware of what he was going to be in for.

             
“I didn't want to read right now,” Theo said smiling, finally finding the humor in the most inopportune situation.             

             
“Get the book, love,” I said.             

             
Manny got comfortable next to me and put his head on Holly and Dolly.  I rubbed his hair which gave me fond memories of Theo’s hair.

             
Theo pouted. “That's my spot and those are my fingers.”  He sighed and began to read unenthusiastically.

             
Within ten minutes Manny was fast asleep.  I walked Manny back to his room and tucked him into his bed.  I went back into our room, took the book from Theo and placed it on the nightstand.  I got under the covers and told him to get in his spot that was previously occupied by Manny.  I kissed the top of his head and stroked it until he fell asleep as I watched A Different World reruns.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

I had planned a weekend getaway for us.  After I got off of work on Friday, I picked him up and drove us to Palm Springs while he read the book.  I was determined for us to have a couple of things checked off of his list before we went back home. We checked into the hotel and dropped our stuff off in our room and went to a restaurant for dinner.  When we got back, he put his pajamas on and I went into the bathroom to change into less clothing.  As I was getting my hair and makeup together I was quietly singing “Let's Get it On” by Marvin Gaye because I was determined to get some sexual healing. I gave a quick prayer asking that my birth control pills work since I forgot to get him some stuff and I was not good at remembering to take them like I should.  I made sure Holly and Dolly were in position and ready for action.

              “You girls ready to go?” I asked them.  They replied affirmative with two boob pops.  “Let's do this.”  I opened the door. 

             
He was reading the book and then turned to look at me.  His eyes widened and he threw the book on the floor.  “Dang girl, you look sexy.” 

             
I smiled.  “I'm glad you like it.”  I walked over to him and put a confused look on my face.  “Now where were we when Manny came in the room the other night?” 

             
It didn't take long for us to resume right where we left off.  And he lived to talk about it.

             
Check.

             
The next morning we ordered room service for breakfast and then we went out and took our time walking around town and did a little bit of shopping, especially to get souvenirs for Manny.  We went back to the room, dropped our stuff off and got our coats and gloves.  We got on a shuttle that took us to a cable car tram that traveled to the top of the mountain.  We played in the snow for a while and then left to make our reservation at one of the few restaurants on top of the mountain for lunch.  We took the cable car back down and went back to the room.  My priority was for us to have a nice time, but I didn't want him to overdo it and then not have energy for anything else on my agenda.

             
He had an agenda of his own apparently because there was a repeat of the night before and he didn't die.  I had to forget about my concerns of him being tired because I started to get exhausted. We ordered room service for dinner.

             
Check.

             
Sunday morning we got up before the sun thought about waking up and left to go do the surprise I had in store for him.  When he saw the sign for what we were about to do, he was so giddy.

             
“A hot air balloon ride?  This is going to be so cool,” he said. 

             
It was great.  We got to watch the sunrise and drink sparkling apple cider since we were too young for the champagne. He didn't say much and I didn't want to ruin it for him.  He just wrapped his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder and soaked it all in.  Every once in a while he would kiss my cheek and point to where he would want me to look or what he wanted me to take a picture of.  I tried to savor everything about the moment.  The warmth of his body against me.  The heat of his breath when he spoke in my ear.  The feel of the slight breeze that patted against us.  The sight of being elevated over everyone and everything.  It was unforgettable.  A sunrise would never be the same for me.

             
When the ride was over, before we got into the car, he gave me the sweetest kiss.

             
“This has truly been the best weekend of my life. I have never enjoyed myself so much and I'm so glad it was with you,” he said.

             
“I feel the same way,” I said.

             
“I wasn't really expecting to be able to fly, but I should have known you would make it happen.”
              “I'm a woman of action, baby,” I said with sass.

             
“I know.  That's one of the reasons why I love you.”  He took my hand and kissed it. “Ma cherie.”

             
Check.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

              It's not always easy to find people to be in your life that you can depend on, even in your family sometimes.  With them it has to be tit for tat.  They have the “if I do this for you then you do that for me” mentality.  I had never been that way and didn't understand how people could be.  It is sometimes funny for me to think of how a couple of the girls I had thought were my friends and were going to be my bridesmaids suddenly lost interest in me and stopped accepting my phone calls when Nathaniel was no longer my boyfriend.  Even though I met most of them by means of him, I thought that our friendship was genuine but it wasn't.  It's possible that they figured since they knew him first then their allegiance was actually to him when we ended.  It could also be that I had nothing to offer anymore to them and their boyfriends such as football tickets to UCLA games.  I walked away from possibly being married to someone who had NFL potential and they would get more advantages from being my friend.  I didn't think I lost much by losing them, though.  It was a lot of tit from me but hardly ever any tat from them. 

             
My dad, however, was always a person I could depend on.  Sure, he may have missed a couple of dance recitals growing up or missed my spelling bee victory in fifth grade.  I understood because a fireman had to be on call for 24 to 48 hours at the fire station.  There were times when he picked up extra shifts and we wouldn't see him for a few days before he became a captain.  But if we said, “Dad, I need you,” he did his best to make it a priority.  This time was no different.

             
I stopped by my parents' house after work and my dad handed me an envelope of tickets. He was able to get four tickets to an upcoming Lakers game.  Since he knew that I liked Bon Jovi, he also got me three tickets to an upcoming concert near the floor. 

             
When I went home to tell Theo he excitedly proclaimed, “I did not know your life was like this.  You want something and you get it. I would have told you that I loved back in tenth grade if I had known being with you was this awesome.”

             
I thought for a second and asked, “What do you mean 'back in tenth grade?'”

             
“I liked you then.  I thought you knew that?”

             
“How would I have known that?  You didn't say anything.”

             
“No, I didn't but the way you were talking to me made me think you knew I liked you.  I remember I was walking you home and telling you that Puppy had liked you.”