Love Me

by Cristin Cooper

  I looked into his tear-filled eyes. “All of those are true, Kimberly.”

  He knelt down in front of me and opened a small velvet box. “Kimberly Marie Franklin, will you marry me and have all my babies?”

  “Yes!” I shouted. He stood and lifted me, swinging me around.

  “I hope I can make you as happy as you make me.”

  “Well, we’ll see, you still have to open your present.”

  Kevin swung the pink fluffy handcuffs around on his fingers chuckling to himself. “I can see how this was a gift for the both of us.” I slapped his chest before cuddling against his sweaty body. Running his fingers through my hair, he asked, “When would you like to get married?”

  I kissed his chest then sat up since this was not something I wanted to talk about lying down.

  “We don’t have to get married right away if you don’t want to, but I would like to set a date even if it’s a year from now or two years from now. I just want to know that there will be a day that you will walk down the aisle and say, “I do” to me.”

  “I want that too. I also want my family to be at the wedding.”

  “Which means you need to tell them about me,” he finished for me.

  “They do know there is someone, but not much else.”

  We had discussed my reservations about him meeting my family, and he had been patient. He didn’t necessarily understand it or like it, but he allowed me to decide when and where.

  “Can you give me a little more time? If you want, I’ll commit to marrying you a year from today, but I want more time before I tell my family.”

  He sat up and drew me against his chest. “You promise to marry me next year on Valentine’s Day?”

  “Yes. Even if it means sharing an anniversary with a cheesy holiday.”

  “I have no problem with that. But do one thing for me.”

  “Anything,” I whispered against his lips.

  “Tell your family sooner rather than later.” That would be the hardest promise to keep, but I would.

  For him.

  25

  Kevin’s grip tightened around my hand. “Don’t worry. They’re going to love you as much as I do.” He lifted our joined hands and kissed my knuckles.

  I bit my lip as we walked to baggage claim. “I don’t know how you talked me into this.” My nerves were shot, and I regretted not getting a drink on the airplane. I could have used some liquid courage about now.

  When Kevin asked me to come home with him the night he proposed, I didn’t hesitate when I agreed. Now looking back, I realized he had waited until I had a few orgasms and sleepy before he asked.

  He knew how to work me; I’d give him that.

  Just as Kevin found our bags, he received a text. “My mother’s just outside waiting for us.”

  With his hands full, carrying both of our bags, I no longer had his hand to comfort me. Each step closer we came to the pick up line, the heavier my legs felt.

  Once we stepped outside, I heard a woman yell, “Kevin.” When I looked over, I saw a woman near my mother’s age jump up and down waving her hands. Kevin laughed. “See, I told you. You have nothing to worry about.” I had seen pictures of her from New Year’s Eve, but she looked completely different from the picture. Not that I expected her to be wearing a ball gown with her hair in a perfect up-do but I didn’t expect this. His mother’s gray and silver hair was in a messy ponytail, she wore an old Grateful Dead T-shirt with worn jeans and to top the outfit off, she wore crocs.

  I hadn’t even met her yet and I liked her. When we reached her car, she pulled him into a hug then turned and gave me one. “I’m so happy to meet my future daughter-in-law. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this.”

  “I would guess forty years.” Kevin said dryly.

  “Don’t be a smart-ass,” she chastised.

  His mother was nothing that I expected.

  “Where’s Dad?”

  “What am I, chopped liver?” She pressed the button to open the trunk of her Lexus.

  “Mom, you know I love you.” He kissed her cheek, which seemed to placate her, at least a little.

  “Your dad’s helping John fix his sprinkler, but he should be home by the time we get there.”

  She looked over at me and smiled. “I don’t want to frighten you, but you’ll be meeting everyone at dinner tonight.” Her smiled widened when my jaw dropped. I wasn’t sure I was ready for the whole Masterson family at once.

  “Don’t worry. They’re going to love you.” Her statement made me laugh knowing where Kevin got it from.

  To say I loved his family would’ve been an understatement. Kevin and his brothers Robert and John all looked similar, but their personalities were like night and day. They teased and razzed each other, but it was all done in fun.

  I loved seeing him with his four nieces who all adored Uncle Kev.

  The evening was going well until I received an urgent call from Anna in a complete panic because she couldn’t find Claire and she wasn’t answering her phone. I tried to calm her by telling her I would try calling. If Claire was anything like me, she avoided answering her mother’s phone calls but would answer for everyone else.

  But after three tries––nothing.

  I paced outside the pizza restaurant, debating whether or not I should get on a plane and go home. I hadn’t told anyone but Tim I was leaving town. What if she needed me?

  Kevin leaned against the building watching me walk back and forth. I stopped to face him. “You should go inside to be with your family.”

  “You’re my family too. If you’re worried, I’m worried.”

  He knew what to say to make a girl fall deeper in love with him.

  He took my hand and pulled me into his embrace. “I know the past month has been difficult for you and your sister with the anniversary of your brother-in-law’s death and your sister’s meltdown over Spring Break so if we need to leave, we can. You say the word, and we’ll go.”

  “But your family...”

  “They’re family. They’ll understand. It’s not like you’ll never see them again. We’re getting married. You’ll probably see them more than you like,” he joked.

  I gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. “Have I told you how much I love you? Or how happy I am that I’m going to be your wife?”

  “Yes. But it’ll never get old.”

  Being in his arms calmed me to the point I was beginning to relax when I felt my phone vibrate with a text.

  “Is that your phone or are you just happy to see me?”

  I snorted and pulled my phone out my pocket. “It’s my nephew. They found my niece and she’s fine.” I breathed out, feeling relief for my sister and that I had such a wonderful man hold me when I thought I was going to lose my mind.

  I stepped out of his arms and took his hand, pulling him toward the entrance of the pizza shop. “I need to apologize to your family.”

  “No, you don’t. I bet they didn’t realize we were gone.” Humor filled his voice, but he had been right. They hadn’t noticed we were gone.

  “Told you,” he whispered in my ear.

  Before I knew it, we were back in Portland and Kevin was pulling up to my house to drop me off before he went home to unpack.

  Spending a week with his family only confirmed what I already knew. I was madly in love with Kevin, and he was the perfect man for me.

  After seeing him with his nieces, I could picture him with our kids. I wanted him to take me inside and knock me up. We had already discussed having children, and once we said our vows, we planned to start our family.

  Now, Valentine’s Day next year seemed like a long ways away.

  “Am I coming back here or are you staying the night at my place?” he asked as he lifted my bag onto my bed making it easier for me to unpack.

  “I’ll stay at your apartment, but I might be late. I want to stop by and check on my sister.”

  “You want me to go with you?” he as
ked. Not to pressure me but to support me. I thanked him for his offer but turned him down. I wanted a chance to talk to her without distractions.

  To say Anna was a mess would be an understatement. I didn’t understand how she could spiral down so quickly when just a few months ago she had made tremendous strides.

  She had a few roughs day as far as I knew but nothing that would cause her to look like she had when Ryan first died.

  I wanted to shake her and wake her up. I knew she was still in there somewhere.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  She pinched her brows in a scowl. “What are you talking about?”

  “This.” I waved my hand over her. By the way her clothes hung on her, she had lost weight. She wasn’t taking care of herself. Anyone with eyes could see she wasn’t doing well.

  “Kimmie, so much has happened. I just can’t deal with it right now.”

  “Tell me. Let me help you,” I pleaded.

  “You can’t help me. My family is falling apart, my friend Brad is no longer speaking to me because I did something stupid and before you ask, no I’m not going to tell you what. And then I saw Caleb and…”

  “Whoa! I held up my hand to stop her.”

  “You saw Caleb? As in the kid that killed Ryan?”

  She nodded and released a heavy breath. “I saw him as I was coming out of class. He was walking with some other students laughing like he was having a great day.” She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Then he saw me. I heard him call my name and walk toward me.”

  She ran her hands through her hair pulling on the ends. “God, Kimmie. Something came over me, and I slapped his face. It was hard enough to leave my handprint. Adam saw the whole thing and pulled me away, afraid I would hit him again, but the second I saw Caleb’s face I regretted it.”

  She wiped tears from her eyes and shook her head. “He looked at me like he deserved to be hit.” I wasn’t so sure he didn’t deserve it. I still hadn’t forgiven him for taking my best friends life, no matter how young he was or the circumstances.

  “Did he say anything?”

  “After Adam calmed me down, I apologized for hitting him. Oh, Kimmie, Every time I think about Caleb, I picture him as the kid in the courtroom who told me he didn’t deserve to be forgiven. But I want to forgive him.”

  “I know you do. That’s what makes you––you, Anna.” I held her in my arms until she cried herself to sleep.

  I wanted so desperately to fix her, to heal whatever pain she was feeling, but I knew there wasn’t a thing I could do to make her better. She had to do it. All I could do was stand back and hold my hands out in case she fell.

  26

  I refused to allow anything to ruin this evening, not even a runny nose and a small fever. I wiped my nose for the hundredth time since I snuck into Kevin’s apartment. Well, I’m not sure it could be considered sneaking since he gave me a spare key, but I lied and told him I couldn’t get off work tonight and that we would have to celebrate his birthday tomorrow.

  I wanted to do something special for Kevin’s fortieth birthday and with a little help from Tim, I planned a big surprise. Tonight it would be just the two of us, and tomorrow the big party with all his friends and colleagues.

  I picked up everything I needed and rushed around his apartment setting up. Because of traffic, I got there later than expected and now only had a few minutes before I expected him home.

  Once I finished setting the table, I ran back to the bedroom to double check everything and prepare myself for his entrance.

  Red scarves draped over the lamps. Check.

  IPod playing music to get him in the mood. Check.

  Me dressed in itty-bitty lingerie with a bow tied around my chest. Check and Check.

  I couldn’t wait for him to see me.

  Tim spent twenty minutes with me last night helping me determine what position I should be in when Kevin walked in. I wanted to look sexy while also disguising the slight chub around my middle. I settled on the perfect position to show off my…attributes that didn’t involve me sucking in my stomach.

  After blowing my nose one more time, and double checking my makeup, I laid on my stomach in the center of his bed, braced on my elbows so he would be able to get a good look at my breasts in my red push up bra. Wearing the stilettos he always begged me to wear, I crossed my legs behind me with my feet in the air.

  And I waited.

  Sweat dripped down my cheek even though the room was cool.

  “I’m not sick. I’m not sick. I’m not sick,” I chanted.

  After waiting five minutes, I decided to lay my head down. Just for a minute. I knew I would be able to hear him unlock his door.

  “What’s this?” I thought I heard Kevin’s cheerful voice, but it sounded distant.

  “Babe?” The mattress dipped beside me then a cold hand covered my warm cheek. I might have even sighed with relief. “Kimberly?” Kevin’s worried voice penetrated through the fog in my head.

  “Hmmm,” I mumbled. Speaking would’ve taken too much energy.

  “You’re burning up.” He pushed off the bed, taking his cold hand with him. I wanted to reach for him and beg him to put his hand back, but my body wouldn’t listen.

  Shivering, I curled against my favorite heat source hoping to leech some of his warmth from him.

  Kevin’s soft lips pressed against my forehead and his hand caressed my cheek.

  I felt his warm breath on my skin when he whispered, “Oh good.” He said it more to himself than to me.

  I opened my eyes and looked into his that held dark circles beneath. I recognized the worry lines on his forehead and reached up to soothe them. “It looks like your fever broke.” I heard exhaustion and relief in his voice.

  I looked over his shoulder at the clock on his nightstand and noticed the time. 4:28 AM. Then at his chair in the corner that held the red ribbon I wore along with my bra. I looked down and realized I wore one of his T-shirts and his socks since I didn’t have any that came up to my knees.

  I looked at him realizing he hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “You took care of me.” It sounded more like a question than a statement, but nobody had ever taken care of me when I was sick since my mother when I was a kid.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Of course, I did,” he replied as if my comment had been the most ridiculous thing he ever heard. Maybe to him, but nobody took care of me like he did and I didn’t just mean tonight.

  I laid my head on his chest to hide the emotions building in my chest. “It was your birthday.”

  “It was,” he said so sweetly it made me want to cry. Then he kissed the top of my head, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. A tear escaped, but I managed to hold back the tide.

  “I had this whole evening planned, and I ruined it.”

  His chest vibrated with his deep chuckle. “Believe me, when I walked in and saw you wrapped up like a present for me, nobody was more disappointed that you were sick than me.” I lifted my head and caught him grinning at me. “When you’re feeling better, we’re going to try this again,” he stated with the most serious expression I had ever seen on his face.

  “I was going to...”

  He covered my lips with his to keep me from talking. “Don’t tell me.” He peppered my face with kisses and smiled. “Save it for when we have our do-over. I want to be surprised.” Oh, he’ll be surprised. I prepared weeks in advance by taking a strip tease class and then practiced whenever I had a chance, even in my office during my breaks.

  He leaned in to kiss me again, but I covered my mouth. “You’re going to get sick.”

  He removed my hand and said, “I don’t care,” then kissed me again.

  Oh Lord, I loved this man.

  “Thank you for taking care of me.”

  He slid his hands beneath my T-shirt and ran them up and down my bare back. “I plan to always take care of you. Forever, Kimberly.” If he was trying to make me cry, he was doing a good job
of it.

  I snuggled closer with my hand on his chest staring at the sparkly ring on my left hand and feeling more than ever the meaning of it. He didn’t give it to me to appease me but because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

  The shame of keeping him a secret was overwhelming. Here was this wonderful man loving me with everything he was and I hid him.

  He must have known I hadn’t been honest with my family. My excuses for not introducing him to my family were weak, and yet he still stood by me and loved me anyway.

  I promised myself I would finally do it when Anna felt better. I didn’t want my happiness blemished by her downward spiral. At least that was what I told myself.

  27

  I don’t know if Kevin sensed how nervous I was, but his hand tightened around my waist as if to reassure me that everything would be okay. We followed the host to our reserved table where Pete sat with his arm around Amber as they looked into each other’s eyes. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought they were newlyweds instead of a couple who had been married over forty years. I hoped Kevin and I were like that in forty years.

  I couldn’t wait to introduce Kevin to them, but in the back of my head, I knew doing so meant I was one step closer to having him meet my family, or more accurately my mother. Considering we were engaged, I couldn’t avoid it forever. I did plan to marry him, and I did want my family at the wedding––mostly. But this was a big step for me, and Kevin knew it.

  Pete and Amber stood when we reached their table. Pete immediately gave me a bear hug and then I introduced everyone. “Kevin, I would like you to meet my two most favorite people in the world, Pete, and Amber.” Pete and Kevin shook hands while Amber gave me a quick hug.

  After I ruined Kevin’s birthday with the flu, I made reservations to stay a long weekend at the coast to make it up to him especially since he ended up getting sick too.