Miguel had offered to keep Josie for the night so Brett and I could spend some time together before he left tomorrow. I think Brett had a talk with Miguel, because when I dropped Josie off (the first time in months that I’d gone anywhere without an escort), Miguel hugged me, and told me everything would be okay. I didn’t ask him what he meant. I just nodded, and said thanks before I left.
Brett and I ended up driving to Joan’s house and playing cards. It was the least romantic thing to do, but I think we both knew we couldn’t handle being alone and thinking about what tomorrow would bring.
Brett had a few beers since he was now off duty and I had a few too many sweet and yummys. When we finally arrived home, a little after midnight, we laughed our way upstairs.
It would’ve been easy to make love to him. We were both a little tipsy. But all we wanted to do was hold each other. We changed and crawled into bed together at nearly 1:00am, holding each other without saying a word.
After kissing and caressing one another’s bodies, our hands seeking out almost every part we could reach, we agreed that we had to stop before we couldn’t. Wrapping his arm around me, he angled my body so my head laid on his chest, my leg over his.
Our position.
Before we fell asleep, I heard Brett whisper, “Mel, I love ya, princess.”
“I love you more than I could ever say, you big brute.” I smiled sadly and fell asleep in his arms.
When I woke up the next morning, the teddy bear was back in my arms, but I knew Brett wasn’t downstairs waiting for me this time. I sat up in bed and looked at my dresser. There were about two-dozen white roses arranged with tiny pink flowers in a clear vase. Noticing a small white box below it, I jumped up, and hurried over to it.
Finding a small card under the box, I opened it first.
Mel,
I want to give you the world, because that’s what you’ve
given me. I thought about buying a bottle of lotion and
putting a big bow on it, but that wasn’t enough.
Instead, I got you this necklace. No matter how far apart
we are, or where our lives lead us, I will always be next to
your heart when you wear it.
I’ll see you in a week. And remember, no worries.
I LOVE YOU, PRINCESS!
Brett
With tearful eyes, I opened the gift box and found a gold chain with a charm in the shape of the Marine emblem hanging on it. I smiled at his double meanings. Marines were better.
I loved him so much. Putting the necklace on, I took a deep breath, and decided to face my fate. Tears would do no good. I had to figure my future out.
Two Years Later
“I’m definitely bigger. Look!” I stood sideways and showed her that mine stuck out further.
“No way, mine is huge!” Allyea pointed to hers and laughed.
I was comparing belly sizes with Allyea, the girl who had been working at the shop for me for the past few years. She had finished college and was teaching elementary school now, but she still filled in for me when she could. We had grown to be very good friends.
We were actually about the same size to be honest. I’m not sure how it happened, but we both had the same due date too. We often teased each other, saying that we were doing the same thing, at the same time, when we conceived, just with two different men.
“I don’t care who’s bigger, you’re both beautiful.” I heard Brett’s deep voice coming up behind us and turned to watch him.
The twinkle in his eyes, conflicting with his bad boy charm was visible. He was wearing cargo shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip-flops. He looked as sexy as always, but relaxed and happy as well.
He walked up behind Allyea and wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on her big belly. Leaning forward, he chuckled as he kissed her cheek from behind.
I smiled at the two of them and shook my head.
“Beautiful huh? I feel like a beached whale.” I asked him.
Brett looked over at me from behind Allyea and connected with my eyes.
“You’re always beautiful, Mel.” His voice soft, his eyes were filled with love.
I smiled, returning the same look.
We’d always love each other, no matter what, but life had given us different paths. After he left me alone with Miguel for the week, I knew I had to try to make it work for Josie. I had given my word when we married, and I needed to see that through.
It wasn’t easy at first. When I told Brett my decision, I thought he’d die. I thought I would right alongside him. But we didn’t. Gradually, we picked up the pieces, and found a different kind of friendship.
He and Allyea started dating about nine months later and were married the next year. I used to think she was just a young twit, but when I got to know her better, she was extremely sweet and caring. She was perfect for him.
Miguel and I took some time working through things before he moved back in. I never told him about my two nights of lovemaking with Brett. Maybe that was wrong of me, but that was something Brett and I agreed to hold on to, and not share with anyone else. It was all I could keep of him…except his necklace. I wore it frequently, and kept him near my heart.
On Christmas, he added to the necklace with another charm. This one was a bubbling glass with a straw. My sweet and yummy. On my birthday, he gave me a charm of the world, telling me that no matter where we were, or who we were with, we’d always love each other. We kept the meanings between us, but I cherished it more than any other piece of jewelry I owned.
Miguel respected our friendship, and never prevented us from remaining close. Brett and I didn’t talk every day anymore, but we made sure not to let more than two or three days go in between. Miguel felt like he’d always owe Brett for what he’d done to save us. He respected Brett even more when he gave us the time to figure out what we should do, and I chose to stay with Miguel. The two of them even became friends and would occasionally go sailing together on the “Miguelianna.”
I fell in love with Miguel all over again. Experiencing the little things that made every day so special between us, our life returned to normal.
Every day, I looked forward to him walking through the door after work and ripping his socks and shoes off. And every night, he’d tell me that I was his everything. Remembering how special each moment was, I never hesitated to respond. “As you are mine.” I’d whisper against his lips as I kissed him before falling asleep.
We all found happiness and love when everything looked hopeless. I was truly very lucky, as Joan always told me. We all were.
“Okay you two, I’m right here you know!” Allyea teased us and spun around to return her husband’s kiss.
She was great about things too. She knew neither Brett nor I would ever cheat, but that we’d always care about each other. She never felt jealous. She embraced what brought him to her and cherished it. I loved her more for that.
“Alright guys, enough belly comparisons. The burgers are getting cold.” Miguel called out from the deck.
We all laughed and walked up to join him to eat. He was wearing the pink apron that now said, “Kiss the cook.” A while back he had used a permanent marker, stating that he was making it more “manly” and written the words across the front. I’m not sure pink and ruffles could be manly, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Miguel.
I walked up and leaned sideways to kiss him. My belly was too big to do it from the front. Holding a spatula in one hand, he used his other to cup my face, as he returned my kiss, following it with small butterfly kisses on my nose and forehead.
Hearing a door slamming open, I turned to see Josie running through the doorway with a handful of toys. He had his last surgery a year ago and was completely healed now. He had become quite the handful, and kept all four of us busy.
“Mommy, guess what!” He came over to us, dropping a few toys along the way.
“What honey?”
“I’m gonna give my fire truck to my new
baby sister and my dump truck to baby Brett.” He smiled proudly, holding the two large vehicles in his arms.
“Awe, that’s sweet honey. They’ll love them.”
I guess Brett trained him well.
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I started this book 3 years ago. The storyline is actually based on a nightmare that I had, combined with quite a few real life stories that my family shared with me and I experienced in the Middle East. But due to the events around the world, and especially in Kurdistan and Iraq during the past couple years, I tried to be very sensitive to the timing of its release due to the terroristic content. Delaying the release seemed appropriate, but also made me reconsider publishing it at all. Thank you for all of you who told me it was time and pushed me to move forward!
A special thank you to…. Machaila for loaning me your electronics and helping me with internet issues to help complete this book and it’s promotions, Christianna and Leah for continually pushing me to follow my dreams – regardless of how absurd they may seem, Sean for growing with me and helping me to become the person I am today – you’ll never know how much you taught me through life when I thought I was the one teaching you, Brittney for all the joy you brought into my life and all the smiles you gave me – you are and always will be my daughter, my mom for encouraging me to be who I am and to enjoy life’s moments because all too soon they’ll be gone, my dad for continually reminding me to get a job – because he has no clue how many sleepless nights and long days actually go into writing a book, and to my brothers for guiding me, helping me, and picking on me as a kid – priceless lessons that helped me learn to survive in an unforgiving world. Rachel, I have no words, except to say that you are the sister I never had. Thank you for always being there for me! Michael – for telling me to submit and follow my dreams, never fear the unknown, and enjoy every step of the way. Ray – for making fun of my books and alien boyfriends. Your words were the added push I needed many nights to finally finish this book. Mrs. Fase, my high school journalism teacher – you were the start to a life filled with a love for writing. Thank you for guiding me and teaching me how to be creative in all I do, giving me the tools I’d need twenty years later to successfully write this book and others. Brandy, I don’t have enough space here to list how much you helped me. Without you, I never would’ve made it through the past two years and gotten to today where I’m publishing my book. Nashwan thank you for teaching me to believe in myself again and strive to trust God & work hard to make life better each day. My friend and fellow author, Anthony Ventrello – thank you for assisting and answering endless questions to help me understand how to publish my book. Obviously, nobody would be reading this if it weren’t for you! And my dog, Moses – your snoring while I worked, begging to go in & out while I edited, and most of all, your cuddles when I was overwhelmed helped me more than any amount of bones could ever show you!
Thank you to my ‘Guinea Pig’ readers – as I call them. Without you, I’m afraid the editor wouldn’t even consider looking at my work. You get the very roughest of drafts and work your way through it, simply to help me narrow my focus and begin correcting my mistakes. Your hard work deserves thousands of thank you’s!
Last, but not least, Kats Eye Editing. Not only are you an amazing editor who takes the time to share your thoughts and emotions as a reader, directing my writing in ways that others could not, you also corrected my crazy manuscript and helped me achieve a very professional final product that people just might enjoy reading! But most of all, you were understanding in ways that many people and companies would not be. Thank you!
I’m sure I forgot someone, as there are so many people that have helped me get to this point. But no worries, I’ll slip your name in the next book! …you’ll just have to buy that one too in order to see your name in print!
Thank you readers. YOU are the reason authors publish. YOU are the reason I spent months with little to no sleep, hoping to please you with my work. Most importantly, YOU are the ones who give us the biggest reward in all this madness when you say, “I love that book!”
Twisted Truths & Leveled Lies Page 40