Never Expected Love

by S. M. Stryker

  "Lie to me first," she says as she smirks at me.

  "This isn't your house, I'm an alien and I tried to make this house look like yours, but I forgot you didn't have a peephole." I look down at her with a cheesy smile on my face.

  "Uh Huh. So what's the truth?"

  "I know I stepped over the line, but I did it for your own protection." I walk her to the Range Rover, my hand on the small of her back as I look for anything suspicious or out of place. I shut the door behind Nicole, get into my seat and drive away. I glance at her as she looks patiently at me.

  "I'm waiting." She raises her eyebrow at me.

  "Okay, like I said, I might have taken things into my own hands, but I was concerned."

  "Why, Richard?"

  "This morning, well, in the middle of the night I heard someone at your front door. I got out of bed and because I couldn't see who was out there, I knew that you or Harlow wouldn't either."

  "What did you hear?"

  "Someone was playing with the door knob." I look over at her and she's as pale as a ghost. I reach over and take her hand in mine. "I texted Mitchell and told him we needed to make your place more secure, and he was over first thing this morning. He put in a new type of deadbolt, a peephole so you can look through it before blindly opening the door, and switched your front porch light for one that has a motion detector on it."

  "How did you know they had left?"

  "I turned the porch light on and heard them run, then a few seconds later a car started and drove away."

  "Oh."

  "Are you okay?"

  She closes her eyes as a tear slips through her lashes. I pull over into a parking lot. Climbing out of the SUV, I open her door and pull her into me. I know that this has brought up the fear of her attack. I hold her as she quietly cries, her shoulders shuddering. I take her shoulders and set her back so I can look into her eyes and her into mine. When she looks at me, I say, "Nicole, Honey." I start to wipe away her tears as I talk. "I will do everything in my power to keep you protected. If that means modifying your home to make it safer, I'll do that." She nods her head at me. "You should have just gone with the lie." She starts to laugh. I pull her to me placing a light kiss to her forehead. "I won't let anything happen to you again, okay?" she nods her head again. "I promise." This time, I pull her to me and kiss her on the lips. They are soft and salty from her tears. "Are you going to be okay?"

  "Yes, thank you, Richard." I close her door, get back in my seat, and continue our drive. I take Nicole's hand in mine again so she knows that she is safe with me.

  I can tell she isn't paying attention to where we're going, she is in deep thought. I turn my radio to a 1980's station as “Open Arms”by Journey starts to play. I have always loved the band but this song just seems to touch me a little different now. I glance over at Nicole and it looks as if it affects her as well. I know that if I don't turn the atmosphere around soon, both of us are going to be a wreck. After the songis over, I change the station to a current pop station but keepthe volume down,asitis just quiet background music.

  "What's your favorite band?" I ask her.

  "I have a few. I guess it depends on my mood. Current bands, now, I love One Republic. Their song “Waking Up” is a favorite, and at the end there is an instrumental part that I absolutely love. I love the strings, and for whatever reason it makes me appreciate life and what I have. It's just beautiful. I also like Fun and Imagine Dragons, but I really love a lot of eighties music, Journey, Boston, Kansas, and the list goes on. What about you?"

  "Yeah, the eighties are always good. I have been listening to the Decemberists too, have you heard of them?"

  "No, are they new?"

  "Not really, they have been around for a few years, but they're an indie band. They're actually from Oregon. I think they'll make it big as they're starting to make a name for themselves now."

  "I'll have to listen to them."

  "So I'm making it my mission to show you things you've never seen before, take you places you've never been, and do things that you haven't ever done before."

  "Well that should be real easy since I haven't ever done anything before or visited anything."

  We finally get to our destination, and I pull into a parking spot. It's busy and the main road down the promenade is packed with tourist and kids. Nicole looks at me with a confused look on her face. "Where are we?"

  "This doesn't look familiar?"

  She looks around. A couple people are flying kites while some children are running with buckets and sand toys. Her face lights up and her eyes meet mine.

  "We're at the beach."

  "I told you this was going to be a weekend to get in touch with your inner child."

  I park on the main drag to the promenade and help her out of the Range Rover. As we walk down the stairs to the beach, I see the swings are vacant. Taking Nicole's hand, I lead her to the swing set. Backing her into the swing, I tell her to sit and hold on tight. I move so that I am behind her and start to push her. She laughs harder and harder as the swing inches up to the sky. Then I push her so hard that I run underneath her and she lets out a loud squeal. God, this feel so good, I guess I need this as much as she does.

  I move to her side, sit in the swing next to her, and start to swing myself. I sneak glances at her as we're swinging on our own; she has a big smile on her face. Then when I get high enough, I jump out of the swing. I turn and tell her to jump. She starts to giggle. "No, I can't, I'll fall."

  "So, if you fall it’s sand, it won't hurt. Besides, I'm here to catch you. Trust me, Nicole, since when do you use the word 'can't?'

  With that she jumps, and as I catch her, we roll on the ground laughing. Sand flies all around us.I close my mouth, my teeth are crunchy with gritty sand, but damn it was worth it. It's a warm day and the sand sifts down through my shirt and sticks to my skin. "I haven't done something like that since I was a kid," I say as I stand and help her up. I pull herup so hard she falls hard to my chest. As if in slow motion, our laughter stops and we stand staring at each other. She has sand on her cheek and I reach up and brush it away, neither of us taking our eyes off each other. I cradle her face in my hands, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs. She licks her lips, and I bend to taste them for myself. I lick the bottom lip then the top, and not able to handle the temptation, I pull her lips to mine. My heart races and I don't think I am breathing, but I don't care, she is all that I need at this moment.

  I come back to my senses when I hear a couple of children run by laughing. Pulling away from Nicole's soft, moist lips makes me groan, and I hear a whimper escape her lips as I drag air into my oxygen-deprived lungs. I take her hand as I walk toward the ocean. I stop and take off my shoes and roll up my jeans. While I am down there, I roll Nicole's jeans and remove her sandals. "Is it okay to take off my shoes? I won't step on anything?"

  "Nothing that will hurt you, come on." I grab her hand and start to run as she lets out a high pitch squeal, and I just laugh. As we get to the water, I pick her up with an arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders and swing her around.

  She's half-screaming and half-laughing, God what an awesome sound. She wraps her arms around my neck and buries her face into my chest as she hangs on for dear life. "Ri...ch...ard!" I don't think I have ever felt like this before, even in high school when I was partying.

  I slowly set her on her feet as she slides down my body. Shit, she always makes me hard without even trying. I guess it's a good thing I decide for my shirt to be left un-tucked. She slowly releases her hands from around my neck as they run down my chest; her beautiful blue eyes look bluer from the water as they look deep into my soul searching.

  As I look down at her, I know there is nothing I want more than to take her mouth with mine again, but I know I can't do that. It's as if I'm a teenager again, my hormones are wild with lust. I'm having a difficult time taking that step back. I know she wants more, but I don't want to push her until she is ready. I rest my forehead on her
s. "What are you doing to me? I don't think I have ever felt like this before, done things like this before. It's as if I'm another person, and I like it, it's the first time that I have really felt alive since my parent's death." I kiss her forehead and long to touch more of her.

  "Richard, am I feeling what most teenagers feel when they're with someone they want to be with? Because I don't want you to stop touching me, but I'm afraid of what will happen. I don't know if I'll have a flashback or not." She looks away from me trying to hide her face.

  I take her chin and pull her face back to look at me. I take a strand of her hair that has blown into her face and tuck it behind her ear as I tilt my head and look deep into her tear-filled eyes. "When you are ready, we'll take it slow, there is no reason to worry about it." She shifts her eyes away from me. "Nicole." She looks back at me. "I'm not going anywhere." She nods her head in acceptance.

  A snicker wave catches us by surprise and soaks our jeans as she gasps with surprise.

  I take her hand gripping it tight so the wave doesn't pull her in as we start to walk back to the shore. "I didn't even see that wave coming."

  "They are called snicker waves, Oregon is known for them. They are an unanticipated coastal wave that is much greater in force and height than the waves preceding it."

  "I know I've heard about them on the news but never thought I would experience one."

  I continue to hold her hand as we walk down the beach. It's a beautiful day and the wind is barely blowing. We hold hands as we watch the kites and their master’s work to keep them in the air and as dogs and children run between us. A little ways further down the beach there's a little boy and girl trying to build sandcastles as their mother looks on. There aren't very many people around the area and the mother looks all alone, I notice she's crying, more like sobbing.

  Nicole looks up at me as if asking for permission to talk to her, she doesn't even have to say anything, and I know what she is asking. "I'll be right here if you need me."

  I walk over to where the children are playing as she walks over to the mom. I kneel down and ask if I can play with them. They look at their mother. "Go ask her, make sure it is okay before you talk to me." She has taught them well and to never talk to strangers. They both bounce up and run over to their mother who quickly wipes her tears away, and she forces a smile on her face. She's pretty with her dark brown wavy hair, and it looks like brown eyes even though they are swollen from crying. She has a very natural look with dark, long lashes and tanned skin. Nicole says something to her and she nods her head as the little boy and girl run back to me squealing with joy. The little boy looks like his mother except he has blue eyes and a shaggy mop of light brown wavy hair while the little girl has blonde almost white hair with caramel colored eyes. "What are your names?"

  "My name is Talon, and dis is my sister Skylar, she can't talk beary good cuz she's just a baby."

  "My name is Richard, how old are you and Skylar?"

  "I'm free and Sky is two.” He holds up his fingers showing their ages. Mommy has a baby in her tummy too."

  "She does?"

  "Yep, but it has been making her wheewy sick."

  "Oh, do you help your mommy around the house?"

  "Sometimes, I twy to take care of Sky for her."

  "Does your daddy live there to help?"

  "I no know who my daddy is. Mommy doesn't talk bout him."

  "Oh. Do you want to build a sandcastle?"

  "Yeah, wow, do you know how?"

  "How about we build it together?"

  "Okay."

  "I'm going to take your bucket and get some water, you stay here with Skylar, and I will be right back." I pick up the bucket, walk to the water and fill the bucket up. I wonder what is wrong with their mom. She looks far enough along that she shouldn't be getting morning sickness anymore, especially bad enough that a three-year-old can tell.

  I dump the water on the sand to get it wet so it will compact better since we are a little ways away from the water and the sand is drier.

  I don't know how long I play with the kids for, but I glance at Nicole every so often and as if she senses me, she looks at me and smiles a sad smile. I see the children's mom write something on a piece of paper then Nicole writes something too. They exchange papers, and Nicole leans over giving the woman a big hug before standing. "I'm going to talk to your mom for a minute." The kids whine with disappointment, and I ruffle their hair. Walking over to the ladies, the mom wipes fallen tears from her eyes. I reach my hand out to her, "Hi, I'm Richard."

  "Hi, I'm Sophia, thank you for keeping my baby's happy as I talked to Nicole. They really need just to be children and play with no thought of anything else."

  "It was my pleasure, they are wonderful and well-behaved children, especially at their ages, and it's fun to play in the sand. You've done a great job with them."

  "Thank you."

  "Give me a call if you need anything," Nicole tells her as she reaches into her shoulder bag and takes out some cash and places it Sophia's hands.

  "No, I can't take that."

  Then I reach into my wallet and pull cash out of mine as well. If Nicole thinks she needs money, then I can give her some more, and I place the folded bills into her hand. "You can and you will. If you need anything at all, even us to watch the children, let Nicole know."

  Tears start to flow down her cheeks again as Sophia pulls us both into a big hug. "I've never been so blessed by anyone before. Thank you for your generosity."

  "You are more than welcome. Give me a call tomorrow after your appointment," Nicole says.

  I walk over to the Talon and Skylar and pull another twenty out of my wallet handing it to Talon. "If it is okay with your mother, here is some money for an ice cream cone." Skylar looks at her brother and mimics his actions as the kids start to scream with excitement. "But," I say, "you need to help your mommy out, no fighting, you both play nicely together, okay?"

  "Okay, fank you!" I have to laugh, he seems to be talking good for a three-year-old. They bound over to their mother and give her the money as they jump around with excitement.

  I take Nicole's hand again and kiss her cheek as we start walking down the beach thinking how fortunate I am. "You make a pretty good sandcastle."

  "So, what's the story with Sophia? I can't imagine that she came here just to cry on the beach as her children watched."

  "Oh, Richard, it's horrible." Her voice cracks. I look down at her face to see a tear slide down her cheek. She just found out that she has cancer, she had been sick with this pregnancy and didn't know why it was so bad. She thought it was just stress, but when it wouldn't stop the doctors finally ran some tests. She just found out."

  "You mean they called her and told her over the phone?"

  "No, they called her to his office and told her. He told her that the best option to try to prolong her life was to abort the fetus so she can start treatment, and she won't do that."

  "Why wouldn't she do that if it would save her?"

  "Because it wouldn't save her, they told her that she is stage four. It might prolong it, but that would be the best they could do. She won't abort the fetus for a few more weeks of life; she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt."

  "What about the children? Talon said there isn't a father in the picture."

  "She doesn't have any family. She moved here when she found out she was pregnant with Talon. Her parent's wanted nothing to do with her after that. She doesn't know who the fathers are," she says sadly. "Anyway, I told her that I want to keep in touch with her, and if she needs me to watch the babies, I will. It doesn't sound like she has a lot of friends here either."

  "How far along is she?"

  "She's twenty-four weeks.

  "That's a little over half way?"

  "Yes, but they're telling her to get her affairs in order, Richard, God only knows if she will make it to term. I just feel sick, I don't know what I would do if I were in that situation. I just want to take her and hold her.
She's so young."

  "I'll be here with you to help if and when she needs it. She needs to figure out what will happen with the babies, I can't imagine her parents are still holding a grudge; it's been over three years. Maybe I can call my lawyer tomorrow and he can tell me what she needs to do to keep the babies together. Talon needs to have Skylar with him, he's her protector."

  "Thank you, Richard." Nicole pulls me to a stop, stretches up, and kisses me on the cheek. I don't know what she had expected. I think I fell in love with Talon and Skylar the moment I first met them. Talon was so outgoing and protective of Skylar. He's going to be a great big brother. His dark tussled hair and crystal blue eyes have a way of haunting you, then there was Skylar with her almost white blonde hair and caramel colored eyes, they are beautiful children.

  "Let's go get something to eat," I say. "Maybe if Sophia is still there, we can take them all out." I know we haven't walked too far since leaving them, but she was pretty upset, I can imagine it would be hard to have the children out here when she is feeling that way. We get to the sandcastle, but they are nowhere in sight.

  I grip Nicole's hand a little tighter as we start up the stairs to get to the road level, and we walk down the sidewalk as both of us are in deep thought, scanning the sidewalks for them.

  We walk into a restaurant and we’re taken to a booth that looks out onto the street. I look up at Nicole. "What do you want to do? There isn't much other than me contacting my lawyer for her tomorrow. Why don't you call her and see if she is still here."

  Nicole pulls out her phone and the piece of paper that has Sophia's number on it. It rings until it goes to voicemail. Nicole leaves a message for her to call back, we've done all we can do for now. Our server comes over and hands us our menus and waters, leaving us to get our drink order and giving us time to look at the menu. As I’m glancing through the menu, I see something outside out of the corner of my eye.

  Excusing myself, I quickly step outside where a man is yelling at a young woman. He's a good foot taller than she is and worse, he's pushing her around and no one is stopping him. She's trying to stay strong, but the tears are now falling down her face as her son gets between his mom and the jackass. He's telling the man to leave his mommy alone and just as the man's hand comes down to strike the boy, I grab him by the wrist. I look at Sophia. "Nicole is in the restaurant and is waiting for you, take the children in there now." She hurries to the door. "Is that how you get your kicks by scaring women and hitting small children? Does that make you feel like a big man? Because from what I am seeing, it just makes you look like an asshole."