A Chance Encounter

by Charlie Conwell

  “I’m not sure, I have tried to arrange a visit to mom before leaving to go to your parent’s house, but she kept saying she was busy and we would meet for New Year’s instead. I think she might be seeing someone and doesn’t want me to know. Then I will be leaving soon and away from you for 6 weeks first and then 2 years. I’m going to miss you so much Em.”

  “I’m going to miss you too baby, every day, but we will get through this. I don’t think your mom is seeing anyone honey. She is content, and I really don’t think she is looking for a lover. Maybe she is just trying to make it easier on you by saying New Years with her and Christmas with mine. If you want, I can call my parents and cancel going to them and go to your mom’s instead.”

  “No love, not at all, we will go to your parents. I think I’m just overthinking everything and making it more than what it is.”

  Charlie smiles at me and I rest my head on her chest as she holds me close. She starts to rock the chair again and we are contented. I should tell Charlie the truth but that would ruin the surprise and it will be worth it.

  “I love this chair, I just sit here and look out the window and I just drift away but it makes it so much better with you on my lap. My head stops running and I feel a sense of peace move through my body. For a long time, this is how I spent my nights when I couldn’t sleep before you came into my life. You know, I wouldn’t mind if my mom found someone new, I don’t want her to be lonely.”

  “Have you ever told her that?”

  “I tried to a couple of times, but she just swatted the idea away, telling me that she is happy as she is.”

  “Charlie, I promise you will have a good Christmas at my parent’s house and we will spend time with your mom as soon as we come back before you leave for training camp.”

  “Baby, don’t think I don’t want to go because I do. I just got restless and was thinking things that weren’t there. I aim to make this your best Christmas yet.”

  I lift my head and look into her eyes. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “You can tell me anything love.”

  “It already is the best Christmas yet, because you are with me.” She grins at me and kisses me so sensually that I moan. “Come back to bed with me and I will put you to sleep.”

  I get up, take her by the hand and guide her back to our room. We make love and she falls asleep sated in my arms. I love the way she gives herself fully to me. She allows me to shield her from her worries and pain by allowing me to comfort her in my arms. I drift off into a satisfied slumber with a smile on my face.

  My alarm goes off a few hours later and Charlie grumbles. “Do I have to get up now?”

  “No darling, you don’t, I am going to fix you breakfast in bed and that will give a little more time to sleep.”

  Her eyes are still closed, but she gives me a grin, then pouts her lips, looking for a kiss, which I will give her. I get up and pull on my dressing gown and I am just about to open the door when I hear Charlie speak.

  “I love you, babe.”

  I smile lovingly at her. “I love you too honey, breakfast won’t be long.”

  I return a little while later with a tray of cooked breakfast, orange juice and coffee. As soon as I enter the room, I see Charlie open one eye and smirk. “That smells so good.”

  I set down the tray as Charlie sits up in bed and I get in beside her. She leans over and kisses me soundly on the mouth. “You are the best girlfriend in the world.”

  “I know.”

  We eat our breakfast, get showered and dressed. Before long, we have the bags at the front door and saying goodbye to Stacey.

  “Drive safely, text me when you get there.”

  “I will and enjoy being at Niall’s for Christmas, don’t be too nervous about meeting the parents. You know if it gets too much you can call my mom.”

  Charlie receives a thump on each arm from Stacey and me. She looks between the two of us. “I don’t like when you two join forces.”

  Stacey gives her a hug. “Get used to it, it will happen more often.”

  “Don’t I know it, bye Stace, see you soon.”

  The drive back home to my parents is nice and relaxed. It’s a gorgeous day, the music is good and there are no nerves on this journey. I’m excited to see Charlie’s reaction when we arrive at my parent’s house.

  “Should we stop or keep going, are you hungry honey?”

  “No love, I’m still full of breakfast but we can stop if you need a break from driving.”

  She grins at me with her blue eyes sparkling. “I’m good for another while, do you think Ray will be there when we arrive.”

  “They won’t arrive until tomorrow, so you can wait another day to steal my nephew away.”

  She laughs and it is so good to see her this relaxed and happy. Charlie doesn’t bother taking a break and we are making great time. I’m worried we will get there too early, so I pull out my phone and fire off a quick text to say so.

  “Who are you texting? I’m right here beautiful.”

  I start to laugh. “You are such a big head, I do text other people too you know.”

  I see her pout and glance at me with that cute look on her face. I lean over and kiss her cheek.

  “Oh my god, you are not allowed to do that anymore.”

  She laughs at me and shrugs. “I’m happy I got the kiss I wanted.”

  “I was texting home to say we will be arriving soon.”

  “Oh, good woman, I am making great time.”

  Thirty minutes later, we pull up outside the house and my mom is already out of the front door to welcome us. I am enveloped in a hug with my mom as Charlie takes out the bags. I quickly whisper to her and she nods in the affirmative making me smile brightly.

  “Hi Gwen, how are you? You are looking wonderful in your Christmas jumper.”

  “Hi Charlie, I’m doing much better now that you both are here. I have a Christmas jumper for the 12 days of Christmas.”

  I see Charlie’s eyes widen and she looks at me. I laugh and nod. “She is serious, my mom loves her Christmas jumpers and there is probably one with your name on it for Christmas day.”

  I see the look of dread come over her face and I can’t help but laugh. I throw my arm around her shoulders. “You will just have to suck it up my love, this is how we do it here.”

  She shakes her head. “I love you and your crazy family rituals.”

  We go into the living room. My mom has tea and coffee all set out for us. Charlie stretches out her tired muscles and picks up the bags. “I’ll just get rid of these first I could murder a coffee.”

  My mom grins. “I have one with your name on it, go ahead Charlie, we will wait for you.”

  As soon as Charlie goes out, I see movement in the kitchen and I get that excited feeling.

  “Honey, you will give it all away if you don’t calm down.”

  “I can’t help it, this is going to be the best surprise for Charlie, thank you for allowing this to happen.”

  “That is not necessary, it gives us a chance to have a joint Christmas celebration.”

  I can hear Charlie coming back and my mom moves into the kitchen. I quickly sit on the sofa trying to act natural but the excitement I feel inside is almost at bursting point. Charlie comes in, sits down beside me and kisses me on the lips.

  She looks at the table. “Baby, is all this food for us?”

  I look at the plates of cookies and cake. “Yeah but don’t worry, my brothers will make short work of them.”

  I lift my mug and take a drink while Charlie looks for hers. “Ummm babe, can I have some of yours, I think your mom forgot my mug.”

  I look at the table and smirk my mom is so very clever. I let out a shout that Charlie wasn’t expecting because she jumps beside me. “Mom, can you bring in a mug for Charlie please.”

  “Jeez babe, you didn’t have to shout, your mom could be busy.”

  I roll my eyes as I shrug. “Just a second love and I will bring it in.”
r />   “See it’s all good now.”

  “You are insane, but I love you.”

  I give her a nudge. “Hey, I’m not insane, I picked you, didn’t I?” She laughs and has to give in to my argument. “See, I rest my case.”

  I kiss her, and we get caught up in the moment. The clear of a throat pulls us apart making Charlie blush and look up expecting to see my mom, but she sees her own. I see the tears start to fall as she stands up. “Mom.”

  “Hi, honey.”

  Charlie pulls her into a hug and she cries on her shoulder. I feel the tears fall down my own cheeks.

  “What are you doing here? How are you here?”

  Ellie moves back and wipes the tears from Charlie’s eyes including her own before looking at me.

  “Your wonderful girlfriend asked me to come along and be here for the holidays with you.”

  Charlie looks at me and Ellie. “Is that why you didn’t want to see me before now?”

  Ellie smiles softly. “Yes, I knew that I would get this time with you and Em and I wanted you to have the extra time with her family too.”

  Charlie hugs her mom and kisses her cheek. “I love that you are here.”

  Ellie looks at me, smiles and winks. Charlie moves out of her embrace, comes over to me and kisses me hard before giving me the biggest hug I have ever received from her.

  “I love you so much, this is the best Christmas present I could ever wish for.”

  “I love you too and I could see when we were leaving how much you both wanted to be with each other at Christmas, so I set up this surprise for you.”

  She smiles lovingly into my eyes. “You are the best girlfriend in the entire world.”

  I blush and shrug. “It was nothing, my mom was able to set it all up and I wanted to have Ellie here too.”

  Charlie hugs my mom. “Thank you, Gwen, for making this happen, I appreciate it so much.”

  “You’re welcome Charlie and this gives us all a chance to get to know each other. It’s a pleasure to have your mom and you with us for the holidays.”

  We all sit down and have tea. Ellie and Gwen are in animated conversation. I look at Charlie who is grinning and looking happier than I could have imagined.

  “You would swear the two of them knew each other for years with how well they are getting on.”

  “Oh, my mom has said they are already best friends and organised a shopping trip for when the mall opens after Christmas. It’s great that they like each other, right?”

  She pulls me back into her arms and I rest my head on her chest. “It is the best babe, your mom and my mom best friends…wait it could be bad for us, they are going to gang up together and make us go shopping and girly crap like that.”

  I start to laugh. “Hey, I would like that.”

  Charlie snickers. “Yes, you would, it is good for you, bad for me.”

  The rest of the evening goes well, the rest of the family meet Ellie and they adore her too. The only people left to arrive is Ray and his parents. Everyone is enjoying the festivities and the drinks are flowing. My dad has started to sing. I cringe but Charlie just smiles and claps along. As the night ends, I make my way to our room and I am a little tipsy but have had a wonderful night. Charlie kisses me tenderly. “I will be right back, I will get you some water.”

  I giggle, strip out of my clothes and I see the hunger rise in Charlie. She shakes her head. “You are naughty honey, I am going to get that water.”

  ****

  I knock on the room door where my mom is staying. “Mom, can I come in?”

  “Of course, honey.”

  I open the door, go in and sit beside my mom. She waits patiently for me to speak and I rub the back of my head in nervousness. She smiles at me. “You can talk to me about anything Charlie. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong, I am so happy that you are here. Mom, I have the ring that you gave me, and I want to propose to Em while everyone is here, but I don’t know how to make it special.”

  “Charlie that is wonderful news, I am so happy for you. I will do anything to help you.”

  I blush and rub the back of my head again. “I want to ask Gwen and Adam for permission, but I can’t do that with Em here. I know I am going to be gone for a while, but I am committed to Em and I want her to know that she is the one for me no matter what.”

  “That’s a beautiful thing honey. What if I get Em to take me for a walk after Christmas dinner and you will have a chance to talk to Gwen and Adam.”

  “That would be great mom, all I have to do then is set up the proposal for that night. I need to make it special for her. I want her to feel like she is the most important and special woman in the world.”

  My mom hugs me close to her. “She will feel all of that baby girl, because of you. You don’t need big dramatics, make it simple and elegant and she will be swept off her feet.”

  “Mom, you approve of this, don’t you? I have your blessing to marry Em and have her wear your ring?”

  Her hands move to my cheeks. “I am so proud of you and Em is a wonderful woman. You have found the other half of you in that girl and honey you have had my blessing all along. You have become a strong and beautiful woman and I know your father would approve too.”

  I feel the tears start to fall. She catches them and as I look into her eyes, I can see that she too is teary. She embraces me, and I feel centred and happy that my mom is on board with me with this.

  She wipes away her tears and smiles at me wiping away my own too. “Go to bed and get some sleep and we will have a wonderful celebration tomorrow. I love you, honey.”

  “I love you too mom, thank you for always being there for me. I don’t thank you enough.”

  “Charlie, honey, you never have to thank me and I will always be here for you, no matter what.”

  “Goodnight mom, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Goodnight honey, sweet dreams.”

  I go into the kitchen, grab a glass of water and go back to our room. I see that Em has fallen asleep with just a baggy t-shirt belonging to me on her. I smile as I undress and get into boxers and t-shirt. I climb into the bed and as soon as I do, Em moves her head onto my chest, her arm around my waist still asleep. I smile softly and kiss the top of her head. I whisper, “I love you, baby.”

  I drift off to sleep with thoughts of proposing to my girlfriend and smile at that thought.

  Chapter 21

  We awake and my head is pounding but the soft warm pillow I am lying on is so comfortable. I nuzzle in more and I hear a chuckle. I open one eye and realise that my pillow is Charlie’s breast. I blush but she just chuckles more. “You are very cute when you do that. I have two pain pills and a glass of water for you, honey. Are you feeling okay?”

  I raise my head, groan and she laughs again before kissing me. “Take the pain pills and drink the water and I will go and get you a cup of coffee. She gets up and I flop back on the pillow and then groan with the pain in my head. “Damn it, I am never drinking again.”

  ****

  I am pouring Em’s coffee when my mom comes in and kisses my cheek. “Good morning honey, Merry Christmas.”

  I smile and give her a hug. “Merry Christmas mom.”

  “How are you this morning?”

  “I’m a lot better than Em, the poor thing has a horrible hangover and I am fixing her up some coffee.”

  “That’s sweet of you but I was actually referring to what we talked about last night.”

  “Oh, I am okay but a little nervous. I have an idea for it, just need the blessing from her parents and then it’s a go. How are you getting on with your new BFF?”

  She looks confused and then starts to laugh. “Oh, you mean Gwen, we are getting on great and I am loving having a new friend.”

  “That’s great mom, I’m happy for you. So, do you think they will give me permission to ask Em?”

  She puts her arm around my shoulder. “Honey, I have no doubt in my mind. They will be just as excit
ed as I am for the proposal and knowing that the two of you are going to be so happy together.”

  “Good morning Charlie, Ellie did you sleep okay?”

  “I slept great, thanks, Gwen, Charlie slept even better than I did.”

  Gwen cocks her head to the side while I stare at my mother. She smiles and takes the mug from my hand. “I’ll take this up to Em for you Charlie.”

  My eyes widen and I start to blush. “No, that’s okay, I can do it.”

  She kisses my cheek. “Don’t be silly, I will check that she is feeling okay too. Did you give her the pain pills for her hangover?”

  “I did but I don’t know if she took them or just fell back to sleep.”

  “Okay, I will check that for you.”

  She walks off chuckling, leaving me standing there with an open mouth and a very confused looking Gwen. I look at her, smile and rub the back of my head. She knows my tell and smiles. “What is it, Charlie? Why are you nervous here? You know our home is your home.”

  I stop rubbing the back of my head and grin. “Yes, I know that, could I talk to you and Adam just for a minute while Em is upstairs please.”

  She nods and opens the back door. “Adam, could you come here for a minute love.”

  Adam pokes his head out of the garage wiping his hands on an old rag. “Sure honey.”

  They sit down at the kitchen table and I sit opposite them. I swallow the lump in my throat. They can tell I’m nervous. Adam folds his arms and sits back while Gwen moves around to sit beside me. “It’s okay Charlie, just tell us what you wanted to say, we are listening.”

  I clear my throat. “Gwen, Adam I love your daughter very much. She has made me a better person and we have made decisions together. I know we are only together a short time but I know I want her in my life long term. She is my number one priority and I know I can make her happy. I am going on tour and I know that is something that saddens Em and it hurts me too. I am going to miss her but I will be coming back to her. I…I want to marry your daughter, I want her as my wife and I would like your permission to propose to your daughter here, at your home, tonight please.”