What thoughts were running through your mind, Mom? Was it love at first sight for you? How much English did you speak back then? What were the first words you spoke to your future husband, the man who would become my father?
“Yes kez sirumem,” his mother replied, in his mind.
Alex wasn’t sure if she was answering his question, or simply reminding him of what she felt in her heart for him. So he responded with, “I love you, too.”
Sensing Robby had arrived, Alex looked up and saw him standing motionless in the center of the crowd. He was a beautiful rock, sturdy and solid, as a constant flow of activity whirled around him in hyper-speed. Robby was holding on for dear life to the handles of Emily’s stroller, with elbows locked and his jaw tight.
Alex stood up. He moved toward them, taking each step slowly, as if every movement he made had a significant purpose.
Once he reached them, Alex leaned in to Robby and kissed his cheek. “Hello, beautiful,” he greeted him.
“How was the first day of class?” Robby asked, his tone anxious. His hair was much shorter than it had been in Harmonville. They both looked a little older, as responsibility helped them transition from boys to men.
“I think I’m in love,” Alex replied.
Robby raised an eyebrow. “Do I have competition?” he said, with a smile.
“I don’t know. Columbia College is pretty awesome.”
“And your classes?”
“I love ’em.” Alex beamed. “Not as much as I love you, though. And this little angel you have with you.”
“She threw up on the train,” Robby offered. “It was like The Exorcist.”
“Classy.” Alex laughed. “And one of my all-time favorite horror films.”
“I think I fed her too much again,” Robby worried.
“We’re parents in training,” Alex reminded him. “Let’s go out tonight and celebrate.”
“How? We have no sitter.”
“Already taken care of.”
Robby grinned. “Your cousins?”
“My aunts,” Alex said. “They’re insisting Emily be fluent in Armenian by her first birthday.”
“Where should we go?”
“Wherever you want,” Alex said. “We’re not just celebrating my first day of school.”
“No?”
“We’ve lived here for four months now,” Alex said.
“So it’s an anniversary…of sorts,” Robby concluded.
“I think every day we should celebrate something,” Alex suggested.
“Yeah,” Robby agreed. “I like that.”
“C’mon,” Alex urged. They started to walk, heading toward Millennium Park. “Let’s spend the afternoon with our daughter. Then the three of us can watch the sunset.”
They made their way down Michigan Avenue. Occasionally, Alex stole glances at Robby. Each time he looked at the beautiful man walking beside him, Alex felt breathless—the same way he’d felt the first time they met in his driveway over a year ago. The same shudder he’d experienced when Robby and he had first kissed was still rippling inside his soul—just at the sight of him.
Robby LaMont made Alex Bainbridge feel the same intoxicating high he felt whenever he turned to the sky—a wild exhilaration that anything was possible. Much like Alex used to feel whenever he was swimming to his island, kicking and propelling himself through the water, hoping when he emerged and broke the surface of the lake, he’d find love waiting for him.
But now Alex was in Chicago.
He’d finally come home.
Now, he was coming up for air.
About the Author
David-Matthew Barnes is the author of the young adult novels Mesmerized and Swimming to Chicago, and the literary suspense novel Accidents Never Happen, all published by Bold Strokes Books. He wrote and directed the coming-of-age film Frozen Stars, which received worldwide distribution. He is the author of over forty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in eight countries. His literary work has appeared in over one hundred publications including The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues, The Best Women’s Stage Monologues, The Comstock Review, Review Americana, and The Southeast Review. David-Matthew is the national recipient of the 2011 Hart Crane Memorial Poetry Award. In addition, he’s received the Carrie McCray Literary Award and the Slam Boston Award for Best Play, and has earned double awards for poetry and playwriting in the World AIDS Day Writing Contest. David-Matthew earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. He lives in Griffin, Georgia, where he is a faculty member at Southern Crescent Technical College.
Soliloquy Titles From Bold Strokes Books
Swimming to Chicago by David-Matthew Barnes. As the lives of the adults around them unravel, high school students Alex and Robby form an unbreakable bond, vowing to do anything to stay together—even if it means leaving everything behind. (978-1-60282-572-7)
Speaking Out edited by Steve Berman. Inspiring stories written for and about LGBT and Q teens of overcoming adversity (against intolerance and homophobia) and experiencing life after “coming out.” (978-1-60282-566-6)
365 Days by K.E. Payne. Life sucks when you’re seventeen years old and confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. Then in walks sexy new emo girl, Hannah Harrison. Clemmie Atkins has exactly 365 days to discover herself, and she’s going to have a blast doing it! (978-1-60282-540-6)
Cursebusters! by Julie Smith. Budding-psychic Reeno is the most accomplished teenage burglar in California, but one tiny screw-up and poof!—she’s sentenced to Bad Girl School. And that isn’t even her worst problem. Her sister Haley’s dying of an illness no one can diagnose, and now she can’t even help. (978- 1-60282-559-8)
Who I Am by M.L. Rice. Devin Kelly’s senior year is a disaster. She’s in a new school in a new town, and the school bully is making her life miserable—but then she meets his sister Melanie and realizes her feelings for her are more than platonic. (978-1- 60282-231-3)
Sleeping Angel by Greg Herren. Eric Matthews survives a terrible car accident only to find out everyone in town thinks he’s a murderer—and he has to clear his name even though he has no memories of what happened. (978-1-60282-214-6)
Mesmerized by David-Matthew Barnes. Through her close friendship with Brodie and Lance, Serena Albright learns about the many forms of love and finds comfort for the grief and guilt she feels over the brutal death of her older brother, the victim of a hate crime. (978-1-60282-191-0)
The Perfect Family by Kathryn Shay. A mother and her gay son stand hand in hand as the storms of change engulf their perfect family and the life they knew. (978-1-60282-181-1)
Father Knows Best by Lynda Sandoval. High school juniors and best friends Lila Moreno, Meryl Morganstern, and Caressa Thibodoux plan to make the most of the summer before senior year. What they discover that amazing summer about girl power, growing up, and trusting friends and family more than prepares them to tackle that all-important senior year! (978-1- 60282-147-7)
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