by Alexis Gold
“I mean people move in together when they are securely in love and know they are going to spend a considerable amount of their lives with someone, if not forever…” Christina pointed out.
I didn’t plan on ever letting Christina go. I’d beat down every curly haired, afro-wearing guy who got near Christina to at least keep it that way. I looked at Christina as if none of what she said phased me, because none of it did.
Every day, I was even surer that Christina was the one for me. I loved her with a fierceness that I’ve never felt for anyone else. I loved her and I was ready to admit that to myself. I just didn’t want to scare her away with the news.
“You don’t get scared at the thought of being with me, one person, for the rest of your life?” Christina looked at me incredulously as we exited her building and walked the little ways to the car.
I shook my head and she tried to hide her pleased smile.
“You’re like…you’re my everything. I’ve never had any woman have the effect that you do on me before.”
Christina smiled fully then and she launched herself into my arms. I caught her and she hugged me tight before holding my face in her hands and kissing me hard on the mouth. I laughed when she let me go and slid into the car just as abruptly as she attacked me.
Carl took her suitcase to put in the trunk and I got into the car behind Christina.
“So can we make up for last night and have dinner tonight at a surprise place?” Christina nodded while she bit her lip, her gaze had gone curious.
“What happened last night anyway?”
What happened last night…I didn’t want to lie to Christina, but I didn’t want to be completely truthful either. Roxanna showed up at my doorstep and launched herself at me. She was kissing me and her hands were places I didn’t even know they could reach so quickly. When I finally yelled at her to stop and back off, she broke down into tears and started shoving the fact that her life had been torture the past few years and that she just needed some affection.
That time that we actually bumped into each other at the bagel shop she had told me that she really just needed a friend, someone to talk to. I heard her out and she told me that she had been through some shit in the past few years. She had been engaged to an abusive asshole and when she finally got the courage to leave him, he kidnapped her and raped her in a motel where he left her badly injured.
I felt sorry for Roxanna, I really did and I wished that I could have been the friend she needed. But I wasn’t that guy she hung out with in college anymore. She couldn’t monopolize my time and treat me like I was her guy that always hung around or would always be there.
I had moved on when she left and she really needed a counselor rather than me. But, of course, she was playing up the drama and refusing to go to the appointment I set up for her.
“She had a break down, she’s been through a lot in the past few years and she needs help, but she won’t go to a professional.” I gave Christina the shortened version and she nodded. I thought I saw respect in her eyes as she looked at me. Was it because I wasn’t going to share Roxanna’s private information? Either way, whatever made my mission into Christina’s heart easier I’d take it.
“You’re good for helping her…I don’t like it. But you’re a good man and I wouldn’t expect you to leave her in a puddle of tears outside your house or anything like that,” Christina said. I leaned across the seats and kissed her softly on the lips.
“So guess what…?” Christina looked at me expectantly and I smiled at her until she smiled back at me, slightly confused as to why we were smiling. “I told my mom about you, she really wants to meet you,” I said, a smile still on my face and Christina panicked, almost.
“I haven’t had to worry about meeting parents in so long! I mean…yeah, I’d meet her now, but still…I’m nervous. When does she want to meet me?” Christina asked nervously and I held her hand to try and ground her a little. She calmed down a fraction, but was still nervous.
“Uh…well, I have a different surprise place to take you tonight rather than the one from last night…”
Christina’s eyes widened and she took a deep breath.
“Okay…well, okay…but if I say anything weird or not okay, just knock me out on the spot and drag me out of there.”
I chuckled at the image of me having to do that in front of my mother. She would get a rolling pin and knock me out for treating a woman that way.
“My mother is harmless, I promise, she’s the funniest little woman you’ll ever meet,” I assured Christina and she took another deep breath.
“Okay, will she like me?”
I smiled, she really wanted to make a good impression on my mom.
“She’ll love anyone her son is serious about. Plus, she’ll love that you’re beautiful and soft spoken and kind and funny in your own way and sexy and have a great smile…” I trailed off, staring at Christina dreamily.
She laughed and then shook her head at me.
“I don’t think your mother would find me sexy.”
I laughed and then winked at her.
“You just wait. My mom is great,” I promised her and she tried to force herself to relax.
“You’re important in my life, I’m serious about you. So my mom should meet you, it’s time,” I said decisively.
Christina smiled at me tenderly just as we pulled up to my house. I got her suitcase from the trunk and then followed her inside.
“Home sweet home?” I said with one quirked eyebrow and Christina smiled.
“You’re too much.”
We had a few hours to kill before we had to show up at my mother’s house so I left the suitcase at the bottom of the stairs and then scooped Christina up and ran upstairs with her. We killed two hours in bed, and on the floor, and against the wall, then we took a shower and got ready to go to visit my mom.
She lived on the Upper West Side so it wouldn’t be too much of a drive, but then again I had to account for traffic so Christina and I were probably up for a long drive. Christina dressed up to meet my mom. She wore dark skinny jeans and a sheer white top that buttoned down the middle, underneath she also wore a white tank top.
She wore silver jewelry and diamond studs in her ears. She actually left her hair to fall down her back and around her shoulders in a curly mane. Christina looked too good to let out of the house and she was definitely going to be a distraction for me.
We reached my mother’s brownstone and just seeing the outside of the house brought back fond childhood memories. I held on to Christina’s hand as we walked up the steps and I used my key to let us in. I could smell my mother’s cooking from the front room. She had made fajitas, my favorite dish by her.
“Oh, you’re going to love dinner, too,” I said to Christina as she curiously peered around me to the short hallway that led to the family room, dining room, and kitchen. I led her down the hall and called out for my mom.
“I’m in the kitchen of course, come on in.” My mother’s warm voice called us into the direction of the kitchen. I passed through the family room with Christina and we walked into the open concept kitchen.
My mom was on the shorter side, only five-foot-tall and witty enough to make up for whatever difference in height she lacked compared to others.
She had bright green eyes and dark brown hair. She was still beautiful, even in her late fifties. We shared some features, like the almond shape of our eyes, our high cheekbones and fair skin. My mom had thinner lips than I did, but a huge smile to make up for it.
“You must be my future daughter in law!”
I closed my eyes in embarrassment briefly as my mom gushed over Christina. Thankfully, Christina laughed, as if it was a joke…though it sort of wasn’t. Whenever my mom met someone new that she was interested in, she tornado gushed. She grew super excited and complimented that person to death. Christina seemed to be withstanding it, though, and I had to give her props.
“You can call me Mama Lola, come tell me
about yourself, Christina, my son has told me so much about you. He’s in love, you know.”
Christina’s eyes widened and she glanced back at me, with a smirk.
“I didn’t know that yet,” Christina said with good humor in her voice.
My mother kept at it, she pulled Christina close for a moment to whisper something conspiratorially. Christina laughed and I went to sit at the island bar across from them. My mom enlisted Christina’s help in finishing up some fajita veggies. I felt like the odd man out as my mom whispered and snickered with Christina. I was sure they were gossiping about me.
“I’m sitting right here, you know. Can you guys speak up?”
Christina shot me a look over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at me.
“We’re having girl talk.” my mom said and they went back to chit chatting and laughing. I rolled my eyes and then pulled my phone out to invite Victor and Vanessa over. I needed someone to be on my team. Victor texted me that they would be right over.
“Mom, I invited Victor and Vanessa over for dinner, did you make enough?” Lola usually made enough food for a village when only one person was coming over.
“Of course, you can invite a third of the city and there would be enough. Get another Tupperware of skirt steak out of the fridge and a few more bell peppers and onions.”
I followed my mother’s directions and helped the girls make the extra fajitas. The doorbell rang and I washed my hands quickly to go get the door. I greeted both Victor and Vanessa and invited them back to the kitchen.
“Mama Lola, your fajitas smell divine!” Victor always charmed my mother and she absolutely loved the attention from her “second son.” I simply shook my head at the two.
I heard Christina’s soft laugh and I glanced over at her, she was looking at me with a private smile and I slid over to her so that I could press a kiss to her lips.
“Well, that fajita is certainly going to be one of yours now that you kissed all over it.” My mom shooed me away from the kitchen and told Victor to keep me company in the family room while the girls had their time. I noticed Vanessa started to put the salad together as my mother directed her. I went into the family room with Victor and turned on the TV for Thursday night football.
“So you and Christina are doing pretty well then, huh?” Victor gestured towards the kitchen with his chin. I smiled and then nodded. We were trying, she was what made me happy.
“I love her. Sometimes she can be really insecure and it hinders her from letting herself feel what she already feels for me,” I said with a sigh. Christina’s insecurities had never been a real issue for me. It simply made me want to protect her and cherish her that much more.
“Maybe you just have to show her how you feel in a way that she can’t over-analyze and second guess,” Victor suggested.
The man was a genius, he really was.
“Like a romantic gesture, but how? What the hell do I do to convince her?” I asked him.
He shrugged. I guessed it was only a halfway advice kind of night.
“Victor, seriously, short of asking her to marry me, what could I possibly do?”
Victor snorted and I rolled my eyes. It’s not like the thought of marrying Christina hasn’t crossed my mind. I wanted to marry her one day, but I knew it was way too soon for that question and she’d most likely say no if I asked.
“You have that interview with Vanity Fair coming up, tell them you’re in a serious relationship with her. You know they’ll ask. It’ll make your relationship public and your intentions clear, as well as send a message to the women like Roxanna in the countless other previous affairs you’ve had.
“Once it comes out in Vanity Fair it’ll be like breaking news. ‘One of the world’s most eligible is taken.’ I can see it now.” Victor chuckled. “Women from all over will shed a tear that day.”
“Okay, that’s one thing, but I need something else, too…something more in your face…” I said as I tried to brainstorm.
“Tell her that you love her, have it written in the sky or some shit,” Victor suggested jokingly.
I rolled my eyes, he wasn’t taking things seriously. I’d have to mull over some ideas.
“Dude, how’d you manage to get into a serious relationship so quickly with Vanessa?” I asked him.
Victor slowly turned his head towards me as he mulled that over.
“Well…actually we started dating way back when she first began working at Stargate…”
My eyes popped. I was shocked, upset he had hidden it from me, though I understood why. I would have let Vanessa go at the time.
“Fucking idiot…” I sighed and simply shook my head. “So how’d you guys end up working out?”
Victor pursed his lips and jumped into his explanation. I thought he was relieved that I didn’t chew him out more about lying to me for about two fucking years.
“Well, at first it was just all instant attraction, lots of passion, lots of heat. Which there still is…but we have managed to control it so we can get work done during the day…” Victor looked at me knowingly and I gestured for him to continue, a small smirk on my face.
“Everything was so intense we just clung onto each other and then life started getting in the way and we had to learn to be normal, yet still manage to be together where we weren’t completely destroying each other. It’s simply a balance you have to find between love life and everything else.
“Of course, you want to put Christina on a pedestal above all else, and she will come before nearly everything, but you both have to be secure in your love. She, most importantly, needs to recognize that you love her and she loves you. That way her insecurities will start to dissipate and more trust will be built between you guys.
“It’s all just coming to terms with the fact that holy shit, you’re the only person who has ever made me feel like this; after that, the rest will be history.”
Victor was like the fucking love guru and before I could express how much great advice he gave me, of course I had to crack up.
Victor rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m only trying to give you insightful information. It’s the only fucking way, so laugh it off if you want,” Victor said in annoyance.
I sobered myself and wiped the mirth from my eyes.
“It’s great, no really, you gave great advice. I will tell her how I feel, it’s the only way that makes sense, then I’ll try and get her to recognize her feelings for me,” I said resolutely, Victor nodded and then we stopped talking about our fucking love lives and watched the game like men. Soon, the women were calling us over to the eat-in kitchen table for dinner.
“Everything smells amazing as usual, Ma, thank you.” I kissed my mom on the cheek and she gave me a one armed hug before rubbing my back and gesturing for me to sit next to Christina.
“I’m just so happy my son has finally found someone he truly cares about. Also, I can’t help but be excited about the gorgeous grandbabies I will be having within the next year hopefully.”
I covered my face with my hand, mortified at my mother, but honestly it would have been odd if she hadn’t brought it up. Everyone laughed and Christina nudged me in the side lightly. I looked over at her and she smirked.
“We would have beautiful babies,” Christina said and my mother smiled like the damn Cheshire cat and then kissed Christina on both cheeks before she took a seat in between Christina and Vanessa at the round kitchen table. We were towards the back of the room and the eat-in was tucked into a circular little family sized dining area. There was a surround of picturesque windows that looked out at the garden in the back. I committed that moment to memory because I felt everyone at that table was my family.
Dinner went great, my mom obviously adored Christina and I realized that Christina and Vanessa had become friends over the past few days. Even Victor liked her and he was the toughest when it came to leaving a good impression. Victor usually found some flaw, but he got all of her jokes and references and if someone could make Vic
tor laugh, they were pretty much an amazing person.
By the time we got back to the car, both Christina and I were stuffed full of fajitas and my mom’s special pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. The combination was oddly delicious, yet the food was filling because it was addicting and had you going back for more.
“I haven’t had a home cooked meal in so long,” Christina said, her voice soft with introspection and I laced my fingers with hers. Carl began the drive back to my place and I brought Christina’s knuckles to my mouth to press a kiss to each one.
“My mom was in love with you…she is in love with you,” I said and Christina smiled.
“Yeah, you were right, she is pretty great.” Christina’s smile held as I was sure she thought about my crazy mother’s antics. “Hey what are your roots? Where is your mom from?” Christina asked curiously.
