A Love Like Ours

by Micalea Smeltzer

  He nodded, his unruly blond hair flopping over his forehead. I was always telling him he’d look cuter if he grew it out long, but he said that was stupid.

  “I don’t want to leave you.” His voice shook.

  Tears welled in my eyes. “You can’t leave me. I love you. You’ve fixed me, Ollie. You took my ugly, mangled, broken heart and put it back together. It’s yours. It won’t make it again if you leave.”

  He unlaced our fingers and cupped my cheek. “We’ll run away then.”

  “Are you crazy? We’re kids,” I hiss.

  “Crazy, yes, absolutely. But I’m serious.” He brushed my hair away from my forehead, his blue eyes blazing even in the dull glow from the nightlight in my room.

  “This is nuts. We won’t make it a week.”

  “I’d rather live on the streets with you than in a warm house without you.”

  I thought about it for only a few seconds longer. Staying with my foster family without Ollie would have been unbearable. It was barely tolerable with him. They weren’t bad people, but they weren’t good, either. They only took in foster kids because they thought it made them look good. We were nothing to them.

  “Yes,” I finally answered, and a grin stole over his face.

  It was then that I knew I would do anything and everything for that boy.

  They say love makes you crazy, and it was true.

  Ollie made me absolutely insane.

  “These boys will make us crazy,” Ari says, breaking me out of my thoughts. “But they’re pretty great.”

  “Yeah, they are,” I agree.

  The next day we leave the townhouse around twelve once my morning sickness seems to be completely gone. I told everyone to go on without me and I’d meet up with them later, but all of them refused, especially Ollie. The look he gave me was enough to set me on fire.

  Liam and Ari walk ahead of us and we trail behind, walking at a leisurely pace.

  It’s a nice day, hot but with a breeze that lifts my hair around my shoulders.

  I spot a store with masks and drag Ollie into it. He groans and calls out to Liam and Ari so they know where we are.

  I see them turn around to come join us.

  I let go of Ollie’s hand so I can scour the store freely. It’s small, like really small, with only enough room for a handful of people, and every surface is covered with Venetian masks. Some even hang from the ceiling.

  I look around in awe, trying to take in everything.

  I see Ollie snapping pictures on his phone. He’s taken so many pictures on this trip, while I’ve taken only a few. It’ll be nice to have the photos though. When we get home I plan to make a scrapbook full of them. Now that we know about the baby it’ll be even more special.

  Ollie picks up a mask that I think is meant to depict a jester. It has bells on it and he holds it up to his face, tilting his head to the side.

  “Is this a good look?”

  Liam comes into the store and claps his hand on Ollie’s shoulder. “You mean you don’t always look like that? Because I can’t see the difference.”

  “Dick,” Ollie groans, putting the mask away.

  I pick up a pretty cream-and-pale-blue one with silver detailing.

  “This one’s cool.” I hear Ari say and I turn to see her holding a gold one that fits across the top part of the face and has black painted detailing that’s meant to look like lace.

  “You want it?” Liam asks.

  Ari groans. “Liam,” she scolds, “you don’t have to buy me every single thing I say I like.”

  “I know, but I want to, and I can.” He plucks the mask from her hand and starts speaking to the older man that must own the shop. I assume he’s the owner the way he’s watching us like he’s scared we’re about to stash one of his masks in our bag and run.

  “If you’re going to get me one, you might as well get one for yourself,” she says, waving her fingers to encompass the store.

  Liam glances over his shoulder and his eyes skate over the masks. After only a few seconds of looking, his hand swipes out and he grabs a solid shiny black one that is like Ari’s and only covers half the face and not the whole face like most of them.

  He hands the mask to the man and then goes back to haggling.

  I look back down at the cream-and-pale-blue one I hold and decide it’s the one I want. I’m sure there are more I could find that I’d love, but something about this is speaking to me.

  Ollie ends up picking one that looks like it has a beak.

  I shouldn’t be surprised that he picks the most obnoxious one, and yet I am.

  A few minutes later, the four of us leave the store with our masks.

  There are plenty of other stores near the mask one so we ended up heading into a few of them. I buy a dress in one and some jewelry, because everything is too nice to resist.

  I’m having the best time, and I’m really happy that Liam and Ari are here with us and get to experience this. I know this is something none of us will ever forget.

  We stop for lunch, eating outside of a little café near one of the canals.

  After lunch we decide to try another gondola.

  I don’t get sick this time and our gondolier actually sings a song when Liam asks him to, much to Ollie’s delight.

  “What should we do now?” Liam asks, draping his arm over Ari’s shoulders and bringing her toward him so he can press his lips to the side of her forehead. He does it so easily, like he’s not even thinking, and just wants to be closer to her.

  Ollie opens his mouth to speak, but I butt in first.

  “Art museum!”

  Museums wouldn’t normally be my ideal thing to do but you can’t come to Venice and not go to at least one. It’s unnatural.

  Liam glances at me with a horrified expression then looks at Ollie. “Is she serious?”

  Ollie shakes his head, giving him a forlorn expression. “Afraid so.”

  Ari snickers and hides the sound by pretending to cough.

  “Okay, then. Museum it is.”

  I jump up and down excitedly and Google directions to the nearest one on my phone.

  My God, what did people do before they had phones to give them directions? Ask people? Blasphemy.

  With the help of my phone, we walk to the nearest art museum, which is only ten minutes away.

  I push open the door to the building and cool air-conditioned air blasts us in the face.

  The building is open and bright with lots of natural light. The ceiling stretches all the way up past the second floor, which is visible since it has a balcony.

  We pay for our tickets and then we venture through the various rooms.

  I’m enamored by the paintings and sculptures, most from a time so many years ago that I can’t wrap my head around the fact that they’ve endured that long.

  Ollie trails beside me, clearly bored out of his mind since he’s not free to run around like a crazy person, but he doesn’t complain.

  We finish with the bottom level and head to the top.

  I become engrossed with a painting of a woman. She sits regally in a large red dress and her expression is rather somber. I wonder why she looks that way and I feel sad for her, that this many years later people stand witness to her sadness.

  Ollie moves in behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder and his hands on my stomach. My lips quirk up in a smile as he rubs his thumbs lazily over my stomach like he can feel a bump.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asks.

  I shrug against him. “This woman.” I point to the painting. “She looks so sad. I wonder why.”

  He burrows his head closer to my neck and I feel his lips when he says, “Her husband probably didn’t fuck her enough.”

  I bust out laughing. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”

  He lets me go and I move to the next painting. Liam and Ari are sitting on a bench near the stairs, having given up on pretending to be interested.

  Ollie and I look at every last p
ainting before we finally leave.

  On the street, the four of us begin walking, with no real destination in mind.

  It’s the way I like to live life—cruising through, letting the rhythm of the world around me guide me to great things.

  Eventually, we come across a unique store with dresses and props. It looks like a costume shop, but not in the Halloween sense, more like theatre.

  Ollie and I both take off excitedly for it—flat-out running.

  “Where are you guys going?” Liam calls.

  We don’t answer. He’ll figure it out.

  We burst into the store. Overwhelmed by all the props and craziness.

  I grab a pink boa and drape it around his shoulders. He picks up a crown and places it on my head. I add a black top hat to his. He then picks some sort of velvet blue shawl thing and places it on me.

  By the time Ari and Liam arrive in the store, I also hold a wand and Ollie dons a fake mustache.

  Liam takes one look at us, shakes head, and then cracks a big smile. “Man, it’s really fucking good to see you guys acting like your old selves.”

  Ollie and I look at each other and it’s like something inside of us aligns again.

  Every single day since we lost the baby has been a journey back to this moment.

  Every single one has been a piece in a puzzle.

  The puzzle is finally complete and the picture it creates is a scary, but beautiful thing.

  I know we’ll still have bad days, you can’t get rid of them entirely, but they won’t hurt as much.

  “You look like you could use a boa, man,” Ollie says, grabbing a blue one.

  He goes to put it around Liam’s shoulders, but Liam slowly backs away with his hands raised, waving them back in forth in a gesture of back the fuck off. “Nah, I’m good.”

  “Wrong answer.”

  Liam takes off running in the store to get away from Ollie, and Ollie runs away from him, completely unbothered by Liam’s irritation.

  Ari looks at me, shaking her head. “They’re never going to grow up.”

  I smile. “It’s my favorite thing about them.”

  “I want one of those.” She points to my wand.

  “Here, you can have it.” I hand it over.

  She takes it with a smile and waves it through the air. “Do I look like a fairy?”

  “You need a tutu.” I point behind her at a display mannequin that sports a pale-pink adult-size tutu.

  She looks at it and laughs. “I guess I’ll have to buy a tutu.”

  “Tal,” Ollie cries suddenly, grabbing onto my arm. “There’s a photo booth machine in the back.” He starts pulling me toward there.

  “Oh, my God!” I cry, slapping a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter when I see Liam on the floor with the blue boa wrapped around his body like a rope. The pink one Ollie was wearing is being used to tie his feet together.

  “How did that happen?”

  “He’s an asshole!” Liam yells, but he’s smiling so it takes any bite out of his words that might otherwise be there.

  “I have my ways.” Ollie waggles his brows.

  I shake my head and the shawl falls from my shoulders to the ground.

  Ollie pulls me over to the photo booth machine and pushes the curtain aside.

  We step inside and he stares for a moment, trying to read the Italian directions, but after a moment, he mutters, “Fuck it,” and starts pushing random buttons.

  There are props in a little cup on the floor and I grab them as he finally gets the machine going.

  We split the props between us and start posing for the photos.

  I stick my tongue out.

  He pokes my cheek.

  I give him bunny ears.

  He crosses his eyes.

  He looks down at me and I smile up at him.

  He kisses me.

  We take so many that I lose count. By the time we finish, we have five strips of photos waiting for us.

  Ollie picks them up and looks through them before handing them to me.

  I smile down at them, rubbing my finger over the shiny paper.

  He slings his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against his side.

  “Come on, Tal. We have a whole city to explore.”

  He presses his lips to the side of my head and we head back out into the city.

  It isn’t until later that I realize I haven’t stopped smiling the whole day.

  It’s the first time in a long time that I can say that.

  “Should we be afraid that Liam’s cooking dinner?” I ask, leaning my head on Ollie’s shoulder.

  We spent the whole day exploring Venice and my feet are now aching. It’s worth it, though.

  When we arrived back at the townhouse, I took a long, hot shower, and when I came downstairs, Liam was cooking dinner with Ari.

  “Nah.” Ollie’s hand settles on my thigh. “It’ll be fine.”

  My lips quirk. “I never thought I’d see the day that Liam Wade was making us dinner.”

  “And he made breakfast yesterday,” he reminds me.

  I nod. “She’s been good for him.”

  “Yeah, she has.” He drags his fingers slowly through my hair, and I nearly purr because it feels so good. I swear nothing in the world compares to the feeling of having your hair touched.

  He smiles down at me and I reach up, tracing my finger over his lips. He bites my finger playfully and I giggle.

  He lowers his head, brushing his nose against mine.

  “Every trial, every hardship, it’s all worth it to get to live my life with you,” he whispers, before pressing his lips ever so softly to mine.

  “Let’s get married.”

  He laughs and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “Pretty sure I already proposed, Tal.”

  I sit up on my knees, feeling giddy. “No, I mean, let’s get married right now. We’re in Venice, Ollie. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. Let’s get married here.”

  He looks apprehensive. “But what about a dress? And all our friends back home? Don’t you want them there?”

  I shake my head. “We have Liam and Ari here, and that’s enough for me. Besides, this is about you and me, and no one else matters.” I wrap my arms around his neck and lean into his chest. “Let’s get married right now. I don’t want to live another minute without you as my husband.”

  His grin lights up his whole face and he kisses me again, stealing my breath. My lips feel slightly swollen when he lets me go.

  “Turn the oven off, Liam!” he yells. “We’re getting married!”

  I clap giddily and hop off the couch, running upstairs to change my clothes. A fancy wedding dress might not be important to me, but I refuse to get married in my pajamas.

  I dash into the bedroom and rifle through my bag for my white dress. It’s a simple summer dress, but it’ll do the job.

  Ari steps into the room. “Did I hear right? Did Ollie say you guys are going to get married?”

  I giggle. “Yeah.”

  “You guys are crazy, but I shouldn’t feel surprised.”

  “This feels right,” I say, stepping out of my pants.

  “Can I do your hair and makeup?” she asks, looking away as I change into the dress.

  “I’d love that.” I smile. Not too long ago, Ari didn’t know anything about doing her hair and makeup and I gave her anything I could spare so she could use it. Now, she’s practically a pro at the whole thing. Her winged liner is always sharp enough to cut someone, whereas when I attempt that look it looks like a fuzzy caterpillar on my eyelid, which is not a good look.

  “Come on.”

  She drags me across the hall into her room and then into the bathroom. She lays a towel down on the closed toilet lid and pushes my shoulder lightly, urging me to sit.

  “Don’t go crazy,” I warn her.

  “I won’t,” she promises. “I know just the look for you.”

  I close my eyes and let her go to work. We don’t talk
while she does my makeup, because she’s so intent on what she’s doing. She hums softly, some song I’ve heard non-stop lately that’s ridiculously catchy.

  When she finishes my makeup, I move to look but she quickly pushes me back down. “Not yet,” she warns. “You need to see the whole package which means hair first.”

  I sigh and turn so my hair is easier for her to get to. She uses a curling wand to curl it into loose beachy waves. She runs her fingers through the strands, loosening them even more, before she begins working it back into some sort of up-do. She keeps it loose, letting a few stray pieces of hair frame my face.

  When she finishes, she steps back and looks me over before nodding once with a large grin.

  “You can look now.”

  I stand and move to the mirror. “Whoa.”

  She done my eyes in soft pinks and gray and my skin looks dewy—not in a gross oily way, but like I’m glowing—and on my lips she’s used a nude matte lipstick with a pink gloss over top.

  I turn so I can get a better look at my hair and I gasp. It’s a work of art.

  I let out a giddy shriek of delight and throw my arms around her. “Thank you, Ari.”

  When I let go tears are shining in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you.”

  I swallow thickly. “Thank you.” I take a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror again. I smile softly.

  I’m about to marry the only man I’ve ever loved, and the only one I’ll love for the rest of my life.

  It doesn’t get much better than that.

  Despite my happiness, a little bit of sadness creeps in.

  If I hadn’t lost the baby, she’d be here for this moment.

  If I hadn’t lost the baby this baby wouldn’t be growing inside me right now.

  It’s quite the conundrum.

  Ari steps up beside me and leans her head over to touch mine. Her dark to my light.

  “Don’t let anything ruin this day,” she says, noticing the sadness creeping into my eyes. “This is Ollie’s and your day—nothing else matters.”

  I swallow past the lump in my throat and nod once.

  “Come on.” She grabs my shoulders and guides me out of the bathroom.

  We meet Ollie and Liam downstairs. Ollie’s changed into a pair of navy shorts and a white t-shirt.