by J. D. Rivera
I took out my cell phone and sent a quick text to Cooper.
Me: How is your night?
The light turned green; I put my phone down and quickly found a lot to park my car in while I texted.
Cooper: It’s pretty boring. How is yours?
Me: Just dropped my mom off for the night.
Cooper: What are you going to do now?
Me: Probably sleep.
Cooper: I know of a comfy bed you can sleep in.
I deliberated if that would be a good idea or not. I should go back to Jen’s apartment and sleep in her spare bedroom. It’s where I belong, right now.
Me: I know of one, too. At Jen’s.
Cooper: Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. I’m headed home right now.
It was the perfect opportunity to figure out if he was on a date.
Me: Where have you been? Hot date?
Cooper: I went out to eat with your brother. Two girls tried to pick us up. No go.
I felt as though I could breathe again. He wasn’t out on a date. I was being selfish, not wanting him to date while I was dating another guy, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want him dating other women, maybe because I knew that my feelings would never change. I was scared his would, that he would be able to get over me. I couldn’t take the thought of that right then.
I drove home and immediately ran to my bedroom. I quickly changed into my sleeping clothes and pulled the covers over my body. I needed to fall asleep and forget the mess that was my life.
On Thursday, I drove to Cooper’s apartment, to go meet a real estate agent and look at a few houses. I was a little nervous but still felt excited. I was actually going house shopping. Technically, I would still be a tenant, but it would be nice to have more room and a backyard.
I pulled into my old parking spot and shut my car off. I took some calming breaths, hoping to get my nerves in check. My nervousness had nothing to do with Cooper and everything to do with making a huge life decision.
I knocked on his door, and I heard, “Come in. Doors open.” I opened the door and walked into the living room where Cooper was looking at his laptop.
“Sorry. I’m trying to print off the different addresses, but I can’t get the damn printer to work.”
“Why don’t we just use our phones?” I suggested.
He stopped messing with the laptop and printer, looked at me, then got up and picked me up by my waist so we were eye level. “You always have the best answers. Are you ready to go?”
I gave him a big cheesy grin and giggled. “Oh, I’m ready, all right.”
We drove to the first house in silence. I was looking out the window, trying to get a feel for the neighborhood. I noticed that the homes were all recently built brick homes with beautiful manicured lawns. I loved to look at flowers and bushes, but I wasn’t a green thumb. I’d heard homeowner associations could fine people for bad lawns. We could be fined a lot, unless Cooper wanted to pay for someone else to take care of it.
We pulled up to a dark brick two-story home. All I could see from the outside was that it had a two-car garage. A black luxury SUV pulled into the driveway beside us a few minutes later. A thin blonde who was probably in her mid-forties stepped out, wearing a black dress suit and not one piece of hair was out of place. I glanced over at Cooper, but he was already on his way out the car.
I stepped out of the car.
Ms. Perfectly Styled introduced herself to me. “Tammy Gray. Nice to meet you. You must be Emily.”
I shook her hand. “Yes. Hi. It’s nice to meet you, as well.”
Cooper came up beside me. “Nice to see you again, Tammy. Why don’t you show us inside?”
“Glad to see you too, Cooper. Let’s go take a look at it.” She turned toward the door, and we followed her. We walked up three steps to a small porch, then paused to let Tammy unlock the dark wood door, which was rounded at the top. She opened the door, gesturing for Cooper and me to go inside.
To the left was a formal dining room. It wasn’t huge, but it definitely wasn’t small. I’d never even thought of having a formal dining room. We continued down the small entry hall in the direction of the living space, where she showed us a home office on the right and stairs leading upstairs to the left.
The hall opened up into an open concept living room and kitchen area. The kitchen, on the left, had granite countertops coupled with tile backsplash. I loved it. We walked back to the stairs and headed to the second floor.
We looked around the upstairs, which contained a landing area—which held a couch, a television, and three regular-size rooms—plus one massive master bedroom.
The master bedroom looked big enough to fit two king-size beds plus other bedroom furniture. On the far side of the room, a door opened into heaven on earth. The master bathroom contained a double shower, with a waterfall faucet and multiple jets along the side. A huge Jacuzzi tub sat in the corner, and a vanity and double sinks lined the opposite wall.
I noticed another door and opened it. It was a closet the size of Cooper’s bedroom at the apartment, lined with shelves and rods at different heights. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
We went back downstairs, where Tammy directed us to take a look at the backyard. It was a huge yard, for a house in a new neighborhood. A wooden fence surrounded it, and a wooden playground equipment set was in one corner. It would be perfect for when the baby was older.
After leaving the first house, we looked at another house that was smaller. It contained a formal dining room, and three bedrooms located upstairs. It didn’t have a home office, but the big landing area at the top of the stairs was big enough to be an office. I liked it as well just not as much as the first house.
We then checked out three more. They were okay, but they didn’t speak to me like the first two—well, the first one—did. I decided to let Cooper know I liked the first two, and then he could make the final decision.
We left the last house and drove to a small frozen yogurt shop. I’d become addicted to those places, since becoming pregnant. I usually piled mine high with different candies and nuts. I wasn’t really big on the fruit thing, even though I should’ve been.
I got my cup and got busy loading it up with different flavors and then topped it off with different candy. I walked over to the counter to pay and waited on Cooper. I could at least pay for his yogurt.
After he met me at the counter and I paid, I found us a table to sit at in the corner. After we had taken a few bites, Cooper asked, “Which one did you like? Or did you like any of them? We can look at more.”
“We don’t need to look at any more for me. I loved the first two, but it’s your money. I don’t know how much they cost and what you can afford. You make the final decision.”
He swallowed the bite he had been working on. “Em, I can afford all of them. I wouldn’t have let Tammy show us the house if I couldn’t afford it. I want you to pick.”
I thought about that for a moment. I still wanted it to be his final decision, but I guess it didn’t hurt to pick one. “I liked the first two that we looked at, but the first one was amazing,”
“Good. That was my pick too, although I’ll be happy anywhere you and the baby are living. If you don’t mind, why don’t we swing by Tammy’s office to put in an offer?”
“Sure, but do you really need me there, since I’m not buying the house?” I asked.
“You may not be paying the mortgage, but your name will be on all of the paperwork. It will make more sense in case something happens to me. You and the baby will still need a place to live.”
“Cooper, I’m an education major. I’ll never be able to make payments on any of those houses.”
“We can get insurance to take care of that. Now, quit worrying. Okay?”
“I guess you’ve taken care of everything. Let’s go put in an offer.”
As Cooper drove us across town, I wondered if I was making the right decision. Cooper and I were about to buy a h
ouse, and we weren’t even in a relationship. Is this the stupidest idea ever?
I guess it was too late to be having those thoughts, since I had already committed to Cooper.
We entered the real estate office, letting the front desk clerk know we were here to see Tammy, and we sat in the reception area to wait for her.
A short time later, Tammy entered into the reception area.
“Hi, Tammy,” Cooper said. “We’re here to submit the offer.”
“Yes, thank you for calling me earlier. The one on Pecan Grove Lane, correct?”
“Um, yeah,” he said. “That’s the one. We think it will be perfect for raising a family.”
“It is a nice family home. Please, follow me to my office to get the paperwork started.”
I’m sure it was my nerves but the clacking of her heels every time she took a step was grating on my nerves. I hoped her office was near the front of the hallway instead of the back. Luckily, it was near the front of the hallway.
I had never been more thankful to enter an office and sit down in my life.
Tammy asked us different questions and clicked away on her computer after we answered.
She asked Cooper the offer amount which almost gave me heart palpitations when he answered. The amount was more than I would make in five years as a teacher. I couldn’t believe he could afford that.
“Cooper, wait,” I blurted. “Are you sure you want to do this? Go that deep in debt? That is a shit ton of money.”
He grabbed my hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Em, it’s fine. I want our baby growing up in a nice, safe neighborhood. We aren’t back home anymore where the entire town is considered safe. We have to be picky where we live here.” He squeezed my hand once more, then raised his eyebrow and nodded his head once, trying to reassure me.
I nodded my head back. “Okay.”
At the end of it all, I felt as if I had just signed a million papers. Tammy had reassured us that she would call as soon as she heard back from the seller. I climbed into the passenger side of the SUV, feeling less nervous and more excited.
I got a great idea. “Do you have other plans?”
“No. Why? What do you want to do?”
“I was thinking that we could go to the big baby store to look at nursery furniture. The sex of the baby won’t matter, when it comes to furniture.”
“Good idea. What street is it on?”
“Legacy, right after Fifth.”
The baby store was huge. I almost immediately felt overwhelmed, upon entering. Who knew there could be so much baby stuff?
I spotted the furniture section in the middle of the store and headed for it. Cooper followed behind me, looking a little shocked at all of the baby things.
When we reached the furniture, I noticed a white set that would be perfect for a little girl’s room. It had an old-fashioned look that would be perfect with the antique dresser I had in my old room at my parents’.
I placed my hand on the top rail of the crib and looked inside. I could almost see a baby lying in the bed, sleeping peacefully. It was so crazy yet wonderful to think that Cooper and I were going to be parents.
Cooper came up behind me, putting his hands around my stomach, covering my hands with his. “Are you okay, Em?”
I hadn’t realized I’d moved my hand from the crib to my stomach. “I’m fine. I’m more than fine. It just hit me that we will have a baby in one of these cribs soon.”
“We will. It’s going to be amazing.”
“If it’s a girl, I want this furniture set. Would that be okay?”
“Em, you can have whatever furniture you want. Decorating the baby’s room is all your job. I’ll help put the furniture together and paint the walls, but it’s on you to pick out.”
I moved away from the white furniture set, toward the rest of the furniture. It was all cute, but nothing caught my eye like the white set until I spotted an espresso set that would be perfect for a little boy.
“I like the dark color of this one,” Cooper said. “Do you like it?”
“I like it for a little boy’s room. I think it looks, I don’t know, masculine.” I shrugged.
“Well, as soon as we find out what we are having, I’ll come back up here and buy whichever set you want.”
We decided that walking around the store, checking out all of the different items, could be fun. When we were in the bottle section, I looked over at Cooper, whose eyes were huge and mouth was hanging open. He looked over at me. “I had no idea there would be so many bottle choices. I figured there was only one kind.”
“I knew there was more than one kind, but I had no clue there would be an entire aisle devoted to different bottles.”
“I’m almost scared to see what else this store has, on the other aisles,” he said.
“Why don’t we call it a day? My mom is still in town, so I need to spend some time with her.”
“Okay. Hold on. Tammy is calling me.” He answered his phone. “Hello… They did?... That’s wonderful… Okay, we can come by tomorrow… Thank you.” He hung up, placing his phone in his pocket. He picked me up, pulling me into a tight hug. “They accepted our offer. We just need to go by tomorrow sometime and sign the paperwork.”
“Oh my gosh, Cooper. We’re buying a house.” After I hugged him awhile longer, I noticed people staring at us. I had forgotten we were still in the bottle aisle of the baby store. “We should go, Cooper. I can’t wait to tell my mom. She will be so excited.”
My mom’s visit passed in a blur. We didn’t really do much; just went shopping, hung out, and talked. After the day at the museum, we didn’t talk about Cooper or families. We talked here and there about the baby, but nothing that resembled pressure to change my life.
It was the morning of my twenty-first birthday. I no longer had to use a fake ID, not that I would have had any use for one right then. As I was fixing myself a bowl of cereal, I heard a knock at the door. I was so hungry, I finished pouring the milk on the cereal and walked to the door with the bowl in hand.
I opened the door to see Cooper standing on the other side, holding a huge stuffed bear in his hands and giving a huge smile. “Happy birthday, Emily.”
“Thanks, Cooper. Is the bear for me?” I asked.
“Well, no. Technically, the bear is for the baby but what the bear is holding is all for you.”
I broke out into a huge grin. “Thank you, Cooper. Come inside.”
He tried to hand me the bear, but seeing the bowl of cereal I was holding, he stopped. “I’ll hold onto this for you until you’re done eating.” He entered the apartment and sat down on the couch while I put my bowl of cereal on the coffee table.
I sat down beside him while I grabbed the items in the bear’s paw. There was a huge bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups and three gift cards: one for Amazon, one for a pregnancy massage, and for our favorite Mexican food restaurant. “Wow, Cooper. This is a lot of stuff. I really don’t know what to say. Thank you. I love all of it.”
I placed the bowl on the coffee table and gave Cooper a huge hug. He squeezed me tight, and we hugged each other for a while. I figured since it was my birthday, I’d count Cooper’s hug as my present to myself.
I pulled away from him to ask, “What are you doing for lunch? What do you say we use one of those gift cards?”
“I’d love to use one of your gift cards today. I just hope you’re talking about going to eat Mexican and not getting a massage,” he said as my cell phone pinged with a text.
I checked my phone.
Ben: Happy Birthday, Emily. When can I bring you your present?
I looked up to see Cooper watching me. I hoped he couldn’t read the name on the screen. I quickly texted back.
Me: If you’re not busy, how about tonight?
Ben: See ya tonight.
I turned my attention back to Cooper. “Let me jump in the shower, and then I’ll be ready. Make yourself at home.”
“Okay. I’ll just watch some TV,�
�� he said.
I got up off the couch, glancing back at Cooper before I went to my room. Spending my lunch with him would be the best present he could’ve gotten me. Getting over him was harder than I thought it would be. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t get over him. I loved him, and I loved being with him.
Cooper drove us over to the restaurant. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was crowded. We checked in with the hostess, who told us about the wait and gave us a buzzer. It was a nice day out, so I suggested taking the buzzer outside to wait.
We walked side by side outside and looked for a place to sit.
We were sitting on one of the benches, trying to make small talk, when the girl who had been all over Cooper at our apartment approached us.
“Hey, Cooper,” she said in a sultry voice, putting her hand on his shoulder. “How have you been?”
He never looked her way, just flung her hand off his shoulder with the opposite hand.
“Listen, when are you going to move on from plain Jane here and come have some fun with me?”
She was so desperate.
“Do. Not. Call. Her. That.” He said in an angry tone. “Ever. She is more beautiful than you could ever dream of being. Now, please don’t pretend I know your nasty ass. We only met once. Stop calling and texting me. Walk away from me, and don’t ever approach me again.” He finally looked up at her face, giving her a look that asked, ‘Are we clear?’
“Well.” She said as she turned and walked into the building.
I couldn’t help but giggle. Cooper was never rude. Cooper being rude to her was just downright funny.
He looked at me as though I had lost my mind.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing, but she deserved that.”
He shook his head at me. “You know that I have never done anything with that girl, right? I was just a little slow that day, but I promise I was getting her off me when you walked in.” We never had discussed the girls being there or the fact that one was touching him.
