Guardian Angel

Chapter 13 - Melody

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this..." Melody took a few deep breaths. All her muscles were tensed and her eyes were wide open while she caught every glance at her.

Some children were asking their parents why an adult as Melody was in a stroller. Other people seemed to try to figure out whether the boy pushing her was her brother or her male nurse. A few people had not even noticed her at all and had almost tripped over her feet.

"I don't think it's that bad, okay?" Max placed a hand on her shoulder and Melody rolled her eyes while she stared at the playing monkeys.

Her body had not recovered as well as she had hoped it would. For three days she had been cursing, her mood moving back and forth between happiness and disappointment, between wanting to be with Max and not wanting him to see her like this.

By the end of the third day he had simply shown up. He had not called, had not texted, he had just rang the doorbell after his shift and had seen right away what was going on.

"Everyone is staring." Melody spoke softly and Max rolled his eyes while he kneeled down next to one of the wheels. "It's a good thing I don't know anyone here, because people would ask you how I'm doing."

"And I would tell them that you can totally answer that question yourself." Max grabbed her hand and he squeezed it gently. "I don't really care that people are staring at us, really." He grabbed Melody's chin and forced her to look at him. "It's not important what others think of you, of me, of us."

Melody stared straight into his eyes and her lips curled up into a smile. Actually she had really not wanted to go to the zoo with him, not when she had to do so in her wheelchair. That wheelchair made her feel even more disabled than she already felt.

But Max had pouted and had almost begged her to let him take her out of the house.

Eventually she had given in and Max had smiled the most wonderful smile ever before he had pressed his soft lips on hers. She would have been okay with simply watching dvd's together for a couple of days, but at that time the happiness on his face had totally been worth her yes.

"What did I do to deserve you, Max?" Melody cocked her head a little and she smiled when she saw his cheeks blushing.

"I could ask the same question." Max whispered and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've dreamed of meeting a girl like you, you know. I've dreamed of someone who doesn't pity me because my mother died way too young. I've dreamed of a girl making me smile like you do, making me feel alive like you do."

"Did you ever have a girlfriend before me?" Melody bit her lip after the last word, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Yeah, I dated a few girls before you." Max nodded and he turned his face away from her. "I had one girlfriend in Kindergarten. We made sand castles together, but one day I accidentally destroyed hers and she broke up with me."

Melody chuckled and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean those. I meant serious girlfriends!" She couldn't stop smiling though and Max raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Are you now disrespecting the very deep and serious feelings I had when I was 5?" He grinned. "My last girlfriend broke up with me when my mother got ill and I had to quit my study. She said she couldn't deal with the negativity and such." Max bent his head and he swallowed a few times. "What about you?"

Melody took a deep breath and for a moment she didn't say anything. "You're my first." She let the words sink in before she continued. "You're my very first boyfriend and were my very first kiss and actually I hope you will be a lot of firsts." She felt her cheeks heating up and she giggled. "I assume most men can't deal with illnesses very well either."

"Are you having this your entire life already?" Max spoke slowly as if he wanted to be sure not to say a wrong word, not to make a mistake.

"No..." Melody shook her head. "It came out of nowhere a couple of years ago. I've simply sprained my ankle, I think, and for some reason this is what I ended up with." She swallowed, debating whether or not she would actually say what she was thinking out loud. "I've not been that lucky in life until I met you, actually..."

"Bad things always seem to happen to good people." Max pushed himself up again and he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "But hey, that's probably why my mother made me meet you. You can make me happy, I can make you happy and together we can forget about the crap life has thrown at us." His optimism was contagious.

"We've got it both planned out already, haven't we?" Melody wasn't going to deny that she liked the thought. She liked the thought that maybe someone had brought them together and she liked the thought that it would be like this for the rest of her life. She could imagine herself waking up to Max every day. She could imagine making him dinner after work, even though she was a horrible cook. And she could imagine loving him a little bit more every day.

"Do you wanna hear the details of my life long plan?" Max had that twinkle in his eyes that made them even bluer than they already were.

"Tell me." Melody leaned back in her chair. She had completely forgotten about the staring people, the silly comments and the frustration she had felt only a few minutes ago. She somehow dared to believe that she and Max were the only ones in this zoo right now, maybe even the only ones in the entire world.

"In about three years, when you have finished your studies and are a certified psychologist, I will go down on one knee. I will ask you the most important question in the world and you will say yes, right?" Max raised his eyebrows slightly.

Of course Melody nodded and a grin spread across her face.

"Good, we'll have a wonderful wedding in June and around a year later we will get a beautiful baby daughter." He paused for a moment and stared at Melody.

She knew what he was asking without him actually asking about it. "Sounds good." She assured him, encouraging him to continue his story.

"Two years later we will complete our little family with a baby son or maybe even twins and then we'll live happily ever after." He smiled a bright smile and Melody smiled back at him.

"And what are you going to do while I'm a certified psychologist locked up in some research lab?" When she had started her studies she had wanted to become a psychologist. She had wanted to talk with people all day about everything that was going through their mind. Over the years she had however discovered that her university degree wouldn't exactly allow her to do that and most of all she wouldn't be able to complete all the internships she had to do to get there.

"I stay at home and take care of the kids." Max shrugged his shoulders. "Probably because I'll get fired as a mail boy because I'm dating one of my customers."

"I'm not sure if that's actually a problem as a mail boy." Melody shook her head, her chest moving up and down from laughter.

"It's not?" Max leaned down and he pressed a soft kiss on Melody's forehead. Then his lips kissed her nose and eventually his mouth found hers.

Melody closed her eyes while she wrapped her arms around his neck and she felt how Max lifted her up as if she didn't weigh a thing.

He had his arms firmly around her waist his chest was tightly pressed to hers. "I want to be your first everything, Melody." Max interrupted the kiss for a short whisper before he pressed his lips to hers again.

"Max..." Melody swallowed and she felt how Max put her in her wheelchair again. "Would you like to stay with me tonight?" She cocked her head slightly and she tried to control her breath while her heart was racing in her chest. She had always been afraid of everything that was about to happen right now, but right now there was nothing but clearness in her mind. She wanted this. She wanted Max to be a permanent part of her life. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms in the evening so she could wake up in them in the morning. She wanted to kiss every inch of his naked body and most of all she wanted him to make love to her, the kind of love she had only read about in books, the kind of love she had only seen in movies, the kind of love she had dreamed about for years and that had always seemed so far out of reach.