Extraordinary Love

Chapter 30

Song: Sweet Thing by Rufus

Aaliyah

Desiree had taken to Chris fast. She was my little mini-me and liked to feel a person out first before she opened herself up but it was obvious to me that she liked Chris. After he took her to the concession stand, she was all up under him; offering him her Buckeyes, laying out across the two of us and letting him carry her to the car. I knew I had nothing to worry about with those two getting along which warmed my heart.

She was knocked out when we returned from the game. I tucked her in her bed, pulling the covers up under her chin. The dim rotating lights of her butterfly nightlight passed shadows around her room. She looked so peaceful compared to the cute little monster she had been earlier in the day. I laid a quick peck on her cheek and left the room closing the door behind me gently.

The old folk had retired to their room for the night. I was surprised Papa had because he was the night owl. Nana always headed to bed by eleven at the latest. The house was quiet, the only sounds were the floorboards squeaking under my feet every now and then as I crept back down the hall. I found Chris in my old bedroom, on the other side of the bed disrobing. He pulled the scarlet jersey over his body, revealing a sketchbook's worth of art in tattoo form, and tossed the shirt across the room on top of his suitcase where his pants were already laying. 

The door closed, I pulled my suitcase out and threw some pajamas onto the bed he was now laying on. I turned my back to him as I changed as if me not being able to see him threw up some curtain of privacy between us. Chris' eyes followed me intently as I neared the bed in my oversized tee.

"Can I help you?" I joked, snuggling in under the comforter. 

He readjusted himself in the bed fluffing his pillows and resting on his propped up arm. 

"Nope." He popped the P.

The way he was staring at me making me both flattered and annoyed. Every time he looked at me, my soul felt like it wanted to leave my body. I had never had someone send literal chills up my spin with just a look.

"Turn off the light then so I can go to sleep."

"I'm not tired yet."

"Well, I am," I reached over his body to turn off the lamp on the nightstand next to him. 

Chris pulled my body down on top of his, burying his face in my neck. "Stay up with me."

"Chris..." I groaned.

It was the first time that we had shared a bed together and it seemed to have proven to be too much for Chris-- and almost too much for me. He was never the real handsy type but I could tell there was a freak underneath the chivalry. He was in a cheeky mood.

His arm snaked around my waist as the other ran itself through my hair. He was lucky this wasn't a bonnet night. The temperature in the room raised a couple of degrees, his body heat combining with mine under the covers. He kissed me soft and slow, the hand around my waist slowly creeping down further and further--

"I am not doing anything in my grandparent's house," I warned him.

"I know," he admitted, kissing me on the side of my temple, "but it's fun to mess with you."

He rolled over and turned off the light. "Goodnight."

~ ~ ~

Chris thought he was really funny with the stuff he had pulled the night before. The man thought that he was downright hilarious. After he turned off the light, he rolled over and went straight to bed. I tried talking to him and nudging him. He was asleep within probably two minutes, forcing me to go to bed too. I was mad but also admittedly amused.

"I was thinking about making steak and potatoes for dinner tonight if that's alright?" Nana Carolyn asked, peeking her head into the family room.

We had all sleep in late the next day, which I savored. By the time everyone had gotten cleaned up and was up and about, the old folks were already talking about dinner. Dinner was promptly served at five o'clock at the Samuels, like clockwork.

"That sounds good."

Papa Samuel slipped out the back door, going to man the grill in his old beat-up winter coat. He'd grill in any weather, no matter how hot or cold. I had seen the man grill ribs in the dead of January, near negative degree weather out.

Desi had wiggled her way in between Chris and me on the couch. It was cute how Desi had tried to act so hard last night and now couldn't be separated from Chris. He was her new best friend. She was more interested in him than she was in me.

"You don't want to show me around Columbus?" Chris joked, pulling Desi into his lap to tickle her.

I tutted. "Ha! You're not missing anything, just parks, and museums. You'd have better luck finding something to do in Cincinnati."

"So let's go. How far is it?"

Chris did not know a thing about Ohio.

"About two hours! That's a trip for another day," I swatted Desi's hand away from my face. "Preferably when it's warm and Kings Island is open."

"I wanna go to Kings Island! I like the blue ice cream. Nana always gets me some."

"Maybe we can go this summer. It doesn't open until April."

"Can Chris come with us?"

"I'm there." He smiled.

Carolyn came back into the room but this time with a couple of photo albums in hand.

"Oh nooo," I groaned.

My family was very big on picture taking. Photography had been a hobby of my grandfather for nearly fifty years. He photographed every family event big or small. They had photo albums full of all of the pictures they had taken over the years and a few had been dedicated to me. It showcased all of my missing teeth, crazy hairstyles and just generally unphotogenic phases in full effect. It was easy to say that I was mortified.

"Let's put those away," I tried to wrestle them out of Nana Carolyn's hands. "Chris doesn't want to see those."

"Uh yes, Chris does!" Chris plucked them out of my hands, flopping back down on the couch and cracking one open. 

Ughhhh," I groaned again. It was involuntary. I wanted to burn every picture taken of me between ages six and sixteen. 

Nana, Desi, and Chris got a kick out of my embarrassment making fun of every outfit choice and awkward grimace and pose. It was all out of love but didn't really make it any better. 

"Alright, that's enough," I closed the third book in the Chris' lap. "Remind me to ask your mother to bring some keepsakes of you next time she comes."

"No problem, I've always been cute," he licked his lips, giving me his best brooding model look.

He probably wasn't even being facetious. Maybe Christopher Brown had always been that handsome. I pictured a little boy with that same big head and cheeky smile. 

"Meat's done," Papa called, bringing in a pan wrapped in tin foil. Steam lifted off and wafted the smoky aroma through the house as he sat it down on the dining room table. 

Part of me didn't want to leave and go back to New York. To stay here in Ohio, living a quiet life where I could have family dinners often with the people that meant the world to me. I loved seeing how all they all genuinely got along; how right it felt. I knew however that it couldn't last. I couldn't support Desi with the salary I was making now-- I could barely support myself and didn't think I'd find much better in Columbus. I wouldn't let my selfishness make my grandparents give up their tenured positions. My and Chris' lives and dreams, were in NYC. I was tempted sometimes by the idea of it but knew that kind of life wasn't in the cards for me.

I'd just enjoy this dinner, and the hopeful many to come.