Only The Beginning

Chapter 8 (Feels Like Tonight)

Keeping my promise and uploading another chapter tonight. It may or may not be terrible but I'm at work writing so give me a break, please. I really want to actually finish this story because this one is a little personal. Enjoy!

There have only been a few times in my life that I have truly been overly nervous, and almost thrown myself into a panic. One of those times happens to be now. As I pull my 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander in the parking lot of my favorite restaurant, I find myself breathing just a little bit harder than usual and my heart is beating just a little bit faster. Bri notices it too because I feel her looking at me intensely. I cannot believe that this is happening right now. 

What am I really freaking out about? Well, let me tell you. My husband is currently calling me, while I am planning on having dinner with another man, his daughter, and our kids. It doesn't matter that we're just friends or that my best friend is here too. This is frowned upon in all situations! It almost feels like I am cheating on Riley because apart of me is very excited to see Mario and get to know him a little bit better, but there is a sinking part of me that feels so guilty. So, I do the only logical thing to do in this situation... I answer the phone and Riley's voice fills the car.

"Hey, Ry, what's up?' 

"Nothing, where you at? I'm home but you and the kids ain't and it ain't no food here."

"There is food in the refrigerator, freezer, and I went to the store the other day. There are all kinds of food there." I say a little confused.

"None of the food here is cooked tho, and I am hungry now. So, can you come home and cook already. The kids probably haven't even eaten, and you still got them outside. Where the hell are y'all anyway?" He's starting to sound more aggravated by the second. 

"The kids are fine. Bri and I decided to take the kids to Olive Garden. Do you want something---"

"You know I don't eat that shit why would you even ask me that? How are you going to take my kids out to eat with your ratchet ass friend? You didn't even ask me if I cared about you going out or if I even wanted anything. You hella selfish."

"First of all, she can hear you because you're in the car speakers. Secondly, I know that you don't eat it which is why I didn't ask you. AND you don't like Bri so why would I invite you out with us. That doesn't even make any sense. Besides, these are OUR kids and I wanted to take them out." At this point, I am pissed off. "You can make your own food, if you're that hungry, you're a grown man." 

"Why should I have to cook myself if I supposedly have a wife."

"Sir, you're never even at home." All of a sudden the call is disconnected. Rylie just hung up on me and he basically called me useless. I exhale loudly and turn to Bri who has this look on her face that says that she is out for blood. 

"Welp, there goes my appetite," I say parking the car. I am opening my door when I hear Bri shout.

"NO! He does NOT get to destroy our evening. He doesn't get to dictate how you feel and he DEFINITELY does not get to talk about you like you're the one being a bad spouse. So, we are going to go in here and we are going to eat and be happy and have fun. These beautiful babies are going to have full bellies and they deserve to have a happy Mama." She's always looking out for me, but it's not just easy to let go of someone that I have been with for most of my life, but I do understand what she's saying. I am tired of him speaking to me like that, and he's been doing it a lot lately. Maybe we truly are coming to an end. 

"Fine, we can go in and we can all eat and enjoy ourselves. I won't ruin that." I finally concede.

"You not ruin food mommy. I love food." Lance says sleepily. My little monster finally woke up, and he's one of the cutest things that I have ever seen.

"Can I have kids pizza, Mommy?" Logan asks. "Yes baby, that is okay with me. Want some french fries too?" I ask her, turning around and looking at my babies in the back seat.  

"Yay, get out now Mommy," Lance demands. "Alright Big Boss, let's get out."

I grab Logan out of the car, and Bri grabs Lance. I walk around the car and grasp both of their tiny hands and we all start walking to the front door. Mario is already at the receptionist's desk gets our table when we get inside. "Hi, Mrs. Lira!" Lylah yells loudly, and it makes me grin from ear to ear. Mario turns around a gives me a beautiful smile, and I feel my heart jump a little bit. We walk over and I bend down to give Lylah a hug. 

"This is Lance and Logan," I say pointing to my kids. "And this is Lylah", I say presenting her to them. They all wave at each other and immediately they run over to sit on the bench and start talking.

 I finally stand back up and when my eyes meet a pair of familiar, gentle eyes, all my previous anger disappears. He takes a step closer and hugs me just around my midsection. Always the gentleman, and never crossing boundaries. I love it. I hug him back and inhale deeply. He smells wonderful and I don't think I will get tired of that any time soon. He's so warm against me, everything from the inside of me feels warm too. We let go and turn toward the receptionist, who is grinning at us. 

"I'm here too y'know" Bri says looking exasperated, but there is a smile on her face and humor in her eyes so I know that she isn't upset at all. 

Mario chuckles and hugs Bri too. "It's nice to see you too Bri." His voice is deep and suddenly I find myself wanting to hear him say my name too. The receptionist tells us that it's time to be seated, so I walk over to the kids and tell them it is time to go sit at the table. They walk in front of me still speaking as animatedly as little kids can. They walk past Mario and follow the receptionist, while Bri follows behind them. Mario falls into step with me.

"Te ves hermosa como siempre."(You look beautiful as always.) I hear the deep voice I've grown so familiar with, say from beside me.

"Gracias. Eso fue muy amable de tu parte." (Thanks. That was very sweet of you.) I don't know why he insists on speaking spanish but I'm not going to complain. I know that Bri can hear us because she looks back at us with an amused smile on her face, but she keeps walking. 

?Ella sabe lo que estamos diciendo?" (Does she know what we are saying?) He asks me.

"Si, un poco." (Yes, a little) Bri knows a little bit of Spanish because I speak it to the babies when she is around all of the time. She has really been making an effort to try and understand us. That is a best friend if I ever met one. Rylie never wanted to learn Spanish. He always claims that if the babies start speaking to him in Spanish and he feels like it is disrespectful then he will whoop them. I'd love to see him try. 

I push the thoughts of Riley from my mind and focus on the beautiful people that are here with me right now, in this moment. I am filled with so much happiness right now as I watch everyone sit around the table. This is what family feels like. I fear that I may be getting too close to Mario, which scares me for obvious reasons, but above all, I believe he would make a great friend. 

Mario pulls out Lylah's chair, then Logan's, Bri's and finally mine. "Hey why you no take out my chair?", Lance asks while pouting. Mario just smiles, and says "We do that for the ladies here. We protect and take care of them." At that moment I knew that this was going to be an interesting introduction and dinner between Mario and Lylah, and Logan and Lance.