This chapter may be a little boring, but I needed to lay some ground work for future ones. Bear with me.
The girls watched as Ikey exited the bar. Once the door closed behind him, Hannah, Janet and Pizza Girl all turned on Layla and started talking at once. Hannah held up one hand in a request to be heard and said "Oh, My, God. I am almost speechless. What did I just witness?"
They all turned to Layla, and Pizza Girl said "Spill it sister of mine. No secrets on Girls Night Out. This is a sacred trust and must not be ignored or tampered with."
Layla was at a loss for words, and that didn't happen very often to her. She had always professed a belief in love at first sight and now it felt like she should put up or shut up. She had left Boston with the intention of changing her life, she just didn't think that it would happen this quickly.
"Ladies, I think I just met someone who will be very important in my life. I've never felt like this before. I have a whole family of butterflies in my stomach."
Janet and Pizza Girl exchanged a smile. They both knew what she was talking about.
"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Layla asked them. "I don't mean lust, or any of that, I mean real, true love."
Janet looked at Hannah for a second before she answered "I think I do. I think I loved Eddie from the first time I met him. I just had a lot of demons to battle before I could go down that road. I can't speak for anyone else, but I think my answer would definitely be a yes. You have to follow your heart. I believe this also, don't ignore what your heart is telling you because sometimes you only get one chance."
"Amen, Sister" Hannah said. "Now, enough of this deep stuff, let's have some fun. C'mon Layla, they're playing your song." She pulled Layla off of her bar stool and they headed toward the dance floor with Derek and the Dominoes blasting from the jukebox.
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Back at the house, it was a little quieter. After the game Owen had gone to pick up his kids and Nick and Sam had gone to visit the Commander. Ikey was trying to explain his feelings for Layla to the guys, but he was having a hard time.
"Check it. Do you remember that time I fell off the ladder when we were trimming that tree at the Thompson's?" he said to Eddie. "I kinda feel like that."
"Really" Eddie replied. "If I remember correctly, I almost had to give you CPR and then you went and threw up in the rose bushes."
"Exactly, now you're getting it." Ikey said. "Man, I really want to get to know her. Do you think that's okay?"
"Absolutely" Phil said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you throw up." He ducked as Ikey threw an empty beer can at him.
Eddie wanted a piece of the action so he said "Look at it this way, at least she isn't married. And besides, she'll probably run screaming when she sees you dorks with your air band."
"Ha-Ha funny guy." They both looked towards the other room when they heard Phil rooting around in his stacks of CDs.
"Found it" he said as he held up a disc. He loaded the disc in the player and held up a finger and said "Wait for it, wait for it, here we go." The unmistakable notes of Eric Clapton's 'Layla' filled the house.
"Doesn't get any better than that, dude. You just met a girl who has her own theme song." Eddie said as he nudged Ikey in the shoulder.
"True dat" Ikey said as he picked up his drumsticks.
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The girls danced to every song on the jukebox and stayed until Rooster ran them out. It was a loud and happy car full of women that pulled up at the house. Janet waved to Hannah as she drove away. Someone had lit the tiki torches and Janet could see Eddie sitting in his favorite lounge chair so she headed that way to join him. Layla and Pizza Girl were coming up the steps behind her and Janet heard a quick intake of breath. Turning around she was stunned to see Phil sitting on the other side of the porch, shrouded by shadows.
Eddie got to his feet quickly and pulled Janet back to his chair with him. Settling her in his lap he whispered in her ear "Don't make a big deal of this, I'll explain everything later. Just sit here with me, I missed you tonight."
"Okay" Janet said as she put her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.
"What are you doing out here, Phil?" Pizza Girl asked him quietly. "Do you need anything?"
"Just you" he answered just as quietly. "Come over here and hold on to me. I promised Eddie I would stay out here until the tiki torches go out." When he made that promise he wasn't actually sure that he would make it that long, but now that she was with him, he was thinking that it just might happen.
Pizza Girl went to him and squeezed herself into the chair with him and wrapped her arms around him.
Layla was looking around, but she didn't see Ikey. When Eddie saw this he said "Ikey's inside putting on some more music. If you have any pity on us at all you will go in there and help. His choices are questionable sometimes."
Ikey was idly flipping through the cd stacks, not really seeing them. He was thinking about Layla and wishing that she was there.
"Can I help?" Layla said, bringing him out of his daydream.
"Please" Ikey said. "I see that since your sister moved in and Janet is here all the time, there are a lot more choices."
Layla came to stand beside him and once again Ikey had to fight the urge to run his fingers through her hair. Instead he looked at her and said "Did you have fun at Sully's?"
"I had the best time. I feel like I've known Hannah and Janet my whole life. They are so nice." She held up a cd and said "Check it, look what I found. I burnt this cd for my sister." As she loaded the cd she didn't see Ikey's stunned expression. He couldn't believe it, a girl who talked like him.
Ikey thought he had died and gone to heaven when he heard the cd that she had chosen. Ikey had a secret love for the 70's and Journey was one of his favorite groups. 'Lights' happened to be his favorite song. He took this as a good sign. A very good sign.
"Thank you, Layla" Janet and Eddie said in unison from the porch.
Layla wandered around the room, looking at all of the strange things in the room.
"You should have seen it before your sister cleaned up in here" Ikey told her.
"I like it, it feels homey " Layla said as she went to sit on the couch. "Come sit with me."
Ikey went to join her on the couch and couldn't believe how nervous he felt. When she took his hand like she had at the bar he felt much better, but he still didn't know what to say to her. She let go of his hand and turned to face him. "Talk to me, I won't bite. I promise."
"What do you want to know?" Ikey asked her.
"Everything, all the gory details."
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Ikey was pleased when she scooted under his arm and leaned into him. He pulled her close and started talking. He told her about growing up in Knights Ridge and they discovered a shared past at private school. Ikey loved hearing her talk about all of her sisters since he was an only child. They both confessed their love of music from the 70's to each other. They were so busy talking that they didn't notice Phil and Pizza Girl go upstairs. When Eddie and Janet came in a little bit later, Ikey looked at his watch and noticed how late it was.
"It's pretty late and you must be tired. Do you want me to go so you can go to sleep?"
Layla pulled his arm closer around her and said "I don't want you to go anywhere. This feels nice"
Eddie wandered into the other room and loaded Janet's favorite Foreigner cd into the stereo while she put the last glass in the dishwasher. As they headed up the stairs, he called back to Ikey and Layla "Good-night kids. See ya in the morning."
When Eddie's door shut at the top of the stairs, Layla tilted her head up and looked him in the eyes.
Ikey swallowed hard and said "Uh-Oh. You're makin me nervous again."
"So are you ever going to kiss me?" Layla had wanted to kiss him from the first moment she saw him and was pretty proud of herself that she had waited this long.
Ikey had been feeling the same thing. He tipped her chin up and softly kissed her. When he felt her melt into him, he kissed her a little deeper. Pulling back, he looked at her and knew that he was lost. When she swung her legs over his to scoot over into his lap he pulled her closer and kissed her until they were both breathless. Layla could have sworn that she felt the earth move a little and couldn't believe how right everything was feeling.
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Since Pizza Girl had an early class everyone but Janet was up the next morning. Eddie and Janet had talked for hours after they went upstairs and he was being nice and letting her sleep. While Phil walked Pizza Girl to the door, Eddie went to the kitchen to start the coffee. Passing by the living room he smiled at what he saw. Ikey had fallen asleep with his feet on the coffee table, reminiscent of the way he would often fall asleep at Sully's. The difference was the girl asleep with her head on a pillow in his lap. Ikey opened his eyes and saw Eddie laughing at him. Eddie mouthed the word 'coffee' at him and pointed to the kitchen. Ikey eased himself out from under Layla and recovered her with the blanket. He followed Eddie to the kitchen and closed the door.
Eddie ginned at him and said "Dude, there was a perfectly good bed upstairs. You didn't have to sleep on the couch."
"We were fine on the couch. And besides, I didn't want to wake her up." After Layla had fallen asleep in the middle of telling him about why she had quit her job in Boston, Ikey had spent a long time just watching her sleep.
When Phil joined them in the kitchen, Eddie looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Well, did you ask her?"
Phil shook his head and said "Tonight. And I want you all to be here. Let's do dinner in the backyard, it looks nice out there and I think after last night I can go that far. I might need some help setting up, though."
"Layla and I can help you here if Eddie and Janet will do the shopping." Ikey volunteered.
The rest of the day was spent in a whirlwind of activity. Phil was so busy that he forgot to worry about actually being outside. Eddie went to work with a list to pick up at the store on the way home. Janet went to work with instructions to keep Pizza Girl busy until it was time for dinner.
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At 7:30 sharp Janet and Pizza Girl walked in the front door.
"Where is everybody?" Pizza Girl asked.
Layla came through the kitchen door and grabbed her sister in a bear hug. "Come upstairs with me. We're having dinner outside, so let's go get pretty for the guys."
After the girls headed upstairs with Pizza Girl, the guys concentrated on calming Phil down enough to make it outside.
"Phys, keep your eye on the prize. You can do it." Ikey held the door opened and waited for Phil to open his eyes.
Phil opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "I can do this, not a problem. Let's go boys."
Layla and Ikey had outdone themselves on the backyard. They had discovered about a million twinkle lights in the garage and from the looks of it they had used every one.
Candles were placed strategically around on the table and there was even a nice vase of flowers that Ikey had picked when their next door neighbor wasn't looking.
"Nice job Ikey" Eddie said.
"It was all Layla, I was just the muscle" Ikey told him as he finished lighting the candles.
Eddie gave him a long look and said "So, have you found your Angela?"
"I think so. I hope so." Ikey told him. "Check it, here they come."
Janet and Layla pushed Pizza Girl ahead of them out the door. She stopped short when she saw what everyone had been up to during the day. "Is this why you made me go shoe shopping with you?" she asked Janet.
"Guilty as charged" Janet said as she went to sit beside Eddie at the table.
Layla walked to Ikey and he put his arm around her and led her to the other side of the table.
Pizza Girl looked at Phil and he beckoned her to the head of the table and pulled the chair out for her.
"You look beautiful" he told her as he sat down beside her. He reached under the table and brought out a small bouquet of flowers and handed them to her.
Pizza Girl took the flowers and smiled at the stargazer lily in the middle. He had remembered that they were her favorite. As her hand closed around the stems, she felt something hard. Looking closer, she saw that it was a diamond solitaire in an antique setting. "What is this, Phil?"
"You've been my eyes to the world for over a year now. I want you to be more than just my eyes, I want you to be my everything. Marry me." He was holding on to her hands and looking into her eyes.
"Really?" she said. She could feel everything falling into place as she looked into his eyes.
"Really" he replied. "I am out here because of you. You make me a better person. Please say yes."
Before anyone knew what was happening, Pizza Girl launched herself at Phil and tackled him. She smothered him in kisses and said "Yes, yes, yes I will marry you. Yes, a million times."
Ikey leaned over to Layla and whispered to her "I can't wait to see their kids."
Layla smiled at him and said "Let's go get the food, I'm starving. Let's give them a few minutes alone."
Janet overheard and pulled Eddie out of his chair. "Good idea, we'll help."
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The three couples spent the next few hours laughing and talking. The girls admired the ring and the guys were giving Phil a hard time about settling down. After a few hours Phil had reached his limit in the outdoors so Pizza Girl took him inside. Eddie and Janet left to go back to her house. She had been gone for a few days and needed to check on things.
Ikey had carried a stack of plates inside to the sink. When he returned he saw Layla out in the hammock at the back of the yard, gazing up at the stars. When he got closer he saw a trace of tears on her cheeks.
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He reached down and took her hand. "Tell me."
Layla made room in the hammock for him. When they were settled in with her head on his chest, she told him "Nothing is wrong. I'm just feeling a little blue. I'm happy for my sister, but I'm a little scared about where my life is going."
"Yeah, I get that. I've been feeling the same way lately. Until I met this girl in a bar. Somehow, tonight, right now everything feels better. I made a pretty bad mistake last year and somehow they all forgave me. Just when I felt the worst, everything got better. Let me help you. Let me make you feel better." Ikey pushed her hair out of her face and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. He kissed her slowly all over her face then crushed her to him in a hug.
Her voice was muffled in his chest, but he could understand her when she said "Isn't life strange? Two days ago I was miserable in Boston and now here I am with you." She raised her head to look at him. "Thank you for understanding. I am so happy for my sister and I was feeling selfish for being sad. I guess I should stay around for the wedding."
"Just for the wedding?" Ikey asked her.
"Oh no, not just the wedding. I think I have another very good reason to stay. That is, if you will have me. You might get tired of me, you know." She hopped out of the hammock and said "Wait here, I have a surprise for you."
When she came back she was carrying her iPod and a small speaker system. As she pulled him up from the hammock he heard 'Sharing the Night Together' coming from the speakers. "How did you know I like Dr Hook?" he asked her.
"I didn't really know, I was just hoping. Dance with me" she told him.
Ikey took her in his arms and they danced under the stars. He finally got the chance to run his hands through all of those curls.
When Eddie home the next morning he found them asleep in the hammock. He poked Ikey awake and said "For goodness sakes man, let that girl sleep in a bed someday."
Ikey just smiled. He was working on that one.
