A Gift Like No Other
Karen heard the soft knock on the front door and got up to let Katie in. It was on 5 so the sun had not yet come up. Katie stood on the front porch, her breath forming a cloud in front of her lips, she clutched a beautifully wrapped package in her mittened hands.
"Good morning Katie." Karen said with a yawn as she opened the door. "Come on in." Katie smiled at her and stepped into the living room. The house was dark and silent.
"Jessie still asleep?" She asked in a soft whisper. Karen nodded to her, smiling.
"I'll start breakfast if you want to go wake her up." Katie smiled at her back at her. The two had planned this early morning breakfast as a surprise for Jessie's 16th birthday. Katie tiptoed up the stairs and slowly opened the door to Jessie's room. It was still and quiet in the room, Katie waited by the door for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before she made her way over to Jessie's bed. Jessie was snuggled up in her comforter, looking unbelievably adorable. Katie paused next to her bed, her eyes sparkled as she watched Jessie sleep. Finally she sat down gently on the edge of the bed and let her fingers brush the hair away from Jessie's face. Her girlfriends eyes fluttered open and looked up at Katie, a smile forming on her lips.
"Good morning beautiful." Katie said softly, leaning down and kissing Jessie's forehead. "And happy birthday."
"Thank you." Jessie said, smiling a little groggily. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Katie, pulling her girlfriends down so that she was stretched out next to Jessie. Jessie snuggled her head into Katie's shoulder and held her tightly.
"Can we go back to sleep?" She asked, yawning. Katie squeezed her tightly.
"I would love to baby, but your mom is making breakfast for you downstairs and you need to sit up and open your present." Katie said, smiling as Jessie's eyes popped open and she made herself sit up in bed. Katie followed suit and flipped on the bedside lamp, reaching down and picking the package up that she had set next to Jessie's bed. Jessie smiled as Katie handed her the gift. She tore the ribbon off of the top, and lifted the lid. On top lay a piece of white paper with a note from Katie on it.
Dear Jessie,
Happy 16th birthday baby! I hope that all of your dreams come true. I love you.
All my love,
Katie
Jessie looked up at Katie and smiled. "I love you too." She said as she leaned forward, kissing her girlfriend gently. When they pulled apart Katie's eyes were glowing brightly.
"Hurry up and open it!" She cried excitedly. Jessie smiled and turned back to the task at hand. She gently lifted the tissue paper out of the box and gasped with delight when she saw what was inside. It was a photo of her and Katie from that autumn in a beautiful oak frame with the word "forever" carved into the woodwork.
"Oh Katie." She breathed, running her hand over the frame. "It's so beautiful." Katie smiled. It was her favorite picture of the two of them together. They were standing underneath the giant oak tree in her backyard. Katie was behind Jessie, her arms wrapped around her waist and her chin hooked over Jessie's shoulder. Jessie was leaning back against Katie, her arms holding Katie's around her. The smiles on their faces were incredible, and the beautiful autumn colors made the picture just that much more magical.
"There's something else." Katie said softly. Jessie's eyes looked up at her and then into the box next to her on the bed. They fell onto a very worn leather book. Jessie pulled into out and slowly flipped through the pages, a look of surprise on her face.
"Katie, is this your journal?" Katie nodded at her.
"Jess, you have been so wonderful to me. You have let me into every part of your life." Katie said, playing with the hem of her shirt nervously.
"Katie, you've done the same for me." Jessie said honestly. Katie looked up at her, her eyes full of emotion.
"For the most part yes. But I have kept a lot of my past from you." Jessie's face clouded with concern. So Katie continued quickly.
"Nothing bad Jess, I'm not a criminal on the run or anything like that." She said with a soft laugh. Jessie's face eased up a little and Katie took her hand in her own.
"Before I met you Jess, I was so completely lost. I was lonely, scared, and miserable. I know that no one knows that about me, I'm damn good at pretending that I'm ok when I'm not. But I couldn't hide from myself, so I began that journal to get out all of what I felt. Everything is in that book Jess. The good, the bad, and the ugly." She finished with a sad smile. Jessie just looked at the book in her lap. When she finally looked up to meet Katie's gaze, her eyes were filled with tears.
"You really want me to have this?" She asked in a low voice.
"Yes." Katie said emphatically. "Jessie, I want you to know everything about me." Jessie smiled at her warmly.
"But don't you want to keep writing in it?" She asked, an inquisitive look on her face.
"I don't need it anymore." Katie said simply. Jessie looked at her questioningly, so Katie continued. "When you kissed me that day in your attic, everything that had ever hurt me before vanished. I found myself that day. I felt like I had finally come home and I haven't needed the book since." Katie gazed intently at Jessie as she spoke and Jessie's heart swelled with the tenderness of Katie's gift.
"I love you Jess." Katie said softly leaning forward and pressing her lips against Jessie's. Jessie sighed contentedly under Katie's soft touch and leaned into her, deepening the kiss. The sound of Karen knocking on the door made the girls pull apart.
"Come in." Jessie called out, her face flushed. Karen's head poked in the door and she grinned at her daughter.
"Happy birthday baby girl." She said cheerfully. Jessie grinned at her and then crawled out of bed.
"Thank you." She said as she wrapped her arms around her mom and hugged her tightly. Karen kissed the top of her head.
"Breakfast is ready downstairs if you're hungry." Jessie's eyes perked up and she looked up at her mom smiling.
"Cinnamon rolls?" She asked, hopefully. Karen smiled down at her.
"What kind of mother would I be if I didn't make my daughter cinnamon rolls on her birthday?" Jessie grinned, kissed her mom on the cheek and then dashed downstairs. Karen looked at Katie sitting on the bed and smiled. "We better get down there if we want any for ourselves." She said laughing softly. Katie smiled and nodded as she got up and followed Karen downstairs.
After breakfast was finished Karen, Katie, and Jessie headed out for a day on the town. They first went to the mall and then to the park where Karen sat down to watch the two girls ice skate. Well, Jessie skated, but poor Katie spent most of the time on her backside. The poor thing just was not very coordinated. Jessie laughed and helped her girlfriend up after one particularly bad spill. Katie grinned at her sheepishly.
"Can we sit down for a while?" She asked, rubbing her backside.`
"Of course." Jessie said laughing, and taking her girlfriend's hand, helping her off of the ice.
"Sorry I'm such a spaz." Katie apologized, sitting down next to Karen who was having a hard time trying to contain her amusement. Katie turned to her, "And what are you laughing at?" She asked, her brow arching as she pretended to be insulted.
"Oh, honey." Karen said through her laughter, putting her arm around Katie's shoulder in a friendly hug. "You're about as good of a skater as I am." Katie smiled at her and was about to come up with some smart ass response when her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" She asked, turning to smile at Jessie who was sitting beside her, removing her skates. "Whoa Mom, slow down." She said, her smile fading as she listened to her obviously frantic mother. Jessie and Karen shared a concerned look. "Mom, just calm down ok? I'll be home in a few minutes." Katie was frowning as she hung up the phone. "Jess, I'm sorry but I've got to go home."
"Is everything ok?" Jessie asked looking very concerned.
"Yeah." Katie said, sighing. "Figaro got himself stuck up in the tree again and mom needs me to come get him down since Dad and the boys are out for the day." Jessie's face relaxed when she realized that there was no big emergency, Katie's cat was always getting himself stuck somewhere.
"It's ok babe." She said, taking her girlfriend's hand as they walked out to the car.
When Jessie got home that evening she saw that the answering machine light was beeping so she dropped her bag and sat down, pushing play. The sounds of a group of people singing "happy birthday" filled the kitchen, and Jessie smiled. It was her dad calling from Australia wishing her a happy birthday and saying that he couldn't wait to see her and Katie next week. Jessie's face was glowing as the machine clicked off. She sat for a moment and then suddenly remembered what Katie had given her, so she dashed up stairs to read the journal. Sitting down on her bed, Jessie opened the worn book and slowly started to read. It began when Katie was a freshman and Jessie could hardly believe that it was her girlfriend that had written it. The pages were filled with so much pain and confusion, Jessie felt tears form in her eyes as she took a walk through Katie's past.
When the journal first mentioned Sarah, Jessie paused, her heart pounding. She was afraid to continue. She was afraid to see what exactly had happened between the two of them. She finally took a deep breath and continued. What she learned came as a surprise and a relief. Katie had never loved Sarah, in fact the two had hardly been what one would call involved. They had fooled around a little bit, but absolutely nothing serious had happened between them. Jessie's heart felt lighter when she came to the end of the chapter on Sarah. The last few entries in the book caught Jessie completely off guard, but they would touch her deeply. They were all about her, and Katie's growing attraction to her and the fear of her attraction. Jessie felt tears forming in her eyes again as she slowly read through the passages.
January 11, 2002
I met the most amazing person today. Her name is Jessie. God, what a beautiful name. Tad knows her and so I made introduce us. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and when she looked at me I just felt this shock go through my body. It terrified me because I felt like this girl could see the depths of my soul. It was so incredible. God! What am I saying! A girl like Jessie would never go for me, she's not like that. She probably likes Tad anyways. But still, there is something about her.......
January 15, 2002
He kissed her! That asshole Tad kissed her! On my couch! Well, she did push him off of her. I think I might be falling for her. When I saw them together tonight I just felt this rage run through me, feeling this way is killing me inside. I'm finding myself thinking about her all of the time. No one has ever had this affect on me before. No one has ever gotten to me. It hurts, but it hurts so good......
February 5, 2002
........we've been spending a lot of time together lately. Just hanging out and getting to know one another. She is so easy to talk to. I have never been happier than I am when she's around. She's been opening up to me a lot, and sometimes when she looks at me I think I see something in her eyes. Something that I can't quite define. Attraction? No, Jessie would never look at me that way, I've got to be imagining things.......
February 16, 2002
......sings like an angel. And she sang for me tonight. When her voice took up the song I felt myself become completely hypnotized. All I could do was just look at her in wonder. I know that I was staring, but she didn't seem to mind at all. It's weird, she almost seemed to be flirting with me. I can't help but think that maybe she is feeling something too, but I'm so scared to find out. I don't want to lose her, I don't think that I could handle that. I'm so totally restless over her. God, I think I'm falling in love......
February 18, 2002
......mom has been in a terrible accident. When I saw Jessie cry today it broke my heart. All I want to do is take her into my arms and hold her. I want to take care of her, protect her, and let her know that everything is going to be alright. These feelings I have are driving me insane! I don't know how much longer I can hide them, I don't even know If I want to keep them hidden anymore......
February 28, 2002
.....I am going to drive myself nuts! The last few days I have been analyzing everything that Jessie does. Her looks, her hugs, the things that she says to me. I am just looking for some sign that she is feeling what I am. There is something there, but I just can't tell what it is. Help me.....
March 5, 2002
I think she knows. She's got to, and she's not taking it well. All day she avoided me. Oh God! I feel like I am going to die! I can't lose her, but I know I am. I should have know she wasn't like that, but I just had to write her that damn letter! I am such an ass. Oh Jess.....
March 7, 2002
She kissed me! Oh my God! I am on top of the world right now. I am so gone that I can hardly sit still. Alright Katie, slow down, from the beginning. I went over to her house today to get my sweater back, I was so nervous I thought that I was going to throw up. I went upstairs and there she was, reading my letter. I don't remember what I said, I was so scared and I couldn't stop crying, but all of a sudden she was hugging me saying she still wanted to be friends. So I told her to throw the stupid letter away, and forget I ever wrote it. But she said no, that she wanted to keep it forever and then she kissed me! At first I thought that she was going to regret it, but then she looked at me and smiled, and then, get this, she kissed me again! I still can't believe it, but I know it happened. I can still taste her lip gloss. I am so on top of the world right now! I don't think that I have ever been happier in my life, I just feel so complete. God, what she does to me!
By the time Jessie finished reading the journal, tears were streaming down her face. She felt so amazingly close to Katie right now, and she smiled closing the book. Putting it in her nightstand drawer, Jessie looked at the picture that Katie had given her, smiling through her tears. Then she picked up the phone, dialing Katie's number, just to say, "I love you."