dove in love: haha I love AE! I worked there for three years. Good times! Allegra sleeping with Casey's mom means Megan has a free pass. :)

Casey's POV

Megan and Allegra went home two days ago and Alex and I have been bored out of our minds since then. We want to visit our baby, but I'm still not allowed in the NICU. Alex is going to visit her in a few hours, but I have to stay behind.

We've been in Colorado for four months now and we're running out of things to do. We're not in the mood to watch a movie and there's absolutely nothing on TV. There's also nobody to bother. Both of my sisters are at school, my dad is at work, and my mom took off somewhere. She told us she was going with Chrissy, but she left wearing a really tight, low-cut red dress. I told her the dress was too revealing and all she responded before shutting the door was, "I don't plan on wearing it that long."

I want to shout at her to stop acting like she's our age, but it's too late.

Alex senses my frustration and holds me close. "That's never going to be us. I can promise you that. We're never going to cheat on each other, Caseybear."

I grab my wife's hand and lead her to the attic. "I have a surprise for you. You're going to love it."

When we're in the attic, I show her a crib that was mine when I was a baby. "My daddy made this himself shortly before I was born. I talked to Daddy about it and he said he wants to pass it on to the next generation of Novak babies. I know this may sound weird, but it's a way for me to feel connected to Kylie. I want to be a good mommy, Alex. I do." Maybe it's a combination of not being able to see Kylie and my parents arguing, but I suddenly start crying.

"We're going to get through this, Caseybear. You'll be able to see our daughter very soon."

"When, Alex? She's five days old and I don't even know what she looks like. You don't know how that feels for me."

"I know I don't, but she'll come home to us soon and we're going to get to watch her grow up. We'll see her start school someday, go on her first date, go to college, and maybe we'll see her get married and start a family of her own. There's so many milestones left in Kylie's life and we're going to be there for each other throughout all of them."

I know what she just said is grounded in nothing other than her own hopes and dreams, but the look on her face right now fills me with comfort. Alex and I aren't Chris and Charlene. We're going to be together forever.

I can see Alex's eyes scanning the attic before they are fixed on a wardrobe closet. "What's in there?" she asks.

"Probably nothing you're interested in," I say to her, which only piques her interest.

"I'm going to look, anyway." She opens the wardrobe closet and we see pom poms and various cheerleader uniforms and warm-up attire.

"These were my mom's when she was a cheerleader for the Denver Broncos, the football team. She always said it was the happiest time of her life. I loved it too because whenever it was take your child to work day, my classmates would be so jealous of me because they would go to offices and I would go to football games and hang out with the cheerleaders and get autographs from all of the football players. She even bought me a kiddy replica of her uniform and we took pictures together on the field."

I show Alex a picture of my mom in her uniform and, after a few seconds, I practically have to pry it out of her hands. "She was really beautiful," Alex says to me.

"That's when she was about 24," I tell her. "Not bad for a mother of 3, right?"

"Not bad at all," Alex says and I see her still gazing at the picture.

"I think it's crazy how her being a cheerleader was what first attracted my dad to my mom when they were 15, but he hated her being an NFL cheerleader. He said she showed way too much skin for a mother and he made her quit after one season."

Like a woman obsessed, I go straight to the cedar chest in the corner of the attic that contains random artifacts from my mom's junior high and high school years. Yearbooks, more yearbooks, clothes, accessories, finally I find what I'm looking for.

"Jackpot!" I say and Alex rushes over.

"What's that?"

"Her diary," I say to my wife. Judging by the look on Alex's face, reading this would be very wrong.

"Casey, those were her most private thoughts and feelings. You can't just read it. That's a total invasion of privacy."

"Oh and it wasn't when she walked in on us last year?"

"Fine," she says. "Just don't get me involved."

I start reading aloud. "September 30, 1982. I fucking hate this town and the people in it." When I see that this has caught Alex's interest, I continue. "I got called in to the principal's office again and he plopped a copy of Playboy magazine on his desk and said to me 'Miss Jablonsky, if you don't straighten out, this is your future. You are one of the most airheaded girls I have ever met. You better pray to God that your looks don't fade.' My parents don't encourage me to do good in school. My mom tells me 'Charlene, with a face like that, you don't need to be smart.' I fucking hate my parents. They're country-clubbers so they're never around much. I hate this upper-middle-class bullshit life. I need something exciting to happen. I want to fall in love, but all the 8th grade boys are gross."

"October 27, 1982. There's a new girl in school. She has long, blonde hair and speaks with a Southern accent. She moved here from Mississippi and all of her fingernails are painted a different color. My friends think she's weird, but I want to hang out with her. She seems…different."

"November 1, 1982. I went to a Halloween party last night and the new girl was there. I found out her name is Chrissy Lacroix. She spent the night at my house and we played Truth or Dare. She asked if I had ever kissed anyone and I said no so she leaned in and kissed me…on the lips! Can you believe that? I didn't know it was possible for girls to kiss girls. I wasn't grossed out or anything. Her lips were soft and she wore vanilla flavored lip gloss. She went home a few hours ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about her."

"November 30, 1982. I'm starting to like Chrissy the way I should be liking boys. One of my friends told me about something called masturbation today and how she touches herself when she thinks of a boy she likes. I know it's wrong, but I did that awhile ago when I thought of Chrissy. It doesn't seem like it's enough. I wonder if Chrissy does it too. I wonder if she thinks of me. I can't tell anyone about this. My friends will think I'm disgusting."

"Wow," Alex says. "I'm speechless."

"You're speechless," I tell her. "Imagine how I feel."

"Keep going," Alex urges me. "It's getting good."

"December 20, 1982. Chrissy hadn't kissed me since Halloween, so I started to feel insecure. Did I look pretty that day and I haven't looked pretty since? I decided to stop being a baby about it and confront her. She said she was sorry and she kissed me under the mistletoe. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a thousand butterflies in my stomach. I think I'm in love. She also told me that she really likes me as more than a friend and I told her that I feel the same way. That's when she took off her favorite bracelet and as she was putting it on me, she asked if I would be her girlfriend. How could I say no? She's so beautiful and we have so much fun together. I gave her a kiss and told her I would love to be her girlfriend. She's going back to Mississippi for a whole week to visit her family for Christmas. A whole week without my girlfriend? I don't think I'll survive."

"January 1, 1983. 1982 is over. Happy 1983! Yay! This means I'm going to start high school in 8 months and I'm kind of excited. Christmas was boring, but New Years Eve was fun. Chrissy spent the night and we spent the whole time in my room watching MTV. When MTV got boring, we shut it off and I put on a mix tape that I made of my favorite love songs. Chrissy said it put her in the mood. When Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You" came on, she started singing to me. It was so cute! She says it's our song and I completely agree with her. When it was over, she started to kiss me. First on my lips and then on my neck. I was so nervous because we had only ever kissed on the lips before. After a few minutes of kissing, I slowly stuck my hand up Chrissy's shirt so I could touch her breasts. Her skin is so soft. That was the first time I had ever touched her there and I didn't want to stop. I wanted to unhook her bra but she wouldn't let me. She said we aren't ready for that yet. It doesn't matter that we didn't go that far. I'm still on cloud nine from getting to touch her. When it was time for bed, we fell asleep in each other's arms. Oh, Chrissy, I love you so much."

Alex and I decide to skip a few entries because we agreed that reading every entry would be an invasion of privacy, as if what we've read already wasn't.

"May 28, 1983. I can't stop smiling. I saw Chrissy naked today! It was on accident, but still. We were changing into our bathing suits in different rooms and I accidentally walked in on her. She got so embarrassed and I have no idea why. She has such a beautiful body. I couldn't stop looking at her. I took off my bathing suit in case that would make the moment less awkward. She smiled and then tackled me onto the bed. When she started to kiss me, I spread my legs underneath her so I could have more intimate contact. I let out a soft moan and Chrissy told me that was one of the most beautiful sounds she ever heard. P.S. I found out I'm the only incoming freshman to make the high school varsity cheerleading squad. Life is finally perfect."

"October 1, 1983. I love high school and Chrissy. And I love being a cheerleader, but I think Chrissy loves me being a cheerleader even more. I was in full uniform today because of a rally and Chrissy couldn't keep her hands off of me. She says she loves the short skirt and the tight-fitting top I have to wear. When we were laying down on my bed, she pulled my panties down and started to massage my clit. I started to do the same thing to her too. She was so wet and touching her felt so good. I think I experienced my first orgasm. I love Chrissy so much and she says she loves me too and she wants to marry me someday. And oh my gosh, but I think I'm ready to lose my virginity to her."

"That's where it stops," I tell Alex in frustration.

"What do you mean that's where it stops? That's too random."

We flip through empty pages until we see a piece of paper fall out.

"Young love," Alex says after awhile. "I almost felt like I was there when you were reading her diary."

"Lex, don't you realize that this changes everything. That stupid bitch, Charlene. I hate her right now. She knew exactly what I was going through, yet she still slapped me and pretended to be all high and mighty and tell me I was going to Hell."

"Casey, we don't know the whole story. Her diary ends so abruptly. What's that piece of paper say?"

I'm too angry to read it so I hand it to Alex to read it aloud. "November 1, 2007. My dearest Charlene, I'm writing this as I'm looking at the most beautiful sight I have ever seen: you asleep in my bed, in our bed, after all these years. A few strands of your silky hair are tucked behind your ear and I can see the slightest hint of a smile, which makes me wonder if you're even asleep at all. It had been over 20 years since the last time I made love to you and, even though so much time has passed, making love to you still has just as much intensity as it did when we were 15. The only difference is now we don't have to worry about finishing before your parents come home. I actually had enough time to re-visit some of your original hot spots and discover a few new ones. I'll even admit that you taste even better than I remembered. I love you so much, Charlene. I never stopped loving you and I never will. I know you blame yourself for what happened to us, but we were only 15, sweetheart, and your mom had no right to do that to you. To this day, I still hate that woman. I'm sorry about everything that happened with Chris, but at the same time I'm glad he is seeing someone else. You've spent over 20 years hiding who you really are from your husband and your kids. I know telling your kids isn't going to be easy, but I'll be there for you when you decide to. You've given up so much for everyone else's happiness and it's time you start thinking about what you want for once in your life. You're such a beautiful woman and after 25 years, you still take my breath away, Charlene Jablonsky. Your devoted girlfriend (yet again), Chrissy."

Alex and I don't have time to process what we just read. We hear someone opening the front door so we put everything back where it's supposed to be and pretend as if nothing happen. If anyone asks, we were only there to see the crib.