Twelve

Balancing two very full bags of Chinese takeout in one arm and a wriggly, restless Alexia in the other, Lilly digs in her bag trying to find her keys. Fortunately, she locates them fairly quickly. Opening the front door, she sets the bags of takeout atop the kitchen counter before walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of chilled apple juice for Alexia. She walks over to the playpen in the living room and sets Alexia down inside before handing her the bottle of juice along with a few nearby toys. Alexia settles down, very contently with her bottle of juice. Lilly sits on the couch, next to the playpen. Leaning her head back, she takes a deep breath that turns into a yawn. She pulls her hair out of its ponytail before reaching for the remote and flickering on the television. Somehow, she ends up watching an 80s sitcom and before long, her eyelids are dropping and she's fast asleep.

She's awakened by a soft, familiar kiss. She opens her eyes to see Scotty taking a seat on the couch next to her.

He smiles as he says, "Morning."

"It's not, is it? I swear I only closed my eyes for a second," she says sitting up, looking around the room. She's relieved to see Alexia fast asleep in the playpen, empty bottle lying beside her.

"I think it was a little longer than a second," Scotty says.

"I can't believe I fell asleep, "she brushing her hair back with her hand as she looks back over at Alexia. "I meant to give her a bath before putting her to sleep."

"I can give her a bath tomorrow morning. I'll just go in a little later."

"How was no drugs?"

"Not great. Turn out he was around a few days ago. Someone got word to him that we were looking for him. Word on the street is that he skipped town. Possibly to his baby mama's house in New York."

Before she can answer, screams emit from the horror movie now playing on the television. She quickly mutes the television as Alexia makes a small sound as she stirs. Fortunately, she falls back asleep. They watch her for a few minutes, the soft sounds of her breathing as she sleeps.

"It's pretty late. We should probably go to bed," Scotty says.

"The Chinese…"

"I put it in the refrigerator. I can heat some up for you if you're hungry. I already ate with the guys."

"I'm not really hungry." She says sitting up.

"We should probably get to bed. It's pretty late."

"What time is it?" she asks.

"Quarter to midnight." He pauses before adding, as he gets up, "I'll take her to bed."

"You go ahead. I'm not really sleepy either. I'm going to stay down here."
"Yeah, neither am I," he says quietly as he lifts Alexia out of the playpen. "Nick and I had a Sour Patch eating competition. Five bags might have been too much."

"Five bags? Are you crazy?"

"It's not so bad. Nick had seven." He remarks as he begins to make his way upstairs. He reappears in what seems like seconds, later.

"She okay?" she asks as he sits beside her.

"Fast asleep. Barley flinched when I put her down." She looks over at him just as he shifts sideways, sitting awkwardly, obviously trying to hide something behind his back, unsuccessfully. He smiles charmingly as his eyes meet hers for a fleeting second before leaning over to kiss her, in an attempt to distract her. As she kisses him back, she reaches around him and is rather surprised when her hand comes into contact with plastic wrap. He pulls away suddenly.

"What is that?" she asks.

He smiles as he says, "Your birthday present." He pulls out a bouquet of lilies and amaryllises wrapped in shiny clear cellophane paper and a large white envelope from behind his back.

"It's not much but… Happy birthday, Lil" he says as he hands her bouquet of roses. Taking them from his hand, she promptly buries her nose in the bouquet of cream and maroon.

"How did you know?" she asks.

"Your birthday? I asked around."

"Did you also ask around about my favorite flowers? I didn't think anyone knew."

"They didn't. Not at work at least."

"So you guessed?"

"I went to the florist and picked out something."
"You guessed exactly right," she says with a smile as she gives him a quick kiss. "What's in the envelope?"

"The other day, Alexia and I went to get her portrait taken. It's kind of a tradition in my family and I thought it'd be a nice little something to have." He pulls out a couple of 11x14 shots. Alexia smiling brightly sitting in the middle of a fluffy white bedspread clutching her purple stuffed bunny, her blond ringlets framing her cherubic face and vibrant smile. She's wearing a dusty rose sundress and looks like she's having the time of her life. In the next photo, wearing the same sundress she looks inquisitive not smiling yet not frowning; just peering inquisitively at the camera. The smaller photos 5x7 and 9x11 show Alexia in the same dress yet in different possess. In one she's seated in the middle of a field of white flowers, delighted grabbing a bunch in her fist as she smiles brightly. In the next, she is lying on her stomach, looking up adoringly at someone. In the last photo, she's standing up with the help of someone's much larger hands, clearly Scotty's.

"Scotty… I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"They're beautiful. Thank you," she says swiping aside a tear bubbling in the corner of her eye.

"A friend of mine's, his sister is a photographer…" he begins to say before her lips overtake his. What starts off as a simple thank you kiss, quickly takes a turn for something different. She kisses him fervently and he kisses her equally as responsively, if not more. Soon it is far more than just their lips that are moving. Somehow they end up sideway, with her on top of him, their motions and movements, frantic, yet somehow tender. Both still fully clothed, though that problem is quickly resolved as she slips off his suit jacket, her hands making quick work of disposing of his tie while he works on the button of her blouse. Everything about her, god it's driving him insane. He finally finishes unbuttoning her blouse and wastes no time in disposing of it. He can't stop kissing her, running his hands over her. As he slips his hand underneath her tank top, all of a sudden, she abruptly pulls away. Almost instantly, he says, "I'm sorry, Lil…. I wasn't thinking straight… I…" He stops when he notices she doesn't look the slightest bit upset. Quite the contrary, in fact. Her face is flushed and smiling. Her smile grows wider as she stands up from the couch. "Get up," she says, extending her hand towards him. Taking her hand, he stands up, though still extremely confused. She laughs before giving him a kiss. Pulling away, still holding his hand, she leads him upstairs. Following closely, though a little less confused, he's not sure how he should be feeling. It seems that she is thinking exactly what he is thinking but he is not sure. Once they are in her bedroom, she double checks that the baby monitor on the nightstand is on full volume before turning towards him once again. The look in her eyes mimics his exact thoughts. Could it be that she is really thinking the same thing he is thinking? He doesn't want to be presumptuous, so he doesn't move. For, what is most likely a few minutes, but feels like either seconds or hours, she doesn't move either. They stand there, looking at each other. He feels like his head is spinning. She is the first to move, walking from the other side of the bed, towards him. As her lips overtake his, he thinks he must be dreaming or going insane. This cannot possibly be happening. Before long, they are both lost within each other. As they stumble onto the bed, he stops kissing her for a second. He needs to hear her say it, he needs to sure.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," she answers, immediately silencing him with another kiss.

There's no turning back… but there's no place he'd rather be.