This is much shorter than my usual chapters. In fact, most of my chapters may be shorter for the time being. In the interest of full disclosure I was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (medical issues I've alluded to in the past). I'm not saying this for pity or sympathy, because I'm not looking for it. I'm only saying it because the MS has left me with pretty steady muscle cramps and spasms in my arms, shoulders, and upper back that make sitting at a computer to type uncomfortable after 20-30 minutes. As you can imagine, typing/editing stories has become slow going. I'm still in the early stages of my diagnosis and trying to find what treatments work for me. In the meantime I had to decide between no writing or shorter writings. And writing is one of the few things keeping me sane right now. I have tried voice-to-text programs in an attempt to get things out more quickly, but that is weird for me at the moment.
Thank you for your continued patience. :-)
"I don't know what's come over you lately," Angela said as she tried to steady her breathing, "but the last couple of days you've been-"
Eric removed her leg from his shoulder and placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh. "Amazing? Incredible? Awe-inspiring?" He slowly kissed his way up her body. "Stunning? Breath-taking? Mind-blowing?"
"Someone sure thinks highly of himse-" Her breath hitched when he reached a particularly ticklish spot.
"You wanna try that again," he teased.
She chuckled and ran her fingers through his now short locks. "Shut up. I was going to say you're insatiable."
He wracked his brain, trying to think if that word had popped up in the Word-a-Day calendar Jack had given him for Christmas last year. But he didn't think so. There had not been an insatiable day. Until today, apparently.
"It's a good thing. Trust me. A very good thing."
"That's good. You should be nice to me right now."
Angela let out a contented sigh and leaned her head back as he trailed kisses up her neck. The past couple of days Eric had hardly wanted to leave the bed, let alone the room. It was a good thing they had already hit nearly all his main hiking destinations because at this rate they wouldn't see any more. Not that she was complaining. "Oh, I think I've been very nice. Or did you forget the shower yesterday?"
He rested his chin on her chest and peered up at her, a grin on his face. Her heart was still racing, and it thrilled him to no end that it was because of him. "That was the best sneak attack ever. Talk about a different kind of mind-blowing experience."
"Funny. Then again, that is what most guys think with a good part of the time, so maybe you're onto something."
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, but what a way to go. Plus, you made one fantasy come true, so-"
"You better have enjoyed it-"
"Duh."
"-because your other fantasy isn't happening."
"What other fantasy?"
"You. Me. Pool table. Student Union."
He groaned and dropped his head. "Am I ever going to live that down? It was just a dream."
"A dream that I love, by the way. I love that it was me there with you and not some random girl from one of your magazines."
"Please," he scoffed, "like they have a chance in hell next to you."
"Glad to hear it." Angela's fingers dug into his shoulders as he resumed his exploration of her body, covering her with nips and kisses she was certain would leave at least a few bruises. His sweet revenge for yesterday. "Eric…you-you better get-"
"I know. Don't worry," he reassured, covering her mouth in a gentle kiss. "I got it." Eric reached for the box of condoms. "Damn it."
"What's wrong?"
"It's the last one."
"Damn."
He shook his head. "Shit. I guess we can pick up more on the road tomorrow. The stores around here don't stay open near as late as back home."
"You'd better make this worth it then. Because we're not…wait a second. Tomorrow? I thought we still had four more days here."
"We did…I mean, we do."
"But you just said-"
"I act stupid and my words don't make sense when we're not naked in bed. You think I'm gonna make sense now?"
She leaned forward and propped herself up on her elbows. "First of all, don't call yourself stupid. Second, don't act like I'm stupid. I know what I heard. We're leaving tomorrow? Why? When were you going to tell me?"
Eric mentally kicked himself. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
"What was?"
"We're going to the beach."
"We are?"
"I know hiking and all this outdoor, being in the woods stuff isn't your favorite and I really love you for making the effort and trying something just because it's important to me. I mean, you went to the bathroom outside for me. What other girl would do that?"
"Ugh, I'm trying to block that part from my memory. But," she continued, "if it makes you feel better I've enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would."
"You mean it?"
She reached out and touched his cheek. "Don't get me wrong, I will never like going to the bathroom in the woods and something must be done about all these mosquitos, but otherwise it's been kinda fun."
"Still, I wanted to make it up to you and say thank you by doing something you'd enjoy. So the last few days of vacation are going to be sun, sand, and waves."
A smile slowly spread on her face. "Really?"
"Really."
"You will stop at nothing to see me in a bikini again, huh?"
"What can I say? One track mind." He supposed he should lower the boom on the rest of it. "There is a catch though."
"What's that?"
"You see, with summer school, rent, my car insurance, and saving up for this, I couldn't swing a beachside hotel during peak tourist season."
"Since when do you have to pay for everything? I've got some money. I'm sure we can find a somewhat decent hotel."
"Angela, no, I-"
"Eric, if you're expecting me to sleep in the car for a few days that really will be the last condom we ever use because you'll never-"
"No! We're staying with my grandma, Grandma Bernice. She has a condo a few miles outside of Atlantic City." At her skeptical look, he kept talking. "It's just off the beach. I can't remember if she has a one-bedroom or two. There's a chance we're sleeping on her sofa bed. At least if she doesn't have a problem with us sleeping together under her roof." He frowned. He probably should've asked grandma that earlier. Then again, she already said yes when he asked if he could bring Angela. And he was her favorite grandchild. "So," he asked, after an extended silence. "What do you think?" Eric was perplexed when she began to laugh. "Um…what am I missing?"
"Condoms," she choked out between giggles.
"No, we've still got the one."
"Not that one."
"Then what?"
"The ones you wanted to pick up on the road tomorrow. On the way to your grandmother's."
He didn't think about that part. "Oh. Yeah, that is a little weird."
"You think you're getting lucky on grandma's sofa bed? Not happening."
"Not even if we're quiet?" She glared at him. "Okay, fine. You could never be quiet."
"Me?!"
He sighed. "Man, this blows. And not in the fun way."
"What are you pouting for?"
"We have to go four days without-"
"Oh, you poor baby. How will you ever survive?"
"Don't be mean and mock me."
"You do realize we're not at grandma's house yet, don't you?"
"Yeah, so…."
"So why are you still talking?"
"Oh, right." Eric gripped the backs of her knees and pulled her down so she was lying flat on the bed again. "You said something about making this worth it, right?"
"Something like that."
/
/
"Morgan, do you have the video camera ready?"
"For the millionth time, mom, yes." She could be out with her friends, rollerblading, or hanging at the mall, but no. She had to stay home and record some supposedly monumental moment in the baby's life. "I don't see what the big deal is. I ate this morning. No one whipped out the camcorder then."
"These are Joshua's first bites of solid food. It's a big milestone."
"I bet you didn't make this big of a fuss for me," she grumbled.
"Of course, we did, honey. We captured all four of you eating for the first time."
"That's right," Alan stated as he came down the stairs with a diaper-clad Joshua in his arms. "What we didn't count on during your first meal was Cory and Eric deciding to slingshot globs of baby rice cereal at you."
"They did not."
"Unfortunately. You loved it though and kept laughing and clapping your hands like a loon so that only encouraged them to throw more."
"Oh, don't forget the spinach," Amy added, shaking her head. "It took forever to get the green out of the walls."
"You fed me spinach with rice cereal?"
"I've always pureed vegetables in with the rice cereal for your first foods. It gives it some extra nutrition." She took the baby from her husband and got him situated in the highchair. "You were spinach, Cory was peas, and Eric was carrots."
"Why does Eric get the best one?"
Alan exhaled, not in the mood to deal with backtalk. "Morgan-"
"What does Josh get?"
She mixed the food together in the bowl and smiled and her baby boy. "Lentils. Yum!" The baby spouted gibberish back to her. "That's right, Joshua. Yummy!"
"You won't be so happy in a minute, kid," Morgan quipped. "But don't worry, I'll be sneaking you candy bars and cookies before you know it."
"Does everything need a sarcastic comment?"
"Who's being sarcastic? Eric trained me to help him flirt with girls by using Chex Mix. I figure I'll do one better by training Josh on cookies."
"You will not," her father stated.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll make sure they're oatmeal cookies. At least this way they have some nutritional value."
/
"Well, son, you can't say we didn't try," Alan spoke to the baby while cleaning him up with the wipes to hopefully distract him from any crying. "Although projectile vomiting on your mother after just a couple bites wasn't necessary. You think we're going to want to save that video, huh? No, not unless we want to use it when you're older to embarrass you." He looked up when the backdoor opened. "And there's big brother Cory."
"Hi, dad, I need to talk to you and mom about-" He paused when he saw the state of the kitchen. "What the heck happened here? "Why is it some greenish….brownish…why are there blobs everywhere?"
"We tried to feed Josh solids: baby cereal and pureed lentils."
"What did he ever do to make you hate him that much," he asked, horrified. "I've got nothing going on this summer. I can pull an all-nighter or two if you and mom need to get some sleep. You don't have to resort to this." He set the folder he was carrying on the counter and took his -mostly clean- baby brother from his father. "Josh, call me the next time they try something like this."
"The shower's all yours, honey." Amy rounded the corner of the staircase and spotted her middle son. "Cory, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you guys."
"Is this going to be quick? Because I do have to open the store in a while."
"It won't take long."
"You know that documentary I'm working on, the one comparing you to Angela's dad?"
"Regrettably. What about it?"
"I came up with some questions for when I interview you and I wanted to drop them off so you'd have time to think over your answers."
"You don't want things to flow spontaneously and spur of the moment?"
"I don't have that long to get this right. I don't have time for spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment. I'm also going to need some early pictures and home movies, too."
"Well, I'm glad to see you focusing on this instead of obsessing over-"
"Alan," Amy chided in a harsh whisper.
"Obsessing over who? Topanga?"
"Cory, I'll take a look at the questions after I put Joshua down for his nap," she said. "Would that be okay?"
"She's my fiancée, dad."
"She gave back the ring."
"That's just temporary."
"What are you going to do if it's not, huh? Have to thought about that?"
Cory made silly faces at the baby while he got him set up in his swing, turning on the mobile and music. "You know what I was thinking about the other night," he asked, turning back to face his parents.
"What?"
"You guys got married when you were nineteen. Me and Topanga were supposed to get married this summer, at nineteen. How could you have it so easy and it be this hard for us?"
"Let's get one thing straight, pal, a marriage, hell, a relationship in general isn't easy. Your mom and I aren't an exception to that. Especially in the early years. You'll see that in your little movie."
"But you've worked it out. You're still together."
"Because we choose to, Cory," Amy said, her words gentle. "Every day in a relationship you make a choice- whether consciously or not- that no matter how difficult and trying, I love this person and they are worth it."
"Right, you love them so much that you'd rather be miserable with them than happy without them."
"Why would you ever choose to be miserable?"
Cory stared at the dried lentils on the floor, unable to come up with an answer. "Just get back to me with the answers to the questions when you can."
/
/
"Pete and Renee are really nice."
Eric focused on the road as he maneuvered the car down the narrow driveway. "Yeah, they're great."
"We'll have to come back sometime."
"You mean it?"
"Sure. It would be the perfect way to either kickstart or end our road trip next summer to celebrate your graduation."
"You want to do that?"
"No one but me and you for the whole summer? Do you even need to ask?"
He pulled up to a stop sign and turned to look at her. "Promise not to get sick of me before then?"
"I've got a pretty good feeling." Angela grabbed onto the sleeve of his T-shirt and tugged him closer. "Will you get sick of me?"
"Let's go to the big board," he said in his best game show host voice. "Survey says: Impossible!"
She laughed and was about to lean in for a kiss when the honk of a car broke the spell. "Rude."
"I know. Some people can't appreciate a moment." He smiled and waved at the annoyed driver as they swerved around him. "Couldn't even give me a minute to move, jackass. Thanks."
Angela kissed his cheek before moving back over to the passenger side. Thank goodness Nan's old car had bench seats. "So, Grandma Bernice," she began, a few minutes after they'd been on the road. "Remind me: is she your mom's mom or dad's?"
"Dad's."
"What's she like?"
"She's loud and in your face, always up for an adventure. You never have to guess what's on her mind. She tells you. She likes to think she's our age and keeps up with the latest trends but doesn't always hit it. She tries though."
"Bernice sounds like fun."
"Please remember that if she mentions taking me to a car show to see girls in bikinis when I was fifteen."