13. TRIP

"Checkmate." Edythe smiled proudly. We were sitting on some blue cushions on the floor by the window playing some good ol' fashioned Chess, which by the way I was pretty lousy at. I won like twice maybe, and I'm sure that's only because she felt bad and let me. So really, how proud can you be when your partner - in chess but also in life, I can't help thinking - was me? It was a wonder. So how did we get condemned to such a fate on our honeymoon, you ask? Well, it was raining all week and my wife didn't want me to catch cold again like I did after we trekked home from our little trip to the falls in the rain and mud, though I insisted I was fine. Probably allergies, you know? Of course, there were other things I'd rather be doing to pass the time on an occasion like this, but I'd officially been cut off for no good reason of my own. I know it sounds like I'm complaining again, but I've been trying to do better. Really, I have. Respect her. Cherish her. Don't push. The ball is in her court. Of course, that didn't make it any easier for me, though. Sigh. So, here we were. We've only completed our 50th game of chess so far, but who's counting, right? Definitely not me. Totally.

"Ready to start again?" My wife asked, propping her chin up on her hand. Then her gaze shifted to somewhere over my shoulder and she grinned. "Would you look at that? It's finally clearing up." She gestured out the window and I turned to face it on instinct. The sky was still gray, but the rain no longer came down on us in droves of wavy sheets. My face brightened at the prospect of not playing a 51st game of chess today and I jumped to my feet.

"That's great." I smiled.

"So, what should we do today, then?" she asked, rising to join me. I put a hand on my chin to think.

"I know!" I snapped my fingers. "Are there any grocery stores around here?" I blurted out, remembering the fridge was in dire need of restocking. The next thing I know, my wife's throwing her head back just cracking herself up like I'd just told the funniest joke in the world.

"Wow, that's very exciting Beau." She nodded, biting back a smile. "In fact, it's the most exciting thing anyone anywhere can do on a honeymoon. Oh Beau, I didn't know you were this adventurous!" She pretended to be shocked, putting a hand on her chest.

"Hardy-har-har, very funny." I grumbled. She laughed at me again, that bright, ringing sound clear as a bell. She really can be cruel sometimes. In more ways than one. And yet for all that, it only made me want her more and more. Seriously, why am I like this? I'd make my own eyes roll.

Sauntering with the grace of a dancer across the kitchen tiles, Edythe swung open the refrigerator door. "Oh wow, I hate to break it to you, but you're right." She gave me an amused smile, pointing out the window and across the sea. "There should be one in town. We'll take the boat -"

"Oh please, no." I whimpered. "I'm still recovering from the last time you drove it." I shuddered at the memory and she laughed even harder at my misfortune.

"You know I like fast!"

"Oh, I know it alright. In fact, I have a strong inclination that you'll never let me forget it and that secretly, you actually enjoy seeing me suffer." A little bit of truth in that jab for sure.

"Don't be ridiculous, Beau – of course I do." she shot back in a cheery voice. Confirmed.

"That's what I was afraid of." I sighed. "Can we at least try not to go over 180?"

"Hey, it wasn't going that fast."

"The whiplash I suffered begs to differ."

"Fine. I'll try to go a little slower." she conceded and flashed her dimples at me, leaning up against the kitchen counter. "But no promises."

"Wouldn't dream of it." I gave her a smile then hurried to the laundry room. Remembering I'd left a load of clean clothes in the dryer the other night, I took up a laundry basket and began to fill it up. The door opened behind me before I could empty the dryer drum completely and two little knocks sounded against the doorframe.

"Need help with that?" Edythe asked, holding her arms out towards me.

"I got it, thanks." Once the dryer was completely cleared I turned around, the satisfying smell of fresh laundry putting me at ease - another checkmark in my to-do list. I kissed Edythe as I passed her by and she followed me back to our bedroom. I sorted our clothes into different parts of the closet – my shirts in the top left cubby, my pants and khakis folded up below them with my boxers in the bottom drawer of the freestanding dresser and I hung up all of Edythe's dresses in the main space of the closet. It was decidedly harder to organize the rest of my wife's things, though – she had a special location for everything. Shirts in one place, jackets in another, skirts, shorts, and pants somewhere else, and her nightwear and undergarments in the top two drawers of the freestanding dresser - it was nearest to her side of the bed - and this was just at the beach house. I ultimately left those up to her, but tried my best to help out when she wanted me to. She knew I was good at that sort of thing.

"Want me to get your clothes for you?" I offered, throwing a glance over my shoulder at Edythe in her white nightgown as I grabbed my own change of fresh khaki shorts and a button-up poplin shirt. I still missed my t-shirts and jeans, but I guess these things were growing on me now.

Edythe shook her head. "It's fine. Thank you, though." She smiled at me and came up to my side, browsing through her array of clothes, picking out her charcoal-gray jeans and pairing it with a light gray leather jacket over a flowy white blouse. To my surprise though, she didn't go to change in the bathroom like she's been doing these past few weeks and I debated whether to stay on or move to a different part of the house to give her and myself some privacy. Was she getting more comfortable with the whole "living together" thing? With me? I wondered if I was allowed to take that as some kind of progress towards the sort of connection - reconnection - I was yearning for. Still, knowing how it'd make me feel and remembering my resolve to work towards completely respecting my wife, I opted to leave the bedroom to her and showed myself into the bathroom, like we were switching places. I pulled on the khakis and buttoned up my shirt, but just as I went to straighten out the collar, I heard Edythe cursing me from the other side of the door and I ran outside to check on her.

"What's wrong?" Her back was to me but I could still tell from here that her shoulders were curved inwards and she was looking down.

"Beau, what did you do to my jeans?" she asked flatly, tossing me an angry look from over her shoulder.

"Um, washed them for you?" What did I do wrong this time?

"They don't fit." she said between her teeth. "These were my favorites, you know."

Oh, shoot.

"Did they shrink?" I asked, walking towards her.

"Yeah, I think they did." She sighed gloomily. Going back over laundry day in my brain, I realized with a sudden sense of doom where I had made the fatal mistake. Oh, that's right.

"I put them in hot wash." I confessed and smacked my forehead with my palm. "I just thought – mud, blood, grass stains and just threw it in." I sighed. It was kind of weird, though – I mean, in my defense hot wash always seemed to work out just fine for my own jeans. Maybe girl jeans were different, though. "Sorry about that." I bowed my head in repentance. She let out a breath and came up to me, brushing the hair from my face with the back of her cool hand.

"You know what? It's fine, Beau. I guess it was about time I got some new ones anyways." She started to laugh then, and the room brightened up by degrees. Perhaps I'd been forgiven, but I still felt bad about it. I opened my mouth to apologize again but she stopped me, putting a cool finger to my lips.

"What did I say about unnecessary apologies?" she reminded, chuckling.

"Sor-"

"There you go again." She sighed.

"Right." I laughed.

"Yeah." She chuckled, motioning for me to look at her. "It's really okay, though. I could still wear them, you know. Nobody will even notice. So, thank you." she added, rocking back on her heels. "Guess that's what I should have said the first time around." She looked down, her hands laced tight together in front of her. I couldn't believe it, was my wife actually being repentant? And why was I the one feeling bad about that? Makes no sense, right?

"Let's go." she started, choosing not to see the gawking expression on my face. She sauntered away wearing the tight jeans, her easily-swaying curves making me dizzy as I followed helplessly along behind her like a lost puppy. Why did I like how they looked on her now even more than I did before? Was that even possible? Ugh, I'm such a pervert. Realizing my jaw was still dragging on the floor, I hurried to catch up to her, cutting in front so I could open the glass door for her.

"Thanks." When she flashed her dimples at me again, I tripped over one of the potted plants and somehow managed to get my foot caught between the door and the doorframe. Edythe was already holding me up so I didn't faceplant into the wooden veranda and I just wanted to die.

"Nice save." she said with a smirk, though I'm pretty sure she was just complimenting herself – you know, because I'm the one who almost died again and she was the one to have saved me, not the other way around.

"Thanks." I mumbled, turning away. She set me back down on my own two feet and braced my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" she asked, gently now.

"Never better." I said, still looking at my feet and not at her.

"Oh, was it the dimples?" she teased, brandishing them again – of course, she was still holding onto me when she did that. I staggered a little but only fell deeper into her arms.

"Every time." I admitted. She let out a little chuckle and pulled away then, turning around to continue on towards the boat. I caught up to her in an instant and weaved my fingers through hers. Her cool hand squeezed my warm one and she lifted them up to her face, kissing my knuckles.

"I really love you; you know that?" she whispered.

"And I really love you, too." I answered easily with a laugh. Still smiling, she turned her attention back on the stretch of white sand before us, making a pathway. We didn't say anything else as we strode together hand-in-hand, hyper-aware of the other's presence and it was just really, really nice; like it was us two against the world.

I spotted our boat up ahead and, laughing, we made a run for it. "I'll try for 175. That's most definitely less than 180." Edythe joked, easing herself into the driver's seat.

"Um, how about 60?" I offered.

"No way! 120."

"80."

"95." She tilted her head and her hair brushed over my bare arm, heating it up.

"Fine." I folded, fighting the red splotches creeping up my face. Man, I was seriously hopeless.

"Awesome." Easily getting her way, Edythe grinned at me and revved up the engine so loudly I thought for sure that she was going to floor it but she didn't – it was just another gratuitous occasion for her to see me squirm. Of course. I kept a close eye on the speedometer, making sure the thin black needle didn't even so much as tick slightly above 95.

"Why don't you enjoy the view or something? The water looks so nice." She caught my hard stare and motioned out around us as we skimmed through the blue, breaking waves.

"I'm good."

"What, you don't trust me?" she snorted.

I put a finger on my chin. "Hmm, not quite on this particular matter, no. Have to make sure you keep your promise, you know?" I shot back with a nod.

"What are you, a cop?"

"I'm related to one, so let's just say yeah."

"You're utterly impossible."

"Only as impossible as you are. See? We're perfect for each other." I tossed her a grin.

"Mm. I'd say on that we're both agreed." A little smile played up at the corners of her lips and it made me feel happy, too.

The shore got closer and closer into view and we docked on the sand in our usual place by the giant boulder.

"I'll hail a cab. I'm sure the driver will know of a Pão de Açúcar around here." she said cheerfully.

"Pão de Açúcar?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"It's one of the largest supermarket chains in Brazil." she answered matter-of-factly, smiling. She waved down a driver who was around the same age as the last one we had, only this guy had a little less hair. He had a large, round belly that made him look like one of those Santa Clauses at the mall around Christmastime and he had on this little brown cap, like what a golfer would wear on a sunny day. He was friendly enough, but I couldn't read his expression when he looked back at the two of us and eyed our wedding rings. He must've thought we were too young or something. I offered him a tentative smile and Edythe started a conversation with him in Portuguese. I think that made him loosen up a touch - I mean, how could you not when an angel was so near to you? Once he knew where we were going, he turned his eyes back on the road and started the car, but they were still talking together. They couldn't for much longer, though - his phone went off and he pressed a button on the steering wheel, having a hands-free conversation with whoever was on the other line. Things started civil enough but then his voice got louder and louder; angrier. I couldn't understand a thing he was saying and kind of just gawked the whole time, feeling suddenly very awkward for no real reason and my face started to heat up. I mean, it's not like he was talking to us, right? I turned to Edythe – she was laughing so hard without even making a sound, so I knew that she knew what was up.

"I can't tell what's funnier," she whispered in my ear, "his thoughts or what he's saying." I waited for her to continue. "No, I guess the funniest thing is he's saying exactly – and I mean exactly – what's on his mind. I would tell you what exactly those things were, but you're too innocent. Too much profanity." She giggled, covering her lips with her fingers. "You've got to admire that honesty, though." she sighed out, almost in awe, and let her head fall on my shoulders.

"Well, what are they talking about?" I whispered, squeezing her hand and willing her to spill all the juicy details.

"Well, there's chickens involved. And some kid's birthday party. Oh! And a sad clown, too." She laughed again, hiding the sound in my chest.

"That sounds like a pretty entertaining tale to me."

"Oh, it is." She leaned in, ready to explain it all. Just as she was about to though, our driver violently hung up with a huff and turned towards us, apologizing for his behavior. Edythe assured him it was fine with that perfectly composed smile of hers so he would be none the wiser. I could tell she liked him, though - maybe it was for that Honesty she mentioned earlier. Apparently, most humans aren't known for that. She gave me a squeeze, resting her head on my chest. I held her there, and it was enough for now. A little while later, she turned to look out her window as we passed a row of colorful shops and buildings, the streets gradually widening and getting a little bigger until we were outside the city limits. After some time on the freeway, the scenery rolled back into the suburbs and finally, we came by this little roundabout road thing that turned into a ginormous parking lot.

"We're here." She pointed out the window.

"Wow." I said, impressed. Straight ahead was this giant green building looming over us. It was really like a giant Wal-Mart and I was already feeling at home in the cool shadow which the building made above us. I got out of the cab first and ran to her side of the door, opening it for her before she could even reach for the handle. We thanked our driver – Pablo was his name – and waved him off as he pulled away.

"Shall we?" Edythe held her hand out for me to take.

"We shall." I chuckled as we entered in through the automatic doors.

…

Edythe pulled a cart out from the two-lane steel cart rack and handed it to me. I whipped out the grocery list from my pocket to get a basic idea of what we needed. "Let's start with non-perishable stuff first." I said out loud, directing us towards the aisles of dry-goods. For some reason, I had a hankering for pasta. Wheeling us over, I grabbed some boxes off the shelf to compare all the different shapes and, feeling a bit adventurous, settled on the rigatoni – not your standard spaghetti, know what I mean? Edythe laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked, almost hurt.

"Nothing." she chuckled evasively. I pouted a little as I tossed the rigatoni into the basket and pushed on.

"You have a problem with tomato rigatoni?" I challenged, rolling the "r" in rigatoni to make it sound fancier.

"Very cool." She nodded slowly, but the way her eyes narrowed made me think it really wasn't that cool to her at all whatsoever. No matter. I was being adventurous. Next, I went looking for some easy pasta sauce I could simmer on the stove. I browsed through the array of reds and picked up a jar of Prego meat sauce, the exact same one I used back home. Gee, I didn't know they sold that brand here! That was pretty exciting to me, until I realized just how sad that sounded. Why oh why am I getting excited over pasta sauce? Edythe took the glass jar from me and put it down carefully in the cart, probably worried I was just gonna toss it in there too, like the rigatoni and my dashed dreams and aspirations of being an exciting husband. I sighed gloomily.

"Where to next?" Edythe asked with a laugh.

"Hmm, how about some juice?" I looked down at my list. Now how do you say "juice" in Portuguese again? "Suco." Edythe answered like she could read my mind. "Thanks." I smiled. Armed with this knowledge I started scanning the aisles, putting my hand over my forehead like a visor. I finally found it, but it was at the other end of the supermarket. As I was rolling down the main aisle of the store with my eyes glued to the wooden aisle 14 sign, I somehow managed to almost crash the cart straight into a giant bread stand and Edythe had to swerve us to the left so we wouldn't get fined for criminal negligence and destruction of property. She managed to swipe a loaf of bread off of it too at the exact same time and tossed it into the moving cart.

"Thanks." I mumbled, unable to meet my wife's eyes and flushing red again.

"Don't mention it." She chuckled. I was glad my being a total klutz wasn't a turn-off for her at least, or she probably would have dumped me ages ago if it was and the thought reassured me some.

When we got to aisle 14, I tapped my finger on every juice container, reading the flavors out loud. I settled on some cranberry-grape juice and Edythe took the bottles from me, putting them in the cart because it was a two-pack and I was me. Apparently, she felt compelled to save me from a number of severe accidents waiting to happen given the nature of those two things in relation to each other. Seriously, did she really think I was that inept? I tried to be offended by the thought, but realizing that she might actually be right I sighed. It was easy to see a bruised finger or toe in my future when it came to stuff like this, unfortunately. Anyways, that was the last of the dry-goods I needed so finally, it was time to get the perishables. We careened the cart around several stands of specials and bakery items and found ourselves in the fridge and freezer aisles. I shivered from the cold.

"You didn't bring your jacket, did you?" Edythe sighed like it couldn't be helped.

"No, but I'm fine, really." I quickly answered when she started undoing the knot of her scarf. She shrugged her jacket off next.

"Take these." She wrapped the scarf around my neck – it was really cold at first, being around her neck and all – and then she rested her jacket on my shoulders like a cape since I couldn't really fit into it otherwise. "Thanks." I said, and my face did that splotchy-red thing again. Maybe I looked like a total weirdo wearing my wife's mostly too-small things but at least I wasn't shivering anymore once her clothes warmed up with my body heat. Plus, they smelled like her, and being wrapped up in that sweet, familiar scent of hers made me feel that much more relaxed; and happy. I rubbed the soft fabrics together, feeling them between my fingers. Edythe looked at me and smiled again, but it was a tender one this time; like one a mom would look at her kid with when he was graduating Kindergarten, that it didn't seem like a big deal at first but it really kind of was. Like I was a big deal.

I blushed, fumbling with the list again. "Right, uh, eggs. Eggs and milk. They're usually around the same place, aren't they?" I asked Edythe, but realized she probably hadn't gone grocery shopping for herself in a really, really long time. Because she didn't need human food. I laughed a little thinking about that - I was going to be like that soon too, wasn't I? Maybe this would be my last grocery shopping trip like, ever. But for some reason, the thought made me a little… sad, I guess? I always thought of grocery shopping as nothing but a mundane household chore, and yet deep down I knew I was going to miss it – you know, that automatic habit of going around, checking things off of a list, gathering things up and leaving every Sunday; a standard ritual of sorts, and the satisfaction of finding everything you needed all in one place. Feeling like you've had a productive day. A routine that gets you somewhere; moves you forward like the slow turning of earth in orbit made real way down here that insists life goes on until it doesn't. I grocery-shopped all the time for Mom, for Dad. Mom. Dad. My face darkened as I contemplated those thoughts and I tried to shake them away.

My wife's cool hand squeezed my own.

"Beau? What's wrong?" I turned with a start. Her beautiful eyes, amber now, shone wide and bright.

"It's nothing." I said, trying to plaster on a smile.

"It sure doesn't seem like nothing to me." She shook her head, pressing her lips together so they made a hard line. So she saw through that, too.

"I'll tell you later." I sighed, pushing the cart again to the eggs and dairy section. Opening up a carton of a dozen eggs, I examined each and every one with a careful eye, making sure there were no cracks in the whites of the hard yet delicate shells. Checking the expiration date, I nodded approvingly and put them down in the top baby seat of the cart so they wouldn't break. Next, I opened up the industrial glass fridge case which held the cartons and cartons of milk and sought out the one with the latest date in the furthest reaches of the shelf so it would last that much longer - perhaps a remnant of my own little existential crisis earlier - until I felt Edythe's eyes on me and I turned, flashing her a tentative smile pretending it wasn't awkward for me to have her scrutinizing my every move while I virtually scammed the other shoppers by picking the best, freshest carton of milk for myself.

"What're you looking at?" I asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Just you." was all she said, but her lips were curved up at the ends. "You're a very captivating specimen, Beau Swan." She flashed her dimples at me and I almost dropped my best milk.

"Um, thanks?" I said, turning away. I don't think I'll ever get used to her beauty. It's going to throw me off for the rest of our marriage – No being had the right to be this beautiful, I knew that for a fact and yet, here she was standing right beside me, and she was all mine. I still couldn't believe it.

"It's true." she said, more seriously this time. She kissed my lips and patted my chest with her hand before taking my milk with her and placing it in the cart basket. I was pretty sure her beautiful hands were the same temperature as the carton, maybe even colder, actually.

"So – anything else?" she asked, motioning to the list with two fingers.

"Just some fruits and vegetables. Then we should be done."

"Alright. Lead the way," she paused and lengthened her eyes, giving me a teasing look from under her long eyelashes, "honey." That was the first time she used that word, like, ever. It stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Did you just call me honey?" I screwed up my eyes and gave her a long, confused stare while my cheeks were doused in crimson, and I pulled her scarf up over my mouth and nose trying to hide them. It didn't help the matter much. She threw her head back laughing that bright, ringing laughter of hers and her curls shimmered like wisps of the sun in the fluorescent lights.

"Yeah, I did. Isn't that what you humans call your spouses?" she teased.

"Um, not really no. At least, not always. Everyone's different." I reasoned, still unable to meet her eyes.

"Mm, yeah. I think I know that pretty well, actually - you know, the whole 'everyone's different' thing." she answered, raising her perfectly arched eyebrows. "Like us."

"Exactly."

"Can't I still call you that again, though?" she asked pretty seriously.

"Of course you can." I meant to say "no, preferably not" but that was impossible. If that's what Edythe wants, that's what Edythe gets. She could call me "Shoefly" for all I care, and I wouldn't even dare to object. I'm pretty sure I was physically incapable of doing such a thing, actually. She showed me a beaming-white smile and followed behind me as I pushed the cart towards the produce area of the store. Zooming around, I picked up a bunch of grapes, bananas, tomatoes, and carrots. I grabbed some apples too, both the green and the red ones. I handed Edythe the little plastic bags full of produce and she put them down gently in the cart basket for me. I was about to make for the checkout line, but I snapped my fingers, remembering I needed to get some ground meat to make my Prego meat sauce even chunkier. "Wait here." I turned towards Edythe and motioned for her to stay by the cart. I was worried the scent of the raw meat would make her a little thirsty – I had forgotten she hadn't hunted in almost a full week – and she knew that and touched at her white throat, nodding. Sprinting over to the meat section, I took a small Styrofoam pack of ground beef and wrapped it in three layers of the plastic bags usually used for the produce and made a tight knot with the excess film. Running back to my wife and the cart, I tossed the meat in and we zoomed to the cash registers together.

When it was finally our turn, I unloaded the cart in a hurry, worried I'd offend the people behind us by taking too long. Edythe came up to the front to pay and flashed a radiant smile at the guy working behind the register. When she did that, he dropped the price scanner and smacked his hand on a pump of hand sanitizer nearest to the computer. Stammering, he said a number in Portuguese, but Edythe pointed at the last item on the conveyor belt - the loaf of bread - I think telling him that he forgot to ring it up. He blushed and nodded very quickly, running his hand down the back of his neck. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about his reaction to her - on the one hand, I understood him completely, but on the other, that was literally my wife he was so obviously ogling there and it made me slip an arm round Edythe's waist, holding her just a little bit tighter to me now. His eyes never left her face as he felt around for the bread and she dimpled up again. When she looked at him like that, I wouldn't have been surprised if he let her walk away with all that food for free. He offered to load the cart for her but Edythe kindly turned him down with another winsome smile and she and I pushed on towards the exit. As I passed by the cashier, I said to him a very loud, emphatic "thank you" just for kicks and he didn't even bat an eye at me. He just kept staring after Edythe's gorgeous, swaying frame in her little white blouse and tight gray jeans (I mean, who could blame him?) and then I heard the service bell going off at the behest of angry customers behind us and laughed so hard as I ran out the door, following closely behind my wife. She so did that on purpose, I could tell. And I was absolutely here for it.

"Look at that - you left your admirer back there in a hurry and now he's in trouble." I jerked my thumb in the poor sap's direction.

"But I only have eyes for you." she said, inching closer to me.

"I sure hope so, because I feel the exact same way." I pulled her in for a kiss right outside the automatic doors, only mildly aware that everyone could see us there and pleasantly surprised that Mr. Cashier guy would know just what he was missing out on. Edythe giggled as she pulled away and turned back to our groceries, stepping aside with the cart.

"How are we going to carry all this?" I laughed, counting out seven giant bags in total.

"I got this." Effortlessly, she lifted the bags all at once – four in one hand, three in the other - high over her head when no one could see.

"You've gotta at least pretend you're a normal human being." I laughed and took some of the bags from her. She bit back a smile, giving me a look from below the dark fan of her voluminous lashes that could blow away Hawaii if they wanted to. She hailed another cab and we put all our groceries in the trunk before clambering into the backseat together, smiling as we started back home.