Memories

“Pumpkin?”, I felt my dad gently stroke my hair to wake me up, not knowing that I was wide awake already. I was just faking being asleep so that I didn't have to go the morning 6am jog he forced me to participate in since the doctors insisted I get a lot of sleep, exercise and eat healthy on my three weeks rest leave. I loved my parents, dearly. They've gone out of their way this past week and a half in making sure that I was well rested and stressless.....but now I just wanted to go home to my own space where I could live by my own rules.

Nathan has been stopping by every day to check up on me, bringing Missy along with him whenever he could because snuggling with Missy was an automatic stress reliever, making me feel less anxious and calm, and I got to spend more time with him. Surprisingly my Dad didn't have any problems with Nathan and for the first time every Nathan was actually the only guy to be really accepted by my Dad, making him feel like he was a part of the family. They got along so well, I sometimes felt neglected a little when they would just scurry away and talk about the usual guy stuff that I was always assured had nothing to do with me.

“Hmm?”, I faked a yawn, flattering my eyes open lazily as if it was the first time I woke up this morning and I realized he wasn't in his usual jogging outfit, instead he was still in his pajamas. No lie but I was skipping in joy inside. No jog today? Yay!

“I want us to talk about something”, he looked so serious, I got worried about a second, forcing myself to sit up

“What's the matter?”

“These last couple of days, I've been paying attention to you and this young man, Nathan when he comes to see you”

“Okay?”

“I want to hear this from you Pumpkin”

“Hear what Dad?”

“Are you happy though? Does he make you happy?”, he asked, and I breathed out a sigh I wasn't even aware I was holding in, a smile growing on my face as I took both his hands into mine.

“I am happy. He makes me really happy, so happy sometimes it feels a little too good to be true. It's like I'm in a dream I don't want to wake up from, that's how happy I am”, I said, and he seemed pleased with my answer as he took my face in his hands and kissed my forehead.

“Okay, I just wanted to hear from you because I've seen how he is with you and how you are with him. I just wanted to confirm I wasn't seeing things that aren't there”, he said, and I laughed a little.

“I believe you're not”

“I can tell that young man really loves you Olivia. He had the kind of love that any father would want his daughter to be cared for and loved by another man, I hope you realize that”

This was his neat way of telling me not to screw this up

“I know, and I love him too”, I dropped my eyes from him a little, this wasn't a conversation I thought I would have with my father, especially this early in the morning, but then I realized something as rose my eyebrows at him suspiciously. “Wait, does this mean he has your blessings?”

“My blessings?”, he laughed while standing to his feet. “He's had them ever since the two of you were just friends”

Later that afternoon, there was a knock on my door and I quickly stashed the snacks I sneaked into my room a few days ago under the pillow. Wiping my mouth, I also got rid of the crumb evidence on the bed in case it was my Mom. The last thing I needed was to be lectured about how important it was to eat healthy.

“Come in”, I sat up on the bed after clearing my throat and my door opened to reveal Tristan peeking inside with a mischievous look on his face

“Heya pumpkin”, he walked confidently towards me before plobbing down the bed next to me

“You call me that one more time I'll strangle you and have you admitted”, I warned and he laughed

“I got you a little something”, he pulled a chocolate bar out of his pockets and I grinned at him

“If you can keep these coming then I'll forgive you”

“No chance”, he chuckled. “You want your mom to kill me? She's already given me the eating healthy lecture on your behalf so this is a once of thing”

“Either way, thank you”, I pulled the bar open and offered him half of it, he took it and popped it in his mouth

“So, how are you?”, he crawled to lay next to me

“Besides from the house arrest, I'm doing pretty well considering I can go back to my place one of these days. How about you?”

“I'm doing alright”

“No like seriously, how are you?”

“You really need to stop doing this Liv”, he looked up at me

“Stop what?”, I acted dumb, knowing very well what he meant by that. I was always second guessing him every time he told me he was doing okay because I felt like he wasn't. He looked like he was though, but then I just wanted him to tell me more than him being 'okay'.

“Since you want a detailed version, I now understand that everything happens for a reason, and I've learned to accept things the way they are....so I'm okay. Great actually”

“When was the last time you heard from Mellisa?”

“The last time I saw Mellisa was after the wedding, I bumped into Sarah the other day, and she told me that Mellisa moved to another city about a month ago when she got a new job offer there. I don't know why, but then I'm happy for her, that she's actually moving on with her life”

“That's growth right there”, I gave him a shoulder squeeze. “You've come so far Stan, you really should be proud of yourself”

“Well I am”, he flashed a smile at me. “And I'm thankful for where I am right now”. I smiled as I popped a piece of chocolate into my mouth.

“Oh wait”, I got from the bed to search into my closet, suddenly remembering what I wanted to show him

“Remember this?”, I showed him our memory box, and he fell back on the bed, cracking up from laughter. When we were kids, we came up with this idea of storing all our memories together in a box every year until we were like 16 years old. We kept our pictures, souvenirs and gifts we made each other in art classes and all that.

“I didn't think you'd still have this”, he pulled the box closer to him as I sat back on the bed

“I found it the other day while I was still cleaning up my room. I have so much time on my hands recently, I thought why not?”

He opened the box and pulled out the last picture we ever put in there.

“I remember this”, he smiled when he held out the picture for me to see it, a picture of us together at a waterfront. It was my 16th birthday, and he had rented a bike for that day at the dealership so that he could take me on a road trip around the city. That was one of the best days of my life, when it was just me and him against the world and that day he had pulled out all the stops to make my day special and memorable.

“Yeah I do too”, I took it into my hands. “This is still by far my most favorite birthday”

My phone chimed with a message from Nathan and I picked it up to read it, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion a little as I finished reading the text

“I have to go”, I stood to my feet. “We'll have to this reminiscing some other time”

“Can I take it home with me?”, he placed the picture back in and close it. “I just want to make my own copies of all the pictures then I'll bring it back to you”

“It belongs to you as much as it belongs to me Tristan, you don't even have to ask”, I smiled as I started packing some clothes into a small bag

“Thanks”, he stood to his feet, taking the box with him. “Do you want a ride to Nathan's place”

“Yes please”

Walking into his apartment, I found him filling the feeder with Missy's food, and he seemed really surprised to see me

“Babe, what are you doing here?”, he stood on his feet, approaching me for a hug. “I thought I'll be seeing you later on today”

“I saw your text where you said you weren't feeling well so here I am”, I pulled him back into the lounge to sit him on the couch

“It's just a mild headache baby, I'll be fine”

“I know you said it's just a headache, but I couldn't just sit and do nothing while you're here all on your own- sick”

“Liv, I can't let do anything when the doctor specifically said you need to rest-”

“Nathaniel, I'm not going to argue with you okay?”

“Nathaniel?”, he looked surprised as he scratched his chin. “Since when do you call me Nathaniel?”

“Since you're going to be so stubborn to not let me take care of you. This is one thing I'm not even supposed to ask you in order to do, so let's forget about me for a second and focus on you, okay?”

He heaved a defeated sigh. “Okay”

“Good”, I took the fleece blanket he kept on the couch and covered him with it, forcing him to lie on his back

“Have you taken any aspirin yet?”

“Uh...”, his eyes started lurking around, avoiding eye contact with me. I knew he didn't like taking pills to cure a headache because he believed that drinking loads of water and sleep will make it go away on its own eventually.

“Okay, so you haven't”, there was no point in lying to me because he'll end cracking up under pressure when I start interrogating him with the questions that contradict that lie. Coming back from the kitchen with a glass of water, I sat next to him and searched inside my bag, popping two aspirin pills out for him and watched as he drank them.

“Let me see”, I opened his mouth wide so that I could be certain that he swallowed them because he was capable of holding them in his mouth long enough to spit them out. Seeing that he did, I pinched both his cheeks and shook his head side to side to annoy him a little and could tell by the look on his face that he was.

“We're making progress”, I kissed both his cheeks, making him lie on my back again and Missy jumped on top of him

“Uh, excuse me miss? Miss?”, I tapped her on her little paws, and she turned to look at me. “This is my man, and you've had all day to be with him, it's my turn”

Nathan started laughing when Missy has the audacity to stretch out her legs and wrap herself around his neck again, snuggling closer to him

“Yes you tell her Missy, tell her you can take her man if you want to”, he started petting her back gently and there was absolutely no use in fighting a losing battle

“I'm going to make something for us to eat, alright?”

“But babe we can just order in, there's no need for you to-”, I gave him this is not up for discussion look, and he pursed his lips together. “Your cooking would be nice baby, thank you”

“Good”

For dinner, I made lasagna served with a side salad and I walked over to him holding our plates. He stretched out his hands, ready to take his plate in his hands.

“Thank you baby”, he grabbed one of my hands just when I was about to sit down and kissed it

“You're welcome”, I smiled while stroking his chin and sat beside him as he started eating with Missy on his lap. I was concerned with the way he was eating though, he wasn't even taking a break to breath in between bites as he kept shoving the food into his mouth, making complimentary sounds as he swallowed.

“This is delicious”

“Nathan”, he seemed to be enjoying the food, but I was worried he was going to end up choking by the pace he was going in

“Hm?”, he raised his eyebrows, shoving another mouthful

“Sweetie”, I turned his face so that he looked at me, and he paused mid-action chewing. “That plate is not running off anywhere, slow down and breath”

“I am breathing”, he mumbled, covering his mouth with his arm as he swallowed once more

“I'm worried you're going to choke if you continue eating like this”

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled still looking at me and took another bite calmly to show me he was breathing

“Is this okay?”, he questioned, and I nodded my head. Missy climbed up his arm he was holding the plate on, aiming to bite at his food, but he quickly switched hands, and she looked up at him, her eyes full and pleading.

“No, don't look at me like that”, he said and that didn't stop her from staring before she looked at me and meowed softly, like she was saying are you seeing this? He's resistant to our look now.

“This is my food, yours is over there”, he pointed at her bowl and she slowly climbed off him to stroll towards me

“Are you sad because Nathaniel said no?”, I cooed, patting her gently as she climbed on top of me and meowed again before she rolled on her back so that I could give her belly rubs. I looked up to see that Nathan had stopped eating, just staring at me in disblief.

“What?”

“Why are you calling me Nathaniel today? Did I do something wrong?”

“Nathaniel is your name though, is it not?”

“It is, but you're making me nervous here”

“Don't be”, I smiled menacingly. “Well at least not yet”

“Oh boy”, he chuckled to himself. After eating, he stacked our plates together and walked to the kitchen to wash them. When he came back he laid back down on the couch and pulled me on top of him, rolling us over a little so that we both laid on our sides, facing each other, and he grazed lovingly into my eyes.

“I know when you start looking at me like this, you're probably going to say something sentimental”, I said snuggling closer to him

“You got a problem with that?”, an amused smile appeared on his face

“Oh no baby”, I laughed. “Go ahead, make me blush and cry at the same time. I'm ready, bring em coming”

He laughed lightly. “Okay so, I've been thinking”

“Mh-hmm?”

“Why don't we go somewhere and like....”, he dragged the word, pausing to think for a second? “Never come back?”

“What do you mean?”, my eyebrows ceased in confusion. “Never come back?”

“Never come back as in we stayed there, like forever?”

I stared at him in even more bewilderment, and he started laughing, probably at the look on my face. He found my facial expressions humorous almost all the time.

“I- I don't understand”, I stuttered in confusion and his lips tugged up in a side smile

“No, I'm just kidding. I mean go away somewhere nice for your last week off”

“As in as a mini-vacation?”

“Yeah, would you like that?”

“Of course I would”, I started giggling. “But like where we go through?”

“Bora bora, Maldives, the Seychelles...anywhere. You choose”

“Are you like being for real right now?”

“I have no reasons to lie to you”, he pecked me on the lips. “So, where do you want to go?”