Chapter 31 #2
Ryan gave up trying to hide his amusement, throwing back his head and laughing out loud.
Mark joined him, as Tanner literally laughed so hard he fell out of his chair.
He made a desperate attempt to save himself by grabbing his brother’s arm, only to yank an unsuspecting Garrett down with him.
Cody looked like he wanted to crawl under the table to join them, as Jen, Mom, and I just stared at all of them.
“Men,” Mom tutted and rolled her eyes, then calmly took a sip of her iced tea.
Jen and I snuck a glance at each other, which caused us both to start giggling like little girls. We’d held it together as long as we could, but that one shared look did us in.
I laughed until I had tears in my eyes, and I heard Jen whimper, “I’m gonna pee.”
That was enough for Cody, who widened his eyes and stared at his mother in horror before slowly easing out of his chair and all but running from the room. My sons looked like they were torn between joining him and finishing their dinner.
“That happens when you get older, too, dear,” Mom told Jen with a gentle pat on the back of her hand. “It’s not just the men who suffer the indignities of aging.”
That comment finally caused Garrett and Tanner to lose their appetites, and they both quickly excused themselves and went off to locate their cousin.
My mother thankfully ran out of stories for the moment, so those of us remaining at the table were able to compose ourselves and finish the meal.
After everything had been cleared away, Tanner, Garrett, and Cody volunteered to clean the kitchen, mostly to avoid hearing about any other horrors of aging or pearls of wisdom from their grandparents, I suspected.
The rest of us settled in the living room to chat and catch up.
“Mel, before we leave I want to see your new ride. Ryan told me that you guys traded in your SUV the other day”
I beamed at my brother. “Yes, he finally wore me down. The Lincoln is beautiful, I have to admit, and I’m in love those heated seats and the remote starter.
The heated steering wheel is incredible, too.
I don’t even have to wear my gloves when I drive.
Still, I’ll be happy when spring gets here and it starts to warm up outside. ”
It had taken Ryan almost a month to convince me to trade in my trusty Honda.
He’d presented me with all the research he’d done.
He’d collected consumer reviews, depreciation rates, plus safety and insurance ratings.
He’d even made a graph comparing gas mileage and parts costs in the event of repairs down the line.
It had been over the top, even by my standards, but he’d been determined to convince me.
He’d finally resorted to driving me to the dealership a few days ago and all but forcing me to take one for a test drive.
I’d fallen in love with a dark red Aviator model, and that had sealed the deal.
Mom brought out the cake she’d made for me, and I was serenaded – terribly off-key for the most part – by everyone I loved dearest in the world. Dad handed me a beautifully wrapped package and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Here you go, Melly Bean. From your mother and me.”
I opened it to find a modern stylized sculpture of a man and woman, holding hands, with waves crashing behind them.
“We bought it from the shop where we did that pottery class. They do amazing work, and as soon as I saw it, I told Joe that it reminded me of you and Ryan.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyelids, and I blinked rapidly to clear them as I hugged my parents and thanked them for such an incredible gift. I looked up to find Ryan staring at me from across the room with love and a hint of residual guilt and pain swirling in the depths of his blue eyes.
“I love you,” he mouthed, and I smiled as I blew him a kiss.
He caught it in his hand and pressed his palm to his heart in the secret signal we’d used while we were dating and hadn’t wanted to flaunt the relationship in front of the boys too soon.
We had only rarely used it since then, and it warmed my heart to see that he’d remembered it.
After everyone left, Tanner and Garrett decided to catch up with some friends from high school, so Ryan and I had the house to ourselves.
We took a leisurely soak in the tub with ridiculously expensive bath salts that Ryan had replaced when he realized I’d finally used the last of them. I sat nestled in his arms with my back pressed to his front as the warm, lavender-scented water enveloped us.
“This is the perfect way to relax,” I said as I lazily trailed my fingertips over the surface of the water.
“It was a perfect day, period.”
I chuckled at his comment. “Even with the saga of the saggy genitalia?”
Ryan lifted his hand in a see-saw motion. “Eh, even with that.”
He sighed then, a sound so heartfelt that I instantly knew he was dwelling on the past. “I missed so many days like today, and I know there’s no way I’ll ever get them back.”
“No, there’s not,” I answered honestly, having given up my habit of sugar-coating things in my quest to ‘find my voice’, as Kim said. “But we have a lifetime to make new memories, so we can be thankful for that.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“I am, sweetness. Every single day.”