Chapter 14 #3
We didn’t have a lot back then, but I wanted her wedding day to be special. Our cake was a sheet cake with a side mini cake that the bakery threw in as a gift, just like the one she had in her hand now.
“Should we eat it now?” I asked.
“Hell no, I mean unless you want food poisoning the whole time you’re on break. Too much time has passed, plus it’s not like we’re celebrating an anniversary. C’mon, let’s keep going.” She grabbed the cake, throwing it away before pressing on.
“We could though,” I said as I caught up with her as we headed upstairs.
“Do what?”
“Celebrate our missed anniversaries? I mean, we need more dates in the books, and since we’re friends now, they could be fun or something. I mean, if you want to, no pressure,” I said, downplaying my excitement about the whole idea of spoiling my wife the way I always wanted to.
We reached the top of the stairs with Hollis stalling on the last one, placing her ass in my face. I wasn’t complaining at all. I leaned in, about to bite it until she turned, glancing down at me.
“I’ma ignore you being a perv for a second because I can work with that, just pretend though. I mean ’cause, I’m not buying you shit. But since you have been slacking and lacking on the dates, I think your idea will be cute.”
“Girl, who’s slacking and lacking? We just did an amusement park before my mini tour of games. Can I get some grace for working, please baby?”
She tapped her chin, then shrugged, turning to finish walking down the hallway.
“I guess you’re right. You’re still never home though, so we’ll see how this goes.”
“Never home?” I asked, slapping her ass as we hit the first room. “Holls, you do know I would rather be here with you, showing you off on a million dates, right?”
“I know, Luke.” Her tone was dry and unconvincing as she opened the door to my old bedroom.
“Then say that shit with meaning, please and thank you. Damn, you really be making a nigga chest hurt bad as hell.”
She huffed as she rolled her eyes.
“That’s not my intention. Now can we move on?” I wasn’t satisfied with her answer so I grabbed her hand, pulled her back into me, and wrapped her in my arms, resting them on her lower back. Hollis automatically locked hers around my neck as I stared deep into her pretty brown eyes.
“Naw, I’m serious, baby. Do you not know you’re my number one priority in this entire world and my sole purpose in life is to make you happy.
You gotta understand that everything I do…
did was to ensure I could provide the best life you deserve.
I can’t apologize for my career, but I will say this time ’round I’ma do better when it comes to treating you to the finer things. ”
“Luke, I don’t want the finer things. I just want more time with you. And I would never make you apologize for your dream nor choose me over it. You love baseball, I know that. I’m not tripping over that.”
“Holls, no, you’re my dream. That’s what you’re not getting. Baby, I’ve been stuck in a never-ending nightmare since you left me. I need you to understand it doesn’t come over you. Never has, never will. I just thought once I made it big I would be the man worthy of you carrying my last name.”
“I took it before you made it pro, Luke, you were worthy. This made me love you and want to be with you, not the money you were determined to make.” She tapped my chest, stepping away from me, going over to the window nook where we spent a lot of our time.
“Then why did you leave me? My only purpose in life was to love you forever.”
There was a pregnant pause as sniffles filled the empty space between us.
Is she crying?
No, it has to be her allergies.
When I heard the low whimpers, I knew better. I walked closer to console her. I didn’t mean to make her cry. How we got on such a heavy ass topic from the dates I would never understand.
I went to wrap my arms around her when Hollis bent down, preventing me. I followed her motions to see what she was going for, then I saw it. It was a wood carving of our initials in a heart with the number four and the word ever underneath.
“The same reason you didn’t call and contest the divorce and signed the papers the first day you got them. Our forever had a limited time and it was clear we’d reached it.”
“Naw, baby, our forever is still going. Hollis, I didn’t call because I thought I was giving you what you wanted. You wanting to leave me came out of nowhere. I didn’t know if it was someone else or—"
“What? No. It was the four-five months out a year I got with you, and even then it was limited. And again, I’m not tripping over your career.
I wanted you to have it. It was me crying myself to sleep from missing you.
I figured if I was alone in a marriage, I should just be alone and single, and let you live without worrying about a wife back home constantly saying I just miss you and I wish you were here.
You deserved that. I know I was fucking your head up each time you had to tell me stop crying and you would fly home soon.
Luke, I just wanted you to be happy without the baggage of me. ”
I turned Hollis to face me, immediately wiping her face of the tears, catching the ones that slipped out next, then kissing her lips gently.
“Hershey, baby, you’re not baggage. You’re my wife, my right hand, my glove that I still carry with me.” I grabbed her hand, placing it over my chest, on my heart.
“Do you feel that? This muthafucka is yours and I swear up until a few months ago it stopped working the moment I got those papers. I apologize for even making you feel that back then. I don’t think we both understood how much the distance and time away from each other would do to us, but I promise, loving you is still all I know how…
no, fuck that, still want to do. Hollis, I’ma love you as my wife until the day I die. ”
“What are you saying, Luke?” Hollis asked in a whisper, as if she was afraid of the truth.
“I told you ain’t no leaving me this go ’round.
It’s Hollis and Luke forever. Ain’t no other way I see us but together, baby.
” I didn’t even give her a time to respond before my mouth was on hers, praying I silenced any doubts or fears she might have about us.
There was no way I was letting my wife leave me again.