CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Wizard
“I hate this,” Nev says sniffling as the last of her things are loaded into the U-Haul trucks the prospects will be moving back to Cali.
“You don’t want to come home with me?”
“I do, but this was my place. I made it a home over the past couple of months, and I did well with my job all on my own.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and try not to take it personally.
“It was a big moment for me. I’d never been on my own before. Not like that.” She wipes away her tears with the back of her hand. We’ve been progressing well over the past few weeks as she healed. We’ve got a routine down, and she’s starting to warm up to me. I noticed the cold shoulder she was giving. I just choose to ignore it because the girl’s been through a lot in a short span of time, and the hormones she’s got going throw her out of whack. I get it, but it’s hard to handle at times.
“And what? You want your own place when we get back?” I ask honestly unsure where we stand.
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you aren’t saying much of anything. I’m here for you, Nev. I’m in this with you. I want to make this work and get back to where we once were. But it’s impossible when you’re bucking me every step of the way. If I was going to leave I would already be gone.”
Her lower lip trembles and I release a deep breath. I wrap my arm around her and pull her to my side.
“Let me take care of you, rabbit. Have I ever let you down before?”
She shakes her head.
“And I won’t now. You’ve always trusted me. Don’t let the accident take that way. Don’t let Fuse and that bitch win.”
Her body stiffens. “Oh my God, I am, aren’t I?”
“I need you in this with me, rabbit. I can’t remember everything here.” I tap my head. “But I remember it here.” I press her hand against my heart. “I’ve never been like this with another woman. That doesn’t come for nowhere.”
She grips my cut and leans back. “You mean that?”
“Rabbit, yes.” I cup her head and pull her into a hug, wishing I could pluck the memories from my head. Words are meaningless. I have to show her. “Come on, let’s get on the road.” I guide her away from the apartment and down to the SUV fully stocked with snacks and drinks. Her pregnancy cravings are a weird mixture of super healthy fruits and veggies, and straight junk like Slim Jims and Doritos. We climb into the car and I pull out of the parking lot happy to see the apartment in the rear view mirror.
I’m anxious to get back home. I think the familiar environment will help me regain memories. I need them if I’m going to keep her. Or you can create new ones. It’s impossible to win when you’re competing with yourself, but that’s exactly what’s happening here. I’m in competition with my doppelganger, some alternative version of myself that no longer exists. This must be what Doctor Who feels like when he regenerates.
***
“Where are we going?” she asks as I pull off the highway.
“Pit stop,” I say.
“We barely got on the road.”
“You think I don’t know you because I can’t remember certain things. I’m going to prove to you how wrong you are.” As we pull up to the welcome to the Valley of Fire State Park sign she gasps.
“Oh my God.”
“I remember a certain someone likes to binge watch Roswell when she’s in a crappy mood and I know some of it was filmed here or at least the promo shots were.”
“How can you know that?” she whispers.
“I told you I remember somethings, not all, but some. It comes back to me in flashes that are jogged when I look at things or randomly. When we were packing and I saw the DVD sets of the show, I remembered.”
“I can’t believe you did this.”
“We can’t stay that long. Not with our schedule and the heat,” I say glancing toward her belly.
“It’s okay. Just being here is everything.”
Once we park, we slather ourselves with sun screen and don hats. I shrug out of the heavy leather, and rest it in the back seat, covering it with a blanket. There’s a time and a place for colors. Somewhere that might attract attention from law enforcement when I’m trying to win my woman back over isn’t one of them. The carefree giggles that spill from her lips are all the thanks I need as we walk the park admiring the massive red tinged rocks. She pauses in front of a structure I recognize from the show.
“Come on, we have to get a selfie.”
“You expect me to?”
She pokes out her bottom lip and widens her yes.
“Damn, you play dirty, rabbit. Alright. I’ll bite.”
I take the cell from her hand and we move together. Her eyes are bright and her smile is genuine. I take the shot and remember another time when she conned me into this.
“You’re good at getting your way, rabbit,” I whisper.
“You remembered something.”
“Yeah, that you’re a selfie extortionist.”
She smirks. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Spoken like a true criminal mastermind,” I say.
She bumps me with her hip and I wink as we continue our exploration.
***
The pit stop loosened something between us. The air is relaxed and her smiles are genuine as we continue the road trip. We make brief stops for restroom breaks and lunch, and dinner. We’re rolling into Cali toward home when the night sky dazzles us with its star filled display. She’s dozing in the passenger seat, and somehow all seems right with my world when I finally pull into our driveway. I release a sigh I didn’t realize I was holding. This is where she belongs, with me. I exit the car, come around to her side, and lift her in my arms. She sleeps like the dead now, but I know she didn’t always.
It’s odd these moments of knowing that sporadically appear. I’m trying not to get frustrated. My doctor said attempting to force things will only do more harm than good. I can’t afford to have a setback. Not when I’m still getting myself back to normal. I need to be one-hundred percent for my family. Family. I always thought of the Kings as my family. Now that I’m having one I created, I’m beginning to understand the difference. I lift her higher in my arms, and unlock the door. She stirs.
“What are you going?”
“Carrying you inside, sleepy head.” I’m eager for a night in a bed. I’ve been living on the couch for the past month and my body is ready to rebel against me.
“Mmm. I’m awake.” She snuggles into me and I laugh.
“Yeah, you look it.” I stride up the stairs and she wiggles to be put down. I set her on her feet and she stumbles toward her old room.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask.
She blinks up at me sleepily. “To my room?”
I shake my head. “No, this is our room. I’m not going to try anything until you’re ready, but this is where you belong.”
She gives a bark of laughter. “It’s like déjà vu.”
“I said this before?”
She nods her head and walks in front of me. “Luckily for you, unlike then, I’m too damned tired to argue with you.”
“One of these days you’re just going to learn that I’m right,” I say.
She snickers and collapses on the bed. “You’re still in there, alright. You play hide and seek, but I’m good at that game.”
“What?”
“Nothing, bossy pants,” she says as she kicks off her shoes and wiggles out of her pants.
“I heard it’s called being organized.”
Her laughter continues. I strip down and ease into bed, ready for a good night’s sleep with my woman by my side. I watch her as she undresses, cataloguing the changes her body is undergoing. Her breasts are twice as big, and her belly has a slight curve to it. It suits her. She looks lush and healthy. She pulls on a white cotton nightgown, and slips under the sheets beside me. I pull her frame to mine. She stiffens for a moment before relaxing and I mentally cheer to celebrate the small victory.
***
“I want to go on a date.”
“At six in the morning?” I mumbled as I run my hand down her back.
She struggles up into a sitting position and I grin. The past couple of months have yielded a few more memories of the past. But for the most part, we’re making all new ones.
“I think breakfast dates are overlooked I mean who needs dinner? Bring me pancakes and orange juice.”
“Is this part of your ploy to get me to make pancakes again?” I ask dryly.
She scowls. “No. Come on, doesn’t a pancake date sound glorious? You, me, a bottle of syrup.” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down and I laugh. “Trust me, it’ll be a good time.”
I peer down at the face starting to round with pregnancy weight, and smooth her wild dark hair. “Rabbit?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
She gasps.
“Wizard?”
I place a finger over her lips. “The words have been swirling around in my brain for weeks. I bit my tongue as long as I could because I wasn’t sure you’d believe them. I don’t care if I ever get those old memories back, because the new ones we make, and are making are amazing. I never thought I was cut out of this, love and a family. I’ve done some fucked up shit, and I know I don’t deserve the kind of happiness you’ve brought into my life. But I’m keeping it anyway.”
I risk a glance at her. Tears are streaming down her face.
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“No. This. It’s everything I wanted to hear you say. I have loved you for months. I should’ve told you before the accident, but shit, I was scared. I’ve never loved anyone before, and what we have it so strong. I thought I’d die when you didn’t know me or remember us. Then we came back together and I saw it was still there. ‘Cause what we got is a soul love. It’s not superficial. Even when your mind didn’t recognize me, your heart and soul did. What more could a woman ask for than that?”
I cup her face, and wipe away her tears with my thumbs. “I love you.”
“And I love you.”
I kiss her lips and she moans. I can’t get enough of her as I explore her mouth with my tongue and massage her sensitive breasts. Her nipples extend and I pinch them lightly. She shudders.
“I— I think breakfast can wait a minute, don’t you?” she rasps.
I chuckle as I roll her onto her side and push her nightgown up around her hips. “I think it’s going to have to. Look at you, so wet for me.”
“Always,” she whimpers. Pregnancy has kicked her libido up a few notches, not that I’m complaining. I circle her clit, slick my fingers with her sweetness and capture her lips as I work her pussy with slow pumps. She squirms, clenching my fingers tight as she flexes and releases. My cock stands at attention, straining against her ass. I grind into her cheeks and she circles her hips.
“I need you inside me, please.”
“I’m going to give you what you need,” I promise as I remove my fingers and rearrange her legs. I thrust home and she cries out, coming off the bed. Tight, wet, and trembling, she’s a drug I’ll never get enough of. I brace her body, careful of the precious life inside her as we find a steady pace. I like this slow loving. The first few months were fire and frenzy. This is different. It’s like I’m loving her with all I got, inching her up the mountain so she can have that spectacular fall down into my arms, and my soul. She’s in my veins, as much a part of me as my blood. There’s no such thing as life without her. As I fill her body and feast on her mouth I try to convey everything that I can’t eloquently say. She fists my hair and sinks her teeth into my lips, tugging. Her eyes are aglow with passion and possession. Yes. I’m as much hers as she is mine. He walls tighten around me and I groan. Our lips part and we gasp for air as we continue to work toward completion.
“Love you forever, rabbit,” I rasp.
She shatters, screaming my name and I know I have to do more than claim her, I need her to share my name. Quaking, I flood her with my seed as I bury my face in her neck and inhale her sweet scent. Among all the chaos, we built a forever kind of love.