39
Chad
My sister and I spent the next day exploring the city and doing many of the tourist things that New York had to offer. Nora told me how much she liked, not only Emily, but her family as well. We’d had a lot of laughs and stayed at Ian’s until close to eleven the night before. I liked Emily’s family too. They were really great.
I was sad to see Nora leave, but she had to get back to school. It was fun spending time with her. We had always been very close. I knew I’d see her for Thanksgiving break when I went home that week.
“Are you going to ask Emily to join us for Thanksgiving?” Nora asked me at one point during the day.
“Gee, I hadn’t really thought about it,” I admitted.
She smacked me on the shoulder and said, “Well, you should. Once I tell Mom and Dad about this weekend, they’re going to be anxious to meet her too.”
“You’re right. I’ll ask her.” I can’t believe it hadn’t occurred to me to invite her home for Thanksgiving. I am so glad my baby sister said something to me.
Nora took the red-eye home that night. I liked having her visit. It would be pretty awesome to have her in New York next year. I went back to my own place that night because I needed to get some studying done before Monday’s classes. Before it got too late, I sent Emily a message.
“Thanks again for everything this weekend. Nora had a blast.”
“My pleasure. I’ll miss you tonight.”
“Me too. Want to meet for bagels in the morning around 7:30?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Great. Night, angel.”
“Night, babe.”
Since it was only a few weeks before Thanksgiving, I needed to ask Emily if she wanted to join me, so I could get the tickets to fly home. I was excited about introducing her to my folks.
The next morning I got to the bagel place around seven fifteen. I ordered the kind of bagel and coffee Emily liked and sat down in a booth. I wanted as much time as possible before our day began. When she walked in the shop, I couldn’t help but smile. I stood up to greet her. I had to touch her. I gave her a strong hug and a deep kiss. “Good morning, angel. I missed you.”
“I can tell. Shame we have classes today.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I said, half serious. “I got your bagel and coffee. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. That was very thoughtful. Did Nora get off all right?”
“Sure did. She just landed a little while ago. She really loved you and your family,” I told her.
“Well, everyone loved her too. I would love it if she came to New York for college next year. I think she’d be very happy here.”
“Me too. So listen…I need to ask you something.”
“Of course. What’s up?”
“How would you like to come home with me to California for Thanksgiving to meet my folks?” I asked. At that moment I was nervous she might not want to.
“Really?” She said fairly loudly. “I’d love to. Would they mind?” she asked nervously.
I had to laugh. “Once Nora goes on and on about how amazing you, your family, and New York are, they’re going to be dying to meet you. So are you in?”
“Absolutely! I can’t wait to meet your parents. Did you ask them?”
“I called them last night after Nora left. With the time change, it wasn’t too late. They were thrilled I want to bring a woman home. Are you OK with me making the flight arrangements?” I asked her.
“Of course. Tell me where and when, and I will be there,” she said enthusiastically. Then, surprisingly, she leaned over and kissed me.
“What’s that for?” I asked her.
“For wanting me to spend a holiday with you and your family. I feel honored and very excited.”
“I’m so glad. I’ll make the reservations tomorrow and let you know the details as soon as I get them.”
“Do you want my credit card to pay for my ticket?” she asked.
“Not a chance. This one is on me. You can thank me tonight if you’d like. Sound like a plan?” I asked jokingly.
“I’ll do my best,” she said. I knew she would.
That night I secured two tickets to California. We actually agreed to spend the night apart again, since we both had so much work to do. I regretted that the moment I stopped studying. I didn’t want to be alone, so I called her.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Wondering why you aren’t here.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing. See you in a half hour?”
“What’s going to take you so long?”
When I hung up the phone, I was laughing. I grabbed my books, my computer, and some clothes and was out of my place in less than fifteen minutes. I couldn’t stand being away from her. She was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of.
When I got to her place, she greeted me with a robe on. As we kissed hello, her robe fell open. She was naked underneath. I was instantly aroused. I picked her up like a caveman and carried her to the bedroom. I stripped off my clothes and lay on top of her.
“I hate being apart from you,” I told her as I kissed her neck and her breasts.
“Me too,” she murmured as she dug her nails in to my ass.
You would think we hadn’t been intimate in months the way we ravaged each other’s bodies. Emily spread her legs so I could nestle my body between them. There was no time for foreplay. We found a rhythm that was needy and carnal. The harder she dug her nails into me, the stronger I thrusted my body into hers. I knew this first round was going to be fast. That was OK. I planned to take our time during round two. I was determined to make this beautiful, insatiable girl the most sexually satisfied woman on the planet. By the end of the evening, I was confident that I succeeded.
Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was upon us. Emily and I worked hard at school and continued to play hard out of school with all of our physical extracurricular activities that allowed us to blow off steam. We made a concerted effort to spend as much alone time together as possible. We made love on a daily basis—many times more than once. We never got tired of exploring new positions and situations where we could make love to one another. The more time we spent together, the more I craved her. I wanted to possess this woman and make her my wife. First I needed her to meet my parents.
All classes were cancelled the day before Thanksgiving, so we took a flight out on Wednesday. The plane to California was large. There were two seats, an aisle, five seats, and then another two. As soon as I saw the configuration, I had an idea. We had two seats next to each other along the side. I found blankets above our seats and got one for each of us.
“Are you cold?” Emily asked me as I took the blankets out of their plastic coverings.
“Nope. I’d just like to be cozy with my girl,” I informed her with a wink.
I wasn’t sure Emily knew what I had in mind, but she would soon find out. Once we were in the air, I spread a blanket over each of us. Emily said nothing. She just watched me intently. I leaned over and kissed her. “You always sleep better after an orgasm, so I thought I would see what I could do to help you relax.”
“Here?” she said, slightly panicked.
I laughed and kissed her again. “Yes, here,” I told her. I leaned back in my seat and reached under her blanket. I slipped my fingers into her panties and found what I was looking for. She looked surprised at first, but the look quickly turned into a mischievous grin. As I started rubbing her clit, she reached over and slipped her hand under my blanket. I had already unzipped my jeans without her noticing, so she would have easy access to me. She laughed when she realized I was prepared for this little naughty escapade.
She started to stroke me as a flight attendant walked by. Her hand froze as the woman approached us and asked if we needed anything. We both declined and pretended to close our eyes to sleep. Once the aisle was clear, I started moving my fingers in and out of her wet body as the palm of my hand kept pressure on her clit. Her hand palmed me more aggressively as she got worked up.
I leaned in to her and whispered in her ear, “You need to be quiet when you come, angel. Do you think you can do that?”
“Uh…I’ll try. Maybe you should kiss me right now to muffle the sound a bit.”
As I slowly moved in for a kiss, her hand grabbed me more securely. I sucked on her tongue gently, and she responded by sucking on mine enthusiastically. I could feel her breathing get more erratic, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I made her quiver in my hand. “How does that feel?” I mumbled into her mouth.
“Amazing,” she mumbled back. “It feels naughty doing this in public.” I put a little more pressure on her clit, and she bit down on my lip and groaned. Her breathing became even more erratic, and quiet grunts of pleasure escaped from her lips. As I felt her entire body tense up, I exploded in her hand. As the spasms subsided, we started to laugh.
“That was unexpected,” she said, “and awesome.” I kissed her again and leaned back, feeling very contented. It was quite a turn-on fooling around in public. I grabbed the napkin that I saved from my drink and used it to dry myself off a bit. Now it was time to get some sleep.
The ride went quickly, since we both slept almost the entire way. We walked off the plane to find my parents and my sister waiting for us. I had known they were picking us up; I just hadn’t expected them to be so anxious about out arrival. I heard Nora squeal when she first got a glimpse of us.
“They’re here, they’re here!” I heard her say loudly.
“Hey, little sis, how are you?” I asked her as I gave her a big hug.
“Better now that you’re here. Mom and Dad are so sick and tired of me bragging about how amazing Emily is. Hi, Emily!” she screamed as she hugged my girlfriend.
“Hi, Nora, I’ve missed you,” Emily told her.
“Oh my God, I’ve missed you too! I applied early decision. Fingers crossed, pleeeease,” she begged.
“Absolutely. We’d love to have you in New York. I know you’re going to love going to college there. We’ve already talked about it, and we’re both excited about the prospect of you living there,” Emily told her.
“Really? God, you’re amazing! Mom, Dad, this is Emily.”
I guessed the introductions were out of my hands. Emily walked up to my parents and extended her hand. “Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Both of my parents ignored her hand and hugged her. “Andrea and John, please. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin makes us feel old,” my mother said.
“Andrea and John it is. Thank you so much for including me in your holiday.”
“We are so happy you’re here,” Mom told her. “Now, let’s get going. We have a reservation for dinner at a beautiful spot on the ocean. Hope you like seafood, Emily, because this place serves the best in town.”
“I like everything, and thank you again for allowing me to join you.”
“No more thank-yous. We are thrilled to finally be meeting the girl who has captured our son’s heart.”
Emily seemed embarrassed by the compliment. “He has truly captured mine as well,” she said honestly and quietly. I reached for her hand and squeezed it lovingly.
My parents looked thrilled at the whole introduction, as I had known they would be. We went to dinner and had a marvelous time. My parents had a ton of questions for Emily. I was so proud of how easily she was able to open up to my folks.
“So tell me,” my mom said to Emily. “Have you ever been to California before?”
“I haven’t,” Emily started. “Often, when my father would travel for work, he would take my sister and me with him, but California wasn’t one of the places he ever had to travel to. Since he was a single parent, he was responsible for us and didn’t want to leave us with nannies, so we did have the opportunity to travel quite a bit, which we both thoroughly enjoyed.”
“Why didn’t you stay with your mother?” Mom asked.
Emily looked uncomfortable but responded right away. “My mother abandoned us. She found a younger man at the gym and never looked back. To this day neither Sara nor I have any kind of relationship with her. Fortunately our father remarried a wonderful woman named Katharine. She has been the best mother to us. We are very grateful for her.”
“That had to be very difficult for you. How did your mother react to your father getting married again?”
Emily chuckled. “Not well. She tried to overdose on pills. It was a pathetic attempt to get my father’s attention. We sat vigil by her side while she was in a coma. When she woke up, she was cruel and unloving to each one of us. That was when I knew I had to move on. It has been difficult, but I can’t change who she is or force her to be someone she is not.”
My mother looked as sad as I felt hearing this story. “Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. How horrible for you and your sister. So you’re close with Katharine?”
Emily smiled brightly. “She’s the kind of mother every child dreams about. I’m not sure if Chad told you, but my sister, Sara, and Katharine’s son, Jackson, have a baby together. It was a little strange at first, but it’s all worked out splendidly. We are truly a happy family now. For that I’m extremely grateful.”
I put my hand on Emily’s knee as a sign of reassurance. She was such a strong woman. I could tell my parents were impressed by how bright and genuine she was. Her honest description of her family members gave us all more insight about where she came from. She definitely had some interesting family dynamics.
We took our time at the restaurant and ended up being there for nearly three hours. At one point I saw Emily yawn. I suggested we go home, and everyone agreed.
My folks were always open-minded about the sleeping arrangements once I became an adult, so I knew Emily and I would be sharing a room. When we got back to the house, Mom gave her a tour. Before long Emily excused herself so she could go to bed. I told her I’d join her after I talked to my parents for a little while. She kissed me lovingly on my lips and said her good nights.
I sat on the back porch with my folks talking for a little while, until I felt confident that my girlfriend had fallen asleep. “Mom, Dad…I need to talk to you seriously about something.”
“Of course, dear,” my mother said. “What’s on your mind?”
I wasn’t sure how to say this. It was a revelation I’d had a few weeks earlier that I needed to share with them. “I love Emily.”
My father chirped right in and said, “That’s pretty obvious, son.”
I had to laugh. “It’s more than that. I want to ask her to marry me,” I shared with them.
“But you haven’t been dating very long. What’s the rush?
And what about law school?” my dad asked worriedly.
“Oh, we both are completely invested in our education. I just feel this intense desire to make our relationship more permanent, and I don’t want to wait. If I wait until school ends, I’d have to wait another year and a half, and I can’t wait that long.”
They both stared at me and didn’t say anything right away. That made me a little nervous. I waited impatiently until they said something. It was my mother who broke the silence. “When your dad and I met, I wanted to be with him every minute of every day. I hated being away from him. I couldn’t wait to get married and make our relationship permanent. You know, Chad, you’ve always had a good head on your shoulders, and if you feel this way, then I fully support your decision.”
My father didn’t say anything right away. I was actually holding my breath until he said something.
“As do I, son. When do you plan to propose?” my father asked me.
“Not until I get her father’s blessing. That will cement my decision. They weren’t thrilled about her last boyfriend, and I need to know they are accepting of me fully and without reservation.”
My mother seemed pleased. “That is the most sensible way to do this. Let us know how it goes,” she said.
“I will. For now I think I’ll crash. I’m pretty tired. See you in the morning,” I said to them. I kissed them both good night and went to bed.
When I entered the room, Emily was sound asleep. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled in bed next to her. I wrapped my arm around her and heard her sigh.
“Go back to sleep, angel. I’ll be right here when you wake up,” I assured her. I nestled my body close to hers and fell instantly asleep. The last thing I thought of was how I was going to propose.
The rest of the trip was a lot of fun. We hiked, walked the beach, went on a wine tour, and even rode horses. Nora joined us everywhere we went. At one point she whispered in my ear and asked me when I was going to ask Emily to marry me. I assured her it was going to happen sooner rather than later. She was squealing with delight, and I had a hard time getting her to be quiet about the plan.
Emily and I flew home on Sunday night, so we would be ready for classes on Monday. I wanted to figure out the best time to meet with Ian, so I called him on Monday morning. “Good morning, Ian. This is Chad Baldwin. I was wondering if you have any free time after four this week to meet. I need to talk to you about something.”
“Of course. I could meet you at the bar at Pane Vino’s tonight at five thirty, if that works,” he said.
“That would be great. I’ll see you tonight,” I said.
I had a difficult time concentrating the rest of the day. Emily even asked me what was up. I made an excuse about how the time change messed me up and made me feel tired. She said she felt tired as well. She wanted to meet for dinner after our last class, but I told her I had a meeting with a professor, and I would meet her later. Little did she know the professor I was referring to was her dad.
I walked into Pane Vino with a huge knot in my stomach. What if he disapproved? It hadn’t crossed my mind until I was taking the taxi to the restaurant. Ian was already at the bar talking to his brother when I arrived. “Ian, Todd.” I shook both of their hands and sat next to Ian.
“What’ll you have?” he asked politely.
“Maker’s Mark neat,” I told him.
“Oh, this sounds serious,” Todd commented in a fun-loving way.
I felt even more uneasy with both brothers there. “It is serious, Todd. I know you’re an important part of Emily’s life, so if you’d like to stay for this conversation, that would be fine with me.”
Todd looked surprised. So did Ian. “OK, I’ll stay. I may have daughters of my own, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for my godchild. Spit it out. What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Ian, I love your daughter more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I know we’ve known each other only a few months, but I want to ask her to marry me. With your permission, of course.”
Todd looked even more surprised than Ian. “Damn, boy. You don’t waste any time. What’s the hurry?” he asked. Ian still hadn’t said anything.
“I can’t explain it. I hate going a day without seeing her. I think about her constantly. I feel complete when I’m with her and a little empty when we’re apart. For some inexplicable reason, I need to make it permanent. I never saw this happening so quickly, but I’ve never loved anyone like I love her. I’ve already discussed it with my parents, and they’ve given me their approval provided I get your consent. I know I’m rambling. Can you understand? I can’t imagine my life without her.”
That was when Ian finally showed some emotion. He started to laugh. “Yes, son. I completely understand. That is exactly the way I felt when I met Katharine. But why now? You still have a lot of school left.”
“Ian, I can’t wait until we graduate. It’s too far away. We still have a year and a half before we finish. I love her too much to wait that long. If you’re concerned about how I’ll support her, you don’t have to. I have a trust fund I got from my great-aunt to help me financially while I’m in law school. My mom gave me my grandmother’s ring yesterday to give to Emily. My parents trust my judgment and support my intentions. All I need is your permission.” I sat quietly, trying to gage his reaction. He wasn’t easy to read.
“You know, I always dreaded the day that imbecile Martin asked for permission to marry my daughter. I didn’t know what I would say. I didn’t like him, and I prayed she’d come to her senses before he took it that far. Now I think she has. You are a very nice young man, Chad. My daughter is happier than she has ever been in her life. I fully support this union. I understand your need to make it official. Let’s toast to my future son-in-law!” he said enthusiastically.
Holy crap, I hadn’t expected such a welcoming reaction. Within moments Todd was standing behind the bar pouring three shots. When I looked at him, he had tears in his eyes. “To family,” he said as we all held up shots of tequila.
“To family,” Ian and I said in unison.
We finished our shots, and Ian looked at me pensively. “When is this proposal going to take place?” he asked me.
“I haven’t worked out the logistics yet. I want it to be memorable. I’m taking suggestions.”
Ian looked at me for a minute. “You know, Chad, every proposal is unique. It depends on the relationship of the two people involved. You’ll figure something out.”
“OK, gentlemen, let me go in the back and whip up something to eat. We need to celebrate!”
The three of us sat at a corner table and enjoyed a meal together. We laughed and talked for almost two hours. It was better than I ever could have imagined. Now I had to figure out how I was going to ask the girl of my dreams to marry me.
As Todd called me a taxi, my phone rang. It was Emily. I didn’t want her to know I was with her dad. I didn’t answer the call, but I did send her a text.
“Just finishing. Can I come over in a little bit?”
“You better! I refuse to sleep alone. Hurry.”
“On my way.”