Kennedy
Sixteen years later
“Will you please calm down?” I sit at the foot of our bed as Graham digs through the closet. Despite my best attempt to hold my laughter, one loud hilarious giggle escapes.
“Do you think this is funny?” Hangers clink and squeak as they slide across the bar. “Got it.” He turns with a baseball bat tight in his grip and starts practice swinging.
“Please explain what you plan on doing with that.” My lips clamp together. The only problem is the pressure from my unshed laughter is causing my eyes to water.
Before I can tease my husband more, he drops the bat and pounces on me. I fall back to the mattress, pinned underneath him. Still my most favorite place in the world.
“She can’t go,” he whispers, dropping his forehead to the mattress next to my head. I run my fingers over the back of his freshly buzzed hair.
“It’s a little too late for that.” His overprotective, almost overbearing reaction about our sixteen-year-old daughter dating makes me smile.
“Is it possible to put her back in there?” Graham leans up, grazes my stomach with his hand, and grins.
“I think she’d be a little uncomfortable, don’t you?” I push up on my elbows and kiss him.
Being a parent to a teenage girl has been a fun, frustrating journey. Some days, Graham and I can do and say nothing right, and then there are moments, small sparkles in time, where I pass by her room and catch her chatting with Graham.
“Why did she have to grow up? Why can’t she still be the little girl holding onto my pinky to walk across the yard?” He glances away. If he looks me in the eyes, he knows I’ll see it all. The worry and panic, sure. But underneath it all will be a whole lot of pride for the lady she’s become.
“That’s not how life works, Baby, but there’s been no greater joy in my life than raising our family beside you, and watching you become an even better version of yourself because of Ben and Ricki.”
“I’m a better version because I have to keep up with you.” The corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles, showing how much he’s changed since the moment I first laid eyes on him.
The only thing truly the same is his honey-tinted eyes and the way they still look at me like I’m everything. Our love has never faltered, and surprisingly, neither has my horny husband’s sex drive.
Even now, his dick strains against the zipper of his jeans, pressing into my stomach. “Seriously?”
“You’re underneath me. What do you expect? And it would be an awfully pleasant distraction from knowing our daughter...”
“Who is right down the hallway,” I add, warning him.
“Is getting ready for her first date.” He kisses my neck, guiding his lips below my earlobe, and I smirk, remembering the first time he made me feel weightless with a single touch. “Come on, Baby. Distract me for a little while.”
I spread my knees farther apart, giving him room to snuggle close to me.
“Aren’t you guys a little too old to be making out?” Ricki’s voice causes us to jump, but neither of us moves away from the other.
Graham lays his lips against mine, and I feel them stretch into a shit-eating grin. Another thing Graham likes to do is make her as uncomfortable with our love as possible.
“Eww!” She groans. “You guys are disgusting, by the way.” We turn to see her gone and hear her footsteps on the stairs. “But since you guys are all wrapped up, I guess you don’t need to meet Jared. Bye.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move as fast as Graham does. Before I can straighten my shirt, I hear him calling after her, and his feet pounding down the stairs.
When I step into the living room, Graham is frozen at the bottom of the steps. I hadn’t noticed the beautiful chambray sundress she’s wearing, my new strappy sandals, and a cute black leather clutch I need to borrow.
Did she grow up without me even noticing it was happening? When did her young girl curls turn into beautiful, long, beachy waves? And is she wearing lipstick?
“Mom, seriously, are you crying?” She tucks the clutch under her arm and steps towards me.
“I’m not crying.” I brush my finger along the corner of my eye. “Okay, maybe I’m crying, but you’re just so...”
“Grown up?” she answers for me.
“Beautiful.”
“I have pretty good genes.” Ricki laughs, glancing between Graham and me.
At a knock on the door, everything in the room seems to go silent, except for the strong heartbeat in my daughter’s chest.
“Don’t be nervous,” I say, walking to the door to greet the boy who plans to take my daughter on her first date.
Jared and I turn the corner to find Graham and Ricki deep in conversation. She greets him and doesn’t shy away from wrapping her arms around him. Jared hoists her up, making her giggle, and my heart soars for her. The moment he spots my husband, he’s quick to place her feet back on the floor.
With his hand extended, Jared walks to Graham. They greet each other, both with their eyes wide. Watching them trying to figure out how to navigate the situation is sweet.
“Dad, this is Jared. Jared, this is my father.” Ricki survives the introduction effortlessly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Black.” He turns back to me. “And you, Mrs. Black.”
Graham wrings his hands together, watching them. I know what he sees. A teenage boy, tall and so sure of himself, next to our daughter. He’s probably too cocky for his own good and only after one thing.
But maybe, if she’s lucky, he’ll be the boy to change her entire life like Graham has mine.
“You play ball, Jared?” Graham asks.
Here comes the inquisition.
“I do, Sir.” He glances at Ricki who watches him with stars in her eyes. There’s a familiar hope just over the horizon, reminding me of myself.
Young love is a mysterious thing. It is capable of teaching you what you deserve, and teetering on the ledge of many broken hearts. With young love, the possibilities are endless.
“We better get going,” Ricki urges, and I wink, knowing she needs to get her date out of here before her dad goes too far.
We step out onto the front porch as Ben climbs out of his patrol car.
“Did you tell him to come over here?” I narrow my eyes at Graham, and he grins, tugging me in front of him. His arms drape over my shoulders, and I hold tight to them, feeling his racing heart against my back. “You’re a ridiculous human being.”
In full uniform, Ben walks up to Ricki, and they both turn to wave at us.
“Did you seriously show up in your squad car, Big Bro?” Ricki punches him in the arm.
Jared stands awkwardly beside them, his eyes trained on Ben’s badge. Talk about a silent warning.
“It was Dad’s idea,” Ben defends himself.
“You’re twenty-five years old. I don’t think Dad made you do anything.” Even from here, I see her eyes rolling out of annoyance, but still they hug because they are thick as thieves.
When Ricki was born, Ben refused to leave her side. I don’t think many a moment has passed where she’s truly been alone. The girl has earned a bit of independence.
Just as Ricki tucks her arm through Jared’s, a large black SUV pulls into the driveway.
“Mom, are you kidding me right now?” She glances over her shoulder and points at Rico as he lunges from behind the steering wheel.
“You must be Jared.” Rico hurries to stand chest to chest with him, pointing to his goddaughter. “If you lay a hand on Ricki, or make her cry, I swear to the ground I walk on, I will kill you. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Sir,” Jared stutters as Rico walks to the house.
“Who’s that?” Jared asks Ricki.
“Your worst nightmare,” Rico shouts back, making us all laugh.
“That’s my Uncle Rick.” She emphasizes Rico’s real name, making me so, so happy. “I was named after him, so he seems to think he can control my life.”
We’re in the middle of yelling at Rico for going too hard on a sixteen-year-old boy when Ricki runs up to us.
“You all are ridiculous. You know that, right?” She looks at each of us, taking extra time to let us know she sees us, but she stops at her father. “Especially you. You’ve taught me what it looks like to be appreciated and cherished by the way you are with Mom. Don’t think for a second I haven’t watched. So, when I drive away from you, know you’re always in the back of my mind, reminding me how valuable I am.”
Graham leans over me, gripping Ricki’s shoulders, and drops a sweet kiss on her temple. “I love you, Baby Girl. Have fun and be safe.”
We watch as she bounces back to Jared and dips down inside his car. With a quick wave, they’re gone.
This is it.
Our daughter is going out on her first date. We are sending her out into the world with the unsaid promise of keeping her safe.
All I have for her is a handful of wishes.
To hold herself in the light we see her in.
To let go of the fear of falling.
To find someone who looks at her with an endlessness.
To love as deep and as carelessly as she can.
All the things I learned at her age.
Some think I’m crazy for wanting all those things for her at sixteen. Her father is included in that some. She’s too young, too immature, they’ll all say.
But what if I hadn’t let all the rules slip away, and Graham and I had never become us?
Now, that would’ve been a shame.