Mom had made a fabulous dinner, as per usual.  She was always the talk of the town when it came down to her cooking.  After dessert, Mom took Aiden inside to get his bath started while Dad began to tidy up the dirty dishes.

“I can do that.”  Amelia got up with him but my father put his hand on hers.

“Don’t be silly.  Just relax.”  He tells her and then winks at me.  I chuckled as I shook my head at him.  We made a bit of small talk and when Aiden came back out, his hair was wet and he was dressed in his fire truck pajamas.  He walked up to Amelia and held his arms out at her.  She picked him up and gave him a large hug.  Her arms wrapped completely around him as his clutched tightly around her.  I noticed the smile on her face as she pulled away and put him down to the ground, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing his forehead with her eyes closed.  Somehow, watching that action, tugged at my heartstrings.  I had never seen Aiden interact with anyone like that other than my parents and myself before.

“Goodnight little buddy.”  She told him.

“Goodnight.”  He chirped and trotted over to my side for my hug.  As I wrapped him into a tight hug, he pulls his face away and looks at me.

“Daddy, can we go play at Amelia’s tomorrow?  She’s my best friend.”  He tells me and I chuckled and looked over at Amelia who was clutching at her chest.

“I thought I was your best friend.”  I tell him.

“You are because you have to be; you’re my Daddy.  Amelia is my real best friend because she doesn’t have to play with me.  She just does.”  He tells me.  I was baffled at the observations a four year old could possibly voice.  My mother came out and whisked Aiden away.

We sat quietly on the patio as I heard my son laughing at one of the stories that my mother must have been telling him.  He had such a vivid imagination that he didn’t like regular books.  You had to create something new and different for him, every night.  That’s how he knew so much about Amelia.

“Nana?”  I hear.  “You’re Daddy’s Mommy, right?”

“That’s right.  And your Poppy is your Daddy’s Dad.”  She explained to my son.

“Why do Mommy’s and Daddy’s kiss?”  I hear and I blush as I turned to a quietly giggling Amelia.

“Because they’re best friends and when best friends love each other, sometimes they kiss to show each other how they feel.”  God love my mother and her infinite wisdom.  She knew how to answer just about every question.  I wish I could be like her some day.

“But Amelia, she’s not my Mommy?”  My son pointed out.

“No, she’s not, Sweetie.”  I hear her say.

“But…”  He started.  “What if I want her as my Mommy?”  And Amelia got up to her feet with her hand to her mouth.  The wheels were turning as she paced a rut into my parents’ patio.  She stopped to look up at the window and listened.

“I guess that depends on Amelia and Daddy, son.”  She says.  “Now, it’s time to get to sleep handsome.  Goodnight, Sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, Nana.”  I hear my boy call out to her.

When things got too quiet, Amelia stopped her pacing and turned toward the house.

“Where are you going?”  I asked her.

“Home.”  She said bluntly.  I knew what we had overheard weighed heavily on her.  No one could help falling in love with Aiden.  I knew that Amelia had already come to that conclusion.  The problem lay in the fact that the ball was in her court.  I knew I wanted her and now, so did my son.  She had to decide what she wanted, figure out if she was finally ready for her life to move forward with or without me being present in it.

“I’ll walk you.”  I say.  After I let her thank my parents for letting her be part of the family, for the night, I put my hand to her lower back and escorted her to her front door.  I wasn’t sure of much at this point, aside from how I felt about her.  No matter how strong I felt, I still hadn’t been able to express myself.  It was clear that she knew as well as I did that there was an attraction between the two of us but beyond that, we both stood here, on her front porch, very much in the dark; proverbially and literally.

“Can I come in for a minute?”  I find myself asking her.

“Yeah.”  She avoided my eyes as she turned to put her key in the tumbler to open her front door.  “Go ahead.  I think I need a quick minute alone.”  She tells me.  She must have thought that I had gone back in because she turned to face the front yard and leaned forward onto the porch railing with her hands.  I watched her as her shoulders bobbed lightly.

“I don’t know what to do.”  I hear her whisper to herself.  “Just give me a sign on what to do.”  I saw her begin to calm herself down, wiping her tears away; heard her take a deep breath and when she turned, I could see her eyes were still slightly red.  She stopped mid-stride and stared at me, looking like a dear in headlights.

“Don’t cry.”  I tell her, walking the few steps to her and wrapping my arms around her.  “I can’t stand it when you cry, Mia.”

“Why did he have to say that?”  She asks me.  “Why did he have to say he wanted me as his Mommy?”  I began to see where she was heading with this.

“Because he loves you.”  I tell her softly, rubbing her back soothingly.  “Just like I love you, Mia.”

“Like a friend though, right?”  She asked her face in my chest.  I chuckled.  When I hadn’t answered, she pulled back to look at me.

“Well, no.”  I said and let a long breath out.  “Come here.”  And I pull her inside, to her living room couch.  “Amelia, I know we’ve agreed to be friends and I’ll continue to honor that promise to you, no matter what.  But I feel like I owe you.”

“What do you mean?”  She eyed me confused.

“This past week has been the best of my life.”  I began.  “Having you back in my life has made me the happiest I can remember being.”

“Chris?”  I held my hand up to stop her.  There we sat, facing each other, our arms on the back rest of the sofa, our knees touching.

“You know that I want something more and I think you were right about waiting it out longer.  I don’t want to settle for good.  I want the great but…”  And I pause, looking at Amelia’s eyes.  “But I can’t have that without you.”  I searched her face for an inkling of what she might be thinking and I saw nothing.  “I’ve tried to hold my feelings off and not love you in that way, believe me, I’ve tried.  But seeing you with Aiden and him with you, the day you two met, your birthday, today and hearing him tonight, I knew I at least owed it to you and him, to let you know how I felt.”

“Chris.”  Amelia started again but I stopped her again.

“I love you, Mia.”  I tell her simply.  “I’ll wait.  We’ll wait, for however how long it takes because no one could ever win me over the way you have.  With you, I feel I can be the best at everything that I do.  You take all of my fears away.  Well, all but one.  The only one that remains is the one about losing you again.  I don’t think I could stand that Mia.”  I start to stand, deciding I should simply leave her with everything I had just told her.  The last thing I wanted to do was pressure her into making a decision.  I thought it best to let her mull things over.  I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head as I turned and made my way to the front door.  I must have been a step away from reaching the doorknob when I heard her move.

“Christian!”  She now said firmly and I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to her face.  “Where are you going?”  She asked me.

“Home.  I thought I would…”  I began when she grabs my face in her hands and kissed me hard for a few seconds and pulls away, leaning her forehead onto my chin as she pushed her body into mine, letting her hands trail down to my chest.  As she looked up at me, I couldn’t help but notice the hungry look in her eyes.  I bend my head down to hers and pressed my lips to hers slightly I let her dictate how far she wanted to take things.  As far as I was concerned, I had nothing else to lose.  I was hers, whether she wanted me or not.  As she deepened my kiss, my arms wrapped themselves around her waist as hers found their way around my neck and we pulled each other closer.  I began to lead her to the sofa but she pulled away.

“Not here.”  She whispered breathlessly and gave me a quick kiss before breaking my hold on her and taking my hand to lead me upstairs.

She stood before me, flushed, her breathing running a little ragged, holding my hand, pulling me to her.  She was beautiful in every sense of the word.  I let go of her hand and approached her slowly as I gently grabbed her face and kissed her lips as her hands found their way under my t-shirt.  I was amazed at how hot her skin felt against mine.  I began running my hands down her shoulders, arms and then snuck them around her hips, pulling her up and into me.  As soon as I had done that, she released the sweetest moan and her arms shot up so that she now fisted my hair, pushing my face into her as I fed on the small of her neck, her collarbone and the spot below her ear.  I pulled away to look into her eyes.  They were filled with passion, lust, everything I needed to know in this moment.

“Mia?”  I say.  Her eyes filled with reassurance.  “Are you sure?”  I whispered against her lips and wait for her answer before closing the gab.  She nodded.  “I need you to say it.”  I nuzzled her nose with mine.

“Yes, Christian.  I’m sure.”  And she closed the gap for me quickly and when she pulled away, she got started on pulling my t-shirt up and over my head.  I let her take me in, enjoying the feeling of her hands on the bare skin of my chest.  I kissed her shoulders as I reached around her and unzipped her sundress, peeling back the spaghetti straps in an attempt to reveal her undergarments as she released the button and zip on my jeans, letting them fall down my legs.  I laid her down on her bed, slowly, making sure she was comfortable before I covered her nearly naked body with mine.  I wanted to take my time with her.