“I think that’s a great idea. It’s bath night, and I don’t want to miss it. I’ll call you to schedule our next training, okay? Take care and tell Kaia I said hello.”
“I will.”
We said goodbye, and I started my journey home. The car ride was filled with thoughts about the future swimming around in my head. Duke lay comfortably in the back, snoozing without a care in the world, but all I could think about was Kaia.
After talking with Laurie about her little family, I couldn’t help but try to picture my own. I loved growing up with a sibling, so I knew I wanted more than one kid, at least, but I thought six might be too many.Unless Kaia wanted six. Then we would have ourselves a tribe. I’d give her anything she wanted, if she wanted me.
I smiled when I thought about Kaia coming home after work to me and our kids. We’d eat dinner together and talk about our days. We’d pack lunches together, see them off to school, and reminisce about when they were waddling around in diapers, trying to eat Cheerios off the floor.
But my smile fell at the realization that while it was the life I wanted, it might not be what Kaia wanted. She might not want kids at all, or if she did, she didn’t want them with me.
I couldn’t blame her, though. She deserved the absolute best things in life, and having children with a disabled person like me was not one of those things. She’d realize it soon enough, and I’d be heartbroken, but I’d understand.
My spiraling thoughts stopped when I got home and was greeted by Kaia and the delicious smell of Thai food.
“Hi, baby, I missed you. How was training?” She brought me in for a hug and one of her body-melting kisses before I had a chance to answer.
I sank into the kiss, never wanting to leave our little bubble of happiness. When she kissed me like that, I wanted to believe she’d always be there to do that.
I broke us apart and gave her time to greet Duke before he ran to his own dinner. “Hi back. It was good. We stopped at BA for some social training and talked. And I missed you too. Laurie says hi, by the way.”
She nodded and took my hand, leading me to the table. Every night since she’d moved in, we ate dinner together. We never had our phones, and we weren’t allowed to work during dinner or eat on the couch, unless it was a special occasion. It was our time to be together. Like a family.
Shaking that image away, I sat down and my smile softened when she kissed the top of my head. I always felt fuzzy inside when she did that. “I missed you today. How was work?” I asked once she settled into her chair.
As much as I wanted her right next to me, I always appreciated that she sat directly across from me so it was easier to see her signing without craning my neck too much.
“Work was busy today, which is always good, but draining. Drea and Blair were there to help, but you know how helpful they can be together. I only saw them once, and I’d rather not think about the reasons why. I’m just thankful I didn’t hear anything besides giggling.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, those two are ridiculous, but their love is very evident. After everything you’ve told me about Drea, I can’t believe someone got her to settle down. And the fact that it was Blair of all people is crazy!”
“I know. I still find it weird. The way their hate turned into love is beautiful, though. And Drea is obsessed with Blair. If it even drizzles outside, she’s next to her, trying to comfort her. It’s so sweet to see, though. And you can tell Blair matches her love a thousand times over. I love them.”
I could see all of that. The love they had for each other, and the love Kaia had for her friends. “I know.”
We ate for a little longer before Kaia started messing with her hair. “Are you okay over there? Is your hair bothering you?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I think I need to get a haircut before we go out this weekend.”
I frowned, not understanding either of those statements. I thought she looked perfect. “First of all, a haircut? Your hair looks impeccable. And second, we’re going out this weekend? I wasn’t informed of any plans. I don’t have anything in my schedule.”
She tilted her head, furrowing her brows. “You sure about that?”
Well, now I wasn’t so sure. Did we have something planned and I forgot? I jumped out of my chair to retrieve my laptop. When I opened it, I immediately went to the calendar and scurried through the days until I landed on this coming weekend.
As it turned out, there was something scheduled for Saturday. I couldn’t remember scheduling anything, but I clicked on the little blue dot reserved for personal items and read the text:
January 13 at 6:45 p.m.: Date night
I turned back to Kaia, who was looking at me with that megawatt smile. The same one that had caused flutters in my stomach from the moment we met.
“I guess we do have plans. Apparently I have a date?”
She nodded. “We do. Our first official date. So be ready.”
I smiled, eagerly awaiting this date and wondering what she had planned. It would be our first date as a couple and I was a little nervous. The last first date I’d gone on had ended up with a strike against dating. Until Kaia.Thank you, Bethany.
When I’d casually told Kaia we were dating, I was so anxious. I hadn’t gone in totally blind; I’d known she had feelings for me, as I did for her, but just having some fun together and actually dating were very different.
