That made her laugh again, though she didn’t feel the need to elaborate on it before she simply grabbed my arm and pulled me to the clerk, who was all too happy to take even more of my money. I’d like to claim that my bum leg made it harder for me to aim steadily, but the simple truth was that Mia handled those axes with much higher precision than I did. Another thing I should look out for if I ever got into a fight with that girl.
After she had thoroughly outthrown me, she turned to wrap her arms around mine.
“Well, this was certainly the most entertaining date I ever had!” she giggled. “But I have to wonder, how is this any more appropriate for Valentine’s than volunteering?”
“Oh, the Valentine’s-part is still coming! Until now I just wanted us to have some fun to start out with.” I assured her. “Once we’re done here, I’ll take you home so you can freshen up. Then, a trip to the movies, and then you get to choose. Either we go out to eat in a fancy restaurant, or I’ll use the time while you freshen up and cook something for us.”
“Cooking it is!” she shouted without hesitation before pulling me to the door. Apparently we were done with the axes.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. It made me happy to feel appreciated.
I dropped her off at her place, then drove home for a shower myself before picking her up again. She had turned into a sight to behold! Her long dark hair was waving freely across her back as she moved, and, despite the lower February temperature, she had chosen a low-cut sundress that showed off the pendant I had gifted her for Christmas. Seeing my reaction to her appearance, a satisfied smile spread across her face.
I didn’t have to suffer through the nauseatingly clichéd romance movie, because, as it turned out, neither of us was giving it much attention. We spent the entire 90 minutes making out in the dark instead. I was secretly very glad with how this whole thing had turned out so far when we arrived in my apartment for the meal.
I had planned to go all out for this, and had Mom help me the evening before to prepare a few things, so the evening wouldn’t be interrupted for too long while I cooked.
“This smells good!” she said roughly ten minutes after I had seated her at my small dinner table. “What is it?”
“Chili Crisp and honey-roasted chicken breasts with thinly sliced rosemary garlic hasselback potatoes.” I informed her. Then I pointed at the couch table. “And for dessert, I bought a chocolate fondue set that I thought we could try out. I got bananas, grapes, and strawberries.”
“Someone’s eager to get laid.” she dryly commented, causing me to laugh.
The dinner went just like I had hoped. After that, we moved over to the couch to watch another movie while enjoying dessert, and the chocolate fondue held a surprising benefit. I presented us with plenty of opportunities to ... clean up ... all the droplets of chocolate that fell on our fingers, lips, and chins before the covered fruits vanished in our mouths. At some point, though, Mia’s gaze fell onto the wall above my couch.
“You took down some of the photos.” she said it like she simply made an observation, but I could still hear the hidden question behind her words.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I thought ... I could hang some photos of us. Together, you know?” I shrugged my shoulders, not entirely sure how she would react.
I wasn’t sure how she would react, because I didn’t know how much Tess’ photos on my wall bothered her in the first place. But her reaction still surprised me, as she simply got up from her seat to plop down onto my lap instead.
“I love you.” she simply stated before giving me a loving, soft, and lingering kiss.
“I love you too.” I smiled.
“In that case, I think I have an idea on how we should move on to the next part of our Valentine’s date.” she grinned.
She got off my lap, grabbed my hand to make me stand up as well, and then moved towards my bedroom.
“Oh!” She added. “Before I forget. Bring that chocolate fountain!”
Who was I to refuse the lady?
Obviously she stayed the night, and also didn’t make any attempt to leave when Mom and Ava returned the next morning from their stay at John’s. Though, she did vanish into my bedroom with Ava, which confused me a great deal until Mom informed me that it was probably time for the obligatory girl’s talk, and giggled after hearing me groaning about it.
About an hour later, when they emerged from my bedroom, my fear was confirmed. Ava knew absolutely everything that had happened the day before, which included absolutely every detail about what happened with the chocolate fountain in my bedroom. She nonchalantly commended me for taking Mia on such a creative date. It seemed like Mia didn’t exaggerate when she claimed this to be the most entertaining date she ever had, since the other boys she dated before all thought she just had to be taken somewhere pricy, and then they’d be en route to her bedroom ... or their cars’ back seats.
I wasn’t particularly surprised about this. At one of our earliest encounters, I straight up told her that the guys she usually went for were exactly the type that doesn’t care about her fun. That was made even more apparent when we got back to school the next day, and she used our lunch break to be even more affectionate in public than before. She took great pleasure in telling the other girls about where I took her, how the meal I personally prepared for us tasted, and I could see almost all of them throw some disappointed glances at their own boyfriends. That part I enjoyed a lot!
From that day on, Ava and Mia spent even more time together, especially since I was now back to staying in the office until Seven or Eight in the evenings. On the two days a week that I still had to attend my PT, I came home at an even later hour and was utterly useless for any kind of activity that didn’t involve actual sleep. Now that my arm was out of the sling, I had to train that as well to regain all of my strength. I was shocked how much I had lost after it was immobilized for almost two months. True to her word, Mia never complained about my long working hours, but rather ensured me that she admired me for taking care of my sister and mother.
Mom was a godsend throughout that time. Mondays through Fridays, when I was staying late in the office, she would take care of the household and cooking. There wasn’t a single day when I came home and she hadn’t prepared something for us. On the weekends, we would cook together as a family. Somehow, I enjoyed that even more than coming home to a readily waiting meal. She always made it a point that none of us ate alone, and insisted on talking about our days.
I also noted that it seemed to be important for her to update me regularly on her job hunt, even though the continuous rejections of her applications became noticeably frustrating for her. She had worked as a paralegal in a law office before, and there simply didn’t seem to be many job offerings at that time. I decided to not put any more pressure on her, since she had enough on her plate with the divorce.
During the following weeks leading up to spring break, that idyll got shaken up.
Mom and Aaron had finally accepted that they would never reach an understanding regarding their divorce, so it was taken to court despite their initial reluctance to do so. Of course, Aaron still fought her on everything and got the judge to order a whopping twelve weeks of counseling. Mom was less than happy about being forced into this, and unburdened herself during dinner after the second session. Simply put, Aaron still refused to acknowledge the part he played in breaking our home.
Ava was the other problem. As it turned out, my sister was a manipulator extraordinaire!
It started out harmless enough, with our now regular evenings cuddled up with Mia on my bed. With me being healed up so much that neither of them had to worry about hurting me, Ava had started snuggling up into me just as much as Mia was. I don’t know if the two of them had planned it together, but looking back, I doubt it.