Her Journey Begins (22 page)

  
“
Don
’
t you like milk?
”
Chris furrows her brow and shakes her head.
“
How about chocolate milk?
”

Chris grins.
“
Okay that will work. Hey did you pick up any towels at my mom
’
s?
”

  
“
Yeah, she gave me two towels and a washcloth too. And I remembered to get some soap from the store.
”

  
“
So that means
we
get to take a shower? I think I am going to like sharing an apartment with you.
”



   Waking up early Chris can feel Brandon
’
s warm skin next to hers. Lying on her side with her back against him and his arm draped across her, she doesn
’
t want to move, but she has got to go to the bathroom. As she goes to get up he tightens his hold on her.
“
Where are you going?
”

  
“
It
’
s time for us to get up and I have to go to the bathroom.
”

  
“
If I let you get up to go to the bathroom, will you come back to bed with me?
”

Rolling over to face him, Chris gives him a quick kiss.
“
Nope
”

  
“
Then I
’
m not letting you get up.
”

Chris laughs and struggles against him,
“
You are going to make me pee my pants.
”

Brandon grins.
“
You don
’
t have any pants on.
”

Chris can feel him getting hard and she reaches down grasping him,
“
We have got to get up and get ready for school.
“
This
”
she squeezes him,
“
Has to wait until tonight.
”

  
“
We could just stay home in bed today.
”

  
“
No. We have to clean out our lockers today and turn in all of our books. Tomorrow we can stay in bed longer.
”
Chris whispers sweetly as she strokes him.

Brandon reaches down and squeezes her hand tighter around him and groans,
“
Ugh, you are such a tease. How about
”
he pleads with her,
“
just a quickie?
”
 

Chris lets go of him.
“
Nope
”
And jumps out of bed before he can stop her.

Brandon rolls over on his back.
“
Ugh
”
Laughing Chris goes into the bathroom.



   Sitting in their American Government class as the teacher is taking roll, Brandon tugs on Chris
’
hair and whispers.
“
You know what? I forgot to tell you,
“
Good morning Beautiful
.
”

Chris turns around in her seat and smiles at him,
“
I guess that
’
s what happens when you get married. All the romance is gone.
”



  Chris is running the brush through her hair as she comes out of the bathroom. Brandon walks over and puts his arms around her.

  
“
You look nice.
”

  
“
Thank you. I think
…
Are you sure I shouldn
’
t wear my dress?
”

  
“
Chris they are going to be wearing regular clothes, nobody will be dressed up.
”

  
“
Brandon
…
Do we really have to go?
”

Brandon can hear Chris
’
stomach rumbling.
“
If we don
’
t go, what are we going to do about your noisy stomach? Hmm?
”

  
“
We can go eat at my mom
’
s. She won
’
t mind.
”

Putting his forehead against hers,
“
You are going to like them.
”
Chris starts to interrupt him and he stops her.
“
And they are going to like you. Now quit worrying. Are you ready to go?
”
Chris doesn
’
t answer him.
“
I
’
ll tell you what, we
’
ll eat, come home, go to bed early and you can take up squeezing right where you left off this morning.
”

Chris smiles.
“
I
’
ll tell you what, we can stay home and I
’
ll start squeezing now.
”



   Brent opens the door and does the guy handshake thing with Brandon.
“
Come on in.
”

They follow Brent into the living room and everyone there shouts out.
“
Surprise!
”

Confused Chris walks over to Barb,
“
Mom what are you doing here? What
’
s going on?
”

Barb hugs her and nods towards Brent
’
s mom.
“
We got together to give you a wedding reception.
”

Chris cocks her head to one side and gives Brent
’
s mom a quizzical look.

Brent walks over,
“
Chris this is my mom, Mary and my dad, Peter. Mom, Dad, this is Chris, Brandon
’
s new bride.
”

Mary hugs Chris and gives Brandon a kiss on the cheek.
“
Come on let
’
s all sit down.
”

   Sitting down in the living room, Chris thinks she
’
s going to cry. On one table she sees a cake with a bride and groom on top and on another table there are stacks of gifts. Brandon and her take turns ripping off the brightly colored paper. Getting down to the last present Chris sees it
’
s a big one. Poking Brandon with her elbow Chris whispers,
“
You get to open this one.
”

Chris can see the excitement in Brandon
’
s eyes as he unwraps the box.
“
It
’
s a TV! We got a TV.
”

Chris grins at him before giving him a mock pout,
“
Gee and here I was hoping it was going to be a can opener because we didn
’
t get one of those.
”

Brad pulls a hand crank can opener out of his pocket.
“
I knew I forgot something.
”

Brad reaches over to hand it to Chris and she shakes her head, smiling,
“
Give it to him, he gets to open all the cans. Did you remember to get him an apron too?
”

Brad grins and pulls out a small wrapped package.
“
I picked it out and wrapped it myself.
”

Brandon grins at Brad.
“
Now you are going to have to teach me how to cook.
”

  
“
First lesson is next Saturday and don
’
t forget to bring your apron.
”



   Lying in bed later that night Chris trails her fingers across Brandon
’
s chest.
“
Brandon?
”

  
“
Hmm
…”

  
“
Why would Brent
’
s family do that for us?
”

  
“
I don
’
t think they did.
”

  
“
Well it wasn
’
t my mom and dad. They couldn
’
t afford all the stuff we got.
”

  
“
I think it was my dad.
”

  
“
Your dad, why would your dad
…
?
”

  
“
Chris, when I went to pick up my stuff, my mom wasn
’
t there, my dad was. Maybe it
’
s guilt on his part, I don
’
t know, but he tried to give me money and I wouldn
’
t take it. So I
’
m guessing he went and seen Mary, gave her some money, and told her to get whatever she thought we might need. Now, don
’
t you owe me some squeezing?
”



   Chris picks up Brandon
’
s t-shirt. Burying her face in it she takes a deep breath. He had put it on after his shower last night and then tossed it on the floor before jumping into bed with her. Chris gets excited just thinking about how passionate Brandon was. Kissing and touching her, actually making her sigh and gasp with the pleasure he was giving her. Chris thinks back to the last couple of months they
‘
ve been married.
Life has been good, but what with her working 4 days a week and Brandon five plus Brandon going to school 4 nights a week, it
’
s taken a toll on their lovemaking. Now that the fall semester has started Chris has been swapping every other week her Thursday shift for the Friday one. That way she can be at home one night every other week with Brandon. The bad part is, on Fridays she has to work until midnight.  She can
’
t wait until tomorrow, because she
’
ll be off and Brandon has no classes until Monday.
Chris smiles to herself.
Maybe they can spend the weekend in bed.
Chris stuffs Brandon
’
s shirt in her drawer,
takes her shower, and gets dressed before he gets home to take her to work.



  Pulling up in front of the store, Chris is fidgeting. Brandon reaches over and holds her hand.
“
What
’
s wrong?
”

Chris sighs.
“
I don
’
t know. I just don
’
t want to be here tonight for some reason.
”

  
“
Then don
’
t work tonight. Tell him you
’
re sick and let me take you back home before I go to school.
”

  
“
I can
’
t take off. I can
’
t leave the owner hanging like that. Besides, I
’
m not sick, I just
…
I don
’
t know. For some reason I feel jittery, antsy, nervous and sad. Must be my hormones acting up. Give me a kiss so you can get to class.
”

  
“
Chris, are you sure you don
’
t want me to take you back home?
”

  
“
I
’
m sure. I
’
ll be okay. Now are you going to give me a kiss or not?
”

Brandon smiles as he puts his fingers under her chin and kisses her lips. Gentle at first then with more passion.
“
I
’
ll be back to help you close and then we can go home and
…”

Chris smiles at him,
“
I
’
d like that. Now go and drive careful.
”

Walking up to the entrance Chris looks back at him and even though Brandon smiles at her, she can
’
t seem to shake this uneasy feeling she has.