The Game Changer The Final Score - By L.M. Trio Page 0,68
direction of JJ’s room.
“She’s great. She’s different, ya know?”
“I see that.”
“Not in a bad way. She scares me a little now.” I laugh as David looks at me inquisitively. “She’s more independent… strong. I mean, she loves me more than ever, I know that, but she doesn’t need me in the way she did before.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, for both of you. You both matured. Maybe the time apart made your relationship stronger,” he says, placing the stack of plates on the table.
“I know. I know. It’s not a bad thing at all, it’s just different. I think it was a good thing that I got sent to Arizona right away. There was only one thing for us to do… and that was talk. It forced us to talk about everything and really come to terms with it. You’re right. It made our relationship stronger. ” I spread the plates around the table then grab some napkins and forks out of the drawer.
JJ walks into the room, interrupting our conversation. “What are you two talking about?” she asks cheerily.
“You,” I answer.
“Don’t be talking about me behind my back. I don’t need the two of you analyzing me,” She jokes. We laugh, she knows us well.
David opens a bottle of wine and we toast to being home. We sit around the table and catch up with each other. JJ has a couple of tough weeks of class, preparing for finals once we get back. I’m on break, and don’t have to be back until spring training. Deanna’s moving to Florida over the break, Mikey is typical Mikey, enjoying his time off and partying with his new celebrity girlfriend.
“That’s cool. Is he bringing her to dinner on Thursday?” David asks, caught up in the fact that he’s actually dating someone famous.
“No. I asked him last week, he said he isn’t bringing her. Besides, De would have a fit,” JJ says.
“Why, what would that matter?” I ask, wondering why she would care.
“Actually, I was planning on inviting Mya to eat with us, but believe it or not, she is eating with Dan’s family. They live outside of Miami and they invited her to eat with them. She’ll be meeting them for the first time.” She ignores my question.
“Uh. What color is her hair this week?” David asks while I laugh.
“Actually, she’s toned down her look lately. You’d hardly recognize her these days,” she says, laughing and I nod in agreement.
We head across the street to see my mom and dad for a little while after we finish eating and catching up with David. They’re equally surprised to see us and my mom’s eyes fill with tears as soon as she sees us together.
“All of my kids will be together for Thanksgiving,” she says joyfully as she hugs us. “You’ve made me a very happy mom.”
We only talk a few minutes because we’re anxious to head back to JJ’s house so that she can spend time with David. She missed being home and knows her dad is happy to finally have her there. There will be plenty of time for us to catch up with everyone over the next few days.
We rejoin David in the living room, laughing, watching re-runs of King of Queens on cable. Before the eleven o’clock news begins, JJ leaves David and me alone while she showers before bed.
I fidget uneasily on the sofa. I was hoping to catch him alone without having to worry about JJ interrupting. I want to talk with him about something important. It’s something I’ve thought about every second since the night I returned from Arizona to find JJ waiting for me. It’s a feeling I never want to be without, knowing she’ll always be waiting for me.
“David, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” I say nervously.
“What’s up?”
“You know what she means to me.” I pause. “I don’t want to wait. I’m planning on asking her to marry me on Thanksgiving. I’m hoping you’ll say it’s okay.” My voice cracks.
“Luke, you know how I feel about you, but you just got back together. Why rush? Give yourself some time to get to know each other again.”
“David, I know her better than myself. I’m not rushin’ anything. I’ve always loved her. This was always our plan. It would have happened a lot sooner if—”
“I knew what you were planning. You didn’t have me fooled, even though the two of you always thought you did.” He gives me a sarcastic look.