out the first time was my hang-ups about men leaving me, I wanted to do it right this time around.
So here we were, dangerously in love, dancing to my best friend’s hit song. I blew her a kiss and she gave me a wink, then dashed across the stage to work the crowd.
“You need more champagne!” Kara thrust a flute in front of my face.
“And you need more beer!” With the other hand, she gave Cameron a beer.
We took our beverages. I sipped and continued to dance on Cam.
“Time for the garter toss!” Kara yelled and pumped her now-empty fist in the air. She grabbed my hand and hustled me to the middle of the floor, while Nikki made the announcement. The singer cued the band, and a bass guitar blasted across the speakers.
Nikki pointed at me. “Look at her.” Nikki sang to me and shimmied across the stage to “She’s a Bad Mama Jama.”
My husband strutted across the floor, lifted my dress, and then slid his hands up my thigh.
“Keep it PG, Cameron!”
Kara
I gave the TSA agent my passport.
“Where are you off to?” the old lady with snow white hair asked, her tone affable.
“Italy.” I smiled.
“Oh, that’s nice! For vacation?”
“Work orientation.” I gave her a bright smile. “I’ll be there for a few months. I’m an ambassador for a vineyard.” I smiled again, happy with myself. Normally, I would’ve given one-worded responses to a virtual stranger, but counseling had done me some good. That and finally passing the Court of Masters Sommeliers.
“That sounds like fun. My husband and I are going to Italy next year to celebrate forty years together.” Her hands shook as she stamped the booklet. “Have fun.”
“Thank you.”
I trudged through the rest of the line. Thirty minutes later, I was ready to board. I glanced at my watch, hopeful my companion wouldn’t be late.
“Hey, beautiful.”
I dropped my carry-on bag and turned at his voice. I threw myself into his arms.
Darren’s company had given him the green light to work remotely for a month. It wouldn’t be the entire time I would be staying, but I appreciated that his job gave him the option.
Darren lifted me from the ground, spun me around, and then kissed me. I giggled happily in his arms. If someone would’ve told me a year ago that we would be stronger than ever, I would’ve laughed then cried at the cruel joke. The entire time Darren and I had been estranged, I was so focused on us recalibrating, getting back to how we used to be. Thank God it wasn’t how we used to be. We were broken, otherwise we wouldn’t have had our issues.
Now we were stronger, something new. We had plans to continue our counseling sessions with Dr. Caine via Skype while I was abroad.
Darren had drastically changed for the better. But I won’t lie, sometimes I had nightmares of our tumultuous year before, and fear would creep into my thoughts of him going back to that dark place. He seemed to know every time my thoughts drifted to black. Instead of comforting me with words, he’d gather me in his arms and hold me until the shivering stopped. Our counselor encouraged to me to live in the present. Fear was based on things that occurred in the past, but if I lived in the now, where every day was new, I could achieve happiness. Happiness is a choice. Most days the choice was easy, but sometimes it was hard. Darren squeezed my waist, a worried look on his face.
“I’m good, baby. I’m glad you’re here.”
He lowered me to the ground and kissed me senseless. The boarding call cut our kiss short.
“Time to get on the plane.”
“Ready?” He smiled down at me and then grabbed my carry-on.
“Yes!” We walked down the corridor to the business class section, settled into our seats, and Darren asked for wine. Staring into each other’s eyes, we clicked our glasses together.
Nikki
“Why do I need to learn math? I’m just gonna play music anyway.” Bria furiously erased an equation that, according to her tutor, was wrong.
My baby hated math, which drove James, the numbers-loving accountant, crazy. He was holding out hope that JJ would take up the helm, but JJ seemed to concentrate more on banging drums with Davey than counting numbers.
“Sorry, Bria-bree, but rules are rules. You want to travel the world with Mama, you’ve got to keep up your studies.”
“No fair. Daddy doesn’t have to study.”
“Daddy’s been in school longer than most since he received