Continuing with our dreams.
Axel has been hinting at marriage, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. Yes, I know it will happen and I know it will happen with him, but we have only been back together a little over a month. Hell, he has only been back in my life for a few months. I feel like we need time. Time for what, I’m not sure, but when the time is right, we will know.
He isn’t happy about that. I can tell he wants to have me married and pregnant as soon as possible. His argument? We aren’t getting any younger and we both know it will happen, so why wait?
It is the only thing between us that doesn’t feel settled.
It is Saturday morning and Christmas is just two weeks away. With my move to Axel’s, I have missed my daily dose of Dee. I miss my best friend. I know she is way beyond happy for us and has been busy herself, but it is still an adjustment, going from being dependent on her for my only happiness to seeing her every few days.
We have plans to spend the day shopping, visiting Sway, and having dinner with the gang at Heavy’s. Axel has some business he needs to take care of in the office and will be gone most of the day anyway. This is the perfect day to spend with Dee.
I have just finished getting dressed when I hear the doorbell echo though the house. I finish zipping my favorite brown leather boots up over my skinny jeans, and with one last check in the mirror, I run through the hall, down the stairs, and to the foyer.
Throwing open the door with a large smile, I have just enough time to brace myself before Dee is throwing herself in my arms.
“Girlfriend, I have missed you!” she sings in my ear.
“You just saw me the other day, stupid.” I laugh and pull away, straightening my cream blouse back into place before looking up into her twinkling brown eyes.
My friend is happy as always, but now that I am happy, it is almost like she will burst at any second. Her happiness has hit nuclear levels.
“You’re glowing, Dee. I swear to God, one of these days all that joy you keep inside you is going to come pouring out. Like some deranged leprechaun.”
She laughs before following me through the foyer, and around the hallway, and into the kitchen.
“Let me grab my purse and we can get going. What time are our appointments with Sway?” I ask while searching through all the junk on the counter for my phone. I know I threw it down here last night when Axel and I had got home from dinner. He practically attacked me when we walked in the door.
“Noon. He said we needed to, and I quote, ‘get our fine little skinny white asses over there with a quickness so Sway can get all the good gossip about our new man candy.’ Her impersonation of Sway is disturbing.
“Okay, okay. Well, Ax is going to be in the office all day. He got a call from Mad early this morning and took off quick. Did Beck say anything about it?” I look over at her face, losing its smile slightly before quickly hiding the slip. “What was that, Dee? Are you and Beck having issues?” She has been ‘dating’ Beck for a few months now. From what I can tell, that just meant they were having regular sex because they never went out alone.
“Ahhh . . .” She looks down at her phone, trying to avoid my questioning eyes. “We decided to cool it for a while.”
“Okay,” I respond. I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about it, and knowing Dee, if she doesn’t want to talk about something, she won’t. “Are you okay with that?”
“Sure I am.” Her face takes on a fake smile. “It was my idea, okay? He wanted more and I am not ready for that. It’s fine, really. You ready?”
Okay. Guess that means the topic is closed.
We climb into Dee’s Lexus before heading out to do some much needed Christmas shopping.
I somehow manage to cool her shopping high down today and it is an almost pleasant experience. I pick up some clothes for Axel and a kickass black leather jacket that I decide he has to have, plus a few sexy pieces from Victoria’s Secret for myself. I run into the local jeweler and pick up the piece I had commissioned out for his Christmas present.
I can’t wait to give it to him. I had the jeweler custom make a dog tag necklace for him. I used the tiny diamond from my old promise ring he had gave me the day he left for boot camp and engraved a message for him underneath it. You could hardly see the tiny diamond until the engraver placed some marks around the spot, highlighting it perfectly. It was hard for me to part with that ring. It held so many memories and promises. Knowing that Axel would open his gift and know what that diamond meant is the only reason I was able to do it. I spent hours searching for the right words to engrave on his dog tag. It finally hit me one day and the words just popped into my head.
When you are with me, I am free.
My strength. My heart. My everything.
Our love now continues forever.
Amor Vincit Omnia