Exposed (Free Falling) (42 page)

“Thank you so much for everything,” I said as we embraced.  “I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

She patted my back.  “Sweetheart, I hear you, but I don’t think I’m the one who you should be thanking.  I mean, you did
most
of the work to get well all on your own, but…you and this AJ I keep hearing so much about – you two
really
have something special.  I hope you hold onto it,” she urged, reminding me of a time not too long ago when I’d considered giving up.  When we separated, I looked her in her eye and assured her that I was going to take her advice. 

At the end of my
half-hour session, Dr. Gill followed me out to the lobby of her office, and embraced me once again.  I took a deep, cleansing breath as I rode the elevator down to the first floor and exited the building for the last time as her patient.  The cool breeze hit my face and I felt freer than I ever had in my life.  The only thing that pulled me away from the moment was the familiarly comforting voice that called out from up ahead.

“How’d it go?
” AJ asked, unhinging his hands from his pockets as he pushed off from the side of his car where he’d been waiting.  When he opened the passenger-side door, my grin widened and I climbed in.

“Good,” was the short version of a lengthier response that I saved for when he was sitting beside me with the engine
running.  “Bittersweet may be a more accurate description,” I clarified.  “I mean…it’s nice not to need to come here anymore, but I’ll miss Dr. Gill.”

AJ leaned over to kiss me after pulling out into traffic, entangling his fingers with mine while I reflected on how far I’d come. 
As a true testament of where that journey had taken me, we were now headed to our hometown of Fairfax for the holiday – a place I hadn’t had the nerve to visit in years.

“
Need anything before we get on the freeway?” he asked.

Squeezing his
hand tighter in mine, I smiled up at him.  “Nope…I’ve already got everything I could ever ask for.”

*****

Despite the fact that I’d slept most of the way, I managed to wake up as soon as we crossed the border into Virginia as if I could sense how close we were.  Once back within the Fairfax city limits, I started to get excited about seeing my parents soon, not nervous about being back in town like I’d anticipated.  Aunt Lisa and Uncle Todd were coming in sometime that night, too, with Angel and Lamar.  They’d all be staying in a hotel this time, so AJ and I were my parents’ only houseguests.  Surprisingly, even with Lamar being Jason’s brother, he and AJ had somehow managed to get along.  They weren’t friends by any stretch of the word, but they got along well enough to keep Angel and me from feeling awkward about it.

AJ was ending a conference call with work when we pulled into my parents’ driveway.  When he was finished, he grabbed our bags from the trunk and followed me to the door.  As expected, my mother totally overdid it with her greeting.

“My babyyy!!” 

I laughed and let her make a fuss over me
like she always does.  As soon as she let me go, AJ was her next victim.

“My
other
babyyyy,” she crooned, kissing him on the cheek.

I stepped out of my boots and looked around
while the two of them chatted about our drive down from New York.  A new chandelier, new carpet going up the steps, and my father had stripped the wallpaper from the foyer and replaced it with a coat of cocoa-brown paint.  Things were quite a bit different than the last time I came home, but still, there was a sense of comfort being within these four walls.  I hadn’t yet finished studying all the changes when I slipped my scarf from around my neck and heard my father’s voice.

“Baby Girl,” he
said with a warm smile as I finished hanging my coat on the rack beside the door.

“Hey, Daddy,” I said back.  He pulled me into a warm hug and I closed my eyes.  It really did feel good to be back. 

“How’s it going, Son,” Daddy said, greeting AJ next.

AJ smiled politely and gave my father a firm handshake. 
“Pretty good, Sir.  I can’t complain.”

My father nodded in AJ’s direction and it never got old seeing the look of genuine affection in his eyes.
 

I thought back to the conversation I had with my parents, explaining to them how AJ and I had come full-circle and somehow found one another again.  My mother was perhaps the most shocked, wondering how and when Jason and I had broken up without her knowing it.  My father, who never really cared for Jason in the
first
place, surprised me with how open he was to AJ and I being together again.  I mean, before I ended things between us in college, my father had grown to accept that AJ was who I loved.  He
liked
him well enough, and even respected him, but I never imagined that they’d be as close as they were this time around.

Every Sunday evening, like clockwork, either Daddy would call AJ or AJ would call Daddy, and they’d talk sports, business, and whatever else guys talk about
for no less than twenty minutes.  This was all without me and my mother’s interference.  My eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them, and I couldn’t hide the smile on my face.

“Well, come on and bring your bags upstairs,” my mother instructed, taking the lead as we climbed the steps. 
We came to my old bedroom first and she flipped the light on.  My once pink walls were now a pale shade of yellow that complimented the white, linen valance over the windows.  My bed was still in its usual place, but the comforter on it was new. 

“You like it?” my mother asked.  “Daddy and I made a few changes, but we tried to make it something you could live with when you came home to visit,” she said, sounding as if she knew that
one
day, I’d be strong enough to make it back here.

I nodded reassuringly.  “I do, Mom.  It’s perfect.”

Next her eyes shifted to AJ.  “And as for you,” she said with a smile.  “The guestroom’s all made up.  I even put an extra blanket at the foot of the bed for you because that room gets a little drafty.  Sorry about that, but we’re not replacing the windows on the second floor until the weather breaks again.”

I shook my head and looked away, embarrassed that my mother was treating us like kids. 

AJ, on the other hand, chuckled openly and nodded at my mother
, replying with a very polite, “Thank you.  I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

When Mom
left us to head downstairs with my father, AJ and I unpacked our belongings…in our
separate
bedrooms.  He came back just as I was tossing my empty suitcase into the back of the closet.  I plopped down on the edge of the bed and sighed.  The smile on his face let me know that he already knew what I was about to say.

“Sorry about –“

“It’s fine, Sam.  I don’t mind the sleeping arrangements.  Seriously.”  He kissed my nose and then my forehead, causing me to crack a smile as I wedged myself beneath his arm.

“Are you happy you came?” he asked.

I looked around at my room, remembering how it used to look, taking in the familiar smells, and nodded.  “I am.  Feels nice to be here with my parents, and to have you here, too.”

I kissed his lips once, which turned into twice, but he stopped me when I came in for a third.  “Slow down…separate beds, remember?  We have three whole da
ys to survive,” AJ promptly reminded me.  Instantly, I put a few inches of distance between us and let out a frustrated sigh.

“
Happy birthday to me,” I sighed.

Laughing as he stood from my bed, I watched as AJ pushed the sleeves of his white, thermal shirt up to his elbows.  “Well, while you sit here and pout, I’m
gonna go talk to your dad for a while.”  I continued to frown when he leaned in and touched his lips to the top of my hair and then disappeared down the stairs.

I fell back on my bed and pushed the last of my unladylike thoughts aside and became nostalgic.  It was in this very spot after homecoming that AJ and I first acknowledged the chemistry between us.  Being honest with myself, it was th
at night that I fell for him.  After I snuck him over to my house that next day, it was a done deal.  He had me hook, line, and sinker, even if I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself.  And now, here we were, six years later, still in love.
More
in love.

“What’s got you over there looking like you’ve got a winning ticket in your pocket?” my mother asked from her post in my doorway. 

I sat up and laughed.  “Just thinking,” I replied.  “Life’s funny, isn’t it?”

While pondering her answer, she walked over to my bed before sitting beside me. 
“At times.  Yes, I suppose it is.”

I leaned on her shoulder and grinned when her cheek rested on top of my head.

“It’s so good to have you home,” she said softly, touching her hand to my cheek for a second.

I nodded.  “It’s good to
be
home.  I won’t stay away that long again.”

“Promise?”

I smiled again.  “Yes, Ma.  I promise.”

She patted my thigh and nudged me a little.  “Good.  Now come downstairs and help me get dinner together.”

Laughing a bit, I did as I was told and followed her down to the kitchen.  Everything was mostly done, she just needed me to test the iced tea to make sure it was sweet enough and I buttered the tops of the rolls. 

“Go
get AJ and that father of yours,” she said, setting glasses out on the dining room table.

I returned
the butter to the fridge first and then traipsed across the foyer and through the living room to get to my father’s den.  The door was open and I could hear him and AJ talking quietly until they heard me approach.  All conversation ceased which made me suspicious.  I raised a curious eyebrow at their behavior.

“Time to eat,” I finally announced.

My father smiled at me and AJ just kind of smirked.  These two were definitely up to something.

“Okay.  Be right out,” Daddy replied.

They continued to sit there, unmoving, so I shot them another weird look and retreated.

“Your husband’s being strange again,” I said to my mother when I joined her in the dining room.

She smiled.  “And yet…I’ve never loved him more.”

I laughed and shook my head as I sat down beside her.  It wasn’t until maybe two minutes later that the men finally decided to grace us with their presence, still sporting those questionable looks on their faces – like they were fighting back a smile because letting it out would get them caught.  My mother wasn’t paying much attention, but
I was all over it.

We finished our
meal and AJ volunteered us both for dish duty.  My mother happily accepted his offer so we were posted at the sink for a half hour before I finally dried the last pan.

“What do you say we go for a drive,” AJ suggested as I was folding the towel to set it on the rack.

I frowned.  “But it’s cold outside.”

Rolling his eyes, he
smiled and took both my hands in his.  “What if I promised to keep you warm?  Would you come with me then?”

Well…when you put it like that.

“Where’re we going?” I asked.

He pulled my arms around his waist and
then hugged me.  “Just for a drive,” he repeated.

I rested against his chest, list
ening to the rhythm of his heart, and agreed.  “Fine, but I’m holding you to your promise.”

He chuckled.  “I fully expected you to.  Get your stuff on so we can go,” he added.

One more kiss just for good measure and then I hurried upstairs to throw on a sweater over my shirt because I was sure that the temperature had dropped quite a bit since we arrived.  I met AJ in the foyer where he helped me into my coat and we were on our way.

We hung a right at the corner, and despite the fact that I knew he wouldn’t answer, I asked, “Where’re we going?”

A faint smile turned up one corner of his mouth and I sighed. 

“Fine…don’t tell me,” I pouted playfully.

AJ gripped my hand in his and forced me to ride in silence all the way to the edge of town.  When we pulled up to our spot in the clearing, I was grinning from ear to ear.  This spot held so many memories for us.  We’d snuck out of the house on many occasions to come here as kids.  In fact, this was the exact spot where I’d lost my virginity to him.  When I laughed, AJ’s eyes were on me.

“What’s funny?”

“Just thinking about how reckless we used to be.”

“Used to be?” he shot back, prompting me to smack his arm lightly.

“Watch it.”

With the car in park, he leaned across and forced me to hug him when I pretended to be offended.  I knew he was right
, though.  We’d
always
been reckless when it came to our love for one another, but clearly it was all for a reason.

Turning my lips to catch his, I welcomed the warmth of his mouth as it contrasted the cold outside.  “I love you,” he said in between kisses.