The First I Do

by Sarah N. Ham

  I chuckled and kissed her lips before lifting her up in my arms to her surprise. I felt her legs wrap around my waist, and I muttered, “Your folks are celebrating over your newfound sense of educational purpose.”

  “Oh, gosh, you should have seen them when I said that I was going to try for Vanderbilt. Mom literally dropped her bowl of popcorn all over the couch, and Dad’s jaw dropped.”

  I smirked and said, “They’re just excited, and I’m happy, too, even if I have slight ulterior motives.”

  She giggled as I set her down and kissed me before shoving me towards the door, saying, “Come on, the folks can’t see how lovey-dovey we’re being. Get out before Dad or Mom walks in on us.”

  “Aw, just one more.” I pouted.

  She rolled her eyes but delivered on my request before shoving me out the door. I shook my head, chuckling as I head next door to my room. I started working on some homework when I got an IM from my next-door neighbor on my tablet.

  MAYBE_ITS_MAYBELLENE: Does this mean I’ll have to change my last name to “Hawkins”?

  MICHAEL_THE_MUSICIAN_MANIAC: Well, you don’t have to, but I’d hope that you would want to.

  MAYBE_ITS_MAYBELLENE: Fine, but only because “Maybelle Hawkins” has a nice ring to it ;)

  I chuckled and sent her a kiss emoji and the message:

  MICHAEL_THE_MUSICIAN_MANIAC: Focus on your newfound goal! I got homework to do, Miss Distraction…

  MAYBE_ITS_MAYBELLENE: That’s Mrs. Distraction, thank you very much!

  I literally laughed aloud at her witty comeback.

  MICHAEL_THE_MUSICIAN_MANIAC: Touché… XD

  ***

  That night as I slept, I felt warmth around my side. I woke up and saw it was Maybelle.

  “Belle?” I muttered, half-asleep.

  “Sorry, the thunder scared me!” She whispered.

  I smirked and kissed her forehead as I whispered, “If you keep this up, our folks are bound to find out.”

  “I’ll wake up early and move.”

  “Don’t be silly. You can never wake up early on a Saturday.” I teased.

  She pouted but curled up against me and soon, was asleep. I stroked her hair as she slept and smiled as I imagined doing this for the rest of our lives.

  “I love you, Belle…” I whispered, kissing her forehead.

  ***

  The next morning, I woke up and felt the familiar warmth of Maybelle’s form against mine. She was so beautiful, even with the crazy mane of cherry red hair and her mouth hanging open slightly. I looked at the clock and saw it was six, so I carefully got up and headed down the hall to the kitchen. I made some scrambled eggs and home-style potatoes with toast and coffee. I placed it all on a tray and took it back to my room.

  By this time, it was closer to seven in the morning. Still, as I re-entered my room, I chuckled quietly at the fact that Maybelle had hardly moved since I’d left. I carefully coaxed her out of her sleep, and as she grumbled some alien-like speech that I assumed was her voicing her dissatisfaction at being woken up at this ungodly hour, I placed the bed tray of food in front of her. Her nose twitched at the smell of food, and her groans turned to a much more appreciative tone.

  I placed her “I’m not a morning person” hedgehog mug in her hand, and she took a drowsy sip. Like magic, her garbled speech formulated English as she mumbled, “What time is it?”

  “Seven… sorry to wake you up so early, but I’m figured if I was going to sneak you back to your room, it would be easier with the bribe of food.”

  She giggled and said, “I have taught you well, my young grasshopper.”

  I smirked and took a mug of coffee I’d made for myself before sipping on the bittersweet liquid.

  “You know there’s enough food here for two, as well as enough room in this bed.” Maybelle said with a shy smile.

  I blushed but nodded and sat down next to her. I snuggled up against her as she gave me bites of eggs and toast.

  “Were you feeling okay yesterday? You seemed like something was on your mind the whole time.”

  She looked uncomfortable about the question and said, “Look, um, a marriage counselor of sorts kinda heard about our story and has offered to assist in preparing us.”

  “‘Of sorts’? This isn’t Naomi, is it?” I asked, skeptical.

  “No, no! I haven’t even told Naomi.”

  “Oh, okay… well, can I meet this person?”

  She yelped, “No! I-I mean, not right now. They want to meet with me first and maybe later, switch to you or both of us.”

  I looked at her confused but shrugged, figuring what did I know about how marriage counseling worked?

  “Okay, I guess just keep me posted…”

  She nodded and kissed my lips to my delight.

  “Wait, is that why you suddenly were curious about kids yesterday?”

  “Maybe… He told me it would be a good idea to get the question out of the way before we start having sex.”

  The mental picture of that statement all but made me choke on my own spit. Sure, I knew when people are married they have sex. God gave them the blessing for a reason, but less than a week ago, I was more concerned about the likelihood that I’d have to give up my first love to an Alaskan transfer student, not that she’d ever actually have feelings for me. And then, to top it off, I was trying to get over my personal demons of fantasizing immoral thoughts about said first love. The next thing I knew, I was married to my first love, and she loved me back. So, to say that sex, kids, finances, houses, careers, etc. was not particularly on my mind would be the understatement of the century.

  “Sorry, I know the topic of sex makes you uncomfortable.” Maybelle mumbled.

  “No, no, it’s not that. It’s not a question that I want that with you; we’ve already established that fact. It’s just my mind hasn’t fully grasped the marriage life. You know I’ve never been involved with anyone romantically, so I hardly know how to act or what a good boyfriend, let alone husband, should be.”

  “Well, I think you’re off to a good start.” She said, taking a bite of her food and then, kissing my cheek.

  I chuckled but jumped at a knock on my door. Maybelle panicked and literally ran to hide in my closet. It was my father, so I could only manage a, “Hi, Dad, what’s up?”

  The look on his face made me freeze, thinking he surely knew, but then, his expression changed as he said, “I saw the dishes in the sink and realized you were up. I just wanted to say ‘bye’ since I’m leaving for Paris today.”

  “Oh, that’s right, and tomorrow her folks go to that conference in Sacramento, right?”

  “Yep, I’ll be gone for two weeks, and they’ll be back next Monday.”

  “Right…”

  “You’ll be okay being here alone, right?”

  “Y-yeah, I’m not a kid anymore, Dad…” I muttered.

  “I know… you’ll be 18 by the end of the year… Wow, Luchia would be so proud of the young man you have become, Son.”

  I was surprised by his words but whispered, “Thanks, Dad.”

  “That reminds me; I need to give you something. I’ll be right back.”

  He headed to his room and returned with an envelope.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s from your mother.” Dad said, handing it to me.

  I froze, surprised by this.

  “I’m not sure what the contents are, but your mother made me promise that when your 18th birthday was to come, I’d give this to you. I know it’s about half-a-year early, but I have a feeling with everything, school and life-wise, you’ll want it before then.”

  “Th-thanks, Dad.” I muttered, thumbing the gift from my deceased mother.

  “Bye, Son, and behave. No parties while we’re all gone.”

  “Haha, Dad, very funny. Bye.”

  With that, Dad picked up his bags and headed out the door. Once he was gone, Maybelle peeked out from her hiding spot.

  “You’re my wife now, so don’t
even think of coming out of the closet.” I teased, causing her to roll her eyes at me.

  “What do you think she gave you?” Maybelle muttered, pointing to the envelope.

  “I don’t know. If it’s in an envelope, I’d assume it’s a letter, but I can feel something wrapped in tissue or something inside.”

  “Are you going to open it?” She asked me.

  “No…”

  “Why not?”

  “She gave it to me for my 18th birthday. I’m not 18 yet. If I open it early, it’s like I’m defying her last wishes.” I muttered.

  Maybelle nodded in understanding, while I put the letter in a drawer. We quickly ate our breakfast and put it up so her folks wouldn’t suspect that she’d slept over in my room the previous night.

  ***

  As we sat on the couch watching videos online, Maybelle realized, “Oh, yeah, Valentine’s day is in two weeks.”

  “Oh, right, I saw that they’re doing a dance for it this year since it falls on Saturday.” I muttered. “M-maybe we can go together.”

  Maybelle blushed and said, “Sure, but we can’t tell the folks. Mine will take it the wrong way, especially Dad.”

  “Yeah, I agree. You should’ve seen the look on his face when I brought up the idea of us being roomies in college. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a person say ‘no’ quicker.”

  “Michael, you should know better than that.” She groaned.

  “What, I couldn’t help it. Besides, you’re my wife so of course, we’re going to get a place of some sort together.”

  She tensed up but nodded.

  “What did you think would happen? Am I being presumptuous?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “No, no, you’re right. It just surprised me. It makes this all feel that much more real.” She confessed.

  I felt glad to know that it wasn’t just me trying to grasp all this.

  “Maybe this dance will help make it feel more real.” I muttered.

  “Sure, Michael, I look forward to it. I had better buy my ticket, then.”

  “No, no, I’ll buy it!” I protested.

  “Why?”

  “If I’m asking you, I should pay. It’s the gentlemanly way of doing things.”

  “Well, if we’re married, wouldn’t that make it our money?” She teased.

  I thought about it for a second, causing her to stutter out, “I was only kidding.”

  “No, you’re absolutely right. We’re married now, so what’s mine is yours. My money, my things, and my future things, they are all ours now.”

  She nodded shyly and said, “Alright, but stay out of my diary, otherwise my fist will be yours, too.”

  I chuckled and said, “Deal, though, I already read your middle school one on accident.”

  “What!?”

  “How do you think I knew about Joshua?”

  “Wait, was it you who told him that I’d made out with you in the boys’ locker room!?”

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “You jerk, I thought it was Eddie! I flippin’ sicked Naomi on his butt for that!”

  “Yeah, it was hilarious.” I cackled, “He was running down the school field yelling, ‘Mikey-moo, I’m gonna get you back!’ But, hey, if it weren’t for the fact that he tripped and took her down with him, who’s to say how long it would’ve taken them to end up together. Besides, he did get me back. He’s the one who started the rumor that I had a love doll of you in my closet.”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that…” She muttered, giggling at the memory.

  “Morning, you two. Maybelle, you’re up early.” Mr. Lloyd interrupted.

  “Hey, Mr. Lloyd. How are you this morning?” I yelped, jumping a few feet from Maybelle in surprise.

  “Not good. That stupid storm kept me up all night. Maybelle, question… you didn’t sneak into Michael’s room last night, did you?”

  We froze in shock, and she muttered, “What!?”

  “I saw you head into his room last night.”

  “W-well… maybe…”

  “I know you are afraid of thunder, but Maybelle, you aren’t six anymore. How can I trust that if we leave you two alone this next week, you won’t have a little sleepover every night? Besides, it’s not fair to lead Michael on like that. The boy’s a normal, hormonally teenager. You’re lucky he has some decorum from his father raising him right. Any other boy would surely try every trick in the book to get in your pants.”

  “Dad, I’m not an idiot!” She protested. “You raised me better than to fall for such tricks.”

  “Besides, Mr. Lloyd, she didn’t stay the night.” I lied. “She came in for a few minutes until she had calmed down, and then, she went right back to her room.”

  “Then, why is she up so early? Maybelle never wakes up this early on a Saturday.”

  “The same reason as you, the thunder, and since I was up, I made us breakfast.” I explained.

  He sighed and said, “Okay, okay, fine. Sorry, that was rude of me to make assumptions. It just seems like you two have been getting remarkably closer in the past few days. I guess that along with the conference, it got me jumpy.”

  “I don’t know… We’ve always been close.” I muttered.

  “Yeah, but you two are usually always at each other’s throats. I mean, it’s a happy change, but I guess I misunderstood the extent of it.”

  “Wh-what did you think was happening?” Maybelle asked.

  “Honestly, I thought you two were getting romantically involved.”

  This caused us both to blush as Maybelle protested, “Me and Michael? Silly, Dad, he’s like a brother to me… You know that!”

  I noticed that he didn’t seem concerned with her response; his eyes were locked on mine.

  “And you, Michael?”

  “It’s as she says. We’ve been together so long, how could I see her as anything other than a little sister?” I lied.

  He kept the same expression for a little while before finally sighing and nodding.

  “Oh, good morning, you two. Maybelle, I’m surprised to see you up this early.” Mrs. Lloyd greeted.

  “I couldn’t sleep with the thunder.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Oh, did you hear, Maybelle? Your yearbook committee instructor called me and asked us to chaperone the Valentine’s Day Dance. Isn’t that neat?”

  I don’t know what came over me as I yelped in unison with Maybelle, “NO!”

  The Lloyds froze in surprise at our outburst, but Maybelle recovered quicker saying, “That would be so embarrassing! Please, don’t.”

  “Why did you freak out, Michael!?” Mr. Lloyd asked with the same expression from before plastered to his face.

  “B-because if you two come, my Dad’s gonna want to come. The man’s bound to photograph every aspect of my life. I don’t want him there, embarrassing me over every single ‘Kodak moment’!” I covered up.

  “I didn’t even know you were planning on going, Michael. You don’t usually go to these sorts of things.” Mrs. Lloyd mumbled.

  “Yeah, but I’ve got nothing better to do that day. Besides, Eddie’s been trying to get me to go to one of these stupid things for years, hoping to hook me up with one of his friends in the clarinet section…” I said, only partially lying—the thing with Eddie had been true, sadly.

  I noticed Maybelle didn’t approve of my words as she glared at me and grumbled, “Well, I hope you have fun with your precious clarinet player.”

  “Hey, I never said I was gonna take up his offer!” I yelped, surprised that Maybelle had actually gotten jealous.

  “Good, because I don’t want to have to tell your father about said ‘hooking up’. I wasn’t born centuries ago; I know what that means, boy.” Mr. Lloyd warned.

  “Hey, hey, last I checked, I’m still a nerdy, virgin band member. Last I checked playing the violin and trumpet doesn’t get a guy any action.”

  “Yeah, but last time I checked guitar and piano players did…” He muttered.

>   “Tony, stop it! Why are you ganging up on Michael? Since when do you care if Henry’s son is a virgin or not?” Mrs. Lloyd asked.

  “I-I don’t honestly care, outside of helping to keep Henry up-to-date, but our daughter lives here. If he does start getting into that sort of arrangement, I don’t want him alone in this house with Maybelle.” Mr. Lloyd explained.

  This really made me uncomfortable. Why was Mr. Lloyd so worried about this now? It made me wonder if he suspected us, but I let it go as I said, “Mr. Lloyd, I can assure you, no such shenanigans are or will occur here. I would never put Maybelle in that position. I intend to wait until marriage before I make love to a woman.”

  He was surprised by this, but his expression softened as he said, “You’re right; of course, you wouldn’t do that to Maybelle. I don’t know what came over me. I guess I’ve just been under a lot of stress, and I guess I just haven’t fully grasped that Maybelle’s almost an adult now…”

  “Dad, I know, but you must know that you raised me to have respect in myself.” Maybelle muttered.

  “I do know that, Maybelle; I do.” Her father said with a sigh. “Forget I ever said anything, Michael; it was uncalled for.”

  I nodded as he headed into the kitchen.

  Chapter Thirteen – Let No Man Put Asunder

  The next day, my folks left for the conference, but the air was now heavy with awkwardness from Dad’s confrontation with Michael the day before. I couldn’t tell what had come over my father, but Michael was evidently stressed from it. At church that morning, he said nothing on the car ride over and didn’t even sit by me during the sermon, opting to sit by Eddie. It all made for an awful start to the day. Then, in Sunday school, the youth pastor just had to start a series on dating and purity as if things weren’t confusing enough.

  The drive to lunch at Suzuno’s was equally quiet, and as I reached for Michael’s hand to lighten the mood, he surprised me by jerking it away. I felt tears rise in eyes, and he realized what he’d done, saying, “Belle, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’ve just been stressed out after that talk with your dad yesterday.”