A Chance Encounter

by Charlie Conwell

  “Wow, mom I never knew that, were you not afraid he would say no?”

  I see her smile and run her fingers through her hair. “I was nervous, I won’t lie to you, but I followed my heart and took a risk and thankfully it paid off. I loved your father every day of us being together and I still love him now. He was my heart song and that is the most amazing feeling in the world, Charlie. Even though he is no longer with us, I still feel that love every day.”

  I give my mom a hug and realise that she must feel lonely at times. I really need to come and visit more often.

  “Mom, do you think you would ever date again?”

  “No, I don’t think so, your dad would be a hard man to follow and I have never felt the need to look elsewhere. You don’t have to worry about me, I have my friends and I have my beautiful daughter and I am happy. When I saw you and Em together, I can sense how much you love her and she is just as much in love with you. You live for the moment Charlie, go for what you want and don’t give up on it. You will face challenges and obstacles and you will be pushed every step of the way, but you keep strong, you keep the faith and you keep hope. That girl is your heart song, she gives you strength when you need, and she allows you to be vulnerable too. You do the same for her Charlie. You are more open with me about Em and that shows me a great deal. In saying that, I want you to have this and when the time is right for you, ask that girl to marry you.”

  She hands me her engagement ring and my eyes widen. “Mom, I can’t take this from you, it’s yours the one dad gave you.”

  “Charlie, I found my heart song and it was wonderful, you now have found yours and your father would adore her. He would want you to have the ring but if you don’t like it and want to get your own, that is ok too.”

  “Oh, mom it’s not that at all. I have always loved that ring, every time as a child, when I sit on your lap, I would play with it. I always thought I annoyed you when I did that.”

  My mom laughs and hugs me to her. “You never annoyed me by doing that, it was a good feeling. So please accept the ring as a gift from me and your dad and I wish you every bit of happiness that we shared.”

  With tears in my eyes, I take my mother’s engagement ring. Hugging her close, I let the tears fall and she comforts me. “I miss dad, mom.”

  “I know you do baby, as do I, but he would be so proud of the woman you have become, and he gets to share in the love you have for Em too.”

  I lean back out of the embrace. My mom wipes the tears from my eyes and smiles at me. “I love you Charlie and to see you happy and content is magical and what I have always wanted.”

  “Thanks, mom, I don’t know what else to say, this means so much to me.”

  “You don’t have to say anything Charlie, it’s my honour that you accept the ring and give me the chance to be involved in a small way in making you happy. Now no more tears, this is a happy moment and believe me when I say, she will say yes when you ask.”

  “So confident mom.”

  “Yes, I am, I am betting that as soon as we go back into the living room, Em will smile politely at me but when she sees you her smile will get bigger and so will yours.”

  “Mom, you’re being ridiculous.”

  “Am I? Okay, if I am right, you are washing and drying the dinner dishes tonight.”

  “Mom, you have a dishwasher.”

  “Maybe, but if I’m right, the dishwasher is going to be you.”

  I start to laugh and shake my head. “Fine mom, I agree because I know it’s not going to happen.”

  My mom laughs as I follow her back into the living room and I see Stacey move back over to the two-seater. Em smiles up at my mom and then sure enough when she sees me, the smile gets bigger and I can’t help but smile back. My mom watches laughs and whispers to me. “Don’t worry, I have lovely marigolds for you to wear while you do the dishes.”

  She sits down next to Stacey still laughing and my smile falters. “You’re so funny, mom.”

  “Hey, a deal is a deal.”

  I sit down next to Em and she instantly takes my hand. “Everything okay babe?”

  I laugh, looking at my mom and she winks at me. “Everything is fine, my mother is just being her funny self.”

  Dinner is great. Em and my mom got on so well together. Even Stacey is relaxed and smiling. I hold up my part of the deal and cringe as my mother takes out the photo albums. Stacey and Em has a good laugh at me as a child.

  That night, I hold Em in my arms and as she drifts off to sleep. I think about what my mother said to me. ‘Was Em my one, my heart song? Is she the one I want to spend the rest of my life with?’ I had no doubt and have such a feeling of calm wash over me. Yes, I want her by my side and I will love to call her my wife for the rest of my life. I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face and the woman of my dreams in my arms.

  Chapter 16

  After breakfast, Em and I take a walk around the neighbourhood and I show her all the places I hung out while I lived there when I was younger. Stacey stayed with my mom. I swear she is such a suck ass with my mom.

  “This is my old school, I hated every minute being here. I was the only out gay person and a lot of the kids didn’t take to that too kindly. Stacey came along one afternoon when I was trying to clean off graffiti on my locker. She helped me clean it off and she made me see that not everyone is prejudice. She has been part of the family since then. I joined aikido after that and started to work out more. I was more at ease with myself and more confident.”

  “Aaaw baby, I’m sorry you had such a rough time at school. What did your mom and dad think about it all?”

  “I didn’t tell them about it the first semester, it was Stacey who told them. My dad took me aside and said that no matter where you go in life someone is always going to have an opinion but that is theirs as long as I was happy and was doing what was right for me, that was all that mattered. He told me he loved me just as I was, and he was proud to have me as a daughter. I carried that with me from that day.”

  “Your dad sounds so cool and that was great advice. I can see you took it with you every day.”

  “You want to feed the ducks at the lake before we head back and take mom to the mall?”

  “Honey, we didn’t bring any bread to feed them.”

  I smile and pull out a bag of bread crumbs from my pocket. “Yes we do, come on, you will love the lake and it’s so peaceful and beautiful.”

  As we walk along, Em takes my hand and as we reach the lake, I can see how much she loves it. “I came here a lot when I needed a time out. I would sit on that bench over there and feed the ducks until mom would come looking for me. She never worried because she knew exactly where to find me.”

  “You are such a softie Charlie, aren’t you? Do you miss living here?”

  “Sometimes I do, but then if I lived here, I would never have met you, now would I?”

  “Too cute.”

  She leans in and kisses me sweetly. We sit on the bench, feed the ducks, and talk about whatever comes to mind. She cuddles into me and we are relaxed and content together.

  “Babe?”

  “Yes, love?”

  “I wouldn’t mind living here at some time in the future.”

  She raises her head to look into my eyes as she says it and I am surprised.

  “You would? Why?”

  “It’s a beautiful place and it’s close to your mom and there are job opportunities here too. I think your mom would love to have you closer. I think we could be happy here at some time in the future. What do you think?”

  “I think you have already thought about this and I don’t care where we live, as long as you are with me.”

  “I love you baby and that’s what I want to be with you no matter where we are. Have you told Stacey that you filled out the form to enlist?”

  “I love you too, yeah I told her, she is just glad that you will be moved in and she will have company while I am away.”

  “She took it well. I�
�m glad that I will have her too while you are gone. I’m going to miss you.”

  “Hey, I’m not gone yet, and we will make the most of the time we have before I go. I’m going to miss you every minute too. How are you finding my mom? Has she tried to interrogate you yet?”

  “Charlie, she isn’t going to interrogate me…will she?”

  I laugh and kiss her lips. “No, she won’t, she will just do what your parents did to me, find out more about you.”

  “I can handle that, I really like your mom and I am looking forward to shopping with her. She was telling me about the mall and I can’t wait.”

  I groan. I hate shopping and it appears I am going to be transported to my idea of hell with three women who love shopping. I need to find a way to survive.

  “Sweetheart, you are not ditching us at the mall so get that thought out of your head right now.”

  “How…”

  “You’re not a very good poker player babe. I can see in your face, how much you are dreading our shopping trip and trying to scheme your way to ditch us.”

  I start to laugh when I hear Stacey’s voice “So this is where you two went to.”

  “Hi Stace, I was just showing Em around and we were feeding the ducks. You got bored hanging out with my mom?”

  “I love your mom, she went to shower and get ready for our day of shopping and I realised I was on my own and well you know…”

  “You don’t like being on your own. Don’t ever change Stace, you are the best friend I could ever ask for.”

  “I’m the only one who can handle your moods and your mom pays me to stay around.”

  My mouth drops open. Both Stacey and Em starts to laugh and I pout. “I can see its pick on Charlie day today.”

  Em kisses my pout away, stands up and holds out her hand. “Come on sexy let’s go shopping.”

  I stand up and smack Stacey on the arm. “Ouch, wow Charlie, what the hell?”

  “That’s what you get for being an ass.”

  We get home and mom is waiting for us. “I was wondering where everybody had gone. Did you carry the bag of breadcrumbs I had sitting out ready for you?”

  I laugh. “I did mom, it was beautiful by the lake until Stace turned up to wreck the moment.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. “You two are always the same, we should have just adopted you, Stacey, you act more like siblings every day.”

  “Aaaw Ellie, you still can, I would love to be your daughter.”

  “No deal, I am happy being an only child, that is my mom and mine alone.”

  “Charlie, honey you have a girlfriend now so technically I have another daughter in Em so I’m not just your mom anymore.”

  I see Em blush and smile. Hearing the words makes my heart beat a little faster. “Welcome to the family Em.”

  “What about me?”

  I laugh and put my arm around Stacey’s shoulders. “You already know you are in this crazy family all along.”

  Stacey grins. “Thanks, Char.”

  “Well this is all lovely, but you are kind of eating into my shopping trip to the mall.”

  I groan. “Fine, come on, I’ll drive, and I am not carrying all of your bags, you buy something, you carry it yourselves.”

  We all get into the car and I drive us to the shopping mall. As we pull into the car park I hear Em speak. “Wow, look at the size of this place.”

  “You are going to love it Em, we will go sector by sector, so you get to see everything it has to offer.”

  “Oh my god, I am never getting out of here alive.”

  I get a parking spot and we all make our way into hell. Em takes my hand. “It won’t be that bad, I checked online and there is a sports bar here and if it gets too much for you, you can head there and hang out.”

  I grin. “You are the best girlfriend ever, I love you.”

  “I know you and I love you very much too. So, don’t be a grump, this will be fun and there are two shops I think you will like to come with me too.”

  “Oh, really and what would they be?”

  She leans in and whispers to me. “Ann Summers and Victoria’s Secret.”

  I grin as she kisses my cheek and walks ahead of me beside my mom linking their arms. I think this shopping disaster has taken an upturn and I can’t wait to get to those shops with the sexiest girl in the world. She looks behind her and winks at me. “Come on Charlie.”

  I see my mom turn around to look at me. “Yeah Charlie, it’s too early to be fading, we have just started.”

  I roll my eyes, grin and catch up with them. They are like possessed people as they go through each shop and as I suspected, I was used as the bag lady. After two hours of being laden down with bags, I called time and headed to the sports bar. My mom laughed at me. “You lasted longer than I thought you would. Have a drink if you like, I can drive us home.”

  “If you are going to the bar Char, will you take my bags too?”

  I frown. “I knew this was the only reason you guys wanted me to come along. Give them here and I will take them. Come find me when you are going for food.”

  “You are the best friend a girl could have.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Mom, don’t give Em a hard time, ok?”

  “I wouldn’t do that, we are going to have a great time and you won’t be slowing us down anymore.”

  “Wow, I love you too mom.”

  I lean in and kiss Em. “See you soon baby.”

  I make my way to the sports bar, settle in and watch the soccer match that is on the big screen. This is much better than running after those three. I sit back in the seat and relax with my drink.

  ****

  “Em, this would look good on you, what do you think?”

  I look over at Ellie who is holding up a beautiful purple dress and I smile. It is beautiful. “You really have an eye for beautiful things Ellie.”

  “I do, I could never get Charlie to come shopping with me. I always had to bribe her anytime she came with me.”

  I laugh. “That sounds about right, but I want to pick her up some things too. She has done a lot for me and I want to treat her.”

  “You love my daughter very much don’t you?”

  I stop what I’m doing, look at Ellie and smile. “Very much so, Charlie is my first love and I really hope she will be my last. I have fallen deeper in love with her every day. I love that we are going to be living together soon. I know Charlie is enlisting and will be going on tour, but I will be here for her and she will come back to me and down the line, I hope that Charlie will be my wife.”

  “Your wife?”

  I blush and look away before I look back at her. “Yes, I would very much like to be Charlie’s wife in time. I know it’s early in our relationship and she is my first girlfriend, but she completes me. I can’t see myself with anyone else and when I see my future, Charlie is right there by my side.”

  I see Ellie grinning. “That makes me very happy and I would be glad to have you as my daughter-in-law. Charlie is very lucky to have found you.”

  “To be honest Ellie, I’m the lucky one. How many people do you know finds their mate first time out?”

  “Oh, it’s rare, but it happens and has happened to you, you’re both very lucky.”

  “Ellie, does this look good on me?”

  We both turn to see Stacey in the most horrendous outfit and Ellie looks at me before we both laugh making Stacey frown. “What? You don’t like it?”

  Ellie goes over beside her and puts her arm around her shoulder. “Stace I love you very much, but you have no sense of style whatsoever. I will help pick you out some clothes. Em, are you okay here?”

  I smile and wave. “I’m fine I will get these and then go find Charlie, I need to take her to a couple of shops that I promised her. After that, will we meet for food?”

  “Sounds great to me, see you soon. Come on Stace, let’s see what we can get you.”

  I pay for the clothes and make my way to the sports bar. As I go in th
e door, I spot Charlie glued to the game and looks so relaxed. I stop to just look at her and I find myself smiling just by seeing her. The butterflies have taken flight in my stomach and my heart is soaring. I hope I never lose this feeling. I go over and she spots me. I am rewarded with a blistering smile and my breath catches. I lean down and kiss her lips. “Hi, baby.”

  “Hi love, did you run away from my mom?”

  I laugh. “No, we are getting on great. I thought I would come along and see if you wanted to check out those two shops I mentioned to you earlier.”

  I reach for her drink and take a sip. “I missed you.”

  She takes my hand and smiles at me. “I’ve missed you too sweetheart.”

  “When we are finished up in the two shops, we will meet up with Stace and your mom for food.”

  “Sounds great, I’m getting hungry. Shall we go see what the shops have in store for us?”

  I grin at her and nod. “Yeah, let’s see what I can get to tease you with.”

  “You know you are a serious firecracker, sexy as fuck.”

  “I know, and I want to see what we can play with.”

  Charlie chokes on her drink, coughs, and smirks. “Oh, you want to do that type of shopping in there?”

  “Of course, why else do you think I want to go?”

  Charlie licks her lips and kisses me a little harder. “Let’s find us some toys to play with.”

  After a couple of purchases, we meet Stacey and Ellie in the food court for lunch. Ellie waves to us when we go into the Italian restaurant and Charlie waves back. She pulls out my chair for me like always and Stacey teases her.

  “Wow Charlie, you are such a mush.”

  “Hey, this is the way you should treat a lady, you just need to higher your standards Stace.”

  I see Stacey blush and silently nod making me nudge Charlie. Charlie looks at Stacey and sighs. She goes over and gives her a hug. “Stace, I’m sorry that was insensitive of me. Don’t be sad, we will get you a really nice guy and you will say Gary who.”