“Be Brave, Be Daring and Be You.
PS. There are two boxes of my stamps and coin collection that I had kept since I was a young girl. Get it appraised before you throw it out, there could be a small fortune there. And you will be surprised that I kept your baseball cards. Remember those precious baseball cards that you sold at the garage sale to raise money so you could buy me Mother’s Day present? I bought them back and in hopes to surprise you one day. SURPRISE!
I love you son.
Love you to the moon and back,
Mom
When I went through these two boxes tucked underneath the basement stairs, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had a faint memory of my mother showing me her stamp and coin collections when I was very young. I brought them to an antique shop for appraisal and the entire box of her collection was worth a hundred thousand dollars. I didn’t know much about stamps and coins, so I sold the collection and kept a few sets of stamps that I remembered my mom told me how hard it was to collect. All that money was more than enough to pay the medical bills and had some money left.
Out of curiosity, I took my old baseball cards for an appraisal, and all those cards fetched me seventy thousand dollars. It was amazing. I remembered I spent my summer days mowing lawn for my neighbors to earn that money, so I could buy those baseball cards. It was hard for me to sell them at the garage sale to buy my mother a pretty sweater for Mother’s Day. She looked so pretty in that sweater, she was so happy that day. Her smile was worth my baseball cards, I thought to myself. I must have been ten or eleven years old at that point. I kept a few cards of my favorite players, perhaps I would be able to share it with my children one day. There were a couple hundred cards in mint condition. This small fortune was enough money for me to go to culinary school for a year and to have some seed money for me to start a small restaurant or several food trucks.
Once I finished culinary school, a couple of classmates and I decided to put our money together and started our own restaurant. It was a dream came true. We decided to go with Italian cuisine, something that we all enjoyed cooking and eating, and there was also a need for a family style Italian restaurant serving up rustic fare in this town.
Aurora and Sheila’s business was also booming, once Aurora was working on it in full force, she began selling vintage clothes online. It allowed her to scale up her business much faster than she would have been able to. She scaled up to a level that the bigger players were starting to take notice. They had approached her about a potential merger. It was something that Sheila and Aurora had to wrestle with. The business was their baby, I couldn’t imagine them letting it go easily.
“Travis, remember we have the ultrasound appointment this afternoon?”
“Of course, darling.”
How could I forget?
Aurora was expecting. She was 19 weeks along, and we were supposed to find out the gender of the baby this afternoon. We both agreed that we were at the right age to try for a baby before the window opportunity escaped from us. We were both over the moon.
“George, let’s get going.” Little George ran over and sat next to me and attempted to tie his own shoes.
“Remember the bunny ears trick?” It was early to teach him to tie his shoelace at this age, but he showed interest in learning.
“Ah-huh.” He stuck out his tongue trying to focus on his shoelaces. After a few tries, I felt his little hand patting me, gesturing me to help him.
We were finally out the door ten minutes later. The traffic was light, it took no time to get to the OB’s office. We sat there in the waiting room, my palms were getting sweaty. For the life of me, I didn’t know why I was getting worked up over this appointment. George was sitting next to Aurora while she read him a story.
“Mr. and Mrs. Parker, the doctor is ready for you.” The nurse greeted us.
“Mrs. Parker, after you.” I teased Aurora.
“It’s Ms. Rose, Mr. Parker.” She countered cheekily.
We hadn’t tie the knot yet.
I was ready to propose to her two years ago. I had my mother’s ring in my pocket. It was clear to me that Aurora wasn’t ready or wasn’t keen on walking down the aisle after her divorce to Andy, which was understandable. But that was two year ago.
“Aurora, how are you feeling now that you are in second trimester?” Dr. Dawson asked while flipping through Aurora’s chart.
“Good. Very good actually, my energy is back. Morning sickness is practically gone.” I was carrying George as he was acting shy in front of the doctor.
“Let’s lay down and have a look.” Dr. Dawson squeezed the cold gel on Aurora’s belly.
A few swipes over her belly, the good doctor found the little one.
“I have news. You may want to have a seat as well Mr. Parker.” The doctor tapped on the ultrasound machine and captured a few images. I couldn’t make out the heads or tail from those images. She passed a box of Kleenex to Aurora for her to wipe the gel off her belly.
I sat down next to Aurora, Aurora scooted upright on the exam table.
“Congratulations, you are carrying twins! I didn’t get to see the second baby when I was doing the first ultrasound, she or he must have been hiding.”
“She or he?” I asked.
“Do you want to know the sexes of the babies?” we nodded in unison, ”you are having a boy and a girl, they are fraternal twin, they are both hanging out in their own sacs, so I don’t know which one was hiding during the first scan.” Dr. Dawson smiled.
We were so excited that both of us had teared up. I was hugging Aurora with George sandwiched between us. Our little family of three was now a family of five.
“This is my dream come true.” Aurora said with beads of tears coming out of her eyes.
“Mine too…” I kissed her tears away, “mine too…”
The doctor went on and on about the risks and implications of a pregnancy with twin babies. We were both trying to absorb as much information as we could. But I was too distracted. My mind had wandered off to the idea of proposal. We had been living together for the last two years as common law. I wondered if Aurora was ready to take the leap of faith with me.
There was only one way to find out.
Once we finished at the doctors, we drove home. The moment Aurora got home, she went into research mode. She was reading everything and anything about multiple pregnancy and parenting twins. Thankfully George went down for his afternoon nap without much fuss. That gave me some time to prepare for the big night.
I had to dig deep into my memories of the last two years, and think of what Aurora would like for a proposal. I had learned that Aurora was a much more practical than a romantic kind of woman, and she had all sorts of quirky preferences. For example, she preferred a potted plant over flowers, or a big bag of BBQ chips over a box of fancy chocolates, or a bottle of Malbec over a bottle of champagne. I loved every bit of her quirks. Her idiosyncrasies continued to surprise me everyday.
“Aurora, I’m gonna step out for a bit. Call me if you need anything.”
CHAPTER 21
Aurora
Twins.
It was my dream come true, or it could turn into double amount of craziness in real life.
There was so much to learn and process mentally. I didn’t know how we could do it. I was tapping on the keyboard, researching and googling everything and anything about twin births and parenting twins.
I was scared shitless.
100% Shitless.
I took a break from staring at the computer screen, I looked at George sleeping soundly in his crib. He was a handful when he was a newborn, and now there would be two of them in about twenty weeks or so, and George would be 2.5 years old.
Travis just drove off. Maybe he had finally came to his senses and realized that this was all too much.
What would I do if I was in his shoes, I asked myself. I would totally hide out somewhere or run away to another country. What would I do if Travis just left?
O
h God, I couldn’t do this.
My thoughts were running wild. I wiped away the tears and tried to breathe.
I needed to go for a walk but George was still napping. What else could I do to destress, I was running down a list of favorite things to do in my mind - a hot bath, a good glass of wine, a jog, watch a good rom-com. Since I couldn’t do three of the four things that I liked to do because I was pregnant, I had no choice. I plopped down on the couch and switched on Netflix. I chose the first one that was suggested to me by Netflix – PS I love you.
I sat there and watched for ten minutes, and I was already crying my eyes out. As if, I needed more reasons to cry. I curled up like a ball on the couch, wrapped myself up in a blanket.
“Honey I’m home.” Travis was back. Oh my God, he didn’t leave!
I wiped my eyes and tried to look normal.
“Aurora, where are you?”
“Here.” I sat up on the couch in the family room.
“Aurora, were you crying?”
“No.”
“Yes you were. What’s wrong?” He sat down next to me, looking at me with concern in his eyes. My eyes were probably all red and puffy from crying.
“I thought you left me. It’s ok. You’re back now.”
“What??? I thought I told you that I was running out. Remember I told you this morning that I was going to pick up some grocery after our doctor’s appointment?” Travis looked concerned.
“No,” I said sheepishly, “I thought you left for real.”
“Now why would you think that?” Travis pulled me into his arms, holding me tight to his chest. It was nice to curl up in the nook of his arm.
“I don’t know… I was thinking that you left because the idea of the twins and George was too much. You didn’t say anything in the car when we were driving back.” I decided to level with him, there was no point in beating around the bush.
“You know me, I don’t talk much when I’m deep in thoughts. My mind was running wild with so many thoughts, thinking about the twins, you, me, us three. I wanted to go to Mom’s grave and tell her all about it. I wanted to make us a special dinner tonight to celebrate, and think of what I should cook. I was just thinking in my own little bubble.” Travis wiped more tears off my face.
“Maybe it’s the hormones. I don’t know. I’m fine.” I was holding to my box of Kleenex.
“Listen to me,” Travis put his hands on my face, lifting my head so he could look into my eyes, “I will never ever leave you, George, and the twins, no matter how hard life gets. Whatever happens, we will deal with it as a family. Through thick and thin. Right? Tell me you understand.”
“I do.”
“OK, good. I wish I could hold you and hang out with you longer but I need to put away the groceries. Or something will escape!” He ran back to the foyer and brought the bags of food to the kitchen.
“What do you mean something will escape?” I walked over to the kitchen.
“You’ll see. Be patient,” He ushered me back to the family room and back to the couch, “I want you to rest up, relax and watch something happy, not sappy rom-com. I will deal with George when he wakes from his nap, and I will call you when dinner is ready. But under no circumstance you can enter the kitchen. When you need something from the kitchen, you just holler, alright?”
Travis brought me some cut up cheese and crackers and a freshly brewed herbal tea. When George woke up from his nap, he brought him to the kitchen to be his little Sous Chef. There wasn’t much I could do except to sit and watch something on Netflix. I could hear George banging on the pots and pans, and whatever Travis was making smelled delicious.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” Travis woke me up with a kiss, I must have fallen asleep in front of the TV, “dinner’s ready.” He helped me up from the couch and I walked into the dining room. George was already sitting in his highchair patiently waiting. There was a bowl of ice with shucked oysters, grilled calamari, a pair of lobster sticking out of a pot of Cajun seafood in the center of the table.
“What a big surprise!” I turned to give Travis a hug, “you’re the best boyfriend ever.”
“You’re carrying two little humans in you, this is the least I can do. Let’s dig in!” Yes, OUR little humans.
“Can you say ‘lobster’ George? Would you like to try some?” Travis pulled out the lobster from the Cajun pot. That must have been what he was referring to when he said something would escape if he didn’t unpack grocery.
“Lobter. I want lobter.” George’s eyes were lit up.
“Lobssssster. Say I want lobster,” I repeated.
“Lobster!” Travis cracked open the lobster claw and cut some up for George to try.
“You like it? Want more?” Travis asked.
George nodded and kicking his feet up and down, he was too busy chewing.
Dinner was amazing. We talked and laughed just like we normally would.
I was feeling so much better. Much better than what I was feeling in the afternoon. Watching Travis with George made my heart swell with love. Travis was a great father, I couldn’t be any luckier to have him next to me and raise George together.
Once dinner was finished, it was time for George’s bedtime. Travis offered to clean up the kitchen while I bathed and read George his bedtime story. George must have been tired from playing Sous Chef with Travis, he was out like a light by 8:30.
I tiptoed out of George’s room, the house was quiet. I went to the kitchen to find Travis sitting in the kitchen counter with a heart shaped chocolate ganache cake with two little baby toppers on it. The details on the cake were intricate and beautiful and it was great for two people to share. The whole room was lit with candles. We were both basking in the romantic glow. There was a bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket of ice.
“Surprise Aurora!” he lowered his voice as he didn’t want to wake George, otherwise he would have shouted it on the top of his lungs.
“Awww. Another surprise. When will the surprises end?”
“Never.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his embrace.
“We are going to be parents! We need to celebrate a little,” he said as he uncorked the champagne. Upon closer inspection, it was a non-alcoholic champagne. I wasn’t a fan of champagne but I figured it was right for the occasion.
Travis filled up the flutes and handed one to me. He looked me in the eyes and clinked his glass against mine.
I took a sip of it and saw something at the bottom of the glass.
Oh My God.
There was a ring. A beautiful vintage ring with a red ruby.
“Aurora, will you be my wife? This is my mother’s engagement ring and it was passed down to me.” He put his hands around mine.
“I don’t know what to say. I thought…I thought I wasn’t going to get married ever again.”
“Are you happy with me Aurora?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Then say yes!”
“Are we getting married because of the twins? Because I am a modern woman and I’m perfectly fine not needing to be married in order have children. I don’t want to waddle down the aisle.”
“I had been waiting for the right moment, for the last two years to propose to you. I felt that you weren’t ready and I didn’t want to push you or rush you. I know that you are an independent modern woman and the whole world knows that. We don’t need to tie the knot right away, we can wait. We can be engaged for as long as you like,” he paused and waited for me to respond.
“Is it because of my background?”
“What do you mean background?”
“I mean, I am poor and you are from the upper class good family. And I have a record.” He sounded a little defeated. He looked deep into my eyes searching for answers.
“Travis, where are you getting these ideas from? What year are you living in?!” I was surprised by what he said, “Of course not. That’s not me. I don’t want someone from a rich family or upper class
as you call it. Do I wish that you don’t have a record? Yes, but that was the past, you paid your debt to the society and that’s the end of that. Now you are a new man, a law abiding citizen. And if I were to care about all those things, I would not have been with you the first place.”
“Then why don’t you want to marry me?”
“Just give me a bit of time to think straight for a minute.”
The gears and cogs in my head were turning as fast as possible. I was thinking about what happened with Andy, how things fell apart, how much it hurt, and then Travis’ kiss, and everything that had transpired since.
Was I brave enough to do this again? Would I break into millions of pieces if things fall apart? I closed my eyes and tried to find my answers. I was afraid to make the same mistake twice, especially now there would be children involved.
Travis’ mother’s words came to me at the most perfect moment. Her words were ringing in my eyes – “Love him like the way he loves you.”
The ways he loves me.
Travis had given me no reasons to doubt his love for me. His actions, his words, they were in sync. He had given me strength and hope from the very beginning, from that magical kiss that lifted me from the darkness to the moment when he agreed to be a guardian with me to raise George. He only loved me and showered me with more affection than I ever imagined. I didn’t lose myself, I was better and happier. I thrived with him in my life.
“I do. Yes I do.”
I leaped off my stool and gave Travis a deep long kiss. I hoped this kiss erased all his doubts and restored his faith in our relationship.
When we took a breather from our kiss, I took the flute and drank the champagne and let the ring drop into my palm. Travis put it on my finger and it was a perfect fit.
“Let’s celebrate, my soon to be Mrs. Parker.” He lifted me up and was about to carried me off to our bedroom I presumed.
“The cake!” I shouted.
“Good thinking.”
He walked back to the kitchen with me in his arms, and lowered to let me grab the cake and two forks.
Chocolate cake and a night of mind-blowing sex was how we finished our night. It wasn’t exactly what I had imagined how the day would end but it was just perfect. A perfect way to celebrate our love.
Kiss Me : A Modern Sleeping Beauty Retold (A Modern Fairy Tale Series Book 2) Page 13