Forever Altered

by D. J. Pierson

  “Now, Rocco, I know you were raised better than to lie to your mother,” she says smiling warmly at me. If I didn’t see the resemblance, I would have never guessed she could be old enough to be his mother. She doesn’t look a day over thirty. “Clearly, I’ve been dethroned by the astonishing young woman you have on your arm this evening.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. It will never happen again,” he teases her. “Mom, this is Alyssa. Alyssa, my mom, Rose Lewis.”

  “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Lewis,” I shake her hand she already has extended to me. She surprises me by reaching over to hug me.

  “Likewise, my dear. But please, call me Rose.” I acknowledge her request. “So, tell me that my son has been treating you exceptionally well. A mother needs to be able to sleep at night without worrying about her son’s manners.” She quickly glances to him with a grin before giving her attention back to me.

  “He has been nothing but a perfect gentleman since I’ve met him.” I sink into Rocco’s side as he puts his arm around me. “Thank you for doing such an incredible job with him.”

  “Rocco, I absolutely love her!” she exclaims hugging me again. “You are very welcome, Alyssa. If he gives you any trouble, please do not hesitate to call me. I will take care of it.” I agree. An older man has come to her side. He looks to be much older than her. It’s hard to tell if it is because he actually is or stress has made him appear that way. “This is Alyssa. Alyssa, this is my husband, Max.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he nods at me and I respond respectfully. “Rocco. Good to see you. Everything is well, I presume?”

  “Everything is just perfect. Thank you, Max,” Rocco says to him pleasantly.

  “I apologize, but I’m going to have to steal your mother. The staff has some questions for you, Sweetheart.” You can definitely tell he loves his wife by the way he looks at her and speaks to her.

  “Please excuse me,” she says. “I’m really looking forward to brunch tomorrow where I can actually talk with you, Alyssa. Have a great time tonight. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thank you, Mrs…I mean, Rose,” I correct myself earning another smile from her. She kisses Rocco once again before walking away.

  “I told you she would love you,” he leans down to say in my ear. “Come on. Let’s get a drink.” He orders a beer for himself and a Cosmopolitan for me at the bar.

  When he hands me my drink, I take it even though I should not be drinking here. “Think it’s a good idea for me to drink with a bunch of cops around? I am underage, remember.”

  He laughs at me. “You’ll be fine. They’re all off duty tonight,” he whispers.

  Rocco walks me around for the next half hour introducing me to some friends, police officers he knows, and families who are being honored tonight. It is mostly just small talk until one particular guy seeks him out. “Hey, Matthews. Don’t I get an introduction to the most talked about woman in the room?” Rocco brightens at seeing this guy.

  “Tony! How are you?” Rocco says giving the man a one-armed hug.

  “You know. Same shit, different day,” he responds.

  “Tony, this is my girlfriend, Alyssa. Alyssa, this is Tony. He was my dad’s only partner in his twelve years on the force.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I say seeing the sadness cross his face briefly.

  “Likewise,” he responds with approval. “Girlfriend? I’m impressed, Rocco,” he mocks. “It’s about time you found someone. Make sure he’s good to you, okay? Cause if he’s not,” he tells me before Rocco steps in.

  “Watch it, old man,” Rocco advises and I laugh. He’s so cute when he thinks people are flirting with me. They really only do it because they know it will get a rise out of him.

  The two engage in small talk for a little while. “Is everything okay with..?” Tony starts before Rocco puts an end to that part of the conversation. He looks to me than back to Rocco. “Make sure,” Rocco cuts him off again with a nod, but he doesn’t answer. “Soon,” Tony adds.

  “I know,” is how Rocco eventually responds. I’ll have to remember to ask what that was about later.

  Out of nowhere, we hear a small voice yell out, “ROCCO’S HERE!” just before a little boy plows into him.

  Tony laughs walking away, “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

  Rocco lifts him up automatically. “Hey, little buddy. What’s up?”

  “Where have you been? You haven’t been around to see us,” the little guy says to him.

  “I know. I’m sorry, dude. Remember it’s a little harder for me to come over when I’m at college. I’ve been thinking about you though,” Rocco tells him.

  “Who is she?” a little girl asks standing there with her arms crossed staring at me. She is clearly related to the little boy and very irritated that I’m here with Rocco.

  “That’s my friend, Alyssa,” he winks at me.

  “Your friend or girlfriend?” she wants to know.

  “Awww, Sweetie. You will always be my favorite little girl, you know that.” He leans over picking her up, so he is now holding both of them. He’s twirling them around and they both start laughing. I watch him play with the two of them and remember how good he was with the boys at the park.

  “I’m so sorry,” a voice says suddenly next to me. I turn to see a red-headed woman standing there staring at the kids shaking her head. Then she looks over to me. “I’m Carla. That fresh, little girl would be my very feisty five year old daughter, Callie, and the sweet, laid back little guy is her twin brother, Collin. I cannot explain how they are so different. It really is one of life’s mysteries,” she chuckles.

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Alyssa,” I greet her.

  “I’ve only been here about five minutes and about six people have come up to me saying Rocco brought a date. I can see why some of the girls aren’t so happy about it,” she winks. “Other than your obvious beauty, you must be one special girl, Alyssa.”

  “Guess that is why your daughter was not too happy to see me here,” I say embarrassed.

  Carla starts laughing lightly. “There are girls of all ages jealous of you this evening.” She shakes her head. “But, again, I’m sorry about her. Since we lost their father two years ago, Rocco has been there for them. They both look up to him and apparently my daughter has developed a bit of a crush on him. I would say she will grow out of it, but I’m not so sure.”

  “I understand the fascination,” I tease her. We both laugh. “I am very sorry about your husband. I cannot imagine how hard things are for you.”

  “Thank you,” she nods. “It hasn’t been easy being a single mom without close family to help. My husband and I were high school sweethearts. Even being married to a police officer, I never imagined I’d be widowed with two small children at thirty-four years old. Rocco and his mother have been amazingly helpful. I couldn’t do this without them.” We hear an announcement in the background that dinner is being served shortly and everyone is being instructed to find their seats. “Collin and Callie, come on. It’s time to eat.”

  “No, Mom,” they both whine.

  “You said we could go to the fun room before we ate,” Callie states.

  “I did, Sweetie, but they are calling us,” Carla tells them. The exhaustion on her face is apparent. Despite her beautiful features, her eyes show signs of sleepless nights and stress. I wish there was something I could do for her.

  “How about you go eat? Rocco and I can watch them while they play.” I see Rocco turn to look at me with a smile on his face.

  “That’s very sweet of you, but there is no way I could ask that of you. I don’t want you guys to miss your dinner,” Carla says walking toward the kids. Callie and Collin start to run away from her making Carla sigh.

  “You didn’t ask me. I offered, but now I’m insisting. Please, go and enjoy your dinner. We will be fine. I’ll make sure Rocco doesn’t lose either one of your children,” I encourage motioning f
or her to head to the room behind us.

  She looks to Rocco and he winks at her nodding to the direction I did. “Get out of here before she changes her mind, Carla. She’s good at doing that,” he tells her before chasing after Callie and Collin to the room set up for the kids.

  “What about your dinner?” Carla asks.

  “Don’t worry about us. Enjoy,” I call over my shoulder as I follow Rocco.

  “Thank you, Alyssa.” I just wave at her.

  When I finally catch up to the three of them, the kids are already bouncing in one of the two inflatable houses. I walk over to where Rocco is standing watching them through the netted side. “Is it safe to have these things inside?”

  “Such a worrier,” he says shaking his head putting his arm around me.

  “Rocco, come in with us!” Callie calls from inside. She doesn’t like when he comes near me which makes me laugh a little.

  “Good thing no one else is in here,” he says removing his shoes to climb in with the kids. Watching him with kids warms my heart. If we ended up getting married, I would definitely reconsider my decision of never having children. This man should never be denied the chance to love a child of his own as much as he loves these two kids.

  They play for a little while and I hear Collin tell Rocco he’s hungry. I find one of the employees and ask him to bring the kids their dinner in here. When I return, the two kids are running barefoot from the first bouncy house to the other one which is more of an obstacle course. Collin goes right through and comes running out of the other side. Rocco asks where Callie is just a second before she calls for him.

  “Rocco, help me. I’m stuck,” she yells. We run around the other side where we can see her. “I cannot get over this wall.” She is stuck in between two walls where she had to slide down one and then climb up over the other.

  “Hold on, Callie. I’m sending Collin in to help you.” He goes in but cannot help her.

  “I want you to help me, Rocco.” She is starting to panic a little and it crushes me to hear it in her tiny voice.

  “I am way too big to fit inside of the opening, Callie. Listen to me. I’m going to tell you what to do, so you can get out.”

  “I’m scared,” she says starting to cry.

  “Don’t be scared, Callie. I’m coming to get you,” I tell her slipping off my shoes. “Don’t let anyone look up my dress,” I whisper to Rocco as he laughs at me with his eyebrows raised. “That means you too, Matthews,” I inform him.

  I cannot believe I’m going to climb through this thing in a dress. What the hell did I get myself into? I reach the part where Callie is and look over at her as I’m sitting on top of the first wall. She starts giggling. No, scratch that. She is hysterical laughing looking up at me.

  “What is so funny?” I ask her.

  “You are too big to be in here. You look silly,” she says.

  “Not nearly as silly as I feel. Now give me your hand,” I say smiling down at her. She reaches up to me and I pull her up. We eventually manage to get out the way I came in. The second we are out, Callie is in Rocco’s arms. He reaches out for me and pulls me into them kissing me on my cheek. Callie kisses my other one.

  “Thank you for saving me, Alyssa.”

  “You’re very welcome. Just stay out of that one now,” I tell her as I’m sliding my feet back into my shoes.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see the waiter bringing in the plates for the kids along with ours. We have a good time eating and playing for a little longer before the other kids start filtering in. Dinner must be winding down. Carla eventually strolls in talking with Tony and searching for her kids. When she finds us, she says goodbye to Tony and comes over to us. Callie meets her halfway jumping into her arms giving her a quick summary of what she has missed. “Mommy, we had so much fun with Rocco. I ate all my dinner and Alyssa had to climb in the bouncy house to help me out. I got a little stuck.”

  “Oh no. I’m so sorry,” Carla says looking at me.

  “It’s okay, really. No harm done. And I think it might have earned me a few points with her, anyway,” I tell Carla as Callie leans over to me putting her arm around me.

  “Can we go play again, Alyssa?” she asks.

  “No more. Mommy is going to play with you. Rocco and Alyssa have some other people to talk to now,” Carla tells them. “Thank you guys so much. That was probably the hottest meal I’ve eaten in, well, I cannot tell you how long.”

  “It was our pleasure,” I assure her.

  A few minutes later, Rocco and I are strolling around the main room, drinks in hand, where a DJ has begun to play. Lots of people are dancing and having a good time. A few of the girls Rocco introduced me to earlier, come over asking us to come dance with them. I am shaking my head no, but Rocco opens his mouth.

  “She’d love to,” he says earning him a nasty look from yours truly.

  “Have you forgotten about the shoes I’m wearing?” I remind him.

  “No and you haven’t stumbled once tonight. You’ll be fine. The girls really want to get to know you,” he pleads softly, so I have no choice but to agree.

  “We’ll bring her back soon, Rocco,” one of them says as I’m whisked away from the only person I really want to be with right now. Good thing I love to dance.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alyssa

  I’ve been dancing with the girls long enough that my back is lightly covered in sweat and I’m starting to feel disgusting. Finally a slow song comes on and I use the opportunity to try to escape. Just before I make it out of the crowd in the middle of the dance floor, a strong, well-defined arm is wrapped around my waist and a mouth is at my ear.

  “Where do you think you’re going? I’ve been patiently waiting for my turn,” a voice whispers. My body automatically relaxes into his when he twirls me around. My arms effortlessly wrap around his neck as I pull myself into his rock hard chest. He tightens his grip on me around my waist. “Do you know how much self-control I had to exert in order to tolerate the way these assholes were staring at you the whole time you were dancing? If I would have known how well you move, I may not have pushed you so hard.”

  Hoping they are still watching, I give him a small kiss only to tip my head back, so I can look in his eyes. “Hmmm, I wonder how jealous they are of you right now,” I say cheering him up.

  “Sunshine, I know how jealous I’d feel if you were dancing with someone else. You know, this song makes me think of you.”

  “It does? This doesn’t seem like something you would listen to.”

  “You have me doing all kinds of crazy shit I never thought I’d do,” he replies then starts singing some of the lyrics to me. He releases his hold from around my waist only to run his hands up and down my sides so friggin slowly, I’ve started to sweat again. It’s not at all disgusting this time.

  “This is my new favorite song,” I tell him.

  As the song ends, he closes his eyes and our foreheads touch. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

  I pull back to look at him. “You want to leave?” I ask baffled. “Doesn’t your mom need you for anything?”

  “I’ve already stayed longer than I usually do. No, my mom doesn’t need me. Actually, she won’t even be looking for me until eleven o’clock tomorrow morning when we are supposed to meet her for brunch.” I can tell he’s nervous. “It’s up to you. We can stay or we can duck out now and head to my house.” I know what he’s really asking and there is nothing I want more than to get out of here as soon as possible.

  “I just need to grab my purse,” I say never looking away from him. He nods and leads the way to where we left it along with his jacket.

  Before we exit the front door to head to the valet, Rocco wraps his jacket around my shoulders. Shortly after that, we are pulling out of the lot heading for his house. He has said before his house is only a few miles from here. Suddenly, I’m thinking about what will more than likely be happening tonight and my stomach is twisting in knots. Maybe I
shouldn’t have agreed to stay at his house. Would he take me back to school right now if I asked him to? I cannot escape the thought of how after all of the girls he’s been with, I might not measure up. Imagining I may not be good enough for him has a horrible feeling settling in my chest.

  “Hey. You okay?” A concerned look crosses his face.

  “I’m great,” I say watching his fingers play with mine.

  “You know I will take you anywhere you want to go, right?” He looks worried that I might have changed my mind. It’s almost as though he’s just as nervous as I am.

  “I want to be wherever you are.” Despite being nervous, it’s the absolute truth. If he were to take me back to school right now, I would be crushed.

  “Do you have any idea how much I love you, Sunshine?”

  “I might, but I’ll let you tell me every day for a really, really long time.”

  “There is nothing I’d rather do,” he replies squeezing my hand.

  Rocco pulls off of the main road only to come to a quick stop. There is a closed gate in front of us and it doesn’t open until he punches in a code on the keypad outside the driver’s side window. The long driveway leads to the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Even though it’s dark, the outdoor lighting shows enough of the light gray and stone exterior of a home exquisite enough to be on the cover of a magazine.

  “Wow. I cannot believe you live here,” I say mostly to myself.

  “Only for the last four years. Max had it built for my mom as an anniversary gift,” he says shaking his head. “I’ve always thought it was a little excessive, but now that I have you, I can understand why he does such extravagant things. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.” He drives around the side of the house and passed the four car garage. At the back of the house, there is another two car garage and what looks like a separate entrance. “This is actually where I live. Mom had a whole apartment with its own garage built for me in hopes of keeping me here as long as possible,” he chuckles.