Meadowlarks

by Ashley Christine

  This time there aren't any signs that can foil my plans, and when we pull into the driveway of a big ranch, she looks over at me and narrows her eyes. “What are we doing here?”

  “Well, you'll have to wait and see.” I'm not giving anything away.

  I park the truck in front of a massive garage, right next to an even bigger house with giant pillars and windows everywhere. It’s kind of like the Cole’s home in Maine, but more...Wyoming.

  “Blaine! You're right on time! And this must be Addison. I've heard so much about you, my dear!”

  “Addy, this is Lynn. She was my Mom's best friend. This is her place.”

  Addison smiles and shakes her hand. “So nice to meet you!”

  “You are just lovely, Addison.” Lynn hugs her and winks at me over her shoulder. “He better be good to you, or you come and tell me!”

  “Oh, I will!” Addison grins at me. “He's pretty good though.”

  She still has no idea why we're here; it can't be just to meet my Mother's friend.

  “Well, let's go over and see the babies, shall we?” Lynn hooks her arm in mine and leads us behind the house, down past the fencing and into pasture through a large steel gate.

  Addison gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. “Blaine!”

  “Now, they're all still very green.” Lynn takes her hand and they walk over to a mare standing with a little brown colt. “I've been working with them, enough to get them used to me. You can put halters on them all except that one.” She points over in the distance to a smaller Appaloosa foal.

  The mare stands beside her little one, keeping an eye on the new stranger, and the colt leans his neck close to Addison's hand and sniffs it. Lifting his top lip to her flat hand, he nibbles at the air.

  “What a darling!”

  “He's a warmblood, and he'll be a big boy when he's done growin'. At least seventeen hands!” Lynn says and slowly touches his mane. “I told Blaine that if you need any help at all, I'm just a phone call away.”

  It dawns on Addison, and she turns and looks at me, mouth open and eyes wide. “Wait...what?!”

  I walk over and hold her hand. “Which one would you like?”

  “Are you serious? I...I don't know what to say!”

  “Well, it's a big decision! You'll have a lot to do, but with the right training, you'll have yourself a wonderful horse.” Lynn smiles and starts walking over to a pair of twin foals with their mother.

  “Baby, I can't believe this!” She's still bewildered. “How much is this going to cost?”

  “What? Don't even worry about that. It's your birthday.” I kiss her hand, and we follow Lynn.

  After spending a little time with each of them, she wanders back over to the first colt, the brown warmblood.

  “I really like this little guy.” She bends over and slowly extends her hand to him again, this time with a bunch of green grass in it. He walks over to her and eats it right out of her hand.

  “He seems to like you, too!” Lynn elbows me. “I'm so happy, Blaine. Your momma is, too; I know it.” She says it quietly and looks up to the heavens, closing her eyes.

  “Thank you, Lynn. This means so much to me.” I hug her, and for a few seconds, it's like hugging my mom. At least, it’s as close as hugging my mom that I can imagine. Since Lynn loved her, then she's got to be a part of her.

  “I think he's the one, Blaine!”

  “Good lookin' little guy, too,” I say, smiling.

  “Now all you have to do is think of a name for him!” Lynn rubs the face of the mare and scratches under her neck. She extends it and leans into Lynn's shoulder.

  We make plans to pick the mare and colt up next week; the mare will just come along for safe travel from one home to another. I think Addison thanked and hugged Lynn at least fifty times before we left; she's a kid on cloud nine. Every time I look over at her on the drive back, she's grinning, looking out the window and singing softly to the music on the radio.

  “I can't believe you bought me a horse! Thank you, baby.” She reaches over and holds my hand.

  “Anything for you.” I kiss her fingers and hold her hand close to my heart.

  Everyone has parked behind the house, so she's got no idea when we pull in what's waiting for her inside. Maria and Kelsey even had the lights off when we showed up so that she couldn't see inside the windows when we are walking up to the house.

  “Surprise!”

  Addison gasps and covers her face.

  Alex, Jeremiah, both of my brothers, all their kids, my Dad, Ruth and two other of her friends from the hospital—and of course Maria and Kelsey—are all standing in the house when we walk in.

  “You guys!” Addison starts to cry, fanning her eyes with her hands. She laughs and hugs Maria and Kelsey who are standing right in front. “Thank you!”

  The sirloin steak, lobster tails, twice-baked potatoes, asparagus and cheese biscuits were all catered for her birthday. They had to find the extra leaves for the eighty year old table in my dining room; to accommodate the extra guests it's extended to twelve feet long.

  “Blaine, you are so sweet!” Maria gushes when Addison tells her about me taking her to Lynn's.

  I smile and cut my slab of steak.

  “How is Lynn doing? I haven't seen her in ages.” Dad perks up in his seat. “Still livin' in that big place by herself?”

  “Yep. She's doing really well, dad. You should go see her sometime.” I shove steak into my mouth. It all but falls apart, and it tastes better than anything I've ever made. “She'd love it.”

  “You hear that, Nicholas?” He raises his voice to my brother who's sitting across the table. “You wanna take me out there sometime?”

  “Of course, dad.” He smiles with a cheek full of food.

  My dad got his license revoked about eight years ago when he had a small episode—that's what we call it when he's around—but the doctors said it was a T.I.A.: Transient Ischemic Attack.

  I was still boggled until an older nurse at the time rolled her eyes and said, “A mini-stroke.” So he's unable to drive himself anywhere. Thankfully he already lived with my brother at the time.

  “Addison, how's the wedding planning coming along?” Dad turns to her, sitting right beside her across the table from me. “The girls don't talk about it when we're around.”

  Maria winks at Addison, and they smile without giving anything away.

  “It's going to be beautiful, Bennett. You'll just have to be patient!” Kelsey chimes in.

  Casey bounces in her chair. “Uncle Blaine, I'm still gonna be your flower girl right?”

  “Of course you are, sweetie!” Addison peeks around my dad to see Casey's excited face. “How could we get married without a beautiful flower girl?”

  Casey settles back down in her chair, beaming with happiness, and I'm sure full of anxiousness for her big flower girl debut.

  “This is just...wow. Thank you all so much!” Addison gazes widely at the array of desserts placed on the table once everything else is cleared. Cheesecake, of course, and when she sees it she looks over to me and grins. There’s also carrot cake with the creamiest frosting I've ever seen, and lemon bars sprinkled with powdered sugar.

  Kelsey stands in the doorway behind Addison and grabs my attention. She nods her head toward the kitchen, and I stand up to follow her.

  “This one is for her. We thought you should take it in.” She holds up a small plate with a huge white cupcake on it, covered with small sugar flowers and pearls. It's almost too elegant to eat.

  “Thank you, Kels.” I smile, and she gives me a small but warm hug. When I get to the doorway, I light the single candle and everyone sings happy birthday to Addison. I take her hand and kiss it once I've set the small plate down on the table in front of her.

  “Happy birthday, beautiful.”

  She sticks out her bottom lip. “Thank you.”

  “Happy birthday, old lady!” Alex, who has been pretty quiet all night, missing Riley, no doubt, shout
s from the end of the table. She sticks out her tongue at him.

  “Hardly!” Kelsey hisses, and he smirks at her. I chuckle to myself. I'd love to see her try to boss that kid around like she does with everyone else.

  After dessert, Jeremiah and I start a fire outside. We pull all the lawn chairs around the growing heat, and all the birthday guests trail out of the house and sit down with some sort of spirit in their hand.

  “Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Ruth hugs Addison. “We've got to work early, so we're going to get going.”

  “Awe, thank you so much for coming!” She hugs Ruth and then the two others, Leanne and Olivia. “It meant so much to me!”

  “Blaine, you're a darling. What a beautiful night.” Ruth hugs me, too.

  “Oh, that was all those two. No birthday is a small occasion around here.” I smile and point over to my sisters-in-law, who are sitting next to their husbands around the fire.

  “Goodbye, ladies! Thank you for coming!” Maria shouts from her seat and smiles warmly.

  After they've gone, I go inside to get myself a beer.

  My dad follows me in.

  “Blaine, come with me.” He starts walking toward the staircase, and I follow him, wondering where he's about to take me. At the top of the stairs, he reaches up and pulls on a short rope, bringing down the large wooden set of stairs that leads up to the attic. It creaks as it comes down, as it hasn't been opened in years.

  “Up there.” He points. “There's a trunk, a big brown one. Open it and let me know what's in it.”

  I look at him questionably, but do as I'm told.

  The attic is exactly as you'd expect—old, dusty, and warm. There are boxes upon boxes, old lamps and old chairs with torn seats or broken legs. In the corner by the only window to the outside is a large trunk. The locks aren't closed, and when I open it, the smell of mothballs and old linen trails into my nostrils.

  “Okay, dad, there's some sheets...” I lift things up here and there, trying to see what else there is to find. “Some books, a few boxes...”

  “Is there a pink box?” he shouts from the bottom of the staircase.

  “Umm...” I search and find it under a stack of old newspapers. “Yeah, one right here.”

  “Bring it to me, please.”

  I slowly back down the stairs and hand the box to my dad. He carefully opens it, closing his eyes like he's praying. When he reaches in, his eyes open and they're full of tears. He clears his throat and composes himself, pulling out a small string of pearls.

  “These are your mother's.”

  I stare at the delicate string of beautiful and imperfect pearls; they look so small and fragile in his old, worn hand.

  “I want you to give them to your beautiful bride.” He examines each bead and rolls them between his fingers. “Your mom wore these on our wedding day.”

  I feel myself starting to choke up. “Dad...Are you sure?”

  “I'm sure, my boy. I'm sure.” He looks up at me with glistening eyes. “That's what she would want.”

  “Thank you.”

  He passes me the pearls, almost hesitantly, as if he can feel her in those beads and doesn't want to let her go. I take them into my hands and then do something unexpected.

  I hug my father. Not just some small embrace, but I fully engulf him in my arms. He seems surprised at first, but when I feel his body relax, he puts his arms around me, too.

  “Thank you, dad.” I start to cry. “I'm sorry.”

  “You're sorry? Whatever are you sorry for?” He's still hugging me, and I'm quickly transformed into a small five year old boy again. I've just wet my bed, and this time he's not angry; he hugs me back and tells me it's okay, that it’s nothing to be sorry for. This is what I've missed out on; this is what most kids get on a daily basis from their parents. This is all I've ever needed.

  “I'm sorry mom died.” I choke on my tears. I can't control myself.

  “Blaine!” He releases me and pushes me back from him, his hands on my shoulders. He looks terrified. “Please!”

  I'm standing in front of him, a thirty year old man, wiping my tears and sobbing like a baby. I still have the pearls clutched tightly in my hand, like I'm the one afraid of letting them go now.

  “She gave me you.” He clears his throat again. “If it was between you or her, and she had a choice, you'd still be standing here in front of me today.”

  I sob.

  “I'm the sorry one, Blaine. You deserved much more than I gave you.”

  “You gave me everything, dad.” I hug him once more, desperate to feel that warmth again.

  We both compose ourselves, and I nervously start to laugh. I feel so much better; I've swallowed this down over and over again for my entire life. Finally I became too full and ready to overflow.

  I put the pearls back into the box and close the lid. I put the box on my dresser for now; I'll give them to Addison later, when we're alone. We go back downstairs where everyone else is still sitting outside around the fire.

  “Hey, there you are!” Addison leans up in her chair, and I bend down to kiss her cheek. “You okay?” I guess she can see the redness in my eyes.

  “Yeah, I'm great.” I smile and sit down beside her.

  Alex has just told everyone about Riley, the baby, and their plans for her to move to Wyoming.

  “Babies are truly a blessing. You're going to make a great father, Alex.” Maria beams from her chair and looks lovingly at her own three children. “When are you two planning on having little ones?” she asks, looking over at Addison and me.

  Addison smiles at her. “Whatever happens, happens.”

  It’s her usual saying for things that life delivers. I'm really curious now, and I've decided that I can't hold off asking her why she doesn't seem eager to have children. Aren't most women at some point in their lives? I won't do it now, but when we're alone. No one mentions babies again during the rest of the night.

  We say goodbye to everyone. My dad shakes my hand and winks. I'm thankful he does because if we hug again, I'll probably wail some more.

  “Thank you so much, girls. You're wonderful. I can't get over how lovely this night was.” Addison calls over while they're each getting into their cars.

  “Tired yet, birthday girl?” I ask, trailing my fingers down her spine and gently patting her backside.

  “Exhausted,” she breathes.

  “Well, I better get you up to bed then.” I smile and swiftly scoop her up in my arms. She laughs and kisses me deeply.

  Upstairs in our bedroom I lay her down and she scoots to the middle of the bed.

  “Take that dress off, please.” I grin and she sits up, lifting the dress over her head, throwing it onto the floor. She lays back down against the pillows, only wearing her bra, panties and a small grin of her own.

  I walk to the end of the bed and start to slowly unbutton my shirt. I shrug it off my arms and it falls on the floor. Next comes my signature white t-shirt; I lift it off my body even slower, letting her see me inch by inch. Once it's off my head, I narrow my eyes sensually at her. She chews on the corner of her lip and shifts in the bed. She's anxious, and I fucking love it.

  “So, birthday girl, did you get enough presents today?” I bite my lip, too, and run my hand across my abdomen, slowly over each muscle.

  “Definitely not,” she breathes, her eyes blazing sapphire.

  “Oh, no? Is there something else you want?” I ask huskily while unbuckling my belt. I ease the leather strap from the loops in my jeans.

  She's panting now, and I'm trying my hardest just to keep myself controlled.

  “Get up here, Blackstock,” she commands, impatiently.

  “Mmm mmm.” I shake my head. “Not yet, darlin'.”

  I unbutton my jeans and pull them open; pushing them down, I'm left in my boxers. I climb over the end of the bed and crawl in between her legs. Her scent intoxicates me as I run my nose up her chest and into her neck. I kiss her soft skin gently, not touching her anywhere e
lse. She's breathing heavily, lifting her body into mine.

  “I want you so bad,” she whispers in my ear and sucks my earlobe. I close my eyes and push my body down into her.

  I'm going to try and draw this out as long as I possibly can. I lower myself down her body, slowly kissing every inch, pulling on the edge of her panties with my teeth and kissing from hip to hip.

  “Blaine, I can't handle this!”

  “Yes, you can.” I inhale between kisses. And she grabs a handful of my hair in her hand, gripping tightly and breathing heavily. Her panties end up on the floor with her dress and my clothes. I lay down on my stomach and lift her knees up; she pulls them into her arms. I devour her right there, eating my piece of birthday cake, licking and pulling every tiny detail until she screams and shudders. Her knees fall, and her hands grip my hair again.

  “Baby! Ahhhh!”

  I withdraw my mouth, and her body even winces from my hot breath on her tender flesh. I take the same route back up her body, kissing her again, and she leans up to release the clasp on her bra, tossing it off. I have no idea where it ends up. I tower above her, holding myself up with my hands. She caresses my chest and holds my face with one hand.

  We kiss, our tongues rolling all over the other, and I don't stop as I slowly pull off my boxers and ease my tip into her beckoning heat. Just the tip, though, and it drives her off the edge.

  Her hips buck, wanting all of me. I give it to her, every inch and then some. I lay down on top of her, holding my weight up with one arm and the other gently squeezing her breast.

  She bites my shoulder and digs her nails in my back. I know she's about to lose herself. I push in deeper and harder, and I feel her start to pulsate around me. The tightening grips me to the core, and we both orgasm at the same time.

  A tangled mess of skin, sweat, heat, and bed sheets is all that's left in the aftermath. Panting, I lower myself down on her, still inside of her, and our bodies stay connected as one for just a little longer.

  When I roll onto my side, I look at her beautiful face. She's looking at the ceiling and smiling.

  “I have something else for you.”