Subtle Reminders

by D. J. Pierson

  He chuckled, trying to insert the key into the lock. “Give me a second.”

  “Hurry up!” I impatiently said.

  The door swung open and I dropped onto the foyer floor, greeting the puppy. Her soft fur and tender kisses already made the house our home.

  “Was she here by herself all day?” I asked.

  “Do you think I’d leave her for a whole day?” Joey shook his head. “My mom dropped her off a little while ago. It’s not like the place is new to her. She’s been here all week.”

  “You’ve been staying in our house without me?”

  He grinned. “Someone had to get it ready. Let me show you.”

  Taking my hand, Joey gave me the grand tour. The kitchen was mostly finished with the cabinets, countertops, flooring, and appliances. There were a few final touches the contractor still needed to work on, but it was usable. Both the family and living rooms were empty, ready to be filled with furniture. The fireplace was exactly how I imagined. It was similar to the one in my parents’ house, but different enough to call our own. Eventually, the walls would be painted and decorated. For the moment, they were white and bare, awaiting our future to unfold.

  As we started heading to the second floor, my phone rang from the kitchen. “Go see who that is and meet me upstairs,” Joey whispered. He smirked and ran up the steps.

  Lex called to make sure we made it home. I joked how easy it would’ve been to peek out her window and look for my car.

  “Yeah, but I wanted to hear the happiness in your voice,” she commented. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  “Me, too, Lex,” I sighed, feeling happier and lighter than I had in quite some time.

  “I love you, sis.”

  “Love you more. Go get some sleep so you have the energy to help me unpack all this stuff in the morning.”

  “I’d come do it right now if Sully would let me inside.”

  I laughed and wished my new next door neighbor a good night.

  After hanging up, I started up the stairs. “Joey?”

  “In here.” It wasn’t hard to figure out where he was. Only one room had a light radiating into the hallway.

  Stopping in the doorway, the bedroom furniture I had at my parents’ house was positioned perfectly within the four walls. Vases containing single red roses were placed on every flat surface available. Petals were sprinkled on the carpet, as well as the comforter. Maddie sat on the bed.

  “What are you doing in here?” I softly spoke, walking toward her.

  Directly in front of her was an open jewelry box containing a diamond ring. I froze when the sparkle caught my eye. Covering my mouth with a shaky hand, I noticed a plaster paw print nestled inside a glass box. Etched along the edges were the words Will you be my mommy?

  Joey was suddenly behind me, his hand resting on my waist, the side of his face pressed to mine. “Please don’t tell her no. It’s absolutely impossible for either of us to live without you for one more second.”

  As I twisted to look at him, Joey picked up the ring and held it, eyebrows raised. Unable to speak or suppress the tears, I nodded. His only reaction once the band slid into place was to smother me in an incredible kiss that left me breathless and, ultimately, naked underneath him.

  By the time the doorbell rang, neither of us had slept for any significant amount of time. We functioned solely off a high that only came from an indescribable level of happiness. I’d forgotten how wonderful it felt.

  When I opened the door, Jack stood on the porch, his back to me. Lex was yelling for him not to open his mouth before she caught up. He was a good sport…for the most part.

  “I want to know first!” she yelled, skipping up the steps.

  “What do you want to know?” I asked, laughing.

  “The wedding date.”

  I assumed everyone else knew Joey’s plans. “What if I said no?”

  “Babycakes, you don’t ever tell Joe no,” Jack clarified.

  “He didn’t ask.”

  Jack kissed my cheek, entering our home. “Whether it was him or Maddie, your answer would’ve been the same.” He shook Joey’s hand as Lex hugged me. Vince trailed behind them with a cooler. “This isn’t fair. I need a house on this street, too. These fuckers will be here all the time. That’s unacceptable.”

  “Buy the lot behind us,” Lex said.

  “It’s available?”

  “I swear, you have hearing problems. I’ve been telling you for weeks now. You better get on it and call your mom before someone swipes it. Property seems to be selling fast around here.” We followed Lex to the kitchen. She took the cooler from her husband and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “So, when’s the big day?”

  “September third,” Joey responded. I faced him, stunned. We hadn’t discussed a wedding date recently, but we always said October sixteenth in the past.

  “Of what year?” Lex browsed her phone.

  “This year.”

  Her head shot up. “What? That’s less than three months away.”

  “I know,” Joey confirmed.

  “It’s a Thursday.”

  “I don’t give a shit what day of the week it is, Lex. That’s when I’m marrying your sister, so clear your schedule now or you’ll miss it.”

  “Joey?” My voice trembled.

  He smiled confidently, pulling me to his chest. “I told you, Buttercup,” he whispered. “Things are going to be different from now on.”

  “Am I the only one with any common sense? There’s no way you can pull shit together that quickly.”

  “Relax,” Joey said to my sister.

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “B wants something quiet and small. It’ll be fine.”

  “You remember?” I gazed at him in admiration.

  “I never forget anything when it comes to you.”

  The sun had gone down, a cool breeze coming in off the ocean. I still wanted to watch the waves, though. Joey and I made our way to the end of the pier. At that time of night, most people kept to the amusements, saving the beach for daylight hours. We sat on the edge of the wooden boards, looking out into the seemingly endless water.

  “I can’t believe you bribed me with a marriage proposal to get me on the damn roller coaster,” I grumbled.

  “Sure you can,” he responded, tucking me against him. “It’s really not that big a deal. My feelings about spending the rest of my life with you aren’t a secret.”

  “You may think so now…”

  He interrupted my thought by turning my chin toward him. “It doesn’t matter if it’s today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now. I’m marrying you.” Joey Sullivan knew just what to say and when to say it. I guessed he always would. “Should we have a huge wedding with hundreds of people?” A hint of a smile played on his lips.

  “Absolutely not!”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I figured.”

  “Let’s have the wedding here,” I suggested, pointing at the miles of sand in front of us.

  “There are much nicer beaches in the world.”

  “But this is us, Joey. We can go somewhere else afterward.”

  Knowing how stubborn I could be, he agreed…with one stipulation. “Only if you let me choose where we go on our honeymoon.”

  “Something tells me we’ll live happily ever after.” He laughed. “If we say I do at sunrise, even less people will come.”

  “Probably, but why so early?”

  “Less time I’d have to wait that day,” I said, placing a hand on his thigh.

  “Okay.” He’d do anything I asked of him.

  “October sixteenth is an awesome day to have as an anniversary.” That was the day we started dating.

  “It sure is.” He kissed my forehead. “In the meantime, enjoy the ride, B. Life doesn’t get any better than this.”

  The pop of the champagne bottle startled me. Vince retrieved three flutes from the bag. Jack filled them, then passed one to Vince and one to Lex. The three of them
clinked glasses and congratulated each other.

  “What the hell is that for?” Joey wondered.

  “This,” Lex said, gesturing at us. “Do you have any idea how hard it was getting you two back together?”

  Joey and I exchanged a glance. “You got us back together?” he probed further.

  Vince nodded. “Yup. We moved the wedding up and everything. The worst part was convincing Brie to take so much time off work. Damn, she’s hard-headed!”

  “We figured Joe would be a fucking pain in the ass, too. Miraculously, he made it a lot less complicated,” Jack added, smirking.

  “Do you believe this shit?” he asked.

  Shrugging, I responded, “Actually, I do.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.” His reply was casual. Then he lifted me over his shoulder, carrying me from the room.

  “Joey! Put me down!”

  “Absolutely not! They can celebrate with their gross bubbly drink all they want. Our way is a hell of a lot more satisfying.”

  “No! We can’t go upstairs! My parents will be here any minute.”

  “I know,” he sighed, annoyed. “It’s the only reason I’m taking you upstairs instead of on the counter. That’ll have to wait until these fuckers leave.”

  “Joey!”

  “I’ve been waiting a lifetime to live with you, BC. This won’t be the first time we have sex with people under our roof, so get used to it.”

  “Joey!” I hollered again as he took the stairs two at a time.

  He laughed out loud. “It’s going to be so awesome when you start screaming my name.”

  For some reason, I thought luck was on my side and we made it back to our kitchen before my parents arrived. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how wrong my assumption was until I practically collided with my dad turning the corner at the bottom of the stairway.

  “D-Daddy,” I stuttered.

  The attempt he made to hide his grin was pathetic. “Good morning, Brie.” His cool voice was calm.

  “I was… I mean, we were… I mean…” I stumbled over the words, coming up empty.

  “Unpacking?” Dad offered, raising a brow.

  Joey kissed my neck. “He knows exactly what we were doing, Buttercup. Let it go.”

  Vince and Jack weren’t nearly as polite as my dad. They were cracking up uncontrollably right in front of me.

  Wishing I could crawl into a hole and stay there forever, I snapped at Joey, “What the hell happened to keeping this shit private?!”

  “From these people?” He pointed, indicating everyone in the room. “Not anymore. If they don’t know exactly how happy you are, they may begin to think all their effort to get us back together was wasted. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

  “Joseph Michael Sullivan…,” I growled.

  He smiled. “I love you, too, B.” Winking at me, he accepted a cup of coffee from my mom.

  “Can I see this ring I’ve been hearing about but wasn’t allowed to see?” Mom requested.

  “I wasn’t allowed, either,” Donna announced as she and Pete entered the kitchen. Oh, shit! Were they here, too?

  My mom and my future mother-in-law gushed over the beautiful piece of jewelry, gushing even more when Joey told them about the wedding date being in September. Before they got involved in a bunch of planning and offering their ideas, he said there wasn’t much to do.

  “You keep saying that, Sully,” Lex added. “Even a small wedding takes time and effort.”

  “I’m not saying it doesn’t, but it’s taken care of.”

  “By?” Donna was as curious as I about where he was going with it.

  “Me.”

  “Really?” Lex arrogantly demanded.

  “Really. Be on the beach before sunrise on the third. That’s about all you need to know.” He removed a business card from his wallet and handed it to me. “Her name is Laura. I told her you’d call her sometime this week. From what I hear, she’s really good at making weddings happen quickly. I gave her some direction, but figured you’d guide her the rest of the way.”

  “You did all of this? The house? A wedding?” I held up the card, getting emotional.

  “I did.” Joey ran his thumbs along my jaw. “For you.” He lightly kissed me. “Everything I’ll ever do will be for you.”

  Five Years Later

  Our wedding day was something I’d never forget. From the moment BC stepped foot onto the beach until she fell asleep in my arms, every detail was forever etched in my memory. The breathtakingly beautiful white gown she wore. The way her hair gently blew in the ocean breeze. The smile that never once faded. The sparkle in her eyes whenever she looked at me. It was absolutely perfect and exactly how I’d always imagined it. It was one week before our fifth anniversary and I still had trouble believing it actually happened. Then our four-year-old son or two-year-old daughter would laugh, scream, cry, or yank us from a deep sleep, setting things straight. I was lucky enough to be living a dream with the only woman I’d ever loved and the beautiful children we brought into this world. Just when it seemed as if nothing could make our life any better, BC proved me wrong.

  “Daddy!” Mikey called as I walked toward my family. He ran so fast, his little legs were barely able to match the rate of his excited heart.

  “Hey, buddy!” I replied, lifting him into the air. His laughter was one of my favorite sounds. BC and Cat trailed behind at a slower pace. In no time, my princess would be keeping up with her big brother.

  For a late morning at the end of August, the park was fairly empty. Since I worked two long shifts almost back-to-back, my amazing wife took the kids out, allowing me to crash for a few hours. However, when I saw her, I felt guilty. It appeared as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep, either. Staying home with the kids was more work than chasing bad guys. What she did for us on a daily basis was nothing short of spectacular.

  “Dada!” Cat sped up, dropping her mommy’s hand. Just as with Mikey, BC got emotional when our daughter reached new milestones. Crawling. Walking. Running. But everybody knew neither of them would’ve been able to do any of it without their mom. BC loved me, but those kids were her reason for living.

  “Baby girl!” I cheered, gathering her in my arms, as well. With them both hanging onto my neck, BC leaned over and kissed my lips. “Good mornin’.”

  “Hey. Did you get any sleep?”

  “I did. Thank you.”

  “Daddy? Can we play ball? I have my glove,” Mikey asked, a huge grin on his face.

  “Sure thing, buddy,” I said, placing them both back on the ground. “Take Cat and get our stuff, okay?” I motioned toward the mound of supplies he had BC lug from the car. “I’ll be right there. I want to talk to Mommy.”

  “Okay! Come on, Cat! Let’s find your purple ball.” Gently, he took his sister’s tiny fingers and led her away. BC smiled, watching them.

  Holding my wife, I whispered, “Why don’t you go home and lie down?”

  “What? No way.”

  “You look tired.”

  “I am, but being with you guys is more important. I can sleep later.” She twirled the ring on her right finger. “Before you play, I need to tell you something.”

  “What is it?”

  Bluntly, she said, “I’m pregnant.”

  “Wait? What?” We hadn’t discussed a third baby, but it didn’t matter. “Please say you aren’t messing with me.”

  She half-smiled, her eyes tearing up. “I’d never do that.”

  I held her face, keeping her focused on me. “What’s wrong, B?”

  “I’m due in April.” Her voice trembled. Our angel was supposed to be born then. In eight months, he or she would’ve turned thirteen.

  “We got this, B. Everything will be fine.”

  “But what if…?” She still struggled with it nearly every day.

  “After all these years, how have you not learned I got shit under control?”

  She smiled. “You’re going to have a stroke if you continue keeping me and all
this shit under control.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m the master at controlling shit.” I leaned in, kissing her before her mind wandered again. Peering into my favorite brown eyes, I said, “We’re having another baby?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Can I name this one?”

  “Absolutely not!” she chuckled, turning toward our kids. Michael and Catherine were on their way back to us, baseball gear in hand.

  “Think we should let Mommy play?” I called out to them.

  “Mommy’s on my team!” Mikey responded.

  “What if I want to be on your team?” I asked.

  “No way! Mommy’s better than you!”

  Chasing after him, I hollered, “Did you just say a girl plays baseball better than I do?”

  Laughing, he fell on the ground before I caught him. “Yes!”

  I flopped down next to him, BC and Cat joining us. “Well, just so you know, your mom is better than me at a lot of things.”

  “But you’re the best policeman, Daddy.”

  “Thanks, buddy.” I rubbed his head. “But it’s only because I’m trying to impress your mom.”

  “That’s silly!” The kid had no idea what I was saying, but he was still cute as hell.

  “I’m serious. You have no idea how hard it is being married to her,” I teased.

  BC grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me to her for a kiss. “You’re so lucky I love you, Joey Sullivan.”

  “I know, Buttercup.” I playfully covered the kids’ eyes and kissed her again. “That’s something I’ll never forget.”

  And that’s what happens

  when your first love

  is your only love…

  At times, it’s difficult finding the right words to properly tell someone how much I appreciate him or her. I’m not exactly sure why, but it just is. Simply saying ‘thank you’ doesn’t always seem like enough. I truly hope my sincerity isn’t lost in translation.

  With that being said…