by Amy DeMeritt
They laugh a little and each of them take a roll and pick at it while we wait for the butter. When she comes back, she has two dishes of the house made honey butter and a dish of what looks like jam.
“This is a chef special today. It’s a raspberry preserve and its really good with the rolls.”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks, Stacey, I have it from here.”
Our waitress comes over and looks a little agitated that the hostess is still here and has delivered us drinks and bread. Stacey does a weird nervous bow, blushes beet red, and then leaves. Our waitress looks at her confused and then looks at us and smiles.
“Hi, I’m Paige and I’ll be taking care of you today. I see you already have our house fruit water and rolls. Do you need any other drinks or appetizers while you look at the menu? Did Stacey already give you the specials today?”
Each of us decline on extra drinks, but ask to hear the specials. She explains a really delicious sounding appetizer that we decide to order, but forego the special entrée so we can compare it to the menu first.
While we look at the menu, we snack on the rolls with butter and preserves and I sneak the occasional kiss on Awenasa’s and Madison’s necks and cheeks. I can’t reach Sam and Shannon to kiss them and it makes me pout. I lean back to peek at them behind Awenasa and Madison, and they look up and giggle with amused smiles. Each of them lean forward in turn and give me a soft kiss on the lips, making me smile really big. As I turn back around, Stacey is standing in front our table with blushing cheeks.
“Paige is with another table and asked me to come see what you want to do about your appetizer. The chef says she is really sorry, but we just ran out of the appetizer special. She offered to create something similar, or you can pick something new from the menu.”
“What would be different if she recreates the special?”
“We ran out of the lump crab meat, but she can do something similar with jumbo shrimp.”
“What do you think?” I look at my girls and they shrug a shoulder. “Ok, she can surprise us.” She smiles really big and hops to go back to the kitchen, but then stops and ask, “Do you need anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
After she’s gone and we’ve decide what we want, it’s nice sitting here together. The booth is pretty private from the rest of the restaurant and only a small sliver of the rest of the restaurant can see us. Our booth faces the woodfire grill that’s shielded by thick glass so we can watch the fire burn and the meats grill and roast. It’s relaxing and reminds me of home a little bit. Awenasa loops her arm in mine and leans in closer with a smile on her face as she watches the fire. I kiss her temple and she smiles wider and lays her head on my shoulder.
“Here you are, compliments of the chef. You have lemon steamed cold water jumbo shrimp butterflied, grilled, and topped with a lemon, caper, chive, and dill cream cheese, with a lemon oil drizzle.”
Paige sets a long rectangular plate down and five small square plates. She rests a set of tongs on the edge of the plates and places her hands behind her back.
“Are you ready to order or would you like me to come back after you’ve finished your appetizer.” We shake our heads and quickly give her our order. After she puts her notepad back in her apron, she picks up the almost empty pitcher of fruit water. “I’ll get you a refill on this. Anything else I can get for you, ladies?”
“Just the water, thanks.”
She smiles and nods once as she turns to walk away.
“Wow, this looks too good to eat.”
Shannon hands each of us a plate and then I carefully dish up a giant shrimp onto each plate.
Before I dive into my shrimp, I take a picture out of it, because it’s just so pretty. Sara also loves shrimp, so I’ll text it to her later to tease her.
If it’s possible, this thing tastes even better than it looks. We moan and fall backwards against the soft cushioned booth as we savor our first bite.
“Oh, wow, this is amazing. This chef is a genius. Babies, can you make these?” Shannon and Awenasa laugh a little and Shannon shrugs a shoulder. “We could attempt it, but I seriously doubt I can get anywhere near this in flavor.”
“I think you can do it. You’re an amazing cook.” Shannon smiles and blushes a little as she leans forward to kiss my lips. “Thank you, sweetie.”
“Hi.” We look up and Stacey is back again. “How is the appetizer?” At once, we all say, “Delicious”, and she smiles really big. “Hey, can you get a picture of us?” She practically jumps forward to take my phone. All of my girls lean in and she takes a few pictures. She scrolls through them and smiles before handing my phone back. “They turned out really good.”
“Thank you.”
After she leaves, we look at the pictures together and I can’t stop smiling.
“All of you look stunning. We should print this out.”
We finish off every little speck of our appetizer as Paige is returning with a fresh pitcher of fruit water, another basket of rolls, and a dish of butter. She places a square plate on the table with a dish that I don’t recognize as something any of us ordered.
“Uh, I don’t think we ordered this.” She smiles and sets five fresh plates down and stacks the dirty plates. “Compliments of the chef. It medium rare beef tenderloin medallions with a chipotle coffee butter crumble. Enjoy.”
She leaves with our dirty plates and we look at each other confused and laugh a little.
“Was this how it was when you were in New York?” Sam smiles at Madison and her fair white cheeks blush a light pink. “Yeah, sorry you had to miss that.” Madison smiles and kisses her lips. “It’s ok.”
I take a picture of the amazing looking plate and then dish up the golf ball size medallions for each of us. Again, each of us releases an audible moan of enjoyment. They are so tender and just melt in the mouth. The chipotle coffee crumble reminds me of a rub my mom makes when she roasts tenderloin over the fire pit at home.
Just as we’re finishing, Paige is back with another plate and I laugh hard. She smiles and collects the dirty plates again.
“This is the last one before your meals come out. The chef has prepared romaine lettuce boats filled with crawfish and shrimp ceviche, topped with diced jicama, avocado, jalapeno, and cilantro. Enjoy.”
As I’ve done with the others, I take a picture of the gorgeous plate before dishing up a romaine boat for each of us. I want to remember everything about this day with my babies. We had ceviche for the first time in New York, but this one is actually way better.
The meals are brought out shortly after we finish the delicious boats, and they look like extra care was taken in making them just perfectly. The food is better than we’ve ever had here and even though we’re all stuff, we force ourselves to eat every bite because it’s just so good.
“How was everything.”
I have my head tilted back with my eyes closed and I’m holding my stomach when the new voice comes to our table. I open my eyes and smile. It’s a tall thin woman wearing a white chef’s jacket and she has a small happy smile on her face.
“Everything was unbelievable. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. When Stacey came running into the kitchen to tell us who was dining in here, I wanted to do something special for you.”
“Why?”
“I have two daughters and both of them were in your class yesterday. My youngest daughter has down syndrome and she was watching on the sidelines when you stopped the class and invited her out to the front row with you. My husband told me what you did and after you posted the video, I watched it at least a dozen times. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you saw my daughter as a human being with potential and not a waste of space like so many people do. She was begging us all night to enroll her, so my husband is supposed to call Jaime today to see if it’s possible. You woke something up inside her and gave our family hope in something better for her.”
The woman has tears in he
r eyes. I nudge Madison and she and Sam slide out so I can give her a hug. The woman wraps her arms around me and releases a small sob into my neck. I hold onto her for a few minutes and when she pulls back, she wipes her eyes and smiles.
“You should be very proud. Alexis is a beautiful girl with a ball of energy in her just burning to be used up. She’s a girl just like any other and she wants to play and learn just like everyone else.”
“You remember her name.” I smile and nod. “Having Alexis in my class was one of my favorite moments from yesterday. You really didn’t need to test the strength of the button on my shorts though by stuffing me with so much amazing food.” She laughs and looks down for a moment and then looks at my girls. “I wanted to say thank you, and this was my way of working up the nerve to come out here. Anyway, I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Thank you. You really are a very good person. I hope you’ll be back at the studio soon. My other daughter, Courtney, just can’t stop talking about the class and is just so inspired to work harder to be like you and Jaime. Really, thank you for what you did for our girls.”
“It was my pleasure. Thank you for the delicious meal.”
She nods and waves to my girls before she walks back to the kitchen. I slide back in the booth and my girls look at me with teary eyes and affectionate smiles on their faces.
“It actually doesn’t feel silly anymore that we were just spoiled. That was really sweet of her.”
Their smiles widen, and as Awenasa is leaning in to kiss me, Paige comes back with the check. She smiles and opens the billfold so we all can see it. The total is zero with a handwritten note that reads, “Thank you for being an amazing human being.”
“Wait, what?” Paige smiles and places the billfold on the table. “Dana took care of the bill and the tip, so please don’t leave anything on the table. I saw the video as well. Thank you for doing that. Dana has such a hard time with how people treat her daughter in public. You have no idea how moved she is by what you did.”
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you doesn’t seem like enough.” She smiles and shakes her head. “For Dana, a meal is no comparison to what you did for her family. Feel free to take your time and relax, but please don’t worry about the bill.”
“Ok, thank you. Please tell Dana thank you for me.” She nods and turns to walk away. “I will. Have a nice day.”
Chapter Fifteen
I feel like I’m getting ready for prom or something. Jaime and I made it through the qualifying round with a pretty high score, so now we’re changing into our fancier attire for our final dance. For the first dance, we were able to keep the attire simpler. She wore a cute red and black dress and I wore a pair of black pants and a white button up collar shirt.
We haven’t allowed anyone to come watch rehearsals so that they’d be surprised when they watch us dance. All of my girls came and were practically in tears when we finished. They couldn’t stop gushing over how good the dance was. Our second dance is even better. I can’t wait for them to see it.
After I’m changed into my all black tuxedo with a cream and gold bowtie and vest, I walk back out to the foyer of the giant ritzy hotel to find my girls. I smile really big and stop several paces back just to look at them. They’re all dressed in fancy evening dresses and have their hair and makeup done with delicate jewelry making their ears and necks glitter.
Shannon turns to look around and spots me before the others and smiles really big. None of them have seen my tuxedo yet. I went alone with Jaime to pick it out and wouldn’t show it to them till the big day so they’d be surprised. I pull my hand out of my pocket, button my jacket, and walk over to my babies.
They watch me with so much love and happiness that I feel like I’m walking towards all of my brides on my wedding day.
“Kayla, you look exquisite.” I smile and kiss Shannon. “Thank you, baby. All of you look absolutely gorgeous. Are you having fun?”
“Yes, we’ve seen some really good dances. Some of the costumes are really wild. There is a lot of silk and sequins in that hall.” I laugh a little and look between them and inhale deeply. “Sounds like they need to take a page from your fashion books. I know I already told you, but you look fantastic. Where did you get these dresses?”
With my excitement and nerves, I completely forgot to ask them about their attire tonight. I was stunned speechless when they met me in the living room fully dressed before we left the apartment.
“We went shopping when you were at your dress rehearsal with Jaime.”
“Speaking of Jaime. Holy shit.”
I follow Sam’s gaze and slack jaw and my own jaw drops as I watch Jaime descend the stairs. As she reaches the landing, our eyes lock and she smiles really big. We start walking towards each other and I feel my heartrate increase so badly that its pounding in my ears.
Her dress is cream and gold and she’s wearing a pair of gold strappy heels. The dress has a narrow strap around the back of her neck, and a form fitting top in the shape of a V that gives a small peek of her cleavage and leaves her entire stomach exposed. The skirt reaches just to her knees and is flowing pieces of alternating cream and gold satin that sort of forms a V as well to leave most of the outside of her thighs exposed. I remember from dress rehearsal that her entire back is exposed and only a thin string around where a bra would sit keeps the top secured to her body, aside from the narrow strap behind her neck.
Jaime is wearing her hair up in an intricate lattice with gold beads dotting it and she has small diamond studs in her ears. Her makeup is lightly applied, even though she doesn’t need any.
When we reach each other, I take a deep breath and swallow hard.
“You look stunning.” She leans, placing her hands on my shoulders, and kisses my cheek. “Thank you, so do you.”
I cheese really big and she giggles and loops her arm in mine to walk back over to my girls. I place my other hand on hers holding my arm and look over at her smiling.
“I don’t think you need me tonight. Just stand in the center of the floor and you got this.” She smiles really big and laughs a little. “I can’t wait to dance with you out there.”
We reach my girls and they’re all smiling at us and laugh a little as they stare at us. Madison leans forward and gives Jaime a quick hug.
“You look beautiful. You’re both glowing together. I can’t wait to see this top-secret dance.”
“Thank you. We’ll be up soon, so we should go in so you can find a place to stand or sit so you can watch.”
We walk across the foyer and into the giant fancy hall that is full of finely dressed men and woman, camera crews filming and televising the event, and scattered with nicely dressed tables and chairs surrounding a large wood dancefloor. We spot a table near one of the corners of the dancefloor that’s mostly empty, and we make a beeline for it so my girls can claim the seats. As soon as they’re seated, two men with cheesy smiles walk over. As they’re starting to bend down to try to say something, I take a step closer.
“Don’t even waste your time.” My girls hadn’t noticed them, but they look up and slightly lean away from the uninvited table guests. The two men look between me and all of them with smirks. “You’re kidding, right? You can’t speak for all of them.” I show them my left hand with my rings and each of my girls hold up theirs. “They’re all mine. Now, walk away.”
“She doesn’t have a ring.” He nods towards Jaime, and I instinctively wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her in closer. Jaime places her hand on mine, and says, “I’m not interested.”
They mumble something incoherent under their breath and walk away.
“You didn’t warn me about the vultures that would be here.” Jaime smiles and turns in my arm, making my hand rest on her lower back. “I’ve never paid them any attention. Are you going to be able to focus on the dance or are you going to be distracted with what will be swarming around your girls?”
“I’ll be ok. Sam will cuss out anyone that gets on her ner
ves or tries to hit on one of our girls.” They laugh and Jaime smiles as she brushes her thumb across my cheek. “Ok, good, because we’re up next.”
Jaime places her hands on my bowtie, straightening it, and glides her hands over my shoulders and down my arms, making unnecessary adjustments, but I don’t mind it at all. The way she’s looking at me makes me feel safe and warm inside.
“Did you buy or rent that?” I look at Sam’s grinning face and my smile widens. “Bought it.” She smiles really big and licks her lips. “Good.” Jaime laughs a little and takes my hand. “We’ll see all of you in a little bit.”
I smile and wave as Jaime leads me away from them towards a table to the left of the judges table. We check in and confirm our music and wait for our cue to take the floor. Jaime squeezes my hand, so I look over and she stares in my eyes in her familiar penetrating way.
“How do you want to celebrate?” She smiles really big, and leans over to kiss my cheek. “Let me think about it.”
We’re called out onto the dancefloor and we walk out to the center of the floor. I turn Jaime to face me and she places her hands on the top of my chest and I place one hand at the base of the back of her neck and one on her left hip. We lean our heads together with our cheeks pressed together.
The music starts with a slow lazy flute and I allow my fingertips to glide down her spine and my other hand glides up her side. As my left hand reaches her lower back, and my right hand reaches her shoulder, there’s a hard beat in the music and I firmly pull her lower body against mine and we lift our heads to look in each other’s eyes. There’s another hard beat and I quickly grab her left hand with my right and pull it out to the side.
With her firmly pressed against me, we start to dance in beat with the music, stepping and twisting our hips and feet in perfect sync while we hold constant eye contact. I spin her to face away from me and with our fingers entwined, she locks her arms at her hips and I lift her off the floor and I spin us with her legs in a split. As I set her down, I spin her in place and then she falls backwards into me. I hold her above me as I lay on the floor, then slowly set her down on top of me. I glide my hands up her sides, take her hands, bring our arms out to the side, and we slowly rise up, and then fall again. I wrap our arms around her and we arch back up to a sitting position. I bend into her neck, lift her arms up behind my head, wrap my arms around her waist, and with her in my embrace, we start to stand.