by Amy Sparling
Chapter 11
Becca calls me the next morning and I let the call go to voicemail since I’m sitting in the kitchen with Jace and his parents. Julie is making pancakes and bacon after having successfully argued with her son for five minutes about who gets to make breakfast. Jace had argued that they’re our guests and that he should serve us all breakfast. She had said that she’s the mother and it’s her pleasure and that she’d love to. In the end, his mom won. But Jace made sure he made us all coffee.
I feel like a slightly terrible wife and person in general because I didn’t argue at all. It’s not that I don’t want to be welcoming to our guests, but let’s face it: I can’t cook. Over the last two weeks I’ve tried to make somewhat healthy lunches and dinners in my goal to work out and get fit, and most of them have been terrible calamities that make our kitchen look like some kind of war zone. I’m not sure I’ll ever know how to cook.
Gary and Jace are laughing about something that happened in the world of professional motocross and Julie chuckles while flipping a pancake. Jett is hanging out in his high chair pulled up next to the kitchen island where I sit with my coffee and a magazine. When I was younger, all I wanted was to move out and be on my own and away from any form of parents. But now that I’m a wife and this is my apartment, it’s kind of cool having them over for a visit.
The phone rings again from its place on the kitchen island, but it’s silenced so only I notice it. Answering a call during all of this morning family time would be rude, but Becca isn’t the kind of person to call twice in a row unless it’s important. I glance around and everyone is pretty occupied with their conversations. Jett’s tiny finger plays with a Cheerio on his high chair, so since everyone is content, I grab my phone and slip off down the hallway to call Becca.
“It’s here,” she says, almost in a whisper.
“What’s here?”
“Your present for Jace. The delivery guys just beat on our door because no one was at the track to accept it.”
“Wait a second,” I say, holding up a hand even though she can’t see it. “Our door? Did you just say our door?”
“Oh my god, shut up. You know what I mean.”
I can’t help but smile. “You mean Park’s door. The door to Park’s house that you’re totally spending the night at, right?”
She sighs but I can tell she’s smiling, too. “Are you going to come see this thing or not? And what are you going to do about it? They’re a day early and I had to break down and explain it all to Park.”
The plan was for my anniversary gift to Jace to be delivered tomorrow, on our anniversary, and while he was at work to get it. It was also a surprise for Park because I didn’t tell him about it, but it’s not a big deal if he knows early. “What did Park say?” I ask. “Did he like it?”
“Are you kidding? He loves it. I had to threaten him not to say anything to Jace, on penalty of death.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Awesome. If he hated it then we’d be screwed.”
“So what do you want me to do? They said they can either install it now or leave it and we’d have to install it ourselves.”
“What?” I practically shout, but then I remember to keep my voice down. “No! They can’t install it now because Jace will see it when we drive by and they can’t just leave it.”
There’s a shuffle sound on the line and Becca tells me to hold on. A few seconds later she returns. “Park says he can install it himself if we want to wait until tomorrow.”
“Is he sure?”
“Are you sure?” she asks him in the background. “Yep, he said he can do it.”
“Awesome.” I grin. This is the perfect anniversary gift ever. Even if Jace has forgotten the date, I haven’t. “I have to get back to the family, but I’ll call you later.”
“Sure thing. Park wants me back in bed anyhow,” she says.
“Gross!” I say, blowing a raspberry into the phone before I hang up.
#
We spend most of the morning hanging out at home, watching TV and catching up. Mostly, Jace’s parents want to play with Jett and comment on how adorably cute he is in everything he does. Julie gets him to say “gama” after a few minutes of prodding and Gary, who wants to be called “pop” makes everyone laugh when he has Jett saying Pop after only one try.
“You two have nothing on momma over here,” Jace says, wrapping an arm across the back of the couch and squeezing my shoulders. “Jett says momma like a thousand times a day.” He looks at me and smiles. “She’s the favorite.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, duh.”
“So,” Julie says, excitement glimmering in her eyes. I almost know what’s coming before she says it. “Should we get ready for dinner? I’m craving Italian food, what you about you guys?”
“Dinner?” I ask, mentally scrambling for a way to talk everyone out of it. “It’s only three o’clock. Shouldn’t we wait until actual dinner time?”
“Oh I’m starving now,” Julie says, looking around the room for confirmation. “How about we get an early dinner and then maybe ice cream later?”
Jace nods. “Sounds good, I’m starving.”
I turn to him with pleading eyes, but he doesn’t seem to get it. I do not want to go out to a restaurant with Jett. It’s nearly impossible to keep him quiet and good and that’s not counting all the food he’ll end up throwing on the floor and all over the place. I hate taking a baby to a restaurant and Jace knows this.
“Why don’t we just order food to go and eat it here?” I ask. “We could rent a movie or something?”
“Oh but I love going out!” Julie says. “It’ll be fun. And it’s our treat.”
I sigh. “Jett is kind of a handful at restaurants.”
Julie brings her eyebrows together and stares at Jett in a playful manner. “Is my little man a handful?” she coos. “What’s that?” She looks up at me. “He says he’ll be good, Mom.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay then I guess we can go.”
“Great!” Julie says, grabbing Jett and making faces at him. “We need to get a nice early dinner in so we can be back in time.”
“Time for what?” I say.
She flinches. “Time for this little guy to get to bed,” she says, glancing at Jace. “I know his bedtime is early, huh?”
Something tells me she’s lying about something, but I’m not going to bring it up and make things awkward. I’m already scared to bring my kid to a nice restaurant that will be full of random people who will be just dying to judge me and my bad parenting when my kid starts screaming or throwing food.
I sigh and pull myself up out of the couch. “Guess I’ll go get dressed.”
#
Dinner went pretty much exactly as I feared. Jett was really excited to be in a new place but then he was upset to be stuck in one of those wooden high chairs next to our table instead of being able to sit in my lap. But everyone, Jace included, seems to think I’m some kind of overreacting weirdo for getting so stressed about it.
I just really hate being the person with the loud, cranky baby in a restaurant. Eventually we all took turns holding him to keep him quiet and happy and Jace’s parents told stories about how terrible Jace was when he was a baby. Apparently one time he threw his bottle at a waitress and broke her glasses. They tipped her very well.
But now that the stress of the evening is over and we’re back home, at a ridiculously early five o’clock in the afternoon, Jett is being a little sweetheart. Of course. Julie and Gary sit on the floor in the living room playing with him and his piles of toys.
I return from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and hand one to Jace before I sit next to him on the couch.
“Thanks, babe,” he says, tipping the mug to his lips. He wraps an arm around my shoulders as I sit down.
“So I take it you still haven’t told her,” Julie says with a slight sing song in her voice.
“Haven’t told me what?” I ask, glancing from her to Jace.
; His eyes go wide in a glare at his mother. He turns to me. “Well, no I haven’t told you yet. I was going to wait a little longer.”
“What exactly are you not telling me?” I say as I stand up, feeling ten kinds of annoyance twist around in my stomach. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not at all,” he says, holding back a smile. “It’s actually just been fun watching you get all upset.”
I put a hand on my hip. “Tell me what you’re talking about.”
Julie clears her throat. “Yeah, son you might have waited a little too long.”
He bites his bottom lip and stands up, taking my hands in his. “Okay, so my parents didn’t just come over to see the track.”
“Okay . . .” I say, narrowing my eyes at him. On the floor, Jett calls my name and tries to hand me his toy dirt bike. “So why did they come over?”
“They came down here to babysit for a couple of days.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Why?”
Jace’s eyes crinkle when he smiles. “Because I’m taking you on an anniversary getaway.”
Chapter 12
“You’re kidding,” I say, my face expressionless.
Jace shakes his head and his mom claps while she sits on the floor, playing with Jett. “Not kidding. I planned a little trip for us to Dallas. It’s not that far away and it’s not super glamourous, but I figured we could spare a couple of days to celebrate being married two years.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Babe!” I say, slapping his chest. “You’ve had this planned the whole time?”
He nods, gazing down on me with this look of satisfaction on his face. “Yep.”
“And why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I was going to, but then I could tell you were getting mad at me for not planning anything and it just got too good. I had to make you wait a little longer.”
I laugh and try to punch him in the stomach but he catches my hand. “You are such a jerk.”
He leans down and gives me a quick kiss. “Aren’t you glad you married me?”
I roll my eyes. “Hardly.”
“We should probably go get our stuff packed,” he says. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“Awesome,” I say, pausing a moment later. I kneel on the floor and pick up Jett, squeezing him in my arms. “I’m going to miss this kid though.”
“He’ll be fine,” Julie assures me. “I’ll take super good care of him. And Jace put this app on my phone that will let us talk to each other in a video chat so you can tell him goodnight.”
“Cool,” I say, grinning while Jett pats my face with his tiny chubby hand. I haven’t been away from Jett like this, but he’s really happy with his grandparents and I’m sure he’ll be fine. And a couple of nights without changing diapers would be kind of an awesome break.
“Although this is really amazing of you,” I say, glaring at Jace. “You better not do this next year.”
“No worries,” he says, holding up his hands. “It was entirely too hard to keep this a secret for so long. Next year you’re just getting a present.”
The mention of a present makes me startle. “When did you say we’re leaving?”
“Like six in the morning,” he says. “I have a whole spa day planned for us in Dallas.”
My heartbeat quickens and I plaster on a fake smile and then excuse myself to the other room, saying I need to pack. Instead, I slip into my closet and call Becca.
“Red alert,” I say in a hushed tone.
“Huh?” she says. “Since when do you use code words like red alert?”
I roll my eyes. “This is bad. I need to talk to Park.”
“Okay, calm down, Bay. What’s bad? What happened?”
I take a deep breath and explain to her what just happened with Jace and his surprise anniversary getaway.
“Oh my god, that’s amazing!” she squeals. “Why is this bad? You thought he forgot about the date and he so didn’t.”
“It’s bad because my present for him is a sign that Park said he’d install later on. But I kind of need it to be installed like, now.”
“What do you mean?”
I pace the length of the closet, thinking about how terrible it would be to spend our anniversary without a real present to show him. “We’re leaving at six in the morning. We’ll drive by the track on the way to Dallas and I’d like to be able to show him his present. If it’s not up, then it just won’t have as much impact, you know?”
“Yeah, I see your point,” she says. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speakerphone. Okay say it all again.”
“Hi Bayleigh,” Park says into the phone.
I repeat the whole story to him, while pacing in the closet and trying not to freak out. “I know I’m asking a lot but . . . is there any way you could install that sign tonight?”
“Of course,” he says without missing a beat. “That won’t be a problem.”
“Thanks Park, you’re the best,” I say as a wave of relief washes over me. “I guess I’ll see you guys in three days.”
“Have fun,” Park says.
“Be good!” Becca says. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
#
Jace is dying for some sexy times when we go to bed a few hours later. But we both lie in our bed, the bedroom door closed, and look at each other.
“This is too weird,” I say, scrunching my face. “Your parents are just down the hall. I don’t think I can do this.”
“Yeah, I can’t either.” Jace sighs and leans over, wrapping an arm around me. I snuggle into his shoulder and run my finger across his bare chest.
“Maybe we should just sleep tonight,” I say.
He kisses my forehead. “Yep.”
Chapter 13
When our alarm clock goes off the next morning, I am overjoyed to climb out of bed. And that’s pretty much the opposite reaction I have on any other morning. I sit up and throw the blankets off me and then lean over to Jace’s nightstand and turn of his phone alarm. He’s already in the bathroom, brushing his teeth.
“Good morning,” he says, walking out of the bathroom in nothing but his boxers.
“Happy anniversary,” I say, grinning as his arms slide around my waist and he pulls me in for a hug.
“Happy anniversary,” he whispers back, his lips on mine. He tastes minty and perfect and we kiss a few more times before I pull away. “I have something for you.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow.
Jace reaches under his side of the bed and pulls out a small box wrapped in golden paper and tied with a bright purple ribbon. He hands it to me. “Thanks for being my wife for two years.”
“Jace!” I take the box, which is so beautifully wrapped that I kind of don’t want to mess it up. “Your present was taking me to Dallas. I don’t need anything else.”
“You needed this,” he says, his lips twisting into a smile. “Go on, open it.”
I peel off the paper carefully and find a black velvet box inside. Expecting jewelry, I am not surprised when I see a white gold chain necklace with a heart pendant. But the surprise comes in what’s on the pendant. I pick up the heart and run my thumb across the ridges in the metal.
“Is this . . . ?” I say.
“Fingerprints,” Jace supplies the word for me. He points to the left side of the heart. “That’s mine, and the other side is Jett’s.”
My eyes get watery. “You put your fingerprints into metal for me?”
He nods, a cheesy grin on his face. “We went to a jeweler. He cast our fingerprints in clay and then made a mold of it for the gold pendant. Cool, huh?”
I clutch the necklace in my hand and bring it to my chest. “This is so perfect. Your present is so much better than mine. I don’t even want to give it to you now.”
“Let’s see it,” he says. “I bet it rocks.”
I shake my head. “You’ll have to get dressed to see your present. It’s at the track.”
>
“Awesome,” he says, tugging on a pair of jeans. “Let’s get going.”
Since Jett is still asleep when we’re ready to leave, I just give him a kiss on the head and don’t bother waking him up. Julie swears he will be fine and I’ll just have to believe her. But with the way his grandparents spoil him, I don’t think he’ll even notice we’re gone.
Once we’re in the truck, I can’t stop touching the heart around my neck and thinking about how those two fingerprints belong to the two people I love the most in this world.
But as we near the track, I start getting nervous about revealing my present to Jace. It’s nothing compared to a personalized necklace but I guess I should have known all along that nothing I do can compare to his thoughtful gifts.
“Okay, I wish you could close your eyes but you’re driving so . . .” I say as we turn onto the county road where the track is located.
“Can I see it from the road?” Jace asks, lifting an eyebrow.
I nod. “Yep. That’s kind of the idea of the whole gift.”
“Now I’m intrigued,” he says, narrowing his eyes as he tries to focus into the distance.
I see the present before he does, because I know what to look for. My breath catches in my throat and a few seconds later, Jace gasps. He leans forward over the steering wheel as he gazes off to the side of the road. The truck slows down and his mouth falls open.
“Oh my god,” he says. “No way.”
We pull to a stop on the side of the road. In front of us, marking the gravel driveway of our new business is a massive white sign that’s been professionally designed and printed.
The Track – Motocross Training is printed in a kickass rugged font. Below it are Park and Jace’s names and photos along with our website address and phone number.
I look over at him, trying to discern if he’s happy or not. “Do you like it?”
“Did you do this?” he asks, his eyes shining in the early morning sun.
I nod. “Happy anniversary.”
Jace’s seatbelt flies off and he slides over next to me. His strong hand wraps around my neck and he pulls me in for a kiss that’s passionate and crazy and perfect.