Forever Yours

My next pay check came from a commercial for Gillette. Zack was so proud of me and actually wanted to throw a party to celebrate, but I talked him out of it. It was just a commercial after all. The big money is in TV movies and long running plays. Of course I know that the really big money is in movies, but that’ll never happen.
I decided that I would use my new spurt of money to take Zack and my little brother out for dinner. I would’ve invited Jenna, but according to Zack who talked to Greg, she hasn’t come out of her bedroom for days—not including bathroom breaks and showers.
I called my dad’s number and prayed for Rachel to answer, and she did. They probably have caller ID. She agreed to let me take Matt for a couple of hours to eat dinner. So, Zack and I got ready and we headed over to their house.
Zack and I both went to the door. Rachel smiled and let us in. Matt came running out of the living room to hug me and I scooped him up.
“Hey buddy,” I said.
“Rain, are you here to play?”
“I’m here so we can go eat at a fancy restaurant. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah!”
“Cool, go get your shoes on.”
I put him down and he went running back into the living room.
“Rachel, this is my Zack,” I said. “My boyfriend.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Zack.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. You have a great son.”
“Thanks,” she said proudly.
“I’ll go get the car started,” Zack told me. He pecked my on the cheek and left.
“So…I asked your father about what happened like you told me to,” said Rachel.
“Oh yeah,” I said. “What did he say?”
“He told me the truth,” she said. “That…that he beat you and tried to again.”
I cleared my throat and put my hand through my hair.
“We had a pretty decent sized argument. I really couldn’t believe that he would hurt his own child.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “I can see know why you’re so hostile and I appreciate you sucking it up for Matthew. You’re both good kids and you deserve to know each other.”
“I—I hope that everything is okay between you two now.”
“Yes, we…we worked it out.”
“That’s good,” I said. “I—I know that I have strong feelings against my father, but…I would never want anything to happen to this new family you’ve formed. For you, but especially for Matt.”
Matt came back into the foyer, walking this time and with his shoes on.
“We should go,” I said.
“Here, take the booster seat,” said Rachel.
I carried the booster seat in one hand and led Matt out of the house with the other. Matt waved goodbye to his mom and I put the booster seat in the car and then helped Matt into it.
Zack and talked and ate dinner while Matt colored in his mini coloring book the hostess gave him—the one that comes with three crayons.
It wasn’t really an eventful dinner. Later, we took Matt to see the new Disney movie. That’s where we really had fun. We had lots of popcorn, but we made sure that Matt didn’t have any candy or soda. We didn’t want to sugar him up and then dump him on his mother.
When we dropped him off at home, he didn’t want us to go. He kept hanging onto my hand and pulling me back into his house. I wanted to cry, but I stayed strong.
“No, I want you to stay!”
I knelt down in front of him and took his hands. I saw tears coming down his face and boogers running out of his nose. His face was pouty and angry.
“Matt, I’ll come back tomorrow and see you okay? We’ll have breakfast.”
“Okay,” he said wiping his tears.
“I promise.”
Rachel took Matt and picked him up. He lay over her shoulder. She walked upstairs, presumably to put him to bed. When she came back down, she looked sad.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“That’s okay,” I said. I was wiping my own tears.
“He’s really grown attached to you. Maybe it’s because he’s never had a brother.”
“I feel so bad about all this. I didn’t want to make him upset.”
“It’s just love,” she said.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I said. “Even if my dad’s here.”
“That’s very good of you,” said Rachel. “I’ll talk to him and make sure he behaves.”
“What time should I be over?” I asked.
“Come over about nine. Breakfast should be ready by then.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I should go, Zack’s waiting in the car.”
I walked out of the house and as soon as I got in the car, I broke down in tears. Zack immediately tended to me.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Matt had a tantrum because he didn’t want me to leave. He broke out in tears—snot and everything.”
“Oh my God, that’s really intense. I’m so sorry, Rain.”
“I just don’t know what to do. Obviously I can’t be here all the time. What am I supposed to do, come less often so he doesn’t get so attached to me? That’s not right.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Then what?”
“Well…maybe Rachel and your dad will agree to let him stay at our place for a while. It would just be for a few days or so, so he can spend some time with you.”
“That’s great, but where’s he supposed to sleep? We only have one bedroom.”
“Well, we have a sofa bed. We can sleep on that and he can sleep in our bedroom.”
“I don’t know about that, Zack. This would be a touchy subject, especially for my dad. Maybe I can discuss it with them tomorrow morning.” He looked at me questioningly. “I told Matt that I would come back tomorrow for breakfast.”
“Is that how you got him to calm down?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Well, let’s just go home and rest and prepare for tomorrow.”
Zack drove us home where Zack took a shower and then me. When I got out with a towel around my waist and another one that I was ruffling through my hair, I saw Zack lying on the bed with his tight trunk underwear on. He was drop dead gorgeous. I smiled when I saw him. He smiled back at me.
“Hey, kid,” he said.
“Hey,” I said. I leaned against the doorway of the bathroom.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I think that you’re the most beautiful person ever,” I said with a smirk.
“No, that would be you,” he said. “No hurry up and get over here. You’re torturing me with just that little towel around your waist.”
I got rid of the towel, walked over to the bed, and lay next to him. I propped myself up on my side and then traced a finger gently around Zack’s abs. Then I led my mouth to his abs and softly kissed them. Zack moaned with his mouth shut and caressed my head and put his fingers through my hair.
I got on top of Zack and put my face on top of his. “I love you,” I said.
He smiled. “I love you, too.”
I pecked him a kiss and he rolled me around so he was on top. I giggled and he kissed me.
“I really can’t believe that this is actually happening. I can’t believe I’m with you.”
“Rain, can you do me a favor?”
I smiled. “What?”
“Shut up and make love to me.”