Love in Theory and Practice: SWRMXS

In the early evening, around 7, there is a knock at the front door. The sun has slipped down a bit now and the backyard has started to dim. The light was incredible in the sunroom earlier and Callie actually shut the curtains to block some of the heat.

“I wonder who that could be.” I say and begin the process of getting up from the sofa.

“I’ll get it,” Callie says and dashes out of the room so I settle back down into Ville’s arms. But when I look at Bam, he has a wicked smile on his face.

“Bam,” Ville begins cautiously, “what’s going on?” Bam just shrugs but the look on his face can’t hide that he knows something is up.

Soon enough we hear voices approaching in the hallway.

“There will be more space outside on the patio.” I hear Callie say. And I hear Jason’s voice agreeing with her. Ville helps me get up a little faster than I would have been able on my own.

“Well aren’t you just extremely preggo. I mean you said you were and I’ve seen you on skype, but wow.” Jason says, wrapping his arms lovingly around me. “It’s a good thing Ville’s got long arms.” He jokes. After he releases me, he moves on and hugs Ville.

All of our LA friends begin to file into the sunroom then out on to the patio. Kat and others pass through with happy congratulations for us. But we’re both surprised when friends from Finland show up. Jyrki and Jussi from the 69 Eyes are here along with Ville’s band members and their families.

“Okay, so what is this about?” I ask when I’ve greeted everyone.

“It’s your baby shower.” Callie says happily and Bam wraps an arm around her shoulder, smiling.

“You should have told me!” I cry. “I would have changed my clothes!”

“Oh whatever,” she says and we follow Bam and Ville outside. “You’re pregnant. People don’t care what you wear – they only care that they are babies under there.” She says and rubs my belly.

“Wow, Callie! When did you find time to do this?” I ask when I see that my patio has been beautifully decorated for the party. Ville just chuckles and shakes his head.

“Remember when I said the sun was too direct and I closed the curtains? Well, when I shut them, Jason slipped in with a few others and got it all set up.” She says with pride.

“I’m impressed. You set up a surprise party while I was only feet away.”

“I’m good like that.” She says.

Ville and I get to catch up with all of our friends that we haven’t seen since our last visit to LA. Everyone is excited about the babies. Jason even promises to come to Finland when they’re born.

I sit with most of the women while Ville and the guys stand off closer to the pool. It amazes me just how the different sexes really will congregate together. It reminds me of junior high dances when you spent most of your time with your girl friends hoping a boy would detach and ask you to dance.

Kat is incredibly excited and we catch up rather quickly about her relationship and her hopes to have her own kids some day but no time soon. I am happy to see all my friends and the excitement reaches the babies and they start moving around vigorously. Everyone who wants to puts their hands on my stomach to feel them.

“Presents time!” Callie calls out and begins to pull presents from a massive stack that I hadn’t even noticed. “Ville you have to help.” She says and he chuckles before settling in beside me on the lounge chair.

Everyone brought gifts and after everything is opened, Ville looks at me and begins in to laugh. I look at him confused. “We’ll just have to have a party like this every time they grow a size.” He says through his laughter. “Having kids is cheap when your friends pay for everything.”

I just smile and shake my head. “I think they only do this once for each baby.” He just shrugs and falls into conversation with Jyrki.

Some of the girls Callie invited are my old friends from school and they immediately bring up all my drunken antics and how much fun we all used to have together. Ville seems amused by the stories for a while before the girls launch into my antics with men.

“Alright,” I say, exasperated, “that’s enough of that Allie.” She turns to me then to Ville before stopping the flow of stories. Ville relaxes beside me and after a few minutes, conversation returns to normal topics.

The last guests (Bam, Callie and Jason) leave around 11:30 and Ville and I slip into bed, exhausted by 11:45.

“Well that was interesting.” Ville says in the dark.

“It was nice to see everyone.” I say, shifting in an attempt to get comfortable.

“Your friends Allie and Michelle were very nice.” He says rather bitterly.

“Ville, don’t start.” I say more harshly than I intend. “We’ve talked about all that already. We didn’t give details about our pasts and I thought this was discussion was over?”

“I had no idea you were so much fun back then.” He continues, sarcastically.

“What and I’m no fun now?” I’m getting angry.

“Not like that.” He says and moves his arms up under his head.

“Well neither are you so we’re even. Look, I don’t want to talk about this but is there something I’ve left out of my history report to you that you’re looking to find out?”

“No, it’s not like that El.” He says quietly. “But could you imagine how it must feel to hear that stuff? My friends don’t do that.”

“Your friends do it all the time. They bring up your drunken adventures almost every time we see them. The difference is that there aren’t any women in your stories and there are men in mine. It’s not really how they make it sound. I wasn’t tramping around. I had 3 guys in university that I was with. That’s it.”

“I know Elin. It’s just that I don’t really want to think about that. You’re mine and I don’t like to think about you with others.” He says. He rolls over towards me and peers into my face. “But I’ve made you angry.”

“Yes, you have made me angry. So now I’m going to go to sleep and we’ll start fresh in the morning.” I say and bury my cheek into my pillow.

“Alright.” He says, admitting defeat. Sometimes Ville and I will argue through what’s bothering us but sometimes we’ll just step away from each other and come back together later. “Well, Happy Anniversary anyway.” He says rather sadly.

“Happy Anniversary Ville.” I say with a small smile. I kiss his cheek gently. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning.”