Amor Vicissitudine

"Anthony! We're gonna be late!" Sicily knew fair and square that Anthony wasn't my full name but she insisted that she call me that. She claimed it sounded better that way,

"Geez, mom I'll be down in a minute." I whined like a little kid and fixed my jacket so it was a little more comfortable on my body. Even though we only found out yesterday that we were having a kid she was behaving more and more like a mother as the hours passed,

"Anthony Perry, don't you give me that lip!" She laughed her way from the kitchen back into our bedroom where she kissed my lips softly and pushed me back into the wall, "We have to go." She back away from me and hooked her finger in that kid of, 'come here you' sense and let her fingers linger on my jacket for a second as she backed away,

"Oh, come on. You take so long to get ready all the time and the one time I take a while you get all moody?" I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back and kissing her neck, "Don't get so angry, it's not good for the baby."

Sicily just scoffed at me and walked away. Oh, now she's getting all mad? She'll be a wonderful mom,

"You know what's not good for the baby? A daddy like you," She joked with me, poking my chest as we walked out of the apartment,

"Oh, you little.." I let my voice trail off as I ruffled her hair, "Let's take our minds off of the baby for a little while and just have fun on this date, okay?" She wandered with me to my car and wiggled into the passenger's seat, slamming the door behind herself,

"Okay, but before the date starts we're gonna need a bigger car that isn't my truck."

I shut the door and looked at the steering wheel. Ci had better not be asking me to get rid of this car. I'd gotten it as a present for my sixteenth birthday from my uncle- who was far better off than anyone in my family- had bought and paid for in full by the time I'd gotten it.

I'd had it for ten years and it was my baby. Nobody is taking it away from me,

"Okay, but we aren't getting rid of my car." I started the engine and looked at her,

"I can't afford another car. We can get rid of my truck, but there goes helping with moving stuff." Oh yeah, we still needed to move into Hime's house,

"Well, maybe when you're a little bigger we can get Jaxin and all them to help us." We'd only need to take a few things considering Jaime already had everything in the house that we wouldn't really need.

I drove away from the apartment and took the directions that Sicily had given me,

"We're going to Lakeside? I thought you meant like along the beach or something?" I really had thought it was going to be a beach ride but I guess not,

"Yes it is going to be a beach ride, but my friends wanted to get you to meet the horses before we left."

I chuckled and shook my head as I got onto the exit that would take us to the Hills,

"Your friends are strange." Another fifteen minutes later and we arrived at a larger property, having to drive along a dirt road until we got to where they actually kept the horses.

I pulled up next to the truck that was parked in the long driveway and turned the car off.

Once I got out into the outside air it felt and smelt disgusting. It was dry and there was a heavy santa ana blowing through the property. The house was bigger in size and there was a gate going along the back.

There were large trees all around the property, disguising some loud animals that were squawking away in their hidden places.

I put my hood over my hat and shut my car's door before walking around to close Sicily's door for her,

"What's making that sound?" I commented on the squawking that was echoing over the property and Sicily chuckled quietly,

"That's a peacock. They make awesome guard dogs." Woah.

I'd heard of people having peacocks as guard birds before but I'd never actually seen one. This was interesting,

"Oh. That's so neat." Sicily just chuckled at me again and slipped her arm into mine, hooking her elbow so I stayed close to her.

I reached my hand up and laced my fingers into hers and kissed her cheek. She walked with me to the front door and rang the doorbell politely,

"I'm comin'!" A woman who sounded like she was in her late thirties early forties answered the call.

I looked down at Ci and raised an eyebrow which she shrugged off.

A few heel clicks later and the door was swung open, a woman with red hair wearing a white flannel style shirt that was tucked into white washed jeans that were held up above her belly button by a huge brass belt buckle.

Go back to Texas,

"Sicily!" She shouted excitedly, having recognized her, "Come on in, hun! How are you? And who is this.." She hesitated, noting my tattoos and piercings, "handsome, young man?" Thanks,

"Edith! I'm doing great! I'm pregnant actually! And this is my boyfriend!" Edith's face dropped when she heard 'boyfriend' instead of husband, "Tony, this is my aunt, Edith. Edith, this is my wonderful boyfriend, Tony." She extended her hand out to me, awkwardly, and I shook with just as much tension as she had,

"It's nice to meet you, hun. Please, come in, grab yourselves a glass of lemonade." Wow she even had lemonade. There are too many stereotypes in my life for me to be this surprised, "Sicily, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Sicily nodded and they walked from the foyer to the kitchen.

While they were doing what they were doing I wandered into the living room and sat down on the sofa. I let my legs stretch out as I studied my surroundings.

The walls were high and made of a dark wood and had been decorated with paintings of scenes from the Old West. On the coffee table in front of me there were several magazines featuring a new type of mask thing that kept the flies off your horse's face.

I sighed and tapped my feet on the hardwood as my eyes wandered around the different knick-knacks around the living room. This house was so cute.

Sicily and Edith came back into the living room and Sicily was all smiles.

Either something really good happened, or something bad happened,

"Well, do you two want to get going to the beach?" Edith smiled warmly at us and we both nodded,

"Yeah, let's get going!"

I stood up and Sicily wrapped her arm around my waist and I mine over her shoulders. Edith walked us from the house into the yard and then back to where they kept the horses.

She walked us to an area that was empty of anything except for a pair of horses.

One was bigger and an orange color while the other was a medium sized animal that was a deep brown with black points.

Oh dear,

"Alright Tony, you'll be riding Sunny." Edith pointed at the brown horse, "Sicily you'll be riding Jasper." She pointed to the orange colored one, "Well I guess we'll be going down to the beach then?" Sicily nodded but despite what she'd been signalling she walked over to the horse, letting her hand play over it's neck.

At the feeling of her hand the horse turned its head around to look at her. Sicily laughed as he nudged his nose into her stomach,

"Tony c'mere." She waved me over with that big, beautiful smile on her face.

I chuckled and walked over, slipping my hand into hers. She lifted my hand and set it on the horse's nose.

The fur was soft and flat against the skull.

I moved so Sicily was standing in front of me and wrapped my other arm around her middle, kissing her neck softly,

"I'm loving this date already." She laughed at me and turned around, kissing my lips,

"Me too."