Anything I Want

I was excited--but also nervous--to spend the afternoon with Brody's mom.  I got to the restaurant we were meeting at for lunch a little early, and I fiddled with my phone in my car for a few minutes before I went inside.  She wasn't there yet, but she arrived shortly after I did and greeted me warmly.  Once we were seated, she eagerly asked for a wedding planning update.  I showed her the dress that Lauren and Lynn had picked out and talked about the food options Brody and I had been discussing in passing.

"He doesn't really want a wedding cake, which is fine by me," I told her.  "I think we're just going to do a bunch of different desserts instead."  She shared that she had gotten her invitation and had just put her RSVP in the mail on her way here.  "I can't wait to start getting them in the mail," I confessed.  "It's kind of exciting."

Then I noticed she was wearing a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings and commented on them.  "Oh, these?" she asked, and I noticed her cheeks flush a little.  "Yes, thank you.  They're lovely, aren't they?"  That's all she said, and I wondered if they were from the man she was seeing.

After lunch we went straight to our florist appointment.  Thalia was more helpful than I could have imagined, asking all the right questions and helping me pick out what I wanted based on a few pictures I showed them.

"How about centerpieces?" the florist asked.  "Are you going to want any sort of floral arrangements for those?"

"Ummmm..." I said, looking at Thalia and shrugging.  "I hadn't really thought about it."

"I have some ideas, if you'd like to hear them," Thalia said.  I nodded and she started talking about bouquets and submerged flowers and succulents and all sorts of things.  The florist showed me some pictures and we ended up picking some things out for centerpieces in the end.

As we walked out, Thalia asked, "Were there any other wedding things you wanted to do today?"

"Well, Brody suggested I stop at the jeweler and look at wedding rings again," I said.  I looked at my watch.  "I have time, so I think I'm going to.  You're welcome to join me if you want, but if you don't want to watch me try every ring in the store on, don't feel obligated!"

"I'd love to join you," she said.

I'd forgotten that she knew Don as well, and was surprised at first when he greeted her warmly.  I noticed her cheeks flush again a little.  He quickly turned his attention to me, asking if I wanted to look at wedding bands again.  I said that I did.  As he led us to the right section, he said, "Brody called earlier with his credit card number and strict orders to take care of anything you wanted with that and not let you pay for anything."

"Of course he did," I said, laughing.  "He must have forgotten that I have one of his cards already."  Awhile back, Brody had insisted on putting my name on one of his cards as an authorized user and giving it to me.  I had yet to use it, and planned only to do so in an absolute emergency.

"I don't think he forgot," Don said, smiling.  Nope, he just knew I wouldn't use it.

But even after trying on literally every women's wedding band in the entire store, I didn't find anything that quite worked.  The best was a plain white gold band that didn't quite follow the band of my engagement ring.  "This one will work," I said, finally.

"You don't love it," Don replied, shaking his head.  "We can make you something."  He pulled a ring out that I had really liked, but it didn't fit with my engagement ring.  He pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket and started sketching, then showed me his idea of combining the designs of the one that fit best with the one I liked best, then making it fit to my ring.  He even added a couple details that I loved as well.  "What do you think?" he asked.

Even though I loved the idea, I tried to keep my face neutral, because it seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through for a piece of jewelry.  "It sounds like it would be beautiful," I admitted.  "I should talk to Brody first."

"He said anything you wanted," Don pointed out.

"I'm sure he meant anything I wanted that already existed," I countered with a laugh, even though I knew that Brody wouldn't bat an eye at me coming home and telling him I wanted a custom ring.  In fact, he'd probably be happy that Don could make what I wanted.  "You know what?  I do think I just want the plain white gold band," I decided.  As intriguing as the sketch that Don made was, I felt weird asking Brody to spend even more on a ring when I already had my amazing engagement ring.  The ring didn't matter to me nearly as much as marrying him did, and the plain band would work just fine.

"Are you sure?" Don asked.

"Yes.  Brody said anything I wanted, right?"

Don chuckled.  "He sure did.  Okay then, let's get it taken care of."

10 minutes later, Thalia and were walking out.  "Whoops, I left my purse," she said, laughing.  "How careless.  I'll be back in a second, you don't have to come back in with me."  So I waited outside for her, for almost 2 minutes--much longer than it should have taken to go grab her purse.

On my way home, I got a text from Brody saying that he would be home around dinnertime and that he'd pick food up.  I gratefully took him up on it.  I did stop at the grocery store on my way home though, to get groceries for the next week.  I arrived home around 7, and Brody and Ken were both home.  I found them sitting on the deck with beers in hand.  Brody stood to greet me with a kiss and told me he'd picked up a bottle of wine for me.  He suggested I join them while he went and got the food and a glass of wine for me, but Ken waved off his invitation to join us for dinner and said he'd grab something later, then disappeared inside.

Brody followed him, then came back a couple minutes later balancing two plates of food, a glass of wine, and another beer for himself.

"Did you have a better day?" I asked hopefully.  He certainly seemed to be in a better mood than the night before.

"It was fine," he said, shrugging.  "I did what I could, and I don't have any control over anything else.  I feel good about what I was able to fix, at least."

"That's good," I said, smiling.  He asked about my day, and I filled him in, telling him about my ring conundrum and my decision to go with the plain band.

"You could have gotten the custom one," he said.  "You still could, if you want it."

I shook my head.  "I like the plain one."  Then, smirking, I said, "I think your mom is dating Don."

Brody almost spit out his beer and quickly set the bottle down.  "Why do you think that?" he asked, once he recovered.  So I told him about the earrings, his mom blushing when I complimented them, her and Don's weird greeting, and her slipping back into the store without me for way too long to just be getting her purse.  "Wow," Brody said.  "It sure sounds like she's dating him.  That's weird."

"What's weird about it?" I asked curiously.

"I've known the guy forever," he replied, shrugging.  "He and my mom have always been friends, but it's so hard to picture them together, you know?"

"It's probably hard to picture your mom with anyone," I suggested.  He nodded and agreed.

"But," he conceded, "It's definitely better than her dating a 20 year old!"  He changed the subject and said, "I'm really sorry I haven't been around much this week, with Ken here now.  Has everything been okay?"

I hesitated.  I felt like I had to tread carefully.  I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that really wasn't, but I also really wanted to try to build a relationship with Ken if Brody wanted to give their relationship another shot.  He noticed my hesitation and said, "Tell me what's going on, Liv.  Please."

"Nothing bad," I assured him quickly.  "I just feel really awkward around him, and he clearly feels the same.  It seems like he's avoiding me, and I feel weird if I come downstairs and he's in the kitchen or something, because he usually hurries out then.  If you have any ideas how I can make him feel more welcome, I'd love to hear them."

He frowned.  "I think you're going above and beyond trying, Liv.  I hate that you feel uncomfortable in your own home, though."

"It's just weird, because I don't want him to feel like he has to avoid the main floor of the house just because I'm here." I shrugged.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Brody asked.

I shook my head and quickly answered, "No, I don't want him to feel even more uncomfortable.  Just if you have any ideas..."

"I do have an idea," he replied.  "But it's not quite what you're looking for."  I gave him a weird look and he grinned and continued.  "Let's get out of here next weekend.  We could go to the cabin, or anywhere you want.  We can have some space, he can have some space, and I can have a break from work, which I need after this week."

"That is the best idea you've ever had," I said.  "I'm in.  Oh, and speaking of getting away, I did a little interest gauging for a camping trip at happy hour yesterday, and it sounds like everyone would be in.  We should see if we can still get a group site somewhere at this point."

"Good thinking," Brody said.  We finished our dinner and lingered on the deck with our drinks for awhile longer, enjoying the summer evening.  While we were sitting there, Ken came out to let us know he was going out for the night and may or may not be back.

"Hey," Brody said as we picked up our dishes to bring inside.  I looked up at him.  "Thanks for including my mom today.  She was really excited to go with you.  It means a lot to me that you're doing so much to include my family into your life, and into our life together.  I wish your parents were closer so we could include them more--but anytime you want to visit, just say the word.  Or if you want them to visit.  They're welcome anytime, and I'm happy to fly them out here."

I smiled.  "Thank you," I replied.  "I was happy to include your mom.  She was actually incredibly helpful.  I would have left the florist really overwhelmed and probably without what I wanted if she hadn't been there to help.  I'm grateful she wanted to come!"

We quickly got our dinner mess cleaned up and settled on the couch with more drinks to look for a campsite for Labor Day weekend.  Surprisingly, we found an open group campsite at a state park not too far away.  It was in the foothills and had a lake with a beach and other water sport options, plus lots of hiking trails.  Brody went ahead and booked it while I sent an email out to our friends.

Within minutes I had an enthusiastic response from Alex with a sidenote that Lauren was also in, but was not as excited.  "I can't really picture Lauren camping at all," Brody admitted, laughing as he read the email.

"She has before," I assured him.  "I used to drag her out with my family sometimes so I had someone my age to hang out with.  My parents wouldn't let me go anywhere alone, even for a walk around the campground--"

"Shocking!" Brody interrupted.

"I know," I replied, laughing.  "So when Lauren came, we got to wander around and even sometimes go swimming on our own.  So I dragged her along as often as I could convince her."

"Poor Lauren," Brody joked.  "Forced to go camping against her will just so you could have a little freedom."

"It wasn't like that!" I said indignantly.  He cocked an eyebrow skeptically.  "Okay, well maybe it was a little like that.  But she always had fun.  That girl can put away some serious s'mores."

"Now that doesn't surprise me," Brody replied.

We put a movie on, and I grabbed a blanket because Brody loved keeping the air conditioning set at a temperature unsuitable for most humans.  When I'd protested the frigid temp, we'd compromised.  He bumped the thermostat up a couple degrees, and I strategically placed blankets around the house.  When he was traveling, I turned it up a little more and enjoyed being blanket-free in the summer, as nature intended.

Brody grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled over his lap too, then pulled me closer.  I got comfortable and settled against him, and I had to admit that the benefit of too much a/c was that it made it perfectly reasonable to cuddle even when it was 90 degrees out.  About 15 minutes into the movie, Brody's fingers found my leg and began to lightly stroke my inner thigh just above my knee.  After a few minutes, the stroking turned to gentle massaging.  I sighed and leaned my head back onto his shoulder, still watching the movie.

Every couple minutes he'd slide his fingers just a little higher and resume his gentle massage.  It took him over 15 minutes to get to the hem of my shorts, and by then I had given up on watching the movie.  I closed my eyes and moved my legs apart, but he started traveling back down towards my knee.  When I groaned in frustration, he innocently said, "You've banished us to the bedroom only, remember?"

"He's gone for the night," I replied, grabbing his hand and sliding it higher.  "He just left.  I think we're okay."

"Alright," he said, his fingers dancing along the hem of my shorts, "if you insist."   He slipped the tips of his fingers beneath the edge of my shorts, teasing me as he pushed them as high as my shorts would allow.  He continued gently massaging my leg, watching the movie as if he wasn't sitting here driving me crazy.

Finally, he moved his hand to the button and zipper of my shorts, and with impressive dexterity he undid the button and unzipped them, then slid his hand inside them, between my underwear and the denim.  He continued his languid torture, lightly pressing his fingers everywhere but where I wanted them.  When I tried to move my hips to get contact with him, he pulled them further away.  "You're a horrible tease," I groaned, adjusting to get more comfortable.

"I'm enjoying myself quite a bit," he replied.  "This is a great movie."  But he appeased me by sliding his fingers lower and gently rubbing me through my underwear.  I moaned softly and squirmed, pressing my head back against his shoulder harder.  Despite my protests, I loved the teasing, because it made everything better in the end.  When he finally slipped his hand beneath my underwear and stroked my bare flesh, I gasped and gripped his forearm.  It took all of 10 seconds before I came, arching my back and pressing myself against his hand.  He kept his hand still against me until I stopped shaking, then slid it up and resumed gently massaging everywhere else.  He dropped his head down and nibbled lightly on the edge of my ear, then said softly, "I think we should turn this movie off and go upstairs."

He didn't have to ask me twice.