with 3 charms on it – an “L”, a “D”, and a silver frog, to remind me of our first kiss out by the pond. I couldn’t help myself, I threw my arms around his neck and held him while I cried at his heartfelt gift. “If ya don’t like it, Lor, I can take it back and you can pick something else out.”
“No Declan I LOVE it. It’s beautiful and…” I couldn’t help myself, I kissed him. Hard.
From that moment on we were completely inseparable. We always knew we would end up together, but when it happened it was scary and amazing all wrapped up into one.
One Year Later
I was so excited to be turning sixteen years old. I was practically an adult now. Not only was it Declan and my birthday, it was also our one year anniversary. My mom and Aunt Louise held our annual joint birthday bash at the American Legion building last night. Tonight was also planned, Emma and Eric were throwing a huge bonfire party for me and Declan at the pond where we had our first kiss.
“This party is going to be insane!” Eric screamed at us when we pulled up. Declan had his arm around me and was squeezing me tight. I loved this gorgeous guy. He was my world and I was his and tonight was the night. Declan didn’t know yet and he had never pressured me but I planned on giving myself to him tonight. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our birthday.
The party had been going on for hours and the beer was flowing. We’d seen a couple of fights and at least one girl threw up out by the pond. Good times. I had been trying all night to get the courage up to pull Declan aside and ask him to take me to his house. His parents were out of town at the big annual cattle sale that weekend and we would have the whole house to ourselves. I told my parents that I would be spending the night with Emma, and of course, she corroborated my story.
I walked up behind Declan and placed my arms around his neck and started kissing him below his ear. Then I whispered, “Are you about ready to get out of here?”
And with that my gorgeous boyfriend said in his sexy southern drawl, “Yes, ma’am.” We hopped into his truck and started driving toward his house.
When we pulled onto the dirt road that lead to his house, I reached over and ran my hand along his jaw.
“Everything okay, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Yeah, baby, everything’s fine. I just can’t believe how lucky I am to have you for my boyfriend. I love you, Dec.”
I thought that might scare him, I had never said it out loud before. Instead, he looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes shining in the moonlight and said, “I love you too, with all of my heart, Lor, forever.” Those words did it. They literally melted my heart. This was it. He was mine, and I was his. After tonight, we would be even more connected to one another.
That long winding, tree lined drive back to his house had never seemed so long. Uncle Max and Aunt Louise had a beautiful home. It was a little more contemporary than my parent’s house. It was grey brick and there was a huge porch all along the front of the house. They had built this house when Declan was a baby, after a fire took the old farmhouse. They lost most of their possessions, but everyone walked away without incident. Uncle Max always said he was just happy they hadn’t been home at the time and that no one had been hurt.
When we walked into his house, we immediately started upstairs to Declan’s room. As we walked upstairs, Declan held my hand. I was so engrossed with the pictures of us that lined the stairway. Aunt Louise loved to take pictures of us. Tons of them were displayed in that stairway. We were smiling in every picture. They made me realize how happy Declan and I were going to be for the rest of our lives. I was going to marry this man, have babies with him, and someday we would sit out on that big front porch and hold hands as we rocked in our rocking chairs and watched our grandkids play. All of these thoughts just solidified my decision to give myself to Declan