ENTRY 1 - BLUE

A Knight in Shining Tow Truck 

by Julie Kimbrell

www.juliekimbrell.com

Published by Hearts On Fire Books

       
    Chris sat on one end of the couch with Max next to him. I sat on the other end. Max held the popcorn. We laughed a lot. Midway through the movie, I looked over and saw that Max had fallen sound asleep. His head lay on Chris’s chest. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen. I turned the television off and looked at the guy. He lightly rubbed Max’s head.

            “I guess I need to put him to bed.” I whispered.

            I picked Max up from the couch. He weighed more than I thought.  I carried him to the spare bedroom, and Chris opened the door for me. Once Max was tucked in. I went back into the living room. He’d cleaned up our popcorn party mess and stood by the front door.
 

            “I better get going. Thanks for the popcorn,” he said.

            “Sure, the kids had fun. They really like you.”

            

 “Did you have fun?” he asked and opened the door.

I followed him out, closing it behind me. “Did you?” I asked.

We stood there for a minute in silence. 

“Do you always answer a question with a question?” he stepped closer to me.

My back was against the front door. I took a deep breath. “I had fun too,” I said, my voice a nervous squeak.

He leaned in, put his hand behind my head and gently kissed me. I couldn’t breathe. Emotions came alive that I didn’t ever remember feeling. I felt that kiss clear down to my hoo-hoo—a hoo-hoo that had been on a sabbatical for quite a while.  What was I doing? Before I could gather myself and pull away, he let go of me, stepped back a few steps and started to walk away.

He turned around a few yards away. “I’m sure I’ll see ya later.”

I couldn’t say a word. I just nodded and went back in the house. Did that just happen? Oh my God. I hated him. How could I have let him get away with kissing me like that? After I turned out the lights, I went to my bathroom, washed my face, put on my night gown and crawled in bed with Emma.  I felt exhausted, but wide awake at the same time, and it was all Chris’s fault.

I’d definitely address the kiss issue next time I saw him. But I didn’t plan on seeing him anytime soon. I planned on hiding under the biggest rock I could find. He could not get away with kissing me like that. I didn’t even want to kiss him. Well, maybe a little bit. But that was after I felt him so close to me. He smelled so good. Okay, I am really giving this too much thought. It was just a stupid kiss and would not happen again. Close your eyes Ainsley Irving, and quit thinking with your hoo-hoo.

The next morning, I woke up to a pair of bright blue eyes staring me in the face. Next to Emma, Taffy sat on my chest. It was a shock that I could breathe with her fat furry butt planted on top of me. After I stroked her head and smiled at Emma, I pushed the cat off and got up. My mouth felt nasty, so I brushed my teeth quickly and walked into the living room, followed by Emma. Max was on the couch watching Spongebob Squarepants and playing his new game.

Once I made it to the kitchen, I looked at the microwave to see what time it was. Wow, the kids actually slept until eight. That was crazy. They really must’ve been worn out from the hide and seek game. Emma walked into the kitchen and handed me a diaper. Crap! I forgot she needed changing. Thankfully she let me know.

She looked up at me and grinned. “Pee pee pants,” she said.

I laughed and picked her up. “Let’s get you changed, then I’ll fix breakfast.” We went to the living room and dug through her bag for an outfit and diaper.

“Can we have pancakes and sausage?” Max asked. Uh-oh, I didn’t have anything to fix. I never had time for breakfast. I could take them to the diner and get pancakes. Before I could ask if they wanted to go, my telephone rang.