Baby Steps

Baby Steps

There were no stars in the sky that night. There was no full moon illuminated by the light of the sun. There was only Kate’s eyes, far outshining all other lights that dared to challenge them. Night had come early because the sun fled for fear of losing its job to her eyes that could have provided lights for distant planets that night. Her eyes held a hint of sadness, yet you could see her love for me in those eyes. It was undeniable love. Kate was willing to give everything to be with me. She proved it by just being there with me in the car. I was driving us far away from the snow white blanketed Massachusetts. I had no destination in mind. I didn’t really have anything in my mind besides Kate. I looked closely at her in the passenger seat. She was leaning on me, falling in and out of sleep. The diamond necklace I had bought her looked exquisite around her neck. I drove and drove until we came to a small hotel. We needed to rest so I pulled into the parking lot. I tried to wake Kate up but she wouldn’t wake up. Too tired I guess. I put my arm around her upper back and my other arm around her knees and lifted her into my arms. I walked into the hotel office. “Is she alive?” the hotel clerk said jokingly. “Long day” I replied softly. “Can I get a room for a night, I’ll be paying cash” I told the man. “All right” he responded “That’s going to run you a hundred dollars” I winced at the price the man gave. I gave him the cash and he handed me the key while saying “room 3D, straight ahead, up the stairs to the third floor, and it will be right on your left” I thanked the man and then headed to my room. Kate, started to wake in my arms while going up the stairs, I looked at her knowing she had opened her eyes but when I did she shut hers and pretended to be sleeping. I smiled upon seeing this assuming that this meant she liked being in my arms.

 I had trouble opening the door with Kate in my arms but I managed and set her down in the bed. It was only a one person room. I went over to the couch and lied down. Right when I lay down on the couch I heard Kate walking towards me. Her small feet made light sounds when they struck the carpet beneath her. She put her soft hands on my chest and used them to lead me up to her. My face now inches away from hers she slid her hands up behind my neck onto my back and pulled me closer and kissed my neck and kept going up until she met my lips. I returned her kiss and put my hands on her lower back. “Let’s play that game again Nick” she said sounding really tired yet still sexy. “Except this time, I want you to show me what you think I want” she had reached the bed by the time she finished her sentence. Her long, slender, sexy legs now exposed from her removing the skin tight black jeans she had fallen asleep in. I approached her and she backed onto the bed. I took off my shirt and as if she felt challenged, she took off hers. She was now wearing nothing but a black bra and pink underwear. Never in my life had I been so turned on before. She was the opposite end of the magnet, to which I was attracted to. I moved closer and closer to her until I was right next to her on the bed. I came so close I could feel her breath on my shoulder. I ran my hands up her legs, past her hips, onto her breasts, and then she removed her bra. I wanted this so bad. Never before in my Life had I felt this way. I knew based on this feeling that this is what I needed. Kate was right for me. I took off the clothes I had left on and Kate removed hers. I ran my hands through Kate’s long brunette hair. I put my lips on hers and then she got on top of me and then we were making love. Kate was a goddess. She moved her body up and down onto mine. She pressed her face forward and gave me an almost never ending amount of kissing. We stopped; I could feel Kate’s heavy breathing on the side of my face.

 There we lay in silence for a minute. Kate didn’t realize the pleasure she had just delivered me. I looked over to Kate and she looked over at me. Her deep hazel eyes stared into my brown eyes, I took her hands in mine and I said “Kate, maybe not today because we’re not ready, and we won’t be ready tomorrow either, But when we are I know this, Kate Esposito I want you to be my wife.” “Nick�"I” Kate tried to finish but she was overwhelmed by happiness. “Nick Ramirez, nothing would make to be Mrs. Ramirez” she slipped the words out past the tears rolling down her face. I took my arms and put them around her waist, and she turned over and closed her eyes. She fell asleep first and I lay awake for hours just so caught up in her beauty. Caught up in the future with her I just committed myself too, and caught up in the thought of having just made love to the love of my life. I was as happy as I could possibly be at that moment, and where was my father, probably drinking gallons of alcohol. Leaving was the best choice I had ever made and I couldn’t have made it without Kate. Kate was the best thing to ever happen to me. There was no mom now. There was no Dad now either. There was me happier than just Kate and I and someday beautiful children with Kate as their gorgeous mother. That thought gave me a chilling fear. What if I would follow in the footsteps of the man who forced me to leave? What if I became the same father as the one I was abandoning? No, I was not nearly the same man that he was. I will make sure my children are loved. I swear that never a day in my life, will I choose a bottle of alcohol over my children. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep. I fell asleep with Kate in my arms. I could think of no better place to lay my body to rest.

 I awoke the next morning before Kate did. There I lay with her in that hotel bed thinking, can life get any better than this? I had everything I could ever want right there in that bed next to me. Kate opened her eyes a little, and turned to me. She stared at me for about a minute before saying good morning. You could see the smile clearly on her face even though she was very tired. “Did you have a good sleep” I asked affectionately. The light of the rising sun reflected off of her hazel eyes, she moved her face to get out of the light. I got up and went to the bathroom and jumped in the shower. I stood there in the shower thinking about last night and how amazing it was. Last night was more than I woke up thinking I would get. I woke up a homeless man with nothing to my name, but today I woke up as an affluent man, Kate was my wealth. The water felt great on me. The cold water gave me goose bumps but it felt good because the room had been terribly hot last night. The air conditioning in the room was broken. I washed myself and stepped out of the shower. I went to the sink and brushed my teeth and just looked in the mirror. I looked at myself for what seemed to be forever. I looked at my short brown hair. I stared into my dark brown eyes. What did Kate see in these eyes? I see nothing in these eyes, but Kate, Kate could stare into these eyes for hours and not be bothered with the rest of the world. I dried myself and got dressed and left the bathroom. Kate still lay lazily on the bed looking at me. I walked over and sat next to her on the bed. I bent over and kissed her forehead. She giggled when I did it. Her hair was a mess; she was wearing a baggy shirt of mine and her underwear. Even now I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. She got up and headed to the bathroom. I sat down on the bed and heard the shower go on. I looked up at the ceiling of the hotel room. It was a plain shade of white, or at least at some point it was, now it had spots of yellow and marks of what I presume to be dirt. I wasn’t paying attention to what the hotel looked like last night. It was not a very classy hotel. It looked terrible, and in places it even smelt terrible. I heard the water stop.  Several minutes later Kate stepped out of the bathroom wearing a red sweater over a white t-shirt and blue jeans. “I hope we’re not going anywhere fancy today, I'm not exactly wearing princess attire” she said jokingly. I walked over towards her, gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and said “you look like a princess to me.” She was blushing when she heard this. “Are you ready Kate?” I asked because we had to leave the hotel soon. It was two p.m., we had the hotel room to about two a.m., but I really didn’t want to be there. “Yeah, I just have to grab my bag and then we can go.” Her voice sounded excited when she said this. If she was excited I could understand why, she had no idea what was coming next. Every day was an adventure with Kate and me. I loved it so much. When I wake up next to Kate the rest of the day just seems to fall together perfectly.

 We left the hotel and tossed our bags into her Toyota and jumped in the car. Next thing you knew we were on the road. We were nomads, wandering the land in search of a place to belong. We drove past several states in the hours we spent on the road. Kate spent a lot of the time looking over at me from the passenger seat, stealing kisses while I was driving. We were In New Jersey when I decided to stop for gas. I paid the man at the pump and he filled the car. While looking around I realized Kate and I were in New Jersey now and we still had no destination. We had to come up with a destination. I drove us out of the gas station and pulled over in a small diner parking lot. “Kate, we need to know where we’re going, any ideas?” my voice seemed to snap her out of a day dream. “I really don’t know Nick.” She said sounding worried now. “Nick, why are we doing this? We have nothing Nick. So many people like us have done this and failed. Is love really enough to support us?” Her words stung me. She was right; we needed a place to live. We left our jobs behind. “Kate, remember in the parking lot last night, this is the leap you said you were going to take. We can do it, I know we can.” I said reassuringly. “I know we can Nick, it was just a moment of weakness. I’m sorry” she said sounding more confident now. “It’s okay, It’s getting late I’ll get us to a hotel.” We drove off in search of a hotel.

After an hour of driving we came to a hotel. We were both tired and ready to sleep we walked into the hotel and instead of taking a room for a night I took one out for a week. Kate and I had to start building a life together so we needed some time to get stuff together. We went inside the room and Kate immediately went to bed. I sat awake on the couch thinking. I didn’t have any idea what to do with our life. I had seven thousand dollars left. I could take that money and get us a small apartment. Then we could both get jobs and from there we could figure it out. Kate and I were both headed in very different directions. Kate loved dancing. Kate started dancing when she was eight. Kate was now eighteen. Kate just graduated last year. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I graduated from high school last year but still have no idea what I want to do. I'm nineteen and I have to start college soon. I have always thought about being a firefighter. I was going to make it happen. I was going to become a firefighter and Kate was going to be a ballet dancer. I fell asleep on the couch.

 Morning came fast and I woke up early. Kate was still asleep when I woke up. I took a shower and got ready to leave. I headed out the door while Kate was still sleeping. It was not that bright outside. The sun was still coming up and it was slightly cold outside. I went to the car and headed to the diner Kate and I had passed earlier and picked up some breakfast for Kate. I came back to the hotel and opened our door slowly and quietly. Kate hadn’t woken up still. I lied the breakfast down on the table with a note that said; Gone out looking for apartments, be back soon. Then I headed for the door. I was going to be really busy today so I started early. First I headed out to the library and got on a computer. The library was extremely quiet and empty at this time of morning. The librarian looked tired and kind of irritated. I set to work; I looked up apartments in New York. The results of my search were huge. New York was a sea of opportunities for Kate and me. I went up and down the list until I found one I was interested in. I knew that this was for us. Kate would love it. It was a one bedroom In Queens. It wasn’t far from flushing meadow park. The initial price was going to run four thousand dollars including the security deposit. I traveled back to the hotel. The sun was higher in the sky now. I went into the hotel and Kate was awake watching T.V. now. “Kate I found us an apartment in Queens, what do you say?” She walked over to me and tip toed and kissed me. “As long as you’ll be there” she said playfully. I smiled at her. I went to the hotel manager and got the money back for the rest of the week. Kate and I jumped into her car and headed to New York. I contacted the person renting the apartment; I told him we’ll be there to do the deal in a couple of hours. We were driving to New York now. Kate had one arm resting at her side, and the other was playing with my ear lobe. She looked at me, smiled and said “New York here we come.” We were taking the first step of our life together.