Memory in a Bottle

Jace

We're laying on the bed. Delilah's body is pressed against mine with her head on my chest. Her breathing is slow as if she fell asleep. Her birthday is the day after tomorrow and still haven't figured out how I am going to propose to her. I want it to be romantic but not cheesy. I could create a picnic and drive her to the spot with her blindfolded, or I could have her open cards leading towards the beach. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll write six letters, one for when she gets dressed and another for her jeans she'll wear that day. Then I'll write four more for ma, Dex, her dad and me. Her Dad'll be at Evergreen Park. Ma'll be at the Library's café. Dex'll be at McDonalds and I'll be at the beach. Her birthday will be the day she won't ever forget. Feeling content with my plan I drift to sleep.

I wake up to the sun in my face and Delilah curled up against me. I smile at the thought of waking up every morning with Delilah by my side. I gently move to get out of bed and trying not to disturb her. I quietly get dressed and walk down the stairs to make a cup of coffee. I see ma already dressed and watching TV.

"Good Morning, Ma." I say grabbing a mug and pouring coffee in it.

"Good Morning, sweetheart. How'd you sleep?" She asks. I smirk thinking back to last night.

"Good. You?"

"Good." She says turning the TV off. "Listen, tomorrow is Delilah's birthday and I want to get her an early birthday present... I don't know if she'll like what I picked out." She scrolls on her phone until she finds what she's looking for. She hands the phone to me; I look at the picture and smile. It's a 2005 Ford Mustang GT. She'll love it. Its black with a white racing stripe in the center. I look up at ma wondering how she can pay for it. They are expensive.

"She'll love it." I tell her honestly. Ma smiles and takes her phone.

"Okay. It's still at the lot so I figure we could blindfold her and bring her there."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Is she up? Or is she still sleepin'?"

"She won't be asleep for long. All she needs to smell is the coffee and She'll be up." Just as I said that I feel arms snake around me and a grumble of good morning. I chuckle as the arms try to reach for my cup of coffee. "This is my cup. You don't like how I make mine." I say holding the cup out of her reach. Delilah grumbles and makes her a cup.

"What are we doing today?" Delilah asks after a few sips of coffee.

"Well, I would like to pick something up for Darlene, my co-worker. She needs me to bring in a few things for work the day after tomorrow." Ma replies. "I am going to need help finding somethings in the stores so I would like for you and Jace to come along to help." Delilah nods.

"Okay. Just let me-" Delilah gets interrupted by her phone ringing. She looks at it and puts her coffee down. "I need to take this." She answers it leaving the room.