Time had flown by.
Tonight, Anderson and I were celebrating our one-year anniversary. We had spent the holidays together, met each other's families, the whole nine yards, and we were madly in love.
Thinking back to Thanksgiving, the first family affair I had brought him along for, I laughed. Surprisingly enough, my mother adored him, even making totally inappropriate comments on how beautiful our children would look. Thankfully Anderson didn't mind; he just laughed it off. Kade was a different story entirely. He was over the moon about us. It had been the first time he had seen us together and, knowing that he had the intent of setting us up before we met by chance, he was a little smug. That is, until Anderson touched me. It was in no way inappropriate, though not platonic either, but Kade's response to his best friend's hand resting casually on my waist was hysterical. His eyes grew wide, flashing between Anderson's hand, his face, back to his hand, trying to convert his message non-verbally, his face growing redder and redder all the while. Finally, he let out a huge breath and left the room. When he came back, he refused to look any lower than our faces, most likely afraid to see us touching in any way again. Gradually, he became more tolerant, but still acted like the over-protective brother he was. Whether it was originally his idea or not, he didn't like the idea of me being touched by a man with any implications.
That had been almost a year ago now. I remembered how nervous Anderson was when he had asked my permission to spend the holiday with my family, per Kade's request. It had been the same night he asked me to be his girl friend. He looked so cute when he was nervous.
My reminiscing was interrupted by a starling knock on the door. I glanced at the clock, confused as to who it could be. Anderson wouldn't be picking me up for another hour. I was already dressed and ready for the date though, this time I hadn't fallen asleep.
It couldn't be Sasha, she knew that I had this date tonight, besides, she had a date of her own earlier today with the doctor and was probably celebrating still. Three months ago, she found out she was pregnant. She and Dave were over the moon about it, as was I. They would be marvelous parents, and I was so excited to meet their little girl in a few months. They just had a routine check up today, but any news regarding the baby was cause for celebration for them. That little girl would be spoiled, no doubt about it.
Kade was busy tonight. Besides, he would have told me if he was stopping by, he was horrible at surprises and secrets and would have told me the minute he left his apartment. So it couldn't be him at the door.
I stood up from the kitchen table, where I had been sipping a cup of green tea in an attempt to relax. It had been a long day at work, and I was excited for tonight, so I figured a bit of relaxation was needed to calm my nerves a bit. I strode to the front door, not bothering to look through the peep hole before grasping the door knob. The hole was too high for me to reach, and I had long given up on it. I twisted the knob and pulled it open, revealing an adorably bashful looking Anderson on the other side. I cocked an eyebrow, wondering why he was so early.
"Oh good, you're ready," he said, looking me over and a smile pulling up on one side of his lips. He looked a tad bit shaken, almost like he had run here. I knew he hadn't though, his apartment wasn't really within walking distance.
"I thought you were coming at eight," I asked as non-accusatory as I could. His unexpected earliness was fine by me, I loved spending as much time with Anderson as I could. I was just confused as to the why of his unexpectedly premature arrival.
"I was, but there was no traffic so I got here a bit early. I was wondering if you would care to take a walk with me before dinner, Ms Woods," he said, his formal tone and accent making me blush slightly.
