You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

Chapter 26

It wasn't long before the whole house realized that Chrissy and Dean were dating. Everyone was overjoyed, but Angela was the most excited of all. She always knew what was best for her boy, and this time it was Chrissy.

One evening, Craig and Claudia offered to watch the younger children while Dean, Chrissy, Angela, and Guy went out for a nice dinner.

Chrissy was getting dressed in her room when there was a soft knock at the door, "I'm not decent!"

"Even better for me, honey," Dean laughed. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, maybe you can tell me what the hell to wear." She stood looking at her luggage in a silky slip when Dean walked in. "Why am I so damn nervous?"

"I don't know. It's my Mama and Papa, not anyone new. Christ, if you can survive Dolly Sinatra, Mama's nothing."

"God, that woman was terrifying," Chrissy laughed. "Still, I don't know what to wear. Everything looks wrong."

"What about this little number?" Dean picked up a flowery blue and white dress.

"Ugh, I don't know. It didn't look right."

"Put it on." Chrissy put on the dress and Dean zipped it, "I think you look beautiful."

Chrissy looked at herself in the mirror, picking and pulling at everything she was as an imperfection. Dean stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I think you're stunning." He kissed her neck. She turned around to face him and sucked in a breath of his intoxicating cologne.

She reached up to touch his cheek and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. They lingered for a moment before Guy's voice called out to them, "Our reservation is at six!"

"Coming!" Dean returned.

Breathless for a moment, Chrissy cleared her throat, "Can you clip my necklace?"

Dean's hands were around her waist and she could feel them shaking. He let out a breath a nodded his head.

As he clipped her necklace, Dean said quietly, "How the hell did it take us this long to realize?"

"At least we finally did," Chrissy smiled. When she turned to gave him, she realized he had tears in his eyes. "Oh, Dean."

"We've missed out on so much, Chris. So much time..."

"Dean, we aren't that old. You're barely past forty and I'm six years behind you. We have half of our lives left."

Death was on Dean's mind with his Mama sick, and he couldn't shake the thought of lost time.

Chrissy gently grabbed his chin and turned his head to look at her, "Look at me. We have wasted time, but whether I have forty minutes left or forty years, I want to spend them all with you. Okay?"

Dean embraced her, not a sweet, gentle embrace. Rather, this was an embrace that was as if he was trying to hold onto her; that if he let go, she would be lost forever.

"I love you," Chrissy whispered.

"I love you too," he sniffed.

"Hurry up!!" Guy called again.

"I guess we better go," Dean sniffed.

"It's okay, darling." Chrissy slipped on her heels and grabbed Dean's hand, giving it a squeeze.

The two of them went down the stairs and met Angela and Guy at the door.

The four of them loaded into the car and headed to the restaurant.

At the restaurant, they enjoyed a delightful evening of food and conversation. Chrissy had always been fond of Dino's parents, and they adored her. Their evening together only strengthened those bonds. During the meal, it happened that Angela and Dean both excused themselves for a moment, leaving Chrissy alone with Guy.

"How was your meal?" Guy asked.

"Delicious, thank you. How about yours?"

"Very good... Chrissy, I know Angela's already spoken to you about wanting you to look after Dean, but you know that if you need anything you can come to us too."

"Absolutely. You have always been there for me!" Chrissy smiled.

Guy gave her a smile back before Dean and Angela returned to the table. "What did I miss?"

"Not much," Chrissy grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

As they loaded back into the car, Angela said, "I'm not ready for this evening to end. Let's take a drive. Maybe we can get dessert somewhere?"

Dean and Chrissy were sitting in the backseat, and Chrissy could sense that Dean was bothered. His beloved Mama was sick and wanted to enjoy the special night for as long as she could.

"Let's do it," Dean said quietly.

They drove around the the little town for a while deciding on a local ice cream shop for dessert. Dean and Guy went in while Angela and Chrissy listened to the radio.

Suddenly, a familiar voice began pouring out of the speakers:

Everybody loves somebody sometime...

"Angela! This is Dean's new song!"

They listened and Angela grinned. Partway through the song, she whispered, "It's beautiful, and he's singing about you."

When the song finished, the radio disk-jockey came on, "That was Dean Martin's new record. News just came in that that little beauty just knocked the Beatles out of the number one spot on the charts!"

Dean came to the car and Chrissy could barely contain her excitement. She flung open the door, smacking Dean with it.

"Christ, Chrissy! You sure know how to hurt a fella," he moaned.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Dean! Your song is number one! It knocked the Beatles out of the top spot!"

"It did?" he asked in shock.

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, "I'm so proud of you."

Dean could barely speak. He hugged and kissed Chrissy and his Mama and accepted a hug and pat on the bag from his father.

When they returned to the house that evening, the children had heard the news too. Out of all of them, Jamie was the first to hug Dino.

Even though Jamie was growing up, he still showed affection to two people: his mother and Dino.

As Jamie hugged Dino, he quietly said, "I'm so lucky to have you in my life."

Dean looked at him for a moment, "No, pally. You've got it all wrong... I am so lucky to have you."