𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔪𝔢

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔫𝔢

I'm captivated by your baby, like a fireworks show. 

"'What choice had you?' asked Roger Chillingworth. "My finger, pointed at this man, would have hurled him from his pulpit into a dungeon—thence, peradventure, to the gallows!" she read aloud before looking over to the 23-year-old lying beside her on the trampoline in her backyard. "Hey! Are you listening to me?" She nudged him a bit. His eyes popped open, and he glanced over at her. He had a long day at work and all he wanted to do was catch a quick nap. Between the sound of voice soothing him, and the slight breeze of the April air, he was comfortable and on his way to sleep before he was nudged.

"Uh, yeah." He stuttered with a chuckle, knowing he was lying. He had no idea what she had just said in regards to her reading.

She paused for a second, trying to find the truth in his eyes. "Okay, then. What did I say?" She put her copy of 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthrone down on the trampoline. 

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" He said, mimicking her. He shook his head. That's how their relationship was. She would say something and he would mock her. She would do something silly and he would make fun of it. Their relationship was about a year old now and things were going smoothly.

"That's not what I meant!" She exclaimed and giggled. She rolled over onto her back and looked up at the stars. "You never listen to me," she whined while pouting. Her age was showing. She had the tendency to act like a baby from time to time, but he didn't mind.

"I do listen to you, love," he reassured her. He looked over at her quickly and smiled. It was peaceful being under the stars with her. It was peaceful just being with her in general. Never had he felt so comfortable around a girl, or anyone for that matter, to lay in complete silence with them without it being awkward. "Aww, don't give me that face." Looking at her facial expression made him want to kiss her. The way she poked her bottom lip was one of the many things he found adorable about her.

"What time is it?!" she asked eagerly. For the past hour and a half, she had been asking for the time every 15 minutes or so. She was excited as she awaited midnight. At midnight, it would be a new day, but not just any day: her birthday. April 22,  marked her eighteenth birthday. Not only would she be legal, but it would also mark a special day for her and her boyfriend of a year.

He smiled before glancing down at his watch. He knew the reason she kept asking for the time. He understood her excitement, and deep down, he shared that same excitement. Yet, he didn't show it. It seemed foolish to him to be so excited about something so simple, something so ordinary, but he couldn't help it. It was something about her that made him this way. Made him slightly goofy and slightly sensitive. He didn't mind, "11:45," he finally stated with a lick of his lips.

"15 minutes!" She sprung to her feet and began jumping on the trampoline. He smiled at her sudden hyper-spiritedness. "Aren't you excited?!" She bounced around while randomly doing cheerleading moves.

He wrinkled his brow as he watched her jump, "Why would I be excited? It's your birthday, not mine." She jumped too close, and he grabbed hold of her leg, pulling her down into his lap. She let out a shocked scream and giggled.

"Because." She re-situated herself, straddling him, "You can have your way with me!" She smiled, resting her arms on his shoulders.

"Is that so?" She nodded, smiling. "Been planning this day or something?" His forehead connected with hers. Licking his lips a bit, he stared into her blue eyes. This was the closest they had ever been to each other, that didn't involve them hugging.

"How many girls have you kissed?" She blurted. The question surfaced in her mind randomly.

"A few," He told her truthfully. He wasn't positive about the exact number, but he knew it wasn't enough to consider him a whore of sorts. "Why do you ask? How many guys have you kissed, missy."

"You mean I'm not going to be your first kiss?" She pouted.

He chuckled, continuing to look her in her eyes. "You expected me to be 23 and not kiss a single person?" His tongue ran across his lips for what seemed like the 50th time since he had been with her, "I know, you're not trying to tell me you've never kissed a guy."

She shook her head 'no'. She looked like she was lying, and he didn't mind it at all. He glanced down at his watch. 11:59. 12:00. Seeing the digits change to 12 and the date switch from 4/21 to 4/22, he pulled her closer to him. He had been waiting a year for this moment, and he knew deep down so was she.

He pushed a strand of her hair from her face before he brought his lips to hers. He watched her as she closed her eyes before he did the same. They had waited almost a year for this moment. Normal couples would have kissed each other a while back, but they were different. He was older than her by a landslide, it seemed, and her being 17 from the time they started dating until now, he felt it would be weird for both of them.

Besides, he respected her. He didn't care if he had to wait forever. He would because he felt that he would marry her from the first day he stepped foot into the grocery store that she worked in and laid eyes on her. There was something about her from that day that intrigued him. Something that set her apart from the others. Something about her aura made him want her in his life, and only her.

Pulling away after what seemed like an hour, he tucked a lone piece of her hair behind her ear. Her eyes slowly opened and met his. He smiled before saying, "Happy Birthday, Jacey Marie."

"Wow ..." Was all she could think of to say. Sure, she had been kissed, but not like he had kissed her.

"You sure you've never kissed any guys before?" He asked, teasing.

"Not like that." She licked her lips before biting down on her bottom lip, "So that's what I've been missing this whole time?"

He smirked before leaning in to kiss her again.