Happily Ever After.... Yeah Right!!

Part 42

It was a beautifully Friday late afternoon. I came skip-walking up the walkway to the Harkman's front door. I rang the doorbell and waited. In moments the door was opening and Mrs. Harkman was smiling back at me.

"Well, look who we have here?" she said, "Alexandra, Jonas isn't home yet, but come on in. I am baking chocolate chip cookies with M&M's, currently."

"That sounds great, Julia. I can't wait to try them," I replied as I walked through the door.

Julia led me to the kitchen where I sat down on the stool across the island. I watched and helped Mrs. Harkman take the cookies off the cookie sheets as well as taste test the cookies. They were great. The chocolate was warm and melted in your mouth. The cookie was firm on the outside and soft on the inside.

As Julia baked, we talked about what we had done that day and what we were going to be up to soon.

It was nice having an adult there to listen to me. Mrs. Harkman understood me because she had had an issue as a child also. She had an alcoholic mother and a father who was constantly working. Julia had told me she never felt like a family, so by the time she was fourteen, she moved out. She took what she needed from home and left for her grandparent's house. Julia grew up and was helped by her grandparents to deal with her side of her family's issues.

When I had heard that story from Mrs. Harkman, I was sad for her. She had a family and never felt loved by them and left to get help. Since my knowledge of her story, we have had a lot of great conversations of how life was when it was good and bad while with our family's. Julia became my main guidance to help me with my grief. She wasn't any counsellor, but due to her personally knowledge of a broken family, was able to help me with my own family issues.

After a half an hour of talking with Julia, eating cookies, and helping with dishes, I took one last cookie (my third... no fourth cookie) and headed outside to the backyard.

I went and lay down in the hammock. It was quiet and nice. I laid down thinking and absorbing the sun's light that hit my face through the trees leaves.

I fiddled with my locket and heart charm around my neck. I opened and closed the locket countless times before actually admiring the pictures inside. During my first five days at Miss Dolly's house, Moss Dolly decided it was time for a picture to go in my locket. So, I found an old picture of when I was three sitting with my parents. We shrunk it to fit in the locket. Now I have my parents close to my heart daily. But Miss Dolly also thought it would be nice to have my 'family' I have now to be in a picture. This picture included me, Jonas, and Miss Dolly. We were sitting on the bench in the park with a basketball court behind us.

After admiring my locket, I closed it and rocked slowly from side to side. I had my eyes closed. Breathing deep, I smelled the fresh cut grass.

My hammock slowly stopped swaying and then I was sloshed around in the hammock as someone lay beside me. I opened my eyes to see Jonas, freshly showered, smiling down at me.

"Hey. Alex, how was your day?" Jonas asked as he laid back with his hands behind his head.

"Good. I was helping at the vets today. I washed countless dogs and still feel like I smell like wet dog," I answered as I closed my eyes again. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I installed like twelve windows today and painted. Lots of painting of one boring colour. White. Who paints their whole house white?" Jonas replied.

"I don't know, Jonas, but they have their reasons," I said coolly as I opened my eyes look at Jonas.

Jonas was lying back in the hammock and was breathing calmly. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful.

As I was lying back down I noticed his key chain was falling out of his pocket. I took his keys out of his pocket with no more than an eyebrow arch from Jonas, who kept his eyes closed. I took his keys and grabbed the smallest one off. I put the key on his flexed abs were his shirt didn't cover. Jonas opened his eyes and said sarcastically, "What's that for?"

I rolled my eyes and rested my head back down into the hammock. Jonas them took the key in his hand and said, "Oh. I get it." As he fiddled with the key in his hand, he said, "I have the key to your heart, Alex. See."

Jonas grabbed the heart charm from the end of my necklace and put the key in the hole.

"I do see, but I'm missing what comes after the cheesy saying," I asked.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Jonas asked out of curiosity.

"We'll, if it's too much to ask, then I won't ask for a kiss," I said.

While I was speaking, I rolled away so I wasn't facing Jonas. I was stopped, though, by an arm wrapping around my waist. Jonas rolled me over, so I was facing him again.

I looked at him and saw the usually mystery spread through his emerald green eyes. Jonas stared at me back. Jonas finally broke our staring and asked, "Well, do you want the kiss or not?"

I smiled and said, "Sure. But only if you want to." I added just to annoy Jonas.

Jonas didn't miss a beat. His hands came to hold my face. Jonas leaned forward and kissed me.