The Experiment 2: The Journey

Uncertainty

"Babe, are you ready yet?" RJ asked from the living room as he glanced at his watch.

It was the Saturday after they had moved in to their new apartment, and they were getting ready to go to RJ's cousin's house to attend her son's first birthday party.

"Yep, I'm almost done. Just trying to zip-up-this-freaking-dress!" Dei answered from the bedroom, sounding really exasperated.

RJ stepped into the room and found her struggling to pull the zipper up on the back of her dress, which got stuck in the middle. Her face was flushed from exerting too much effort, and she looked really stressed.

"How long have you been trying to pull that up?" RJ asked as he walked up to her.

"The last five minutes," she said, exhaling sharply.

RJ sighed. "Turn around," he said and started working on the zipper. It had caught a small portion of the fabric while she was trying to pull it up and that's what caused it to jam. RJ tried to move it a few times and pulled the fabric gently. "I was right outside why didn't you just call me."

"I thought I could do it," she muttered, looking at their reflection on the mirror.

"Babe, sometimes it helps to be a bit dependent," RJ told her. He successfully freed the zipper and pulled it all the way up. "There, done in less than a minute," he said, planting a kiss on her shoulder.

"Thanks," she said.

RJ looked at her on the mirror. She had tied her hair up into a french bun with tendrils falling on the side of her face and she had very light make up on. The haltered top dress that she was wearing complimented her broad shoulders and its red color added some pinkish glow on her face.

"You look beautiful as always babe," he remarked. "But you also look stressed... what can I do about that?" he said, placing his palm on her stomach and pulling her closer to him.

Dei sighed and leaned against him. "It's not like we can do anything. I'm still on my period and we're gonna be late," she said grumpily.

RJ chuckled. "So that's the first thing that came to your mind, huh?" he teased.

"Well yeah," she said, smiling slightly.

"I know, it's probably the best stress reliever. I bet that's why you're being too moody the past two days," he whispered while trailing small kisses on the side of her neck.

"Kinda," she answered.

He snickered and turned her around. "Two more days?" he asked and she nodded. "Maybe a kiss for now would help." He placed his hand on her nape and leaned in to give her a long deep kiss that left them both breathless.

"Yep, that definitely helped" she whispered when they pulled away. "That coral lipstick looks so good on you," she laughed, looking at his lips.

RJ looked at himself on the mirror and saw the smeared cosmetic on his lips. "Yea this is definitely my color," he joked, while Dei reached out to wipe it with her fingers.

"Let's go?" he asked when she was done.

"Okay."

They drove almost an hour from Manhattan to Staten Island where his cousin Terry lived. It was the second time that Dei was going to meet her. She had visited them a few weeks ago when they arrived at the Faulkersons home in North Bellmore to congratulate them on their wedding. Terry was about the same age as RJ and she was one of his closest cousins too. It would be the first time that they would be meeting her son though.