Deflowered

Chapter 3

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."

"Babe." I grabbed Adam's shoulders and stilled him forcefully in the bathroom. He had been rambling all morning and if I had to watch him attempt to tie his own tie with shaky hands any longer, I might start rambling myself. I brushed a stray strand away from his face and kissed him before moving his hands and taking both ends of his tie myself. "You are going to do great today. You know what you're doing. Now, can I bring you lunch?"

"I'd like that. What are you going to make?"

"Well, hmmmm." I worked quickly to finish his tie and he noticed my smirk. "Your favorite." I added and he grinned like the teenage boy that kissed me for the first time.

"Sushi? Your making Sushi?"

"I thought we talked about lying in church yesterday!" I quipped as he turned back towards the mirror and studied himself. He gave me a feigned disappointed expression like my tie skills weren't up to par. Shaking my head at him, I walked out into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee when I felt his arms wrap around me and spin me around. I was so happy we both had returned to a sense of normalcy after the weekend.

"Thank you." He kissed me quickly as I handed him his to go cup of coffee, his wallet, his phone, and then his car keys. If we didn't maintain this routine, I'd be woken by Adam cursing unable to find anything with the added accusations that I moved everything. We moved towards the doorway as he double checked that he had everything.

"I think I'm good."

"K. I love you." He turned and kissed me.

"Love you too."

I pulled my hair into a messy bun on my head and got to work in the kitchen.

"Okay, it's just you and me today." I spoke to the kitchen that had been giving me all kinds of problems. Everything was just so high tech. Adam had spent most of the afternoon yesterday teaching me about the oven, the fridge, and of course we had to go over the Keurig again. I rummaged through some of our boxes still sitting in the guest bedroom and got out Mawmaw's worn cookbook. There were familiar scribbles and notes throughout on yellowed paper and some notecards taped in. Adam's favorite meal was Chicken and Noodles, mashed potatoes, corn, and homemade rolls. Especially the rolls. It's another of Mawmaw's secret recipes. She was a Christian woman and shared everything she had but the woman was very possessive of her recipes. Starting with the rolls so I could put them by the fireplace to rise, I managed to get along quite well with the kitchen today while I pulled out all the ingredients I needed.

Flour. Check. Egg, Check. Flax seed, check...

My mind thrived when I cooked, the purpose and direction completely consuming my thoughts. I threw a Tim McGraw CD in and started on the dough. I got the muffin pan out and pulled small balls of dough apart from the large mass I had kneaded and placed them into the pan. Covering them with a dishtowel, I turned the fireplace on and set them next to it. It was the oddest thing to turn a fireplace on.

Next was the chicken and I grabbed the largest pot I had and filled it with water.

I had showered and dried my hair by the time I came back to put the potatoes on and corn. Managing to squeeze some unpacking in too, I was feeling pretty productive for ten a.m. I was surprised to find egg noodles at the grocery store yesterday and I had to hide them from Adam. If he saw them, he would have known what I had planned for today and I wanted to give him something to look forward to this morning to help calm his nerves I knew he would have about his first day.

Everything was cooking to plan and I got the Tupperware ready along with one of my totes to carry it in. Running late, I threw on a white button down flowy shirt with some cut-offjeans and white keds. I even threw on some mascara and lip gloss to help. Everything smelled delicious and as I walked into the kitchen I paused. For the first time, I pictured the apartment as our home. It sure smelled like it.