Page 108 of Truth or More Truth
“Melissa,” Kelli says around a mouthful of fresh fruit, “do you really want to?—”
“Kell, don’t talk with your mouth full,” her mother cuts in.
Our daughter holds her hand over her mouth while she finishes chewing. “Sorry. Anyway, do you really want to talk through both options, or is it OK for me to just tell you we’re moving to Chicago?”
“Kelli!” We talked about this, but I should’ve known she wouldn’t follow the plan. At least she gave Melissa some time to get to know her before declaring we’ll all three be descending upon her city in a few months.
Kelli huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “There’s no reason to waste time talking about something we’re not going to do, Dad.”
All eyes turn to Melissa, and she looks at me for a few seconds before looking first Kelli and then Nanette in the eye. “I am perfectly willing to move to California if that’s what’s best for all of you. Why upset three lives instead of just one, right? But I would definitely not complain about you three moving to Chicago, if none of you are opposed to it. Then I’d have everyone I love in the same city.”
Kelli throws her hands up in victory, and Melissa smiles at her before turning to me with love in her eyes.
I reach over and grasp my girlfriend’s hand. “I’ll have everyone I love in the same city, too.” It stings a little that Nanettewill have to leave her extended family behind in order for me to have my dream, but like she said, she rarely sees them anyway. That’s not a compelling reason for us all to stay here.
“Awww, look at you two,” Nanette says, and she’s not being sarcastic. Believe me, she can be, but this is not one of those times. “I can’t tell you how happy this makes me for both of you—for all of us, actually. I think this move will be great for everyone. Kelli will be able to spend more time with her dad, and I’ll be able to go to back to work.”
I need to have a private conversation with Melissa, so I look at her and nod toward the house. “Help me bring out breakfast dessert?”
“Breakfast dessert? What’s that?” Kelli asks. “And why don’t we have it every day?”
“It’s only for special occasions,” I tell her as Melissa and I head to the house.
When we get inside, I pull her to where the others can’t see us, and I kiss her deeply.
“I love you so much,” I say as I cradle her face in my hands, “and I love that you seem to have bonded with Kelli and Nanette already. Am I right about that, though? I need you to be honest with me if not. That doesn’t mean the end of this, but we might need to slow things down if there’s any tension between you and either of them. I can understand if you need more time to get to know either of them before making a big life decision that will involve them.”
“No,” she shakes her head, “no tension. I’ll admit I was a little worried that Nanette might still be in love with you and you’re too close to the situation to see it. But she seems genuinely excited for you and me, like a friend or sister would be. I don’t get the feeling that she has any sort of romantic interest in you.” She goes up onto her tiptoes and kisses me on the nose. “Is it weird that I may someday live next door to your ex-wife? Yeah. And the three of us will need to sit down and hash out what that looks like and what rules we’ll all need to put in place to make us all comfortable.” She shrugs. “But we’ll work it out.”
I give her a soft smile. “I’m so relieved andhappy that you’re so accepting of our weird little family. I honestly never thought I’d find that, and I was OK with it, but now I can’t imagine you not being part of my life—of our lives. I can’t wait to be able to see you every day and kiss you every day.” I press a quick kiss to her lips. “I don’t want you to feel pressured time-wise, though. I don’t expect you to move in with me as soon as we get to Chicago, whenever that may be. It’ll take a few months to get everything arranged, and we want Kelli to finish the school year here. Unfortunately, you and I might see each other less during that time, but our days of being apart are numbered.”
“I’m excited to eventually be with you every day, too.” She pats my chest. “And I don’t feel pressured. Once you’re getting close to moving in, we can talk about where I’m going to live. I’ll be in the middle of my lease, but I can always look into subleasing if needed. Now, let’s grab this breakfast dessert and get back out to Kelli. I’m sure she’s dying to talk details.”
“You know her so well already.”
I give Melissa another quick kiss before directing her to the plates already loaded with generous pieces of Kelli’s favorite cinnamon-roll coffee cake.
“Did you make this?” She sounds like she’s joking, and for good reason. I don’t seem like the baking type.
“I sure did.”
She almost drops the two plates she’s carrying. “What? Seriously?”
I shrug as I open the door. “I love to bake.” I add in a low voice, “Don’t tell anyone.”
Melissa laughs. “Oh, I’m telling everyone. And I’m going to make you bake for me on a weekly basis.”
“Done.” I would bake for her every day if it would make her happy.
“Is that your world-famous cinnamon-roll coffee cake?” Kelli snatches a plate out of my hand when she sees what’s on it.
“Manners, my child. And that’s exactly what it is, though I’m not sure world-famous is the way to describe it since only a few people have ever eaten it.”
“Itwould beworld-famous if you weren’t so worried about people knowing you love to bake.”
“She’s not wrong,” Nanette says. “Now, I’d like to hear if Melissa has any suggestions on where we should look at homes in Chicago.”
My girlfriend looks at me. “Did you talk to a Realtor this week?”
