Surprises

#1 Six Months

         I feel his large strong hands guiding me along a gravel path to an unknown destination. I hear his voice warning me where to place my feet and I can just picture his cute wide smile of excitement. We pause for a moment and his rough hands tighten around my wrists as he inhales and exhales slowly. I tentatively ask if he is alright, he reassures me that he's fine and we begin walking again. The terrain under my thin flats changes to soft grass and we weave in and out, avoiding obstacles. I begin smelling flowers and his hands begin to moisten from nervousness. My face scrunches under my blindfold as I grab his hands and rub my thumbs across them to calm him down. He sighs loudly again, this time in relief as we quickly make our way up hill. We walk in a straight line now, all the obstacles gone and I hear my adorable boyfriend laugh quietly bringing a smile to my face.

         The ride to this destination was an interesting one. We began at my house where my lovable boyfriend, Cameron, blindfolded me as soon as I got into his car. I strongly protested against this but he insisted so we began driving and I began badgering him with questions. He refused to answer them so I tried, in vain, to figure out where we were by the way the road felt. I have lived in the same town all my seventeen years of life but I still could not decipher where he was taking me. I reached my hand out blindly for his and he giggled but took it and I focused on the way his dark smooth skin felt against my creamy white small hand. After about half an hour of sitting and occasionally asking questions I never got answers to, I felt the car slowing and heard his blinker beeping. Butterflies immediately filled my stomach and my face broke into a smile that was nearly from ear to ear.

         "Wait here, baby. I might take a little while but don't worry I'll be back." Cameron squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek after whispering this in my ear and I sat patiently for what seemed like eternity. Finally, and frighteningly, the door to the car opened and I began my blind journey.

         Our up hill stumble does not take long as he halts me after just a few yards of gently rising grass and tells me to stand still. I fidget with my long flowing red dress and listen to Cameron moving things around then his footsteps coming close. I stifle a snicker at his clumsy sounding footfalls and he grabs my waist to make me stop. I gasp slightly then smile as he whispers in my ear causing my skin to prickle with excitement.

         "We've been together for quite a while sweetheart. I wanted to do something extra special for our six month anniversary and I know this will show you how much I really care about you." he kisses me softly then walks behind me and begins untying my blindfold. My stomach flip flops with anticipation as the fabric finally falls and the late afternoon light nearly blinds me again. Once my eyes quickly adjust I gasp loudly and bring my hands to my face.

         What I see almost brings tears to my eyes. Its the rolling green hills of the Denison Cemetery far enough back where we can sit away from the graves but close enough so I can appreciate the beauty of them. I take it all in and finally notice Cameron's large hand on the small of my back and I turn to him. His face is beaming as he looks at the happy tears welling up in my brown eyes. He takes my hands and turns me around to see a beautiful picnic set up on a traditional red and white checkered blanket. I see all my favorite foods; corn, chicken, rolls, pasta, and a key lime pie for dessert.

         "What do you think, baby?" Cameron asks, gesturing towards the delightful set up. I run to him and throw my arms around him as we both laugh.

         "I love it, and you. I couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate these 6 wonderful months and all the many to come." I whisper this to him as we sit down to eat our special dinner in honor of our loving relationship.

#2

         "So what would you like to do today, babe?" I politely ask as we drive from my house toward his. I glance over at the small smile playing at the corners of his supple mouth, I imagine how it will stretch and grow to fill his whole face once he discovers what I have in mind for today.

         "Oh babe, I don't care. Whatever you want to do." he winks at me as he says this and turns off the highway to his road. I think of how I can introduce this without making what I'm planning obvious.

         "Could we do something outside? I've been inside all day and it's boring." I say this hesitantly hoping he doesn't think I'm acting out of character. He seems to not notice and so I tell him I want to jump on the trampoline some or swim.

         "Okay babe, would you care if I play basketball while you jump?" Cameron asks politely as if I have control of what he does and I laugh at him.

         "You can do whatever you want babe." I say this with a smile and squeeze our awkwardly twined hands as we quickly, much too quickly, speed toward his house. I move and fidget nervously thinking of how I could be making a fool of myself within the next hour. Oh, who am I kidding? There is no way I can avoid looking like an idiot by what I've got in mind, but it will make him happy so I'll try and calm down.

         The now familiar bumps and ruts of Cameron's long driveway jolt me from my inner turmoil and back to the jostling truck and his large, warm hand around mine. My nerves jangle together loudly in my mind but on the outside I'm calm and content, betraying nothing to my beloved black boyfriend. He sighs as we pull up to his gorgeous house and turns to look me in the eyes. I keep my breathing steady and stare him down with a small smile on my thin lips.

         "Come here." Cameron places a hand behind my head and pulls me into a long gentle kiss. My mind reels from the euphoric feeling of his soft lips caressing mine and I greedily kiss him back, like it's the last kiss I'll ever recieve. He pulls away after I place his hand on my waist and smirks at me as I blush and turn away. He giggles at my embarrassment and playfully squeezes my hip before getting out of the truck. I roll my eyes as I follow him through the back gate and into the house where we flop down on our favorite couch to watch television.

         "Hey, Emily." Kent, Cameron's sweet and white father, greets me from the kitchen while he enjoys a sandwich. I mumble something noncommittal with all my attention attuned to his son who is slowly stroking my thigh and trying not to laugh at my inability to function while he's touching me. I harshly push his hand away and glare at his triumphant smirk then I announce that I wish to play outside.

         "Your like a baby. You want to play?" Cameron laughs at my childish expression but follows me to the backyard and we head toward the trampoline.

         "I thought you were going to play ball?" I flash a confused look down at him as he climbs on after me. He just shrugs and jumps much higher than he needs to with a huge smile on his beautiful face. We both jump gleefully until we're panting and must rest. We flop down next to each other snickering and trying to catch our breath and I reach over and take his hand. He pulls me hard so that I flip over onto him and kisses me roughly. I push away and laugh out of pure happiness and then I see his court out of the corner of my eye. I squint my eyes at him and smile mischievously then quickly climb off of him and the trampoline.

         "Guess you're done jumping, babe?" Cameron phrases this statement as a question as he slowly climbs off and follows me. I don't answer but stop when I find a basketball under the picnic table he built. I bend straight over and snatch it up then look at Cameron who is standing on the court by now.

         "What? You want me to play? Can't we just go inside cause I'm kind of tired, babe." he says this to me as he leans on the table in the shade and gives me his 'I don't want to' face. I shrug and start dribbling the basketball down the court as he gives me an astonished and confused stare. I run swiftly and surely down the court, ball bouncing at my side, and finally reach the goal where I shoot a decent looking layup. I, who haven't played any basketball in five years, miss it but it is quickly and expertly caught by Cameron after his shock subsided. I chase after him but by the time I get down the court he's already made his shot and is coming to wrap me up in a big bear hug.

         "Baby! Are we really going to play basketball together?!" Cameron practically screams this in my ear unbelievingly as I laugh and try to push him away.

         "Yes! If you'll let me go!" I yell back at him and as he's lowering his arms I slap the ball from his hands and take it down to my end of the court where I miss yet another layup but this time I get the rebound since Cameron is lazy. I throw the ball right back up thinking I have it this time but it was just a little too hard so the ball bounces off the backboard into Cameron's waiting arms. Now I'm ready for what he's going to do so as soon as I see the ball bounce away I take off for the other end. This puts me in the perfect position to block him. I see him barraling towards me and I stand with arms and legs apart ready to stop him. Once he gets there he tries to spin around me with the ball but I just slide back and over, effectively blocking his efforts. Then he takes a few steps back and I see him glance at the goal and I know what comes next. I run with a hand up trying to block his shot even though I know I can't and, after he throws it, him and I can tell it's off. I sprint to the goal ready for the rebound knowing he'll let me have it and once it's mine I run the other direction. Cameron, being the black muscular teenage boy he is, catches up to me, a skinny white girl, in seconds and wastes no time before stealing the ball out from under my hand. I turn sharply, knowing he's already up at the goal, and run as hard and fast as I can to blatantly foul him, but also making him miss the shot.

         "Hey now, that was such a foul!" Cameron scrunches up his face in my direction as the ball rolls away. I sigh loudly, trying to catch my breath, and walk slowly towards him.

         "I can foul you all I want, cause I'm your awesome girlfriend." I tell him while placing a hand on his chest. He smiles and kisses me in agreement. After he frees me from his arms I jog and retrieve the basketball, throwing it out onto the court for him to catch. I run out there and get ready for another onslaught of blocking my massive man with a smile across my lips.

         "Show me what you got baby!" I shout to Cameron who eagerly runs down the court with the ball. We play like this, me missing nearly every shot and running after him, until I'm unable to take another step and Cameron has to carry me into the house. I lay there for a while just looking at his face, how radiant and ecstatic he is because of something I did. The day ends with me taking a well deserved nap while Cameron lays content but ready for more next to me.