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"Our first real conversation was a year ago." She leans in, talking softly so that only we can hear.
"I was just thinking that too."
"Did you know we'd be here?"
Her question is phrased in a way that makes me wonder if she was thinking we would be. "No, did you?"
"Kinda. It was like when I met you, I saw portions of the rest of my life playing out as I looked at you. It's never happened before, and when it happened with you, I thought I was crazy. I've always kept it in the back of my mind, though. I'm glad it ended up being true."
I lean in, kissing the tip of her nose. "I'm glad too. At least the man upstairs is watching out for us, even when we don't, or refuse to act on what we know we want."
Before we can say anything else, candy is raining down on us. "Ouch!" Kara laughs as she pulls back, putting her hands up, over her head.
All the little kids run up to us, stealing the candy as I pick it out of her hair. This is definitely something I wasn't good at last year; enjoying the little things in life. With her, I'm enjoying it all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Kara
"Are you ready?" Abel asks as I open my front door for him. He's bundled up and looks like a lumberjack from my favorite romance novel. I'm carrying a box full of stuff for what we're going to do today. He takes it from me, and holds it while I finish getting ready.
"I am. I'm so excited about this. I've never done anything like this before." I pull on my gloves before I step out of my house and then lock the door.
"It's not super exciting," he laughs. "We're going to be out in the cold for as long as it takes to find the perfect one."
"That's okay, we'll be together, and this is a first. I'm excited to experience it with you. Last year I didn't even have a Christmas tree, much less a real one."
"I've never had a real one before either. I had to ask Jasper how to go about chopping the tree down when we find it. He took me out a few times the past few weeks to show me how to do it."
I laugh loudly, impressed he would do that for me. "That's really cute, Abel. Thank you. Nobody's ever made me feel special like this before."
"That's a damn shame."
He holds his hand out for me to grab hold as we go down the steps. It snowed last night, and it's slicker than I would've liked, but in a way, it adds to the adventure we're embarking on. We go to his truck, where he opens the door and helps me in. He's kept it running with the heat on. When I get in, it's cozy and warm, as if we're encased in our own little cocoon. "Where are we going?"
"Probably out near the train trestle. That's where Jasper and I have been going to practice cutting down the trees, so I know there's a good selection, and I know we can get it out. Are those the ornaments?" He indicates the box I was carrying when I came out.
"Yup, I went and bought some this week. Including one that says Our First Christmas. Is that corny?"
"No." He reaches over, entwining our fingers together. "If I would've thought about it, I would've gotten it for us. I'm into all that corny bullshit with you. Making memories and stuff? I didn't have that as a kid. I mean, I did. I don't want you to think I didn't have a great childhood, because I did. It was just different than what other kids had, and I was shuffled back and forth between my parents. I wanted to wake up on Christmas morning and have both of them there. I'm sure I had a Christmas like that, but I can't remember it. When I have kids, I want them to live that experience."
"I do too. It's important to me. Why I'm trying to get my business where it needs to be so that when I'm in that portion of my life, I can be the mom I want to be."
It doesn't escape me that we're talking about the future here in a way we haven't talked about it before. I've never talked about this with anyone before, and it's not scaring the shit out of me like I always assumed it would. It's exciting, and as if we're making plans together. No longer am I the only one making all the decisions about something. That's the biggest complaint I have about owning my own business and being the CEO, basically, of it all. If things go tits up, then I'm the one to blame. If I make a decision that's going to go amazing, there's no one I can really celebrate with. Yeah, my employees are happy, because it's good for them, but they have no real consequences like I do.
"You got quiet." Abel mentions, as we come to a red light. "Are you okay? Worried about it being too cold?"
"I'm fine, just thinking about how we're making plans. I've never done that before," I admit to him.
"Me neither, I'm experiencing a lot of firsts with you. I'm choosing to experience them with you."
I pull his hand up to my lips, kissing the back of it. "Thank you for choosing me."
"There was never a chance I wasn't going to choose you as my girlfriend, Kara. You had me from the moment I saw those hazel eyes staring back at me. You fucking had me, and I knew it. I didn't even want to try and get away. I just didn't know how to accept it easily. Relationships, in my mind, came with baggage and extra husbands. I didn't know a relationship could be comfortable, that you could be with each other and not have to have tension or flaunt the new flame. My dad and Alexis getting together finally showed me it could happen, and you’ve taught me how." He finishes up as we pull into the parking lot that leads to the trail head.
"You've taught me a lot about myself too, and taking a chance on you was the best thing I ever did, Abel. I hope that in ten years from now we'll be pulling into this same parking lot, to go pick out our Christmas tree. Who knows, we might have a kid with us, I might be wearing a wedding ring. We might be completely comfortable in just being life-partners. Either way, I pray we're here together."
"I do too, Kara. More than you know. C'mon, let's go get our tree."
