My Butterfly

Chapter Eleven A Movie

I opened the door, and she rushed in and threw her arms around me. I caught her and squeezed her close. Then, she pulled away and pressed her lips against mine.

“Let’s go out,” she said, pulling on the end of my tee shirt.

“Out?” I asked, laughing.

“Yeah,” she said. “We can go to Max’s or I heard that there’s this new place in Chester.”

“Or,” I said, taking a long, dramatic pause. “Or we could order pizza and watch a movie. What’s that one you wanted to see?”

I watched as, first, her smile and then her face turned down toward the floor.

“But we watched a movie the last time I was here,” she said, sounding discouraged.

“I know, babe, but I had a call this morning, and I didn’t get to bed until four,” I said. “Why don’t we do that next time?”

Her face turned up toward mine again.

“You said that last time,” she said. “And I thought you were coming to see me next time.”

“Oh,” I said, taking a moment to think back. “Oh, I’m so sorry, babe. I’m on-call the next two weekends. They kind of don’t bother me during the week so much because of the paramedic classes. You know, they said I need that certification if I ever want a full-time firefighter gig.”

I watched as she slowly nodded her head.

“But that means they really count on me for the weekends sometimes, and they needed me those weekends,” I said.

Her stare fell to the hard floor again, and I used the back of my hand to gently lift her chin up so that I could see her pretty eyes.

“Babe, I love you a million times a million,” I said. “It won’t always be like this. We won’t always be far apart.”

Her lips stayed planted where they were in the straight position on her face, but I could tell that she was making an effort to smile.

“Come here,” I said, drawing her body close to mine again.

I squeezed her tightly and took in the smell of her hair. It always smelled like some kind of garden or fruit or something. Whatever it was, it always made me smile.

“And to the moon and back?” she asked.

I smiled wider.

“And to the moon and back,” I confirmed, gently kissing the top of her head.

We held each other for a moment then without saying a word. It was her whisper that finally broke the silence.

“Gone With the Wind,” she softly said into my ear.

I slowly pulled away from her and met her eyes.

“The movie I wanted to see was Gone With the Wind,” she said.

Her voice was still soft.

I tried to hold back a suspicious grin. I knew that wasn’t the one. The one she had mentioned before was at least a couple of hours shorter.

“Are you sure?” I asked her.

She nodded her head. There was a new, mischievous smile planted on her face.

“That was the one,” she said, with more conviction this time.

One of my eyes narrowed slightly, but I didn’t say anything. I knew enough to know when to keep my mouth shut.

“Okay,” I said, as I felt the corners of my mouth slowly start to turn up again.

“And we’re getting pepperoni pizza — with extra cheese,” she added.

A wide smile finally won the battle and shot across my face.

“Pepperoni pizza with extra cheese it is,” I said, as I watched her push past me with her little, pleased self.

“And we’re going out for our anniversary,” she said.

Her words trailed behind her as she made her way into the kitchen.

I swallowed hard. I wondered if she had forgotten.

“Uh, Jules, you know I can’t make it for that day, right?” I asked, timidly.

She stopped and faced me.

“What?” she asked.

And just like that, her smile was sad again.

I felt my palms instantly grow sweaty, and my heart attempted to surrender for the both of us by jumping right out of my chest.

“Remember, we were going to celebrate it that second week after,” I said to her.

My voice came out even more timid this time, as her hollow eyes stared a hole into mine.

Then, suddenly, a smile cracked across her face.

“I know,” she said, in a much too cheerful voice.

I stared at her blankly.

“Did I scare you?” she asked, showing off a wide, toothy grin.

I took in a slow, deep breath and then let out a sigh and lowered my head as I tried to hide the smile fighting its way to my face. Then, after a few seconds, I looked up and met her little, devious gaze again. She winked a big set of eyelashes at me and then spun around on her heels. That was my silent cue.

As she spun, I dashed toward her and squeezed my biceps around her little body. Then, I scooped her up into my arms, as she screamed in surprise.

“There’s no room for jokes like that in this house, pretty girl,” I said, planting a wet kiss on her cheek.

She squealed again and wiped the back of her hand across her face, as I carried her to the living room and gently threw her onto the couch before I fell onto the surface next to her.

“You have just officially lost all your demanding privileges,” I said, flashing her a wide but serious smile. “We’re getting sausage pizza.”

“No,” she screamed.

I started tickling her side and planted another wet kiss on her cheek.

“Sausage pizza,” I said again.

“Okay, okay,” she said, giggling and trying her best to squirm away from my hands.

“What kind of pizza are we getting?” I asked, still running my fingers up and down her side.

She continued to giggle and squirm.

“Sausage pizza,” she screamed, through her laughter.

I slowed my fingers and then rested my eyes in hers. I was pretty sure I had a smile as wide as the Missouri River planted on my face.

“I’ll call it in,” she said, suddenly jumping out of my arms and up from the couch.

She danced away, and I sat up and started to reach for the remote but then stopped.

“Jules…,” I cautiously called into the other room.

When I didn’t hear anything, I jumped up, ran into the kitchen and spotted her already on the phone.

“Yes,” she said into the receiver, “one, large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.”

I scowled at her, and she smiled back. And I didn’t even try to fight the smile returning to my face, as I realized in that moment that I would eat a million pepperoni pizzas for that girl. And she knew it. Damn it.