It was as if the universe wanted you to find me - Summer 1989

I chuckled and took a sip of the wine Tobi had so generously offered and smiled at Jada. "That is a fantastic question," I told her. "Sometimes when you leave school some things prevent friends from seeing each other that often. Mine was the fact that I got a job that made me travel all over. I was in Paris for a little while and just recently I was all the way in New York over in America. That made it very difficult for me to ever have seen any of my old school friends." I hoped that would be sufficient. I tried to phrase it in a manner that October would be okay with as well.

I was grateful with the way Michael explained everything.  But I was sure that my daughter would be overly curious about everything.  Hopefully her questions would stay with the fact that Michael has traveled a lot -- something both of my kids wanted to do so badly.  "Ah, Jada... Michael's been to Paris.  Isn't that where you said you would love to go visit sometime?" I asked, trying to steer my daughter's mind in the best direction possible.

My eyes brightened.  "Oooh!  Is it really as romantic as people say?  Did you get married there?  Well, are you even married?  And if not, was it because you had a romantic fling in Paris and she stole your heart, but since it was just a quick little jaunt or something there nothing ever became of it?" I asked quickly.  I wanted to know details.  I was a romantic... I didn't care if I had just met Michael; I wanted to know.

I rolled my eyes.  "Jada... don't you think that's really none of your business?" I pointed out while twirling some pasta onto my fork.  I wanted to hear about the city itself -- not romantic love stories.

"jada, honey, please don't bombard Michael with that many questions that are so none of your business," I said, agreeing with Jetty.  I smiled at her to let her know that I wasn't yelling at her, just warning her.  I looked over at Michael and gave him an apologetic look again.

I couldn't help but laugh at the young girl. "Well, yes... Paris is a rather romantic city," I answered. "One could probably easily fall in love. I was there on business, so that was not my intention while there. Perhaps you'll travel there one day to see the magic yourself of that beautiful city." I had not expected to get the third degree from the kids, but it was rather entertaining in my opinion. I was sure that Tobi was getting worried, but I didn't mind.

I rolled my eyes at my brother and listened to what Michael was saying.  "Oh, that's too bad.  It probably would have been the romance of a lifetime," I said, starting to daydream about it a little bit.

I looked at the clock and saw that both kids were finished eating.  I smiled at the two of them.  "I do believe it is time to go to bed, kids," I said, setting down my napkin down on the table and stood up from the table.  I was surprised that they had not argued with me but stood as well.

I stood up and gave Mum a hug and went over to Michael.  I squeezed his hand a little bit that was setting on the top of the table.  "Nice to have met you, michael," I said.  Smiling at them both I went upstairs and got changed and ready to bed.  I figured Mum wouldn't be up to see us until after Michael had left.  I hoped I would still be up to at least try to get details from Mum.

I stood and gave Mum a hug and kiss. I smiled at Michael and said, "Sorry if we bothered you... but it was nice to meet you."  I smiled at both of them and went upstairs.  I was sure that my sister would be trying to listen to their conversation... I wasn't that interested.  I would probably end up just falling asleep like a good child.

I smiled at both of the kids and bade them a good night. I waited until Tobi got things situated with them and figured that I would help clear up the table a little bit. "They're more well-behaved than you give them credit for," I told her as we washed the dishes. She protested me helping, but I insisted. She had been too kind already.

I really tried to keep Michael from helping too much.  He really didn't need to do that.  We finished cleaning things up and I leaned against the counter.  "Thank you," I told him, nudging his arm with my elbow.  I had my arms crossed as we both stood there in the kitchen.  "You were very good at buffering their questions.  I appreciate that... most people would have just disregarded them and whatnot..."  There had been a couple of guys that I had brought home to meet them who seemed to be fine with kids... but in reality, they weren't.  That was when I stopped even trying to date.  It wasn't worth the heartache of my kids.

I shrugged and moved so I could see her a little bit better. I didn't exactly like the fact that it had been difficult to see her beautiful eyes. She definitely did not look like a mother of two. She still had that unclaimed beauty that she never really fully agreed that she had back in school. I was sure that she felt the same now -- if not more so. "Well, most people don't really understand kids. Not saying that I do, but I think it's pretty common knowledge to let them have their imaginations and not dampen them."

I smiled at Michael and I could not believe it.  He had been so anti-child before and now he was like... so great.  Perhaps time did change a person.  "Yeah, you'd be surprised how many people who aren't mothers or fathers miss that important aspect," I said with a sigh.  I pushed my hair out of my face and looked over at him and saw that Michael was giving me an odd look.  "What?" I asked, feeling my cheeks getting a little red.

I smiled at her and shook my head. "I feel like I may be going out of place here, but I figure I may as well go out on a whim," I said quietly. I walked over to her and lifted her chin gently so she would look at me. Going with my heart instead of my gut, I lowered my lips to hers and gave her a gentle kiss. I pulled away and smiled. I headed toward the door, figuring I had overstayed my welcome.