Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Now it’s time for reconciliation.
“You really are my queen, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. We’re cosplaying royalty.”
“No, I mean it. You’re someone I’d go to war for, Nicole. And I might have already, depending on what you want to call that talk with your father.”
“You both seemed open-minded and rational.”
“With how much I had to prepare myself? War. Let me have this, Nicole.”
She giggles, slapping me on the chest. She leans in closer to me and I notice that we’re getting an awful lot of attention from the festival’s attendees. The kids focus on the collage of color in the sky, but the teenagers and older folks?
They’re looking at us like we’re the stars of some sort of will they, won’t they sitcom. Waiting for us to break down, and to express the love we both clearly feel for one another.
“We shouldn’t keep them waiting,” she says, noticing all this too.
“Then let’s give them what they want.”
We kiss. With an audience, we make a show of it. We hear some cheers as we make out, trying to keep it strictly PG for any kids who may look our way.
“I keep thinking about it, Nicole,” I say, our kiss breaking, but our loving gaze not. “But I can’t say it yet. Not to you. I told your father this... but... well, it’s harder with you right here.”
She laughs. “I know what you're thinking, Nelson. You can tell me. You know it as well as I do.”
“Then to hell with it. I love you, babe. So much.”
“And I love you, Nelson. Enough to stand up to my father, and maybe the world. Although thankfully the world doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with us.”
She’s a treasure.
I’ll hold and protect her for as long as she’ll let me, and I can only hope that it’ll be the rest of our lives.
I’m going to make it official sooner rather than later, but I’ve been busy.
I just need a moment to find the perfect ring.
8
NICOLE
It was inevitable.
We’re back in our award-winning taco and guacamole costumes.
This time, someone did us a favor and crafted crowns that look just like the ones we were wearing before, but sized for our silly costumes. My crown wobbles a bit when I walk, because apparently getting the crown size for a giant avocado is difficult.
Our last duty as King and Queen of the Fall Ball, for this year anyway, is to join the big Main Street trick or treat event.
All the big businesses of the town have gathered to give out candy to any kid who wants to come. It’s usually the younger ones, the ones you don’t really want out late at night and need their parents closely chaperoning them the entire time.
We’re at the end of the trail, on the royal throne. Nelson and I sit hand in hand, huge buckets full of candy next to us. The fancy stuff too, just to make us seem extra royal. We are giving out full-size candy bars here, and it’s a joy to watch the kids' eyes light up as we spoil them a bit before sending them home.
We see the usual assortment of witches, fairy tale princesses, zombies, vampires, superheros, and even the wolfman. The occasional kid’s cartoon character eludes me because I I don’t have much time to keep up on what shows kids watch nowadays.
“You’re an adorable couple,” one of the parents says as they pass. “With and without the costumes.”
He isn’t the first to say that to us. And every time I hear it, I’m thankful for the avocado costume because it makes me blush so damn hard. Nelson squeezes my hand.
“This tickling your ovaries?” Nelson says as that family departs us.
“Tickling my what now?”
“I don’t know. The whole... uh.. maternal instinct thing?”
“That’s called tickling my ovaries? If you felt it, would it be called tickling your balls?”
He lowers his voice to say, “Given you’ve done that many times, it has a very different context when you say it. And unless you have some really weird fetish you haven't disclosed to me yet, I don’t think tickling your ovaries is something I’ll ever do literally.”
I shake my avocado-clad head. “If you’re asking me if it makes me want a kid of my own? Yeah. But that’s nothing new. I’ve always wanted to be a mother someday. And I hope you want to be a father someday too, Nelson.”
“I do. As long as it’s with the right woman.”
Even through enormous googly eyes, I feel his comforting gaze. It’s something beyond simple sight between us. His presence alone makes the world feel right, like everything is going to be okay, and the future is going to be all rainbows and sunshine.
The last of the kids come our way, and we spoil them as much as everyone else. The parents tell us we’re adorable again, and I still feel bashful about it.