Anna.
“Are you sure about this?” Alison asked, positioning the dye-filled brush next to my hair.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.”
“But blonde looks so good on you…” she argued with feigned tears.
“Dye, dye, dye,” I encouraged, eager for the change. I missed my natural hair color and wanted to stop being reminded of a sad time in my life. It wasn’t the case anymore; I had everything I wanted, and I wanted to be entirely myself to enjoy it, especially on the beautiful day that tomorrow would be.
“Alright,” she agreed, applying the cold mixture to my scalp. “This was a good thing.”
I reclined a bit more in the room’s chair to relax while she did her work. “What was?”
“That Henry agreed to stay with the kids, so you wouldn’t see each other until tomorrow’s ceremony,” Alison said, undoubtedly smiling from ear to ear. Not because of the ceremony, but because this was the girls’ night she had been asking for for years.
“Well, it wasn’t that simple, actually. He didn’t want us to be apart,” I let her know, recalling our tough conversation.
Just seeing his face when I mentioned it was enough to know he would beg me not to leave the house. It still warms my heart to remember when he was terrified of holding Taylor when he was just two and a half months old. He was so tiny, and Henry was afraid of hurting him. However, at night, when he thought I was asleep, he carefully got out of bed, walked a few steps to Taylor’s crib, and started bothering him with questions-clearly not expecting any answers-and stories. Occasionally, I heard Taylor whimper, and in the shadows of darkness, I could glimpse a man in love with his son dancing with him in his arms. On those nights, Taylor never cried. Now, he’s three years old and a beautiful child, just like his father.
I knew Henry would take good care of our kids; I had no fear of that and reassured him fifty times that night. But he didn’t agree until we were alone in the shower and…
“How many cock sucks did you have to do?” she whispered close to my ear in a playful tone, taking me by surprise.
“Alison!”
“What? Knowing you guys I wouldn’t be surprised,” He justified himself as he stretched my hair brutally so that my gaze went to the ceiling and continued his strokes.
Shrugging my shoulders and forcing myself to hide my guilty smile, I replied. “I just had to propose to him after sex. He’d be able to give me his car after that”
She denied biting her lip, probably thinking we have no case. “Didn’t you tell him about the hair?”
I closed my eyes from the discomfort of the dye, it was too strong smelling, so much so that my eyes were starting to burn. “Nope, that’s why I wanted to leave and make it a surprise,”
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
I shook my head, sighing and with a beautiful pressure in my chest and stomach. I knew that tomorrow was going to be the day when the change that happened in my life more than four years ago was going to be cemented more perfect than ever. “No, I’m… Anxious.”
Henry.
“Daddy!” Taylor shouted from what I hoped was his room. I was just trying to cook and had the pot of water in my hand to put the water on to boil, when I let go to see why he was screaming my name hysterically and run to him. If he got hurt again, I swear I will put him on a leash to keep him from running all over the house like he always tends to do. This kid has more bruises on his knees than a novice boxer.
When I got to his room I saw him with his arms crossed and pouting looking at my other boy, Jeremy. The hatred in the look in both of their eyes was evident. “What’s wrong son?”
“Jeremy, he, he, he, he doesn’t give toys,” Taylor says with great indignation in his voice and a bit of a stutter in between. He let go of his crossed arms to criminally point at Jeremy, causing him to roll his eyes.
“Jeremy…” I began speaking, knowing he wouldn’t accept a single word I said at first. He was older and more rebellious. He drove me crazy.
“I’m not giving them to him. They’re mine,” he said, squinting his eyes at me and sitting on top of the toy chest, not giving in.
He didn’t even use those toys anymore.
“Son, listen…” I approached him, and he pursed his lips. He loved challenging me like a little warrior.
“No.”
Tired and sure that I wouldn’t reach Jeremy in any other way, I threatened him with the only thing I knew would make him obey. When he fixated on something, the only person who could talk sense into him was Anna. “Fine, I’ll call your mom and see what she thinks about this.”
He stopped squinting and opened his eyes slightly, shifting uncomfortably and shrugging but still on the box. “I don’t care.”
I took out my phone and pretended to look for his contact in my contacts. “I’ll do it, Jeremy.”
It took him a few seconds, but he raised his arms in exasperation and moved away from the chest, looking at his brother. “Fine! Take them!”
I watched as Jeremy walked past me without touching me and went straight to the living room to sit on the couch with a deep frown, staring straight at his feet, probably holding back the urge to give me a piece of his mind. “Son, look, I know you don’t like sharing, but you have to do it with your brother. He’s small, you’re older, you shouldn’t fight with him. Instead, be his example and…” I was going to continue until Jeremy let out a big sigh, and I realized I was starting to sound like Anna. God. “Blah, blah, blah. Now, how about we watch a movie?”
His eyes lit up gradually, as if he could read my mind. “What movie is it?”
“Well, what did you want to watch?” I winked at him, knowing he had been begging me for days to watch the new horror movie that Anna wouldn’t let him see. They gave him nightmares, but there’s not much more drama… except for the fact that he ends up sleeping with us for three days until he decides to act like the big kid again.
“That’s not true…” he said incredulously, a giant smile now on his face. Even that expression continues to swell my chest with excitement.
“Yes, I’m the best dad in the world, I know. I’ll order some food, and we’ll watch it after your brother falls asleep,” I inform him as I walk towards the kitchen, intending to resume what I was doing before Taylor’s screams interrupted me.
“What are we having?” Jeremy asks, following me, eager for me to fulfill my promise and loving me for indulging his whims.
He looks at the water mess that is the kitchen from dropping the pot, and I give up; I don’t want to cook. “How about ordering pizza?”
Jeremy nods vigorously, a pleased smile on his face. “With ice cream?”
“Chocolate?” I suggest.
“And almonds?” He continues, raising an eyebrow. “Mom doesn’t like us ordering delivery.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” I reply.
“Deal.”
We hear noises in the living room, and I see a little boy running towards the moving boxes. It seems like Taylor has already grown tired of the toys.
I approached where he was making a mess and began to open a box. “Taylor, don’t do that. We’ll be moving soon.”
“But I want to, I want to…” he says, pointing at one of Anna’s belongings. This entire box was hers.
“This?” I finished for him, taking the book I gave her many years ago when we were in college.
“What is it?” Jeremy asked.
I didn’t know I still had this.
“A book I gave your mom many years ago,” I replied, smiling with nostalgia. I handed it to Taylor, and Jeremy ran over to him to get a closer look.
“It’s coming back to me? What a stupid name,” my son’s disgusted expression made me laugh because that was my reaction when I saw that Anna liked that book back then.
“Don’t say those words,” I scolded.
“You say them all the time.”
“Touche.”
I took the book from Taylor, and he started to panic. “Give it, give it.”
“Only if you promise not to break it or write on it.”
My little son nodded once, ready to obey. “Fine.”
I sat on the couch, about to order delivery when Jeremy sat beside me and rested his head on my shoulder. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
Definitely not, that was the least of it. I knew she would be there, that we loved each other, and it would be one of the happiest moments of our lives. “No, I’m excited.”
Anna.
“I’ve set up everything just the way you wanted it,” Ted, Henry’s assistant, began to overwhelm me as soon as I entered through the grand front door.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but Henry has a professional photography studio. We spent a year planning everything while I resumed my studies. I also don’t know if I’ve told you, but I’m just one thesis away from being a Bachelor of Arts.
Henry encouraged me to pursue my degree first-since he also wanted to resume his studies. My future husband would come home from work and take care of keeping the kids busy while I studied late into the night. Sometimes, when I didn’t understand something or had a nervous breakdown over an exam, he was always there helping and calming me.
There are still times when I don’t know what I did to deserve him. Since we had Taylor, everything has been so good… We both started going to therapy, and I can’t remember our last fight.
“Anna?” Ted insisted again to bring me back from floating on cloud nine.
Poor guy, since he committed to organizing our wedding, I’ve been driving him crazy… Because I wasn’t involved in it, to be honest. I told Henry, I wanted something normal and quiet… But he insisted on making something magical for me! Who wants something magical? I just want there to be a paper that says his cute butt is mine; that’s all I wanted… And the honeymoon, of course.
“I’m sorry, Ted, it’s all so beautiful,” I managed to respond as I entered the room where the ceremony would take place. A large turquoise blue carpet started from where I was standing, leading to the altar. The floor was also covered in flower petals.
The benches were large and white, with decorative hydrangeas in the corners. The arch at the altar was made of pink flowers, and everything was filled with white tulle.
Everything seemed to be perfectly crafted, thought out in every detail, and I loved it. It was amazing that Ted had taken all this time and managed to do what he did here.
I knew it was the excitement of the day and all, but I hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you so much, Ted. I knew it was going to be beautiful, but it’s perfect.”
“It’s nothing,” he whispered in my ear, looking somewhat solemn too. “By the way, I love your hair.”
I started crying like a baby and gave him a smile. Something tells me these won’t be the only tears running down my cheeks today.