First Kiss

Chapter I: The Double Date – Mom’s Version

“Mom, mom, moooooom!” Ginny yelled.

Of course, Kristina could hear her daughter. She was pretty sure the neighbors heard the call as well. But she was determined not to be bullied into action by her demanding ten-year-old. After several calls though, she couldn’t take it anymore. If her husband, Gus, had been home from work she might have had the will power to hold out a bit longer or maybe he would have responded for her. Instead, she was tired and she needed Ginny to go to sleep so that she could fall asleep herself watching tv while waiting for Gus to come home. Her nap before bedtime was somehow her most restful sleep of the night and she needed it.

After the next beckon, she picked up the laundry basket and walked to the back of the trailer. She opened the door and took a deep breath so that she could answer as calmly as possible. “Yes?”

“I can’t sleep,” Ginny whined. “Why do I have to go to bed so early?”

“Because you have school tomorrow and going to bed early is healthy.”

“You don’t go to bed early.”

“I don’t go to school.”

“You go to work.”

Kristina knew she was just outwitted by a ten-year-old. “Because I said so.” As the words slipped off her tongue, she tried her best to keep her composure and not roll her eyes. Before they were parents, that was on the list of things her and Gus were not going to say as parents. That good idea only last until Ginny was about 5 and started questioning all their parent moves. It never worked on Kristina when her parents said it and it certainly never worked with Ginny.

“I’m not tired,” Ginny whined again.

Kristina took a deep breath and set the laundry basket down. “How about I read you a story?”

Ginny nodded her head and scooted over in her bed to make room for her mom. “Tell me a story.”

Her mom went to the bookcase to pick out a book. “Which one?”

“No,” Ginny said and patted the bed with her hand. “Tell me a story.”

“What story do you want to hear?”

“Tell me about your first kiss with dad. Did you know you were going to marry him? Was it love at first sight? When did you know he was the one?” Ginny put her hands to her chest and smiled.

Kristina nodded her head as she sat on the bed and put her arm around her daughter. She should have seen this coming since Ginny was currently going through a ‘Prince Charming’ phase. Suddenly words like ‘romantic’ and ‘dating’ were seeping into the girl’s vocabulary. Along with the dreaded word ‘kiss’ and the other day she heard her say something about ‘passion.’ But when Kristina realized she used it about cleaning her room, she was able to relax a little bit about it.

“Well,” Kristina said going over the evening in her mind and doing a quick PG edit. It all started with a double date.”

“What’s a double date?”

“I was on a date with my boyfriend and your dad was on a date with another girl.”

Ginny scrunched up her nose. “You dated other people?”

“Well, yeah,”

“Gross.”

“Do you want to hear this story or not?”

Ginny thought about it a moment and slowly nodded her head.

“I had been dating my boyfriend Carson for a couple of years before I met your dad.”

“Boo Carson,” Ginny said.

Kristina recognized her husband’s influence on their daughter. She smiled and nodded. It was a fair assessment though. “Your dad started working at the same store I was at and we became work buddies. Somehow, we always seemed to be on the same shift and when I worked as cashier, he was usually the bagger assigned to me. He wasn’t like the other employees. He was…”

“Fun? Cute? Charming?” Ginny offered.

“Not crazy or creepy,” Kristina continued. “But yeah, he was fun and cute and sweet. We started hanging out together after work and became good friends. And Carson didn’t like that at all. But he was going to school in a different state and only came home on weekends. Sometimes he missed a weekend or two so I wasn’t seeing him as often as I once did. Which, when I look back at it, was a good thing.”

“But you were seeing dad?”

“As a friend, yeah, we hung out together. We both went to the same school so we started studying together, too.”

Ginny nodded her head in approval.

“Your dad’s mom, your grandma, thought your dad needed some friends outside of work. She didn’t like him spending all his time with someone else’s girlfriend. So, when a friend’s daughter was passing through town, she set up a date for them.”

“Grandma set dad up on a date?” Ginny scrunched her nose.

“She did. You know who his date was with?”

Ginny shook her head.

“Aunt Jen,” Kristina leaned close and gently bumped her forehead against her daughter’s.

“No way!” Not only did her mom date someone else but her dad went on a date with Aunt Jen? This was blowing her mind. Granted, Aunt Jen was not biologically related just close friends with her parents, the whole idea of her dad on a date with her was a bit difficult for her to imagine.

“Aunt Jen and your dad have known each other their whole lives. Their moms were always good friends so the two of them grew up together.”

“Did grandma want them to get married?”

Kristina decided not to be too truthful on this matter. Of course, both moms would have loved it if a romance had blossomed between their offspring. But Gus and Jen had developed more of a sibling love than a romantic love so that wish never was fulfilled. “No,” she lied. “They were always just good friends.”

Ginny nodded her head and accepted the response.

“Anyway, Jen was in town and grandma wanted your dad to take her out. The trouble though was your dad was scheduled to work. He needed to find someone to switch shifts with him the next night. While we were working, he asked a coworker at the checkout next to us. That’s how I found out about the date. He seemed embarrassed to talk about the date or the girl. I hadn’t met Jen yet and as your dad’s friend, I felt it was my duty to check her out. So, I suggested we go on a double date. Carson happened to be in town that weekend. It was perfect. Your dad was so reluctant to talk about Jen I had to see why. Why didn’t he share any info with me? I talked about Carson all the time. That’s what friends do, they share.” Kristina left out the part that she wanted to check Jen out because it bothered her a little bit that Gus was dating someone. But she knew that would be too hard to explain to her only 10-year-old daughter so she kept that part out of the story for now.

“We went out to eat at a sports bar during the football playoffs. It was pretty crowded but we were shown to a table by a wall. Your dad and Jen sat on one side while Carson and I sat on the other. I was going to sit across from Jen but she asked Gus to trade places with her because she didn’t like being by the wall. This put him across from me. I noticed he pulled the chair out for Jen to sit on which is a gentlemanly thing to do. Meanwhile Carson didn’t take his eyes off the television. Keep that in mind when you start dating in 100 years, date a gentleman.”

Ginny nodded. “100 years?”

“That’s how old you will be when you are allowed to date.”

“But I’ll be so… old,” she scrunched up her nose.

“We might bring it down to 50 but right now it’s 100.”

Ginny patted her mom’s hand. “That’s not going to happen.”

Kristina sighed. “I know.”

Ginny waited for her mom to continue. “So, what happened on your date?”

Kristina looked at her daughter and thought about how much to share. She nodded her head and decided she should be honest and share it all. In PG fashion, of course.

Let me back up to the moment I first saw Jen. The thing I noticed right away when Jen and Gus walked into the restaurant was how stunningly beautiful she was. I also noticed the familiarity between the two of them. Jen whispered something to Gus and he leaned close to her and they both smiled. Meanwhile, I looked at Carson who was too busy watching a television monitor to notice or talk to me.

Gus noticed me and nodded his head. The two of them walked over to where we were waiting to be seated.

“This is my friend, Jen,” Gus said. “This is Kristina and her boyfriend Carson.”

I smiled and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Carson nodded but did a double take when he noticed Jen. Of course he did. He could spot beautiful women anywhere in the vicinity.

We were led to our table and sat down like I said. Gus ended up across from me but he would not look me which was odd.

“So,” I said noticing neither Carson or Gus was going to start the conversation. “Gus said you are just passing through town?”

“I am,” Jen said while looking at the menu. She paused and looked at me. “I am on my way back to school in Utah.”

“What are you studying?” I asked.

“Nursing,” she replied.

“Jen has a cheerleading scholarship,” Gus said looking at her with what I would call a deep look of admiration.

Of course she does, I thought. “That’s great!” I feigned enthusiasm at the perfect girl Gus was apparently dating.

“What about you?” Jen asked.

“I am going to school here,” I said looking at my menu. “I am studying accounting right now. Gus and I have some classes together.”

“Accounting?” Jen asked smiling and looked at Gus. “You’re taking accounting classes? You hate anything to do with math and numbers.”

Gus looked at her and then at me then down at his menu. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We study together,” I said defending him. “He does pretty good in class.”

She looked at Gus and then at me. “Oh, he does, does he?”

“Do you know what you want?” Gus asked Jen quickly.

She smiled. “I’ll just have a salad.” She looked at me. “Unfortunately, it is basketball season.”

“You know,” Carson said, “I’m actually not that hungry. I’m just going to get a drink at the bar.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and left the table.

I was a little embarrassed but not surprised. “He’s going to watch the game,” I explained.

“Well, it is the playoffs,” Jen said.

She really is the perfect woman, I thought.

The waiter came and took our order. When our order finally came I felt a little ashamed of my burger next to Jen’s salad. Gus had also ordered a burger and Jen took a couple of his fries.

“It’s okay,” she said. “It doesn’t count if it is from someone else’s plate.” Gus smiled and threw a few more fries onto her salad.

By the time we finished dinner, I heard many stories of their shenanigans growing up. Since their moms were best friends, the two of them were always lumped together. I did notice, most of the talking was by Jen. Gus was unusually quiet and avoided eye contact with me as much as possible. Was I embarrassing him?

While we were waiting for the checks, Jen excused herself to use the restroom. I decided to put Gus on the spot.

“Why are you being weird?” I asked him.

“I’m not being weird, you’re being weird,” he replied.

“You’ve hardly said anything to me all night,” I continued.

“I’ve said a lot,” he defended himself. “Jen and I have probably bored you to tears with all our stories.”

“You have talked to Jen just not to me. Even now, you’re not looking at me. Did I do something to tick you off?”

He finally looked at me but there was a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or angry. All I knew is it was directed at me.

And then Jen returned and his expression softened. He smiled at her. Suddenly, I had this pit in my stomach. At the time I wasn’t sure what that feeling was. But now I know what to call it. It was jealousy.

The waiter brought our checks over and before I could grab mine, Gus grabbed it.

“You don’t have to buy my dinner,” I said.

He waved me off. “I got it,” he tried to make his tone pleasant but it didn’t really come out that way.

“Thank you,” I said.

He stood up and Jen leaned close to him. Again, he smiled that great smile he has and nodded his head at whatever she whispered to him.

We walked over to the bar where Carson was watching the game and flirting with the female bartender. That’s when I realized. I didn’t want to be with Carson anymore. I wanted to be with a gentleman like Gus. No, I realized that wasn’t exactly true. I wanted to be with Gus.

I watched Gus and Jen leave the restaurant and I turned to my supposed date. “I’m ready to go home,” I said.

“There’s like 40 seconds left,” he said. “Can it wait?”

I nodded my head. “Forty seconds of a football game? You can wait. I can’t. I’ll call a cab.” I walked out and pulled my phone out. I was so upset I couldn’t see the screen clearly. Carson ran out after me.

“I hope you’re happy,” he said. “I am missing the end of the game for you!”

Neither of us were very happy. But I got in his car and let him drive me home in silence.

Kristina paused and let the memories of that moment fade from her mind.

“Did you break up with him?” Ginny asked.

“I did. I broke up with him while we sat in his car in front of my house.”

“Good for you, mom!” Ginny said sweetly. “He sounds like a jerk.”

Kristina sighed. “Yeah, he kind of was,” Amazing, it took her years to discover what her daughter picked up on in moments. She was proud of her daughter for that. “You keep that jerk detector up,” she kissed Ginny’s forehead. “That’s a good quality to have.”

“So, what happened?” Ginny asked.

“I was upset because I just broke up with my boyfriend but I was more hurt that your dad seemed upset with me and I didn’t know why. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I made it right so I went to my friend’s house.”

“You mean, you went to dad’s house?”

“Yes, I bought some ice cream on the way over as a peace offering. Because ice cream heals. Doctors won’t tell you that but it does.”

Ginny nodded and filed that life lesson away somewhere deep.

“When your dad opened his door and I saw him standing there, I just knew. I knew I wanted to be with your dad as more than friends. But then I heard a woman’s voice. Jen was at his house.”

Ginny nodded. “Because they are friends.” She said explaining.

“Well, you know Jen so it’s not that big of deal to you. But that night, I thought something else. That upset me the most that night. The thought that your dad was with someone else and I missed my chance.”

Ginny’s hand came up to her forehead.

“I panicked and didn’t know what to say or do. I mumbled something about a school assignment or some other such nonsense and turned to leave.”

“I couldn’t let her leave though,” a familiar voice chimed in. Kristina and Ginny looked at the doorway and saw Gus leaning against the wall. “She had brought the good ice cream, after all.”

Kristina smiled. “Lucky I picked a good flavor.”

Gus walked into the room and kissed Ginny on top of the head.

“Mom is telling me about your first kiss,” Ginny explained.

“Ah,” he said. “It was…”

“Keep it PG,” Kristina reminded softly.

“A very good kiss.” He said and then pulled her up by the hand gave her a long kiss.

Ginny scrunched her nose. “Was it like that?”

“It was better,” he said.

“That was pretty good,” Kristina said.

He smiled. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

Kristina sat back down on the bed and Gus kneeled by it. “I better stay here for accuracy’s sake,” he said.

“Where was I?” Kristina asked.