I kissed him first. Fueled by his compliments and vodka, I kissed him first. If you asked him about it, he'd smile, scrunch his eyes a little and crack a joke, but you should know he kissed me back.
And then I didn't hear from him for a month.
"Took you long enough to call me."
"I was nervous. I didn't know what the hell to do."
"Uh-huh. Whatever."
"I walked around the block for a half hour trying to get up the nerve to call you."
I would have fallen over flat if you had told me we'd end up married, parents, homeowners, chronic pains-in-the-asses, but I'm not kidding when I say I knew it then. I knew I'd love him, even then.
**
**
It's 16 degrees in Texas right now, which I'm sure you know because I won't shut up about it. Our house bottomed out at 51 degrees last night. We had to buy a space heater and I did the 30-Day Shred in a sweatshirt and pj pants. Our pipes froze, too.
"Don't put your foot on me! You're freezing! Quit putting your feet on me!"
"But you're so warm."
"I'm going to hurt you if you do it one more time."
"One more time, please?"
"You're impossible."
Six years later, we're bitterly cold, frustrated, in love.
**
It's no romantic comedy, although there's comedy, for sure. There's no soundtrack, laugh track, stick-thin leading lady. There's no quirky punchlines or sappy one-liners. It's a boring, ordinary existence most days and half the things that work for us are head-scratchers to anyone who know us.
And even unshowered, freezing, overweight, in debt and stretch-marked to hell and back from the nearly one-year-old kiddo we're trying to keep warm these days, I'd be a fool if I didn't say today and every day that I'm still so lucky, so in love.
**
Six crazy years.
(And thanks, babe, for continuing to let me celebrate today, even though you married me in May "so we could get rid of the anniversary so close to all the other things I have to buy you presents for." You're so much sweeter than you'd want anyone other than your mom to know.)
Now(ish), 2009