Rebound

Endgame

My breath came in thin pulls of air.

"Hey.  Els, look at me."

I did.  He stared down at me with green and golden flecked eyes that promised a tomorrow I wasn't sure I was ready for, but one I wanted more than anything.

"I love you.  We'll figure this out.  Whatever you want, its yours.  I am yours.  What do you need from me?"

"I don't need marriage, at least not right now.  I want to get married eventually, but I thought I had my whole twenties to figure that out.  I never thought I'd be pregnant at eighteen.  I'm excited, though.  Of course I am, being around Evie, I know what to do with a baby, I helped raise Evie while V was away on shows or Eli was at an away game.  That's not the scary part."

"Then what's the scary part?"

"Nothing.  Everything?  I don't know, maybe it's because I'm so young, and I thought I'd have forever to finish school and now I have to fast track everything and I'll have to work twice as hard."

"Would you be open to living together?"

I leaned against his chest for support so he couldn't see the bright red vegan tomato blush that splotched across my cheeks like a mottled rash.

My arms encircled his waist and my cheek landed on his middle stomach.  His very toned stomach, cut and carved abs digging into the bones of my face.

"I mean, we'll need to if we're raising the baby together.  I don't know if I want to be in the city though if I'm still in school.  We'll have to relocate closer, and then there's the issue of you traveling for away games.  What if there's an emergency or I go into labor and you're down in Miami or L.A. for a game?"

His lips crested the top of my head and goosebumps peppered my arms.

"We have plenty of time to think about these things.  Look at V and Eli, they are doing perfect, and she's got an even bigger workload than you, being a famous singer and all."

"Yeah, yeah.  I can't imagine how she's going to go on tour after their next one comes along."

"She'll be fine, just like we will be."

"Hey Matthew?"

"Yes baby?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

***

"So how did the two of you meet?"

Genevieve was so genuinely nice it almost hurt.

Her dark hair and skin offset the strange blue-green combination of her eyes and gave her an almost ethereal quality, like if you turned your head to the side and blinked a few times she might not even be there at all, but when she spoke, she immediately transfixed anyone who heard her.

Like the soft tinkling of bells or the pitter patter of rainfall against a tin roof, she spoke delicately and with an inflection in her voice sweeter than cotton candy and bubblegum.

"We actually met at a wedding," she said, but Wilt, who had been listening to the conversation nearby at the bar almost choked on his drink.

"What?  That's where we met."

Oh, yeah.  Genevieve was sweet as cherry pie, but there was a mischievous streak behind those sea glass eyes.

Poor Wilt was in trouble.

We'd come back out to the living room after a few more sweet words whispered between the two of us and a chaste kiss to hint at something more to come later, but we decided not to share anything with the group.