Jovie & Bash

Nineteen || Paradisiacal

(Thank you, Jay AKA @madnessqueenxx for the banner!)

|CHAPTER NINETEEN|

Johnny Cash played quietly from the kitchen where Henry washed cake crumbs off of mismatched plates. I was just around the corner curled into the cushions of the pullout sofa admiring the gifts I'd received.

I was happy to have my birthday done and over with. I never liked much fussing over that kind of thing, but I put up with it every year all the same. I usually received the same thing from Meredith every year. She would fill a box with sensible things that she knew I'd use—which I preferred to knickknacks and trinkets. But, this year she surprised me with a very grown-up dress for graduation that looked tailored and sophisticated enough to wear for years to come. She matched it with a necklace fitted with my birthstone: aquamarine.

Henry, on the other hand, was never sensible. He was the giver of trinkets and knickknacks that never had any real use—other than the bike he gave me a couple years ago. And, this year, he lived up to the expectation by giving me a picture book. I shook my head, smiling fondly at it. I'd only looked through it briefly when Henry gave it to me.

Now, I flipped it open to the first page, and my eyes softened on a rare baby picture of him holding me in the hospital. He looked pretty much the same, although his hair was lighter and his skin glowing in a way only youth can provide, and he held me close, looking down with a smile. Alongside the picture was an annotation that read: Eighteen years ago Meredith called me from the hospital saying you'd finally decided to join us in this world. And when I held you for the first time, I fell in love. Meredith wanted to call you Lauren—something simple—but I wanted something fresher, something new, something you could define. And, on that one rare occasion, I got Meredith to change her mind. I asked how she felt when she looked at you for the first time, and her smile was one I can never forget. She said "happy." But, of course, we couldn't call you that. So, we called you Jovie, and you've been surprising me ever since.

My chest tightened as I read it, and I felt my eyes water just enough that it turned his handwriting into a blur. I blinked it away quickly, not wanting Henry to see that I was getting emotional. He'd been a bit keener about that these days. He noticed I was floating on the edge of a daydream as I fell deeper for Bash, and he always wanted to talk about feelings. But, I still felt uncomfortable sharing too much of it with him and Meredith, and I would immediately change the subject. Nevertheless, he'd still prod for something else, search for some other vulnerability that would prompt a similar conversation. It was exhausting.

Nevertheless, warmth settled around me like a hug when I read his message. I had never once heard the story of how I got my name before, and somehow knowing it made me flush with pride and admiration. I felt...special.

I turned the page where he'd turned some cards into a collage, all of them congratulating him and Meredith on my birth. There was even a newspaper clipping that seemed to ignore all the politics of my existence and focused on the miracle of new life with a happy little blurb about my family. I continued to smile as I turned the page, again.

The water stopped running in the kitchen, and the clattering about of dishes faded until finally Henry rounded the corner wiping his hands on his jeans. He noticed the book open in my lap and met my eyes nervously—like he was unsure about his gift.

"What do you think?"

I knew I was smiling, but I wasn't expecting myself to suddenly stand and hug him—but I did.

"It's amazing. Where did you find the time to do this?"

He squeezed me back equally as tight, but I felt him shrug. "I've been working on it for a couple of years."