*****
Screams of laughter pealed throughout the game room of the restaurant. Sirens and bells sounded on top of each other. Katelyn grabbed Colton, her five-year-old nephew, around the waist and shook him in a bear hug. “Way to go, little man!” she cheered after he finished the next level of the driving simulator video game he was playing. Actually, he was sitting on her lap turning the steering wheel while she worked the foot pedals. Colton was good, probably from the practice he had on his own video games at his apartment.
Katelyn looked around as they waited for the next level to begin. Kayla was winding up to throw a ball up the skeezball ramp. Kayla released and the ball hit the divider. Kayla ran after it as it bounced back on the floor. Sierra, her other niece, was pointing a toy gun at a screen, and Katelyn heard the error noises for the missed shots. Katelyn’s oldest sister, Jodi, stood behind her daughter offering advice.
“Press start, Katelyn! Let’s start,” Colton bounced on her lap in excitement.
“Hold on, Colton,” she said patiently. “Take a drink of your pop, okay.” He fell for her distraction, but she knew it would only be momentary. Katelyn craned her head farther and found her mark. Tim was with Jenny in what appeared to be a high stakes game of video boxing. He was putting his whole body into the jabbing of buttons and joystick motions. Jenny was actually smiling. She looked younger, like a high school teenager instead of a 19-year-old mother of two. Tim must have taken a winning jab because he shot Jenny a “ha-ha” and looked up in triumph.
“I’m still alive,” Jenny shot back and then turned her attention to desperately hitting a button to revive her character. Tim looked Katelyn’s way and locked in on her eyes. The effect was like an electric current, and Katelyn felt like she must be glowing. She smiled, and Tim smiled back, adding a slight pursing of his lips in a mock kiss. Katelyn blushed at his slight gesture, but she couldn’t help herself. She was bursting with new feelings today, still unsure of how her and Tim’s relationship would change because of the previous night. That one glance gave her momentary relief.
Jenny’s video character must have recovered because she was back in action, and Tim turned reluctantly. Katelyn became aware of Colton’s complaining, which she must have tuned out for a few moments. “Come on, come on, come on.”
Katelyn turned back to the game and saw that it had automatically started. She pressed the gas and let Colton steer. Everyone was having fun. Her family was having fun and they were together. Her sisters had shown up for her birthday, and there hadn’t been one argument yet. They ate pizza and ice cream and watched Katelyn open a few handmade cards, one from Kayla and another designed by Sierra with Colton’s name scribbled at the bottom. Katelyn played up her response for the kids, complimenting their drawings and coloring.
It was Katelyn’s birthday, and it was a great day. Her dad wasn’t there, and while she missed him, it was calm. She laughed to herself. Actually, it was anything but calm with all the screaming and noise, but it felt right, full of joy. And Tim was a part of it. Katelyn had a guy who loved her and who she loved. Everything felt right.
On the way home, cramped with Brianna and Jacob in his car seat in the backseat of her mom’s car (Jenny rode in the front passenger seat with Kayla sitting on her lap), Tim’s arm held Katelyn even closer. Once home, all of them tired and finding their familiar places in the house, Katelyn and Tim made their way down the hall to her room. Her mom’s voice followed, “I want the door kept open with you two in your room.”
Katelyn smiled at Tim, choking a laugh at the irony of her warning. “Mommm,” she whined in embarrassment, like the suggestion of their possible inappropriate behavior was ridiculous.
Katelyn pulled Tim into her bedroom and left the door cracked. He grabbed her and turned her against the wall behind the door, concealed from anyone who would walk by. She stayed quiet, but her whole body giggled until his hands slid to rest on the back sides of her hips. He kissed her long and more passionately with each second. He pressed up against her and she felt the hard outline of him below. She tingled inside as he increased the force by pulling her hips to his.
Katelyn came up for air and breathed into his neck. “You have to stop,” she whispered.
He moaned. “I know,” he sighed and loosened his grip, caressing the sides of her hips. “I want you, though.”
She smiled, loving this new attention of being desired. “I know,” Katelyn whispered back.
“When?” he asked gently into her hair. “I want to keep celebrating your birthday,” he teased.
Now that Katelyn had been through her first time, fear of sex had left her. She, too, wanted to be close again. But, she didn’t have an answer. Up to this point, he always decided when they’d meet. He would be the one to come over. Being grounded had limited her ability to meet him on his territory.
“Um, I could come to your house,” she suggested meekly. “I could say I’m going over to Emily’s or something. Mom will let me since it’s my birthday.”
Tim pulled back to look her in the face. He thought the scenario through and smiled. “Yeah, come over after seven. Ma’ll be home, but she’ll leave us alone, especially if she started early.” He mimicked a glass getting thrown back in drink and laughed. “I’ve got a couple errands to run anyway,” he added.
“Okay,” Katelyn agreed, and after another session of kissing, she reluctantly walked him out of the house. She made sure to say loud enough in front of her mom, “See you tomorrow. Have fun with Christian. Call me later.”