Seven Letter Words #Wattys2016

Part 44

Juliet

Three cups of calming tea later, I descended my stairs dressed in the blue gown Liam bought me. I'd just touched up my make-up and dabbed on a small amount of perfume. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, my mom pulled me into her arms. "You look so pretty, Juliet."

"Thanks Mom." I squeezed her tight, not caring if my long curls were being smashed. I wasn't doing this for me, I was doing it for her and Ken. If it were just for me, I'd have given up an hour ago and cried myself to sleep. But I was puling it together so that I'd have no regrets and my mom's heart could rest at ease that I was going to be OK.

"Do you want me to drive you?" she asked, taking a step back and pointing at my heels.

"No, it's fine. I'll take them off when I drive."

"Have a good time. Just text me when you're on your way home. I'll be waiting for you." Her words flitted over and shook my heart. She'd be waiting for me. Would she ever be done doing that? Would she be waiting on someone forever?

"Don't you ever get tired of it Mom?" I asked on a sigh.

"Tired of what?" she tipped her head in confusion.

"Tired of waiting for people you love?" It took her a minute to understand what I was asking, but when she did, I could read the sadness all over her face. She shook her head and reached for me again, pulling me into her arms.

"Honey, that's what life is all about. You're always waiting on someone. You just have to make sure that you're waiting on people that are trying to get home to you. No matter how far away they're going, if their heart is with you, they'll be trying to get home." She pressed her lips to my forehead, just like she did when I was little and she thought I might have a fever. "You always take a little piece of my heart with you when you go, but I know you're going to do your best to bring it back."

"But what if they can't. Ken didn't come home and neither did Dad." I closed my eyes for a second so the tears wouldn't ruin my make-up again.

"I don't regret giving them a piece of my heart, because I got a piece of theirs in return. I might hurt and be sad, but my heart is still full because of what they left with me." Her words spoke right to the pain in my chest. She gave me one last kiss and then released me and tucked my hair behind my ear. The low rumble of a motor coming up the drive had us both looking towards the front door. I wondered how long it was going to take for my brain to recognize that it wasn't Ken driving.

There was a knock on the door and I opened it, desperate to see if it was Liam again. He stood on my front porch in his dress blues and my mom greeted him and then squeezed my shoulder before leaving us alone.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to take you to prom," he answered. "You know—dancing, talking, maybe take a picture or two." He reached for my hand and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. "Juliet, there are a lot of seven letter words that hurt, I'll give you that. But there are some that are pretty amazing too. Like giggles, snuggle, kissing, and wanting. I know you deserve to love a man that won't leave you—one that won't ask you to wait for him, but he won't love you like I do."

Maybe it was the emotion in his voice, or how he looked standing on my porch in his uniform. Whatever it was--it was enough. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. I hadn't known it until that moment, but my mom was right. He'd given me enough of his heart to fill the empty spaces in my own. Even if I let him walk away, I'd always be waiting for him. We had something of each others that we couldn't easily give back.

"I love you," I whispered in between kisses.

"Then let's go get started on our seven letter word." He held out his elbow for me to hold on to.

"And what would that be?" I asked as I walked along beside the man that was changing the way I looked at all the words I'd feared before.

He tucked me up into Ken's truck and kissed my lips softly in a way that had me dizzy and wanting more. As our mouths separated and a smile curled his lips he finally answered, "Forever."

The End

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