Page 2 of Resolution
When I finally see a hand-carved Santa ornament with St. Nicholas Day and this year’s date, I hold it up for Enzo to see. “Oh, Enzo! Look at this. Do you realize that your birthday is on St. Nicholas Day?” His birthday is December sixth. This ornament would be a perfect way to remember not only his birthday, but this incredible experience.
“Yeah, I know,” he says modestly, as he holds out his hand to further inspect it. “You should get this. It’s beautiful.”
The next shelf catches me a bit off guard, I can’t help but notice there’s lots of pickles. And I meana lot. It’s stacked higher than me, full of pickles in varying sizes, made with different materials.What in the world do pickles have to do with Christmas?“Uh, Enzo?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s up with the pickles? They seem to be everywhere.” I hold one up for him to see.
His eyes light up with delight. “Ha! For St. Nicholas Day, here in Germany, the parents decorate the tree.Then the first time the kids look at it, they search for the pickle. The first one to find the pickle gets an extra present under the tree.”
“Well, we should get one of those, too. It’d be a fun tradition to start.” I wink at him to show just how much he means to me.
He winks back at me as he whispers, “Would you like to findmypickle?”I can’t help the blush that creeps over me. God, I love him, horniness and all.
The thought of starting new traditions with Enzo is exciting. I spend some time picking one out for our tree at home. Enzo gives me his input, and before we know it, we’re moving on to the next shelves. Unfortunately, Enzo won’t be home this Christmas.But there’s always next year.Besides, St. Nicholas Day is only a few days away.
We finish with our purchases, then head to a restaurant nearby. I’m slightly impressed when Enzo speaks in German to our waitress. He’s kind enough to ask me what I’d prefer, and since I’m still a little queasy from the flight, I order something light, with a large coffee.He orders it effortlessly, then we slip into an easy conversation.
I tell him about the events of the last few days, getting my three kids ready to go to their dad’s this week. I’m sure my kids will miss me like crazy, just like I’ll miss them, but they’re excited that I’m visiting Enzo. They know it’s been hard for us to be apart. They didn’t even complain about spending the ten days with their dad.
Devin and I have officially been divorced for the past year, but separated for much longer than that. We agreed to joint custody, so every other weekend, as well as Wednesday nights, the kids are with him. He lives relatively close, so the kids can still ride the bus to school from either house.
Personally, I’ve made every effort I can to get along with Devin. We may no longer be marriage material, but we chose to have three kids together. They are what’s important, and we try to put them first. Though it’s definitely easier said than done, sometimes. But I love my kids and will do just about anything for their happiness.
While I update him on the kids, Enzo suggests I call them before it gets too late. He offers his phone since it has international rates and it won’t cost me a fortune. We video conference from the table, while we wait for the food.Frankie’s eager to see us and chats a mile a minute about her day. I think she mentions wanting a souvenir at least three times in our short conversation. Declan is growing up before my eyes. I can tell he’s happy to see me. He’s doing homework, so he doesn’t talk long. Maddie, my fourteen-year-old, tells me about going on another date with Soren Silva, the same young man who Enzo had helped change his tire a few months ago.
It melts my heart when Enzo pipes in and asks, “He has a jack now, right?” referring to their incident.
Maddie grins with delight. “Yep, though I hope he won’t need it anytime soon.”
We try to get off the video call as soon as our food arrives.Frankie insists on seeing around the restaurant as well as what our food looks like before she will let us go.
To ensure we’re both on the screen, Enzo scoots to my side of the table to drape an arm around me. I love the fact that he stays that way throughout the rest of our meal. Being apart from him has been hard, and I don’t want to let him go anytime soon either. Unfortunately, I know my time here will fly by and I will have to leave all too soon. Then we will have about seven weeks before he returns home for good.
As soon as we get back in the car, the heat stirs around me and fatigue sets in. I’m not sure if it’s my travels, my full stomach, or being close to Enzo, but I completely relax. The next thing I know, Enzo’s outside my door and we’re at a small house. “Shit, I fell asleep.Are we here?” My arms and legs feel like dead weights, so I must have been knocked out.
“Relax, beautiful. You didn’t miss much.I’ll take you sightseeing another time.”
I let out a deep yawn. “Now that I’ve rested, what do you want to do this afternoon?” I get out of the car and take his hand.
He leads me to the ground-level apartment. “Let’s get you settled, then we can decide.” He looks in the direction of where we’re going and pauses. “I hope you aren’t expecting anything fancy. It’s basically a basement that has been converted into an apartment. There’s a three-bedroom flat above me, which is also rented out. Three guys live in it. All are stationed at Ramstein, though not in my unit. We get along okay.”
He looks a little nervous to show me. His eyes dart around and he looks anywhere but at me. “I’m sure it will be fine, Enzo. Don’t worry.” To reassure him, I lean up to quickly kiss him.
He rubs the back of his neck nervously when I pull away. “I’ve warned you that I’m not home much, right? I just got this place so I could come and go as I please, have some privacy, and stay out of base housing. It’s nice to get away from it all, if you know what I mean.”
I stop outside the door and put my hands on my hips, to make a point before entering his home. “Enzo, I couldn’t care less what it looks like. I didn’t come here to stay at the Ritz. I came here to see you.”
“If you don’t like it, I can get a hotel for the week you’re here,” he offers.
What a crazy idea. Why would we waste money like that? He just bought first-class tickets for me, and that was more than generous. His apartment can’t be that bad.“Don’t be ridiculous. Does it have a clean bed and a shower?”
“Yes,” he sighs. “It’s not a dump, just tight quarters. You’re used to living in a big, beautiful home. I don’t want you to go without.”
I laugh. I can’t help it.What does he think I am, a pampered princess?“As long as I have you, I’m fine.”
With that, he opens the door and lets me in. I see a modest living room with an open floor plan and a kitchen along one wall. He quickly shows me that one door leads to the bathroom, while another one leads to his bedroom. He takes my things into the bedroom and says, “If you’d like to hang anything up, feel free. There’s plenty of room in the closet.”
