Page 73 of Me Three
“It’s not always easy, but our love for each other makes it worthwhile,” I say.
“Good. I’m glad you realize how hard it is and acknowledge it,” she says. “Now go, or we’ll be having slush puppies instead.”
I laugh my way to the backyard and put the ice pops down on the table. The backyard is dressed in full Fourth of July regalia. Carter’s young cousins are running around the garden in the setting sun, chasing each other, while the adults are standing over the barbecue with drinks in hand.
“Oh!” Tru cheers. “Popsicles!”
They reach for one and get into the hard work of licking it straight away to the amusement of both Carter and me.
Carter stands next to me, arms crossed at the chest, his eyes trained on Tru’s lips as they insert the tip into their mouth and hollow their cheeks.
“You know, I’ve never appreciated popsicles as much as I am now,” Carter says.
“Huh?” I ask him, too focused on Tru to completely hear and understand him.
“They’re just teasing us now,” Carter says and manages to pry his eyes off our partner.
“Yes, I wonder where I learned that from?” Tru pops the pop out of their mouth and winks at me.
“Hey,” I whine. “I haven’t teased you since our first night.”
Carter laughs hysterically.
“Sure thing, babe. Sure thing,” he says patting my back.
The last few months have been a whirlwind of epic proportions. I honestly still can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to have both of them in my life. But I never realized how my life would change, either.
Gone are the empty days, the quiet dinners, the lonely lunches, the meaningless hookups. Life in love is a hundred, thousand, million times better than life without it. Especially reciprocated.
And boy what a life it is.
Going from obscurity to selling out my paintings for six figures. Jettisoning across the world to do guest talks about my work, arts, and finding your voice as an artist. It’s all so surreal. And the best part is getting tenure at Harlow U and being asked to develop their Fine Arts program. This is the stuff of dreams. Not reality.
And none of it, absolutely zilch, would have happened if I hadn’t met Tru. If we hadn’t let them in our lives.
“Excuse you, guys. Are you going to let my ice pops melt? Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Ruth says from behind us, tutting. “Come on, guys. Leave that poor barbecue alone. It’s gone dead cold, and you’re still mourning around it. Come and grab a pop before the fireworks start.”
All of Carter’s relatives turn to look at her and start making their way around the table, the children grabbing pops, the adults slices of pie.
Tru comes up to stand between us, and we each put an arm around them just as the first fireworks light up the sky.
The children scream their lungs out, cheering as we all look up.
“So… on a scale of ‘take me home’ to ‘can we stay here forever,’ how is your Fourth of July going?” Carter asks them.
Tru looks at him and sighs.
“It’s between ‘can I keep your mom in my pocket’ and ‘how can I eat more without bursting,’” they reply.
“Aww,” Carter coos. “She really likes you, too. And don’t worry. There’ll be plenty of leftovers tomorrow.”
I nudge Carter, and he looks at me. We exchange the look. It’s as good a time as any.
“Care to make this day even better?” he asks Tru.
“Always,” they hum.
Carter turns to me which prompts Tru to do the same.
