The Berry Tour

We took another plane home, which was pretty damn terrible, but it would have been worse without Sara there. She stayed pressed up against me and murmuring things into my ear and talking about how much fun she had seeing her home again. She had missed it, I could tell, but I think she was still a little relieved to go back to Seattle again.

When we landed we got our bags and grabbed a taxi to take us home.

Home.

Sara must have been thinking something similar because she grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. “Still wanna move in with me?”

I smiled over at her. “With every fiber of my being.”

A light blush crept along her cheeks. “Good.”

“Which place would you like to stay at? I mean…which one should be ours?” I could feel my own blush rising now.

She shrugged. “Mine’s bigger, but yours is closer to school.”

Suddenly I remembered a lot of things about my place and I cringed a little. “We’ll stay at yours.”

“Why mine?”

“A lot of things have happened at mine. A lot of…people. I don’t want to stay there. It’s my past, and you’re my…” Future. “present. I want to focus on making our own memories, and not have us overshadowed by who I once was.”

“We’ll get our own place then. Make our own memories in our own place.” She smiled and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the green orbs.

“Our own place.” I mused.

“How does it sound?”

I ran my thumb over her cheek. “Spectacular.” I leaned in to kiss her when Sara’s cheeks grew a deep red and she subtly pointed to the front seat where our cab driver was seated.

I smiled a little and settled on kissing her cheek softly. It would do for now.

It only took a few days for us to find a place. It was an apartment, slightly bigger than Sara’s place had been. A kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. One the was connected to the living room, and another that was attached to the master bedroom.

I thought it was like most of the other places we’d been two, I didn’t care much for house shopping or whatever it was we did for those days, but Sara did. She enjoyed going around, finding what she liked about different places and what she didn’t.

She didn’t stop smiling for an hour after we left this place, and despite her denial, I knew this was the one she wanted. She tried to say we should look some more, than we didn’t need this one, a whole bunch of things, but I knew.

We moved out of our own places and moved into this one, quickly making it our home. In fact, I lived closer to Jan now than I did before which meant I didn’t only see her at the bar now, not that we stopped going. We had pictures hung up and we had our kitchen set up for everything we could need. My bed was smaller than hers, so we got rid of it and made the second bedroom and study for now, but she talked about making it her own mancave.

Cooper was happy too, he was currently sleeping on the couch while Sara and I were lying together on our bed.

“Do you like it?” I asked for the millionth time in the last two days since we moved in. Luckily Jan and her new girlfriend Luce had helped us move in, so it didn’t take too long.

We were on Winter break, so we had stayed home all day, breaking it in, which consisted of having sex in every room of the place, and now we were lying on bed watching D.E.B.S., one of Sara’s favorites, and I had to admit I loved it too. It was about a spy who fell in love with a super villain. It was a dumb movie, but it was supposed to be over the top and things, so it was fun to watch. And it had lesbians, which was another bonus point.

Sara laughed at my question and said, “I love it.”

“Good.” I smiled back at her and kissed her forehead before hugging her close to me. “I do too. It feels good to have our own place, somewhere to make our own memories.”

She hummed her agreement and curled into me, pulling the blanket up higher around us. “It’s a pretty great plan I think.” I could hear her chuckle at something that happened in the movie and she started reaching around under the covers for my hand. Our fingers met and she slid hers between mine and I sighed happily. I couldn’t be happier right now, just like this. “We’re going to see your parents in a few days, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and we will be driving down to Oregon.”

I could feel her smile against me and then she said, “That’s probably for the best.”

It was a long drive, but it was worth it not to be in a plane. Not only did we get a new place of our own, but I sold my motorcycle and got a car, saying I’d get a new one after a while. Sara had tried to stop me, but I didn’t mind too much. I didn’t really need a bike anymore, I liked it, but I would gladly wait a few years to get more comfortable to get another one. Besides, it’s not like I was poor or anything, I had my two lawyer parents who were always trying to get me to take their money. They were so worried about me all the time, and usually they wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’d learned to accept their offer occasionally, not all the time, but enough to let them stop worrying about me.

Sara was asleep in the passenger seat, strands of hair across her face and her breathing was quiet. I had turned on some quiet music so I didn’t wake her up. We left early, she deserved some sleep. Besides, I needed to think more about my plan to propose. It would be Christmas Eve, and it had to go perfectly or it wouldn’t work right. Sara had to work that day, so I didn’t have to worry too much about time, but I was still playing out scenarios where this could go wrong.

“Stop it.” Sara grumbled after a while.

“Stop what?” I asked, smiling over at her for a second before turning back to look at the road. She still had her eyes closed and looked like she was trying to go back to sleep.

“You’re thinking too loud.”

I chuckled quietly. “Sorry, I’ll stop.”

“Good.” She sighed and it was silent for a minute. “I can’t get back to sleep.” She finally said, which I knew would happen. Once she’s awake, she’s awake. I’m surprised she could even get to sleep again in the car to begin with.

“I know.” Was all I said, a smirk playing along my lips.

“I hate you.”

“I love you.”

“Are we almost there?” She asked, shifting in her seat to get more comfortable.

“We’ll be there in an hour.”

“Why did we leave so early?” She groaned. She had a point; the sun had risen only half an hour, we had been in the car at five in the morning.

“My parents wanted us to get there for lunch. They’re excited to meet you, you know.”

I could see Sara smile shyly. “I’m glad. I want to meet them too. I’m interested in seeing the place you grew up too. Tell me about it, I want to be prepared.”

I bit my lip anxiously while I tried to find a way to phrase what I wanted to say without making her home seem less. “It’s bigger, but emptier. Don’t tell my parents I said that, they like thinking that everything was perfect. Jan’s house is just down the road, and we met in the couple acres of woods right next to our house. We were eleven and she was running away from something and I was walking into the woods and we, well, ran into each other. She knocked down a wasp nest and was running from the horde that followed her.” I smiled at the memory and continued. “She didn’t even hesitate after knocking me over. She stood up, grabbed my hand, and yanked me after her. I wanted to be so mad until I got my first sting that day. We were pretty lucky, I only had six and she had maybe ten, but she had been right there when she knocked it down.”

“Adventure seekers from day one then?” Sara’s voice had that smile in it.

“I guess you could say that. I mean, we always seemed to end up in interesting situations.” I laughed a little, “I think she was the adventure seeker most of the time, and I followed her around to watch and ended up getting sucked in. As for my home, I could do almost anything, and Jan was with me most days after that. God, to see us then.” I chuckled quietly. “Sticks and leaves tangled in our hair, seeing who could spit the farthest, our jeans had holes in the knees and our t-shirts were covered in grass stains. We built forts and ate red huckleberries and salmonberries and picked our own raspberries.”

“What the hell is a salmonberry?” Sara asked, skeptical of my memories.

I cast a quick glance over at her, then back to the road. “Salmon berries. You know, they look like big blackberries I guess, only…different. They’re…I mean…they’re biggish? And…they start off small and hard and green, that’s before they’re ripe, and then they become yellow and softer and if you pick them you can…like…squish them without breaking them? Like…they have a hole in them, like where blackberries have a weird core thing where they were picked? It’s empty. And they’re tart when they’re yellow, and then they become really bright red and kind of sweeter, but not really sweet. They’re weird.”

“And red huckleberries? I’ve really only seen blue ones.”

“They’re really bright red, they stand out in the forest and Jan used to be so good at finding them. You’ve lived in Seattle and never seen this stuff?”

“I lived in Seattle and never left the city, I’ve never been in forest areas around here. Except when we went camping, and I was a little preoccupied.” She said, sounding smug.

I smiled, “I’ll take you on a berry tour later today, hit all of my favorite spots that probably overgrown with berries now that Jan and I aren’t here to pick them clean. She used to eat the green ones on dares, they were so sour, I have no idea how she did it.”

“How much longer? I want to see it all now.” She smiled and tilted her head to look at me better.

“Soon.” I promised with a smile.

“Devon!” My mom squealed and ran over to me as we got out of the car, surprising me by not tripping in her heels, and hugged me tightly. She and my dad had been waiting outside of the house for us to show up, and Mom had wasted no time in rushing over while my dad took more time.

“Hey, Mom.” I said with a smile and hugged her back with one arm, my other one holding onto a suitcase.

She finally stepped back and looked over at Sara who was standing there with a small smile and looking like she didn’t know how to hold herself anymore. “This must be Sara.” She smiled and walked over to Sara, holding her arms out to hug her. “We’ve heard so much about you.” She said as she hugged my girlfriend.

My Dad finally joined the party and he hugged me and then Sara. “It’s good to see that Devon’s finally moved on since that other girl. I can tell I’m going to like you, you’re different from her.” He leaned forward and made his eyes dart around. “She had the squirrely eyes.”

“Dad.” I hissed and he chuckled, pulling away.

“Come on, your Mom made some dinner. And when I said your Mom made, I meant Alice whipped something up for us and your mom set the table.” I laughed with my Dad while my mom muttered something under her breath about how she also added milk to something.

I grabbed the suitcase and grabbed the one Sara was holding. She opened her mouth to protest, but I moved in and kissed her before she could. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, my Dad will talk about how I’m supposed to treat a lady if I don’t, and you don’t want to hear about all that. And I like carrying your stuff.” I smiled and turned around again, my parents already walking inside, but I wasn’t quite ready.

My parents lived in the middle of nowhere, and the house was big. Very big. Three flours big. No basement though, we didn’t use them much here. Trees surrounded us and the sounds of the wilderness came from all around. I spent so many years listening to these sounds, falling asleep to some unknown animal move around in a tree somewhere.

I closed my eyes and breathed it all in. I loved the city, but I missed this. I really did.

I felt arms wrap around my wait and a chin resting on my shoulder. “It’s beautiful out here.” Sara whispered, as if not wanting to break the magic of this place.

“Yeah, it is.” I whispered back with a smile.

“And your house is…wow.”

“Lawyers as parents.” I reminded her, smirking a little.

“And who is Alice?”

“The cook. And maid. She’s our only hired help, Jan had a cook and a maid and in the summers a pool boy. My mom didn’t really want to hire her at first, but she can’t cook. And neither of them have time to clean. Alice was my nanny I guess, she watched me when they were on cases or something, but her real job is cooking and cleaning. It feels like ages since I’ve been here.”

“You love it here.” She observed quietly.

“I’m not done with Seattle yet.”

“Maybe…one day…we can come here…you know…since we’re living together and all…maybe when you’re ‘done with Seattle’ we can come here. If you want.” She sounded nervous and I could feel her twisting her fingers on my stomach.

“Is that what you want?” I smiled at the idea.

“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s nice here. You love it here.”

“I’d want you to love it too before I even made a decision.”

“Oh.” She whispered, like she hadn’t thought of that.

“I love a lot of places, and most of all, I love you. I want you to be in love with wherever we go, or stay, or decide to do. I want you to love what we do together as a couple. I don’t want you to just tolerate anything. I won’t tell you I want to move back here or not move back here. We have plenty of time to discuss all of that when you know where and when you want to go. Okay?”

She pressed her lips into the spot where my shirt collar was, her lips brushing against my neck slightly. “Okay.”

“Come on, let’s get inside and see what Alice made and my mother will undoubtedly call her own.” I smiled and turned to go inside.

It was rootbeer pulled pork, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and baked beans. Mom added milk to the potatoes, but Alice later told me she didn’t add enough and had to go in and add some more milk and butter, which doesn’t surprise me. My mother, a woman who could make you piss your pants with fear in the courtroom, anywhere else and she was too terrified to do the most in fear of screwing something up, but she held pride in the little things she did do.

After an entertaining lunch that involved Sara being asked an intense load of questions and me trying to stop them from asking too much, I took Sara up to my old room.

My room was different than hers, adolescent still, but more…boyish. I had pictures of Jan and I kayaking and me playing wrestling and soccer. There was a fishing pole in the corner and a PS2 and a PS3 underneath the TV with a couple stacks of games and movies. The bed was big, I always liked having my space, so Sara and I sleeping in the same on wouldn’t be a problem.

I set the bags down and turned to see Sara lying down on the bed spread eagle. “You really had it all here, didn’t you? Why’d you ever leave?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t want it all. It’s too much to know what to do with. I like living paycheck to paycheck, it’s exciting and scary and very real. Living here was nice, but it was boring. I like how I live now. I have the girl, the adventure, the friends, and my own little area to hang out at all the time. I love what I’ve got. This whole…rich kid was never me. I wore clothes I bought at Target and did all my playing outside, not inside. I went rock climbing, I went to camp and then became a camp counselor for my summers, I didn’t do many things here. I liked it, but I liked doing other things more.”

“Yeah, you seem like that kid. The one who was always out there doing something crazy and probably terrifying. You were the active kid, but not like normal active kids, you were the one who went and did exciting things, not regular stuff.”

I chuckled. “I played soccer.”

“That’s semi normal, but most girls don’t wrestle, and most high schoolers don’t do white water sports and all of that stuff. Fishing?”

I smiled and walked over to the bed and laid down beside her. “It’s relaxing.”

“There’s this whole other side to you that I barely know. I know the city Devon, but you’re different here.”

“I’m not that different, I’m just more relaxed. I mean, it’s home and I have a lot of things that are slower than the city. Like fishing. The city isn’t a fishing place, it’s too fast for that, nobody has time there. Here, I have all the time in the world to do anything I want.” I rolled over so that I was holding myself just a few inches above her, an arm on either side of her. I kissed her, our mouths moving against each other slowly, almost lazily. I finally pulled away just enough to say, “See? All the time to do anything I feel like. There’s no rush.” I started moving back down to kiss her when there was a knock on the door. I groaned loudly and stood up before walking to the door and opening it up.

My mom was standing there in the hall. “Are you guys going to do anything before dinner?”

I looked over my shoulder at Sara who was looking out the large window. “I’m gonna take her out into the woods for a while, she’s never seen a salmonberry or red huckleberry. I’m just going to show her around for a bit, we’ll be home soon. Just a short walk.”

Mom smiled. “That sounds wonderful. You know,” She paused and looked over my shoulder to make sure Sara was still over by the window and then she dropped her voice to a whisper, “She’s quite pretty.”

I looked over at Sara again, who must have felt eyes on her because those striking green eyes looked over at me and she smiled and waved a little. “Yeah, she is.” I said quietly.

“Have fun and be careful out there.”

“We will.” I said with a smile and Mom walked back down the hall.

I walked over to Sara and hugged her close to my body. I kissed the top of her head and said, “I have to take you on that berry tour. Salmonberries, huckleberries, blackberries, and raspberries.” I whispered in her ear.

“That sounds wonderful.” She said back, leaning into me for a moment. I felt her hand trail down my arm and our fingers entwined and she stepped back. “Now, take me on this magnificent tour that you think will blow my mind.”

I chuckled and we walked out of the room and down the hall. “It will, I swear.”

We walked side by side for a long time, and I led her through the forest until we came upon a small bush that was growing on an old stump. It had small, bright red berries on it and I pulled Sara over to it. “See? They’re red! I told you.” I said, smiling broadly and pointing to them before picking one off with two fingers and holding it up for her to see.

She laughed, “Alright, alright, I believe you.” I held it out to her and she opened her mouth, letting me feed it to her.

She smiled. “It’s good.”

I scoffed. “Good? It’s what I lived off of. This and salmonberries.”

“Show me these salmonberries! Do they taste like fish?”

I laughed, “Of course not! They taste like…salmonberries.”

She rolled her eyes, “Take me to these mystical berries.”

“They’re real.” I said with a laugh, but I took her to a nearby salmonberry bush that I remembered going to with Jan.

I pulled the bottom half of my shirt up, making a little shirt bowl, and started picking the red and yellow berries and piling them into my shirt. I walked back to Sara and held one up to her lips and she smiled and took it into her mouth.

I watched her closely while she ate and then she laughed. “Alright, it’s good, it’s really good.”

I smiled and ate a yellow one, remembering all the times I’d done this before. Always with Jan, never with a girl I cared for, and Sara was the girl I cared for the most. I was glad I had her here with me, in my home.

We ate berries for half an hour to forty five minutes, sitting on the soft ground and talking about everything and anything. She wanted to know a lot about my home, and I was happy to tell her anything she asked.

“We should get back.” I said after a while.

“I guess we should.”

“We’re only staying a few days, and then we can go home and set up the Christmas tree and get ready for all of that fun stuff.” I said with a smile and I kissed her cheek before standing up and holding my hand out to her to help her up too.

She took it and we walked back to the house. “Christmas is coming quickly this year.”

I smiled, “It’ll be the same 365 days as always.”

“It just feels like this year went by so quickly. I mean, everything has been happening so fast. I like that, don’t get me wrong, but I feel so unprepared for Christmas.”

“I haven’t even started shopping.” I admitted.

Sara laughed, “Neither have I.”

We got back home quickly, and my mom was on the phone with a client and my dad was in the study on his computer, probably emailing a client.

I took Sara back up to the third floor where my room was and she walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge. “Were they always this busy?” She asked quietly, as if afraid they could hear.

I shrugged. “It’s a demanding job.”

“You must have been lonely.”

“I had Jan and Alice. I wasn’t that lonely.” I laid down on the bed and she lowered herself down and let her head rest on my chest.

“I would have been lonely.”

“They were good parents, just busy most of the time.” I said, my hand rubbing her back.

“It’s nice here. Pretty.”

I hummed agreement and closed my eyes. “Go to sleep, babe. They’ll get us when they’re done.”

“Okay.” She whispered, probably already starting to doze off anyways.

The days went by quickly, and soon we were packing up getting ready to go when I pulled my parents aside.

I took them to the study and shut the door.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked when I turned around again.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

“Good.” Dad said. “When you find the one, you have to catch her before she realizes that she could do better.” He smiled so I knew he was joking and reached out to rustle my hair like he did when I was a kid. “I hope she realizes that she should say yes to a great catch like you.”

Mom was smiling, and I think she was having trouble containing herself. “She’ll say yes, I’ve seen how you guys look at each other. She’ll say yes.” She said.

I smiled. “Thanks. She’s…the one.”

“Hurry, go back out there and help he pack. You don’t want her to think anything is up. A good proposal is a proposal they don’t expect.” Dad said and he opened the door for me.

I went back and started helping her pack up our few bags before walking them out to the car.

It took five minutes to say goodbye to my mom and dad, mostly my mom because I don’t think she was ready to let me go quite yet.

But eventually we got in the car and started our way back home.

After a long while in the car, Sara spoke. “I’m not saying anything that effects us right now, but…I love it here. I mean…I’m not done with Seattle yet either, but…I do love it here. A lot.”

“We don’t have to talk about it now; we have all the time in the world.” But I couldn’t help but smile anyways. “All the time in the world.” I repeated quietly.

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First of all, let's ignore that it's December in the story because I NEEDED TO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT SALMONBERRIES BECAUSE APPARENTLY MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THEM AND I DIDN'T KNOW THAT NOBODY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE.

They're so real, that's a picture of them. I swear, they are so delicious it hurts.

Also, what did you think?

And next chapter, Sara's POV and a PROPOSAL.

Are you ready?

Am I ready?

Are you excited?

SO MANY THINGS