When I was a firefighter Chapter 7 part 4 of 6

When I was a firefighter
Chapter 7 part 4 of 6

I said, “I think I know. But if you have any advice…?”

She thought for a second and said, “All couples go through an adjustment period. It takes time to fully learn about and get used to the other.
The ‘happy ever after’ is a fairytale—that’s why you only see it in fairytales! When you have a disagreement about something, ask yourself if it is more important than her feelings. If the answer is ‘no’, let her have her way; if the answer is ‘yes’, you stick to your guns. Rarely will the answer be ‘yes.’ And do not worry I’ll be giving her the same bit of advice.”

I asked, “But what happens if the answer is ‘yes’ for both of us?”

She answered simply, “Compromise,” before continuing by saying, “That is when you compromise. You both have to work towards a solution you can both agree to—neither of you can have it completely your way then. Otherwise, the one that didn’t get it his/her way can become resentful of the other and that is never good for the relationship.”

I said, “That’s smart advice. Thank you.”

She said, “No, that is wisdom…”

It didn’t take me a second to figure out that was likely the major problem between her and Cherry’s father, but I (perhaps wisely) didn’t make mention of it. I thanked her again and we exchanged a friendly hug. It was at that moment that Cherry found us in the crowd.

“Jeez—I can’t leave the two of you alone from now on,” Cherry teased.

Breaking the brief hug, her Mom said exasperatedly, “Oh, for crying out loud, Cherry!”

I barely acknowledged the joke with a smile and a shake of my head before I turned to congratulate her. Cherry beamed in pride at her accomplishment and talked about how she was excited at reaching the major milestone in her life. She was anxious to start the next chapter of her life, but first, she had to turn in her cap and gown before receiving her actual diploma (the one she received on stage was a ‘prop’; the real diplomas were withheld to ensure students returned their ceremonial attire).

After getting her diploma and spending some time socializing with her friends, Cherry told them she had to go and we left together. Her Mom had gone home earlier and asked that she not stay out too late. We drove to a nearby lake where we enjoyed spending time together on occasion and sat in the grass; just holding each other while watching the moonlight ripple off the water. Almost from the moment we first met, we both knew that we were meant to be together and the subject of marriage had come up more than ‘from time to time’. It was never a question of ‘if’ or ‘should we’; it was always about ‘when we do’. With that in mind, it didn’t make sense to ‘ask her to marry me’—it was just understood between us that we were already engaged. But it was time to make it official and I had to mark the occasion with something more than just giving her the ring. Ironically, it was her Mom that inspired some of what I had to say.

I said, “Cherry, you know that you are the most important part of my life and that I want to be with you forever. And you know I don’t exactly have a lot of money; I can’t promise you that I will be able to give you all of the things you may want. I can’t even promise you that I will be able to provide you with everything you will ever need. I want to promise you that we will never have a hard time with money, but I’m sure we will. But what I can promise you, without hesitation, is that I will Love you forever and you will always come first before all else.”

I presented her with the ring and she smiled wide as she held out her hand. With the ring in place, we sealed the deal with a kiss and we were officially engaged. She was glowing.

Cherry said, “You really are crazy… Don’t you know you just promised me the world? I don’t care if we live in a cardboard box: if I have your
Love, I’ll have all I’ll ever need or want!”

We continued sitting in the grass by the lake—I watched the rippling water; Cherry admired the ring that she would never take off. She remarked, “Mom is going to freak out when she finds out.”

I said, “Actually, she already knows.”

Surprised, Cherry asked, “You told her?! You ARE crazy! I can’t believe she didn’t kill you!”

I said, “No, I didn’t tell her: she figured it out. From the sound of it, she figured it out a while ago.”

“Was she mad?” Cherry asked.

I replied, “Believe it or not, she wasn’t. I don’t think she likes out timing, but she isn’t mad. In fact, she sounded pretty understanding and even supportive—she gave me marriage advice.”
Cherry asked, “You’re lying?!”

I said matter of fact, “I’m not… She told me about how to determine if something is worth arguing about and when to compromise.”

She said, “You, Mr. Mann, have some effect on women!”

I said, “You must be right: I’m holding the most incredible one of them all in my arms right now.”

The setting by the lake under the moon, combined with our charged emotions, made for a particularly romantic moment. We made out for a while but kept it rather modest because of the lack of privacy. Making Love was always great, of course, but we had found that it wasn’t always necessary to express our feelings. Sometimes foregoing sex actually heightened our feelings of intimacy—it was all about anticipation—like a kid waiting for Christmas morning; it wouldn’t be the same without counting the days before…

The dropping temperature of the night air told us it was getting a bit late. We decided to call it a night—mostly to keep her Mom from worrying. But Cherry also wanted to tell her the news before she went to bed. Naturally, her Mom wasn’t surprised and she was as supportive as she could be while having her reservations due to Cherry being straight out of school.

Even though she had the grades for it, Cherry opted not to go to a major university. Instead, she enrolled in a well-known nursing school that was only 20 minutes from my apartment. She began spending more and more time at my place; especially during the week. She would bring a few things from home with her every time she went home to visit and, eventually, her Mom noticed that Cherry was gradually moving out. She worried that her Mom would be upset about the move, but she actually took it in good stride.

She said, “Cherry, I know what you are doing—it’s ok. You don’t have to move out over time to save my feelings. Trust me, I get it: you want to be with David and you certainly don’t need my permission. You two have started your lives together. You do not want to be tied down to me!”

Cherry hugged her Mom and said, “You are the best Mom ever. Thank you for everything you have done for me! Are you sure you’re ok with me moving out?”

She said, “It’s a bitter-sweet moment; one every parent knows they must face eventually. I will miss you being here, but I’m so proud of the woman you have become.”

After talking for a while, Cherry gathered most of her remaining things (which wasn’t much) and came home to our apartment. The small place felt even smaller with two people living there, but it didn’t feel crowded; it was cozy.

Just as Cherry’s Mom predicted, money was very tight for us. I kept the allotment in place that I had set up to save for her ring, but inevitably we ended up drawing the savings out each month just to make ends meet. Cherry ended up getting a part-time job working as a receptionist at a hotel nearby. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it helped get the bills paid. And, when she had the late shifts, she could get a lot of studying done at work.

We recalled our plans of starting a family with a lot of kids right away, but we could barely pay the electric bill; let alone hospital bills. So, we did the next best thing and just ‘practiced trying’ to have kids. What we lacked in finances, we made up for in passion! If you could spend
Love at the store, we would be the richest people on Earth!

Cherry was nearly halfway through her nursing training when we (finally) got married. We had a small ceremony with just a few friends and family. Olivia came in from out of town, just to be the Maid of Honor. I asked Chief and the rest of the guys to share the position of Best Man.
We all wore our formal attire and Cherry had a gorgeous gown made by a friend of her Mom’s that ran a small seamstress business out of her home. The same dress from a department store would have set us back thousands of dollars; because of the connection, we only paid $150.00!

After we were married, life went on just like it had before; the only thing that changed was Cherry’s last name and we couldn’t have been happier. When she was getting close to finishing school, Cherry was at the very top of her class and was receiving job offers from several hospitals. She accepted not the highest paying offer, but the closest one to where we lived. Our time together was more important to her than a few extra dollars per hour…

Cherry’s starting income was actually more than what I was making after being on the job for years. Some guys struggle in dealing with that, but I was ok with it. It was because of her income that we could again start thinking about starting our family! Of course, we both had busy schedules, so child care was something we had to work out, but we threw caution to the wind and decided to cross that bridge when we got there.

We were still using the period tracker app as a means of birth control, but now it took on a new purpose. One week before she was due to ovulate, we completely stopped having sex. It had been a long time since I’d gone so long without having sex and my groin was beginning to ache. Then, on a shared day off, (finally) Cherry had an announcement.

She said, “Guess what today is?”

I said, “Sunday?”

She smiled, shaking her head and saying, “Nope.”

Looking at the calendar, I said, “Yes, it is: look.”

Cherry slinked over to me and straddled my lap before saying, “Guess again,” before planting a kiss on my lips.

Teasing her further, I said, “HMMMM… Must be my birthday!”

She replied, “NU-UHHH…” while shaking her head, the tip of her nose brushing mine from side to side.

I said, “It’s not your birthday or our anniversary, is it?”

Holding up her phone with the app opened up, she said, “I’ll give you one hint: I’m ovulating.”

I said, “OH! Now I know today marks the day we can’t have sex for a while because you’ll get pregnant.”

Removing her top she said, “Wrong again—you lose!”

Cherry stood up and pulled my shorts and boxers off at the same time, leaving me bare-assed on the couch. I pulled my shirt off almost at the same time and by the time it hit the floor, she had her bra off and was straddling my lap again. She took my face in her hands and kissed me with more passion than ever before! My cock was more than prepared for action but was being held at bay by her yoga shorts and she refused to pick herself up even a little so I could slide them off of her. Finally, I put my hands on her sides, just above her hips, and bench-pressed her into the air over me.

Cherry screamed and squirmed in surprise and laughter as I set her on her feet and pulled her shorts and panties down before she could stop me again. Giggling, she reached down to her ankles, grabbed her shorts, and tried to pull them back up her sexy legs. But before she could get them above her knees, I put my foot between her legs and stomped them back down to the floor. She laughed uncontrollably again and tried to move my foot to get to her shorts, but I stood up and my weight kept them pinned to the floor. Then I grabbed her by the waist again and picked her up, bringing her to me. Cherry wrapped her arms and legs around me; still laughing at our mini ‘war’.

To be continued