Fear of Falling

tongue soothed the lonely ache inside me, erupting a new ache that had me quivering in his arms. My knees went weak and buckled, causing me to sway. But Blaine had me. He had never let me go.
    Reluctantly, I unraveled my arms from around his neck, and shimmied out of his tight grasp. “I have something for you,” I said, turning to grab my purse that was strategically stashed nearby. That’s when I noticed Dom, Angel, and even CJ, watching us from across the room, their faces wearing varied looks of joy and pride. I smiled at them before turning back to Blaine’s curious expression.
    “Hold out your hand.”
    A questioning frown dimpled his forehead. “Huh?”
    “Just hold out your hand.”
    Blaine did as he was told, and I filled his palm with tiny, colorful origami stars. Many of them spilled onto the floor, and he scrambled to cup the overflow with his other hand.
    “Uh, babe, thanks, but I think you could’ve just left these in the jar.”
    I shook my head. “Each one of these stars represents a fear of mine. I started collecting these years ago, and soon it became less of a ritual and more of an obsession. And now…now they’re yours. Because, Blaine, the day I met you was the day that these began to lose their power. I had finally found something else to live for. So I want you to have them. I want you to take these from me for good. I never, ever want fear to keep me from the man I love again.”
    A smile spread across his full lips before he crushed them to mine. “You’re kinda fucking amazing, you know that?”
    I matched his amused expression. “Just kinda?”
    “Yeah. Just a little bit. And I love you. So damn much.”
    And once again, Blaine staked his claim on the part of me that only he had moved. Holding those tiny stars, he captured every fear, every reservation, and crushed them in the palm of his inked hand .

“Babe, where can I put this one?”
    I damn near drop the box I’m carrying and rush to Kami’s side, snatching the crate full of books in her hands. “Nowhere. You can let me deal with it. Kam, we’ve been over this. Stop it, ok?”
    Kami rolls her big green eyes and shakes her head. “I’m pregnant, not handicapped.”
    Yeah, that’s right. You heard her. Kami is pregnant. With my child. Cue the fucking marching band and flaming baton throwers. Kami is pregnant with my child.
    And ever since we found out two weeks ago after we got back from spending nearly a month in Australia, I haven’t been able to shake the stupid, Joker-esque grin off my face.
    Kami, of course, had a totally different reaction. Naturally, she was shocked as hell. We all were. She was still on birth control but, hey, I guess things got a little crazy Down Under. Couldn’t say I was pissed about it. Hell, I was elated. Guess my little tadpoles were more like fucking sharks!
    She ran the gamut of emotions: shocked, afraid, angry, sad, until she finally decided to be happy about it. This was a new start for us, a new beginning. We had a chance to finally write our own story. And I want to write it in bold, bright Sharpie for the world to see.
    Kami is mine. Our baby is mine .
    I give her a swift peck on her pouty lips before putting down the crate of books and ushering her to the couch. “I know you’re not handicapped, babe. But the mother of my child isn’t going to be lugging around boxes when she has an able-bodied man to do it for her. Now you relax, kick your feet up and let the men take care of the rest.”
    Kami sighs her resignation before propping her sandaled feet onto the coffee table. “Great. My baby daddy is a male chauvinist cave man.” Then she cradles her flat stomach while looking down at it, a peculiar gleam in her eye. “Aren’t we lucky?”
    I stand there, completely mesmerized and bursting with pride. The way she touched her belly, how she smiled at it as if she was actually gazing at our little bundle of joy…that image will forever be engraved in my mind. It’s the type of thing that wars are fought and won for. That people live and die for. The kind of look that brings 300 pound, badass brutes to their knees, reducing them to sniveling pussies.
    The look of love.
    Not everyone gets to experience it. But if you’re ever so fortunate, remember it. Hold onto it and never let it go. Because you’ve been given a gift.
    “Dude, you just gonna sit there and fucking daydream or help us move this shit?” CJ scorns, nudging me with his shoulder as he and Dom maneuver