The Dare

Then I looked over at the bridegroom Shawn, and elbowed Jeff who was standing beside me and we both chuckled. Poor guy looked so nervous, tugging at his bow tie, awaiting his bride, probably anxious to finally put a ring on her, so they could get on with their honeymoon and start their life together.

As the familiar strains of the wedding march struck up, Georgia strolled out looking radiant, and so happy, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears as she approached her groom on her father's arm.

I was pleased that Kristen had made her way over to take her place beside me. I reached for her hand, and wrapped it in mine, and the way she smiled up into my eyes, I could feel my heart squeezing in my chest.

Leaning in, I whispered against her ear, "You know, I don't think it's fair to outshine the bride. You look so beautiful in that dress, I couldn't tear my eyes off you as you walked out that door."

I could see I made her blush from the color in her cheeks. Then she flashed an appreciative grin as she looked me up and down in my grey suit, dressed the same as the rest of Shawn's friends. We'd all agreed the men would be in grey with matching pink ties and Georgia's friends would be in pale pink. Though they'd decided not to have an actual wedding party, to keep things casual, we were happy to show our support by dressing the way they'd asked.

I brushed a kiss to Kristen's cheek and told her, "Save the first dance for me, okay?"

Smirking, she wrinkled her nose. "I'll think about it." Giving her a little growl, I tugged on her hand and she laughed.

Studying her profile, while she was smiling, looking over at the bride and groom, I realized she'd be so easy to fall in love with... unless I already had. I could actually picture the two us standing up there with a minister in front of us. And for the first time, the thought of getting married filled me with more of a sense of hope than panic.

The ceremony was quite touching, as Shawn gazed into Georgia's eyes and vowed to love and protect, and be true to her for the rest of his life, and she promised the same to him. I could hear the ladies sniffling, and noticed even a few of us men were clearing our throats, and seemed to be blinking a lot. But then again, it could have just been the sun in our eyes. At least that's what I told myself, as I wiped something away from the corner of my eye.

After they'd slipped the rings on their fingers and were declared man and wife, as I looked over at Kristen, and saw her eyes were brimming, I squeezed her hand, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She blinked a few times, laughed at how emotional she was getting, and smiled back, and I just didn't think she could get much sweeter.

As cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served, we all milled around chatting, while Shawn in his grey tux and Georgia in her beautiful white lace gown, wandered off with the photographer to get a few more pictures.

Kristen introduced me to some of her friends, that I vaguely remembered seeing at the lake when I'd first met her. Especially her friend Angie Carelli, the lady who owned the cottage, whose family my team had been investigating for mob ties, though I'd never let Kristen know. But I was happy to discover that, her father and his brothers were clean, and they made their money running a very lucrative import business, supplying Italian products across North America and into the rest of Europe.

That night, dinner again, was amazing. With Jeff and Melissa at the same table, gazing into each other's eyes, and Kristen and I doing the same, it was kind of obvious we were glad we'd decided to fly down for the wedding.

Once the band struck up, Kristen and I enjoyed a few dances, especially the slower ones, wrapped in each other's arms, dancing cheek to cheek.

Then we watched the bride throw her bouquet -- right into my Melissa's arms. When Jeff was able to catch the garter right after her, we all laughed and teased him. One friend calling out, "Hey, Jeff, I think you'd better book the hotel for your wedding before you leave."

By the time the evening was winding down, and everyone was starting to say good night, I didn't even ask, I just took Kristen by the hand and we headed up to my room.

It felt like it had been a long day with the wedding, reception, dinner and dancing. In the elevator, gently running my hand up and down her back, I asked her, "Are you tired?"

Grinning, she gave me a playful little waggle of her eyebrows and said, "I'm not too tired," and I just laughed.

Once we got in the room, this time when I kissed her, as I stripped her out of her dress, we both knew she'd be spending the night -- and hopefully we'd be together, at least until it was time to go home.

When I had her just down to her sexy beige lace panties and bra, she lifted her leg and wrapped it around my thigh, and I let out a groan as I squeezed her ass. Though I'd promised myself I was going to take it slow this time, it seemed she had other ideas. Wonderful ideas, it turned out, since she was one that took me by the hand and led me to bed, pushed me onto my back, and had me seeing stars all over again.

In the morning, it felt so natural to wake up with Kristen in my arms, and I already knew I'd miss this when I got home.

I dropped a kiss on her back and whispered, "You awake?" When she looked over her shoulder at me and smiled, I said, "Just wondered if you wanted to go down to the courtyard for breakfast this morning, or have it up here in the room?"

The way she wrinkled her nose at the prospect of having to get dressed and go downstairs, I laughed, at least until she said, "I think I'd rather have it up here in the room by the window. We may as well enjoy each other as long as we can, 'cause once we get home, we'll both get busy and who knows when we'll see each other again."

I didn't know what to say. So, I picked up the phone and ordered breakfast.

She noticed as I was quiet as we ate, and finally said, "Is something wrong?"

I thought I might as well be honest. "Sounds to me like you don't picture us seeing each other after we get home, and I was kind of hoping we would."

"No, I'd love to keep seeing you, Nico. But I know you're busy, and so am I. Aside from my usual case load, I've got all the teams to organize for the program we've started, and there's still so much to do. I played softball when I was younger, so I could keep score for one of the teams, but I've still got to find people willing to coach. I've got check out venues, and look into sponsors, and so many other things just to get it up and running."

I shrugged. "I've coached before, so maybe we could work with the same team. And I could help you check out the venues, and whatever else you need."

She smiled, looking pleased as she reached for her tea. "That would be great. Then at least we'd be able to see each other a few times a week, even if it's just at the games."

After we'd cleared that up, for the next two days, we happily explored every last thing we could think of to do together. Including strolling hand in hand on the nude beach, just to get some fresh air, and get us out of bed for a few hours.

Disappointed that our time on the island was coming end, we were both pretty quiet on the ride to the airport.

On the flight home, I was glad to sit beside her, knowing that Jeff and Melissa would want to sit together, too.

Just before we landed, I handed Kristen my phone and asked for her number, and was relieved when she handed me hers, so that we'd be able to keep in touch once we got back.

Since the two of them lived in the west end, Kristen and Melissa agreed to get a cab together. Jeff and I decided we'd shared a ride too, since we both lived downtown.

Before they left, I took Kristen aside, so I could give her a proper kiss goodbye. We ducked behind a big pillar and I cupped her face in my hands, and I took my time trying to show her how I'd much I'd miss her. Then I started smiling against her lips, as I felt her winding her fingers through my hair, really getting into it. Finally we pulled back, both a little breathless. "So, I'll call you soon okay?" I said, hoping she'd say yes.

When she smiled up into my eyes, grinned and said "Sure," I felt like I could breathe again.

Jeff and I waved them off, and as their cab pulled away, he looked at me, smiling and said, "That's got to be the best wedding I've ever been to," and we both chuckled, realizing we'd both met our match.

After weeks of meeting up with her after work to get everything done so she could get the softball teams up and running, we were finally going to have a proper dinner together, instead of something quick, since for once, we'd finished early.

We were driving into Greek town, because I wanted Kristen to try my favorite restaurant, where my parents had been taking me since I was a kid.

When my phone rang, and I saw it was my mother, I answered with the blue tooth. "Sorry, I got take this," I said to Kristen. "It's my mother. And if I don't pick up, she'll just keep calling until I answer."

I smiled over at Kristen, as I asked my mother, "Hi Ma, how's everything?"

"I was going to ask you that. So, how was the wedding? I'll bet it was beautiful in a tropical setting like that."

"Yeah, it was really nice." I winked at Kristen, because connecting with her was definitely the best part of the whole trip.

"Your yaya and I made moussaka and pasticcio today, and I got two containers ready for you. So, are going to come by and get them, because you know they're nicer fresh than after they're frozen."

Kristen smiled over at me, just shrugged.

I whispered to Kristen, so my mother wouldn't be able to hear me. "She's not far from here. I could just pop in and out."

She nodded. "Sure, let's go."

I got to mother's house and she opened the front door, tipped her head, looked past me, saw Kristen sitting in the car and said, "What? You're just going to leave her sit in the car and not even invite her in?"

Shaking my head chuckling, I walked back to the car and told Kristen that my mother wanted to meet her.

I was glad that Kristen didn't seem to have a problem with meeting my family. When we stepped inside, my mother was beaming as she looked at Kristen, smiling right back. My yaya, dressed in black, as always, with her silver hair tucked away in a black headscarf, was grinning too, as she said in Greek, "She's such a pretty girl. I can tell you two will make beautiful babies together."

Glad that she couldn't understand her, I apologized to Kristen. "Sorry, my grandmother has gone back to speaking Greek since he had a small stroke a few years ago, and doesn't speak much English anymore."

My mother was grinning from ear to ear, with a little twinkle in her eye. "But I would be happy to translate. My mother-in-law said that she thinks you're a very pretty girl, and --"

Before she could finish, I jumped in and cut her off with a wave of my hand and said, "Yeah, she's very pretty. So... are we here for dinner? Or am I just here to pick up the food?"

Shaking her head at me, my mother laughed, because she could tell I was embarrassed, and obviously I didn't want Kristen to hear the part about us having babies. Considering we were just starting to spend some time together, getting to know each other, we were nowhere near asking each other what we thought about having kids.

Then my mother smirking at Kristen, winked and said, "Of course you're staying for dinner. You think I'm just going to hand you the food, and not invite your lady friend to sit down at my table?"

As always, dinner was incredible, and my mother and grandmother seemed pretty pleased that Kristen kept telling them how much she was enjoying everything. Going on and on about the moussaka being the tastiest she'd ever had, and telling them that although she'd never tried pasticcio before, she couldn't believe the way the flavors blended together so perfectly. "It's sort of like lasagna, but with so much more flavor," she said, making them look at each other and smile.

Kristen leaned toward me, and I've got a feeling purposely said loud enough for them to hear, "And you were right about the Greek salad, this is definitely the best I've ever had."

My yaya's face lit up with a grin as she said, "You like? I teach you how to make it." Then she pointed at the food around the table. "I teach you how to make everything."

"Oh, yeah, now her English comes out," I said, smiling at my grandmother, who already seemed to be pretty enamored with Kristen, the way her eyes were lighting up as she smiled across the table at her.

Kristen seemed to fit right in, the three of them chatting like they'd known each other forever.

I discovered as the three of them talked that Kristen's parents lived two hours north of the city on the family farm. Although her father apparently, was a judge, and only kept a few retired race horses, so their last few years would be spent grazing in an open pasture rather than having to race to earn their keep. She also mentioned she had an older married sister, with a two year old daughter, Kaylie. When Kristen showed them her picture on her phone, the two of them gushed over the cute little blondie with the big blue eyes.

"Do you like children?" my mother asked her, looking hopeful.

Kristen had her smiling with relief when she said, "I love kids." Then the pair of them had me squirming in my seat, as they turned their focus on me, pointedly nodding at the baby's picture, reminding me they were hoping that one day soon, I'd produce one, too.

After dinner, we enjoyed tiny cups of rich, dark, Greek coffee. With some of my yaya's sweet, nutty baklava for dessert along with some fresh figs, slices of melon and a platter of my mother's butter cookies, dusted with icing sugar.

"Wow, are these ever good," Kristen said, moaning over one of the melt-in-your mouth cookies. "And the baklava's got such a rich nutty flavor. I'd love to know how to make it."

Yaya's little face lit up like a Christmas tree, looking proud as a peacock, she pointed to herself and said, "I make this, too. So, you take some home, and then you come back, and I teach you how to make it."

"Am I invited for any of this, or is it just going to be the three of you next time?" I asked, smiling around the table at them, only half joking since they seemed to have really bonded. And Kristen was already telling them that she'd love to come back, probably even without me.

My mother was pouring us more coffee and she looked up at her and asked, "So, how did you two meet?"

"We uh..." I tried to think of how to explain the night we met, with me carrying her up from the lake -- naked. Thankfully Kristen jumped in with a quick response that left out the fact that the first time I saw her, she wasn't wearing any clothes.

"The girls I graduated law school with were having a celebration party at a friend's cottage. A bunch of young guys from next came over uninvited and crashed our party. So we had to phone the police." She pointed at me, smiled and said, "And Nico showed up to rescue us."

My mother smiled at first, then looking confused, she said, "How long ago was that?"

"Four years ago," Kristen said. "But then we met again at the wedding in the Bahamas just a few days ago. Nico was there for the groom, and I was there for the bride."

My mother grinned, looking back and forth between us. "That must have been romantic."

I nodded, and reached for Kristen's hand, and winked so only she could see. "Yeah, we strolled along the beach, swam, enjoyed some nice meals together, and the wedding was beautiful, too."

My mother was eyeing us, I think realizing we'd gotten pretty close, as she asked, "So you're working as a lawyer now, Kristen?"

"Yes, I've got a small practice I run with a few friends."

Both my mother and grandmother smiled at me when she said that, looking pleased. "Then you must have a good head on your shoulders. And what type of law do you practice?" my mother asked.

"I mostly work with young offenders."

Then they both stopped smiling. The way they were narrowing their eyes on her, as though she'd said the wrong thing, I piped up before they could say anything. And I explained, "Kristen has started a program to help mentor at risk kids, mostly from single parent households, to try and steer them in the right direction to keep them from getting in trouble."

My mother nodded and looked up at the framed picture of my father on the wall behind us. "Maybe if they had something like that back when your father was alive, he'd still be with us."

My grandmother nodded in agreement and wiped at her eyes as she looked up at the picture of her only son.

Kristen turned in her seat, and saw the framed picture of my dad, looking handsome in a suit, and quietly said to me, "I didn't know you'd lost your father."

I reached for her hand, squeezed it and whispered, "I'll tell you about it later."

She nodded, and looked across the table and offered them a sympathetic smile, while the two of them sniffled and wiped at their eyes, which happened pretty much any time his name was mentioned.

To try and lighten the mood, before they all started crying, I reached for a cookie and teased my mother. "Ma, I hope you're packing us some of these, too." I winked at yaya. "And hopefully a slice or two of yaya's baklava."

The moment food was mentioned, my mother, went right back into mom mode. "Of course. I've already got a bag packed for each of you. You think your mother would let you leave here empty handed?"

I shook my head chuckling, and winked at Kristen, because I'd already told her, my mother's mission in life was to make sure I ate.

We were just about leave, and my mother pointed over her shoulder. "Oh, before I forget Nico, there's a light out in the laundry room, and I know you don't want me climbing a ladder."

"Sure, I'll take care of it." I told Kristen, "I'll only be a minute," as I followed my mother down the hallway.

The way my yaya kept smiling at Kristen all through dinner, I could tell she really liked her, though she'd always told me she'd hoped I'd marry a nice Greek girl.

What I didn't know though, was while I was getting the ladder out to change the light bulb, my grandmother was leading Kristen by the hand into her room, so she could slip one of her treasured silver necklaces over her head with a Greek evil eye symbol, to protect her. Kristen said that my grandmother pointed at the symbol and explained, "You wear this always. It keeps you safe, and keeps bad things away." Then she patted her cheek, smiled into her eyes, and quietly told her, "I like you."

When I came back looking for them, standing in the doorway of her room, Kristen had my grandmother wrapped in her arms, and they were kissing each other's cheeks. And both of them looked a little choked up.

"Everything okay?" I asked, wondering what the hell had happened, in the few minutes I was gone.

Kristen pointed to the matiasma amulet that my grandmother had just slipped around her neck, her voice a little unsteady, she said, "Your yaya just gave me this to protect me, and said I should always wear it to keep me safe."

I smiled, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Then she must really like you."

Nodding, my grandmother chuckled. "Yes, I like her. She's a very nice girl." Then her tone changed when she pointed a finger at me and warned me, "And you better treat her right!"

After we'd all laughed at seeing my tiny Yaya's feisty side, we kissed them goodbye. Kristen smiled up at me as I took her by the hand and walked her to the car. "I'm really glad I got to meet them. You've got a really nice family, Nico."

I thought they were pretty special, but I was glad to hear she thought so, too.

Driving through Greek town towards my place, I noticed Kristen was fingering the necklace, eyeing me from across the car. "I'm guessing you must have one of these, though I haven't seen you wearing it."