Only One Kiss (Only One 1)

“Yeah, Mama is coming.” I smile as the water washes over her feet, and she squeals. Another thing that changed is Bernadette went from full-time to just a babysitter when needed. It happened when Candace missed Ari’s full first step and cried for two days. The next day, she informed me that she was going to let Bernadette just be here on Sunday if I wasn’t here so she could work, and when she needed extra help. Other than that, she was a stay-at-home mom, and she couldn’t love it more. “You think she’s going to be surprised?” I ask Ari who just looks up at me, smiling and scrunching her nose like Candace does. “Let’s go and get things set up.” I grab her and pick her up.

“There you guys are.” I hear Candace when we walk closer to the house I rented for the week in Turks and Caicos. Right on the beach, just the three of us with one girl waiting on us and a chef.

This past year has been the best year of my life. My game was better than ever and the sponsorships were rolling in thanks to all the social media that Candace has been doing. We just got eliminated from the playoffs, and none of us were surprised. Fuck, we were shocked when we beat New York during the first round. Something I will be throwing in Evan’s and Justin’s face every single time. She sits up in the chair, her skin a nice bronze. “I missed you guys.” She gets up and walks over.

“Mama,” Ari says. “Ook,” she says, pointing at the water. “Wawa.”

“Is that the water, pretty girl,” she says, taking her from me. “Do you want to go into the water with me?” Ari nods her head. “You coming with us?”

“I have to talk to the chef about dinner,” I say. “It’s a surprise.”

“Oh, a surprise,” she says and leans up for a kiss. “I like this surprise. Is the surprise going to include your tongue and a couple of fingers later?”

“I can do that,” I say, slapping her ass when she walks away. I keep waiting for us to be tired of each other. Waiting to get into that groove that happens when you are with each other too long, but with her, it’s like it was the first day. She puts Ari down as they walk into the water a little bit, and I hear Ari squeal. I turn and walk inside, making sure they have everything they need for tonight’s big surprise.

“I’m going to go and dress Ari,” I say to Candace, grabbing Ari from her. “You get dressed and meet me outside.”

“Wait,” she says. “Don’t dress her in a dress. I think I saw a mosquito.”

“Your mother has lost her mind,” I say, walking to the bedroom that is right next to ours and grabbing the special outfit that I had shipped here. “Your mama is going to be so surprised,” I say, dressing her in a little blue and gray tutu dress that I know Candace will love. She dresses her up all the time, and the shirt says it all. A matching headband makes her whole look. “You ready to go see Mama?”

She claps her hands. “I’m going to wait for you outside,” I say, popping my head into the room and seeing that she’s putting her panties on. “I’ll wait for you there.”

“But I’m almost done,” she says. “Let me see Ari.”

“No,” I say. “We’ll meet you outside,” I say, rushing away and making Ari laugh when she thinks it’s a game. I step out of the house and walk past the in-ground pool that has floating flower lights tonight and see the canopy set up in the middle of the way down the beach. The soft wind makes the white drapes blow, the tea trees lights hanging from them giving it a glow and candles are all lit up in a path toward the table. “Are you ready, baby girl?”

I look up and see that Candace is coming out, and she is wearing a white dress with thin straps and the way the wind blows, it flows all around her legs. “There she is,” I say to Ari who spots her and calls her name. “It’s Mama,” I say when she gets closer.

“This is so pretty,” she says when she gets close enough, and I see she’s barefoot also. “You look handsome,” she says of my blue linen shorts and white linen shirt. “And don’t you look so pretty with that flower,” she says, and Ari leans down and kisses her lips. “What is she wearing?” she asks, and I put Ari down in front of me and finally let her see her outfit.

“Mommy, will you marry Daddy?”

“Oh my God.” She puts her hands to her mouth when she sees the shirt, and I get down on one knee right next to Ari, and now Candace sobs out and puts her head down and then back up again.