Picking Strawberries

We hiked all the way around Enchanted Rock and then climbed up to the top to check out the view. Lunch was at a restaurant on Main Street in Fredericksburg. We followed by a couple of hours just walking around, window shopping and taking in the quaint old architecture. What happened at breakfast never came up.

"Can we stop by your apartment first?" I reached over and grabbed Steve's hand as we headed home.

"Sure. Why?"

"Because I think I need to show my boyfriend exactly how I feel about him, and I don't think my house it the place to do that right now."

Beverly was home and just laughed as Steve and I practically ran through the apartment to his room. We weren't shy and I know she heard me screaming as Steve ravaged me again and again. It was the same, but different. There was something else in the way I felt as he made love to me. Something deeper, more significant, more special. My orgasms were stronger, and I felt them in my soul. It wasn't just physical anymore.

"I love you, too." I moaned in his ear when he finally collapsed next to me.

***

"How was your day?" My mom was putting the finishing touches on dinner when I found her in the kitchen.

"We climbed Enchanted Rock and went to Fredericksburg for lunch." I grabbed a tomato from the salad and popped it in my mouth.

"You're so different now." She turned around and leered at me as I tried to grab another one.

"Good different or bad different." I chuckled and took it, anyway.

"Good, I think. More relaxed, I guess is the best way to describe it."

"I feel more relaxed. It started at the spa with Rachael when they pierced my ears. I saw me in the mirror, and I just knew I should have always been this way, and knowing I didn't have to hide it anymore, was just wow." I pulled up my shirt and showed her my belly button. She laughed.

"And Steve?"

"Steve." I laughed. "I'll try to work on his tact, but, yeah, I'm keeping him. Speaking of Steve, where's dad?"

"Upstairs, I think. Can you let him know dinners ready?"

"Sure." I kissed her on the cheek and went to face my judgement.

I found him in my room, just standing there, looking off into space. He was holding a pillow from my bed in his hands.

"Hi, daddy. Are we ok?" I wrapped my arms around him from behind and laid my head against his back.

"Yeah, baby. More than ok. I'm sorry about breakfast. I guess I got a little overprotective. It's different with daughters and I guess I wasn't ready for it. I didn't expect it to be like this. I think part of me hoped Rob would still be in there somewhere." He turned around and wrapped his arms around me.

"I was thinking about that when Steve was driving me home. I don't even think about being Rob anymore and it's only been a little over a week. It's kind of surreal. This, Bobbi, is just so right. I can't imagine being anyone else. Everything about it just fits with how I've always seen myself."

"Even Steve?"

"Maybe especially Steve. I didn't think about how you and mom would feel about any of it. I kind of feel shitty about that. And you, your first day in a new job, and you find out some young guy wants the same job. I'm sorry, daddy. I should have taken things slower. Given you and mom a chance to adjust."

"He really loves you, you know that, right? I kind of did the same thing with your grandfather."

"Yeas, I know. I kind of really love him, too. I can't explain it, but when I'm with him, that's the only place I want to be. When I'm not, I think about him all the time. Not in a clingy way, though. I wonder about all kinds of things I never thought of before. Is he safe? Are his tables at the restaurant tipping him enough? Does his mom still like me? Stupid stuff."

"That's not stupid stuff. That's the important stuff." I heard him laugh. "You know, this is not exactly the talk I ever thought I'd have with you." He pulled away and looked down at me. The depth of love in his eyes was enough to drown my soul. "Now come on, I smell lasagna."

My dad called Steve and apologized. We even had a big going away party for Steve out by the pool. Rick was there with his family, which meant Rachael was there. Beverly came. She and my mom seemed to have a lot to talk about. Even Tiny and Amber were there. Tiny and my dad looked like they were planning to overthrow some small Central American country with the way they huddled around the grill.

I was sitting in a chaise, wrapped in Steve's arms, just watching it all unfold. Rick and Rachael were going out of state. People that supposedly knew about college football had Rick pegged to start as a freshman. Tiny was leaving in another week and that left me and Amber.

Steve had to go to the bathroom, so I let him up. Suddenly, I was alone. I could feel the weight of what was happening settle into me.

It wasn't melancholy, but a maybe somber sadness that filled me. I had felt something similar at graduation, knowing one life was over and a new, better life was ahead.

My support group was all leaving. The comfy cocoon I had wrapped myself in was going away. Not crashing and burning. It was dissolving into fine threads that would forever flow through my life, allowing me to weave it into something better. I understood that. They would all still be there for me, just not with me. And Steve would be there waiting for me when I got to school in a few weeks. So would Tiny and Amber.

"Don't worry, little sister. I got you." Amber seemed to have read my mind. We walked together into the house to get sodas from the fridge. Tiny wasn't a close friend, but I knew I could count on him, and Amber, I barely knew her, but that was going to change.

"Thanks." I smiled at Amber. "Are you going to miss Tiny?" I thought it was a weightier question than she did, I guess.

"Girl, I need the break." She laughed. "You and Steve are going to be just fine. I promise. When we get there for classes, those boys had better watch out, because we are going to rock their world."

Her attitude was infectious. I laughed and grabbed a soda, stopping for just a second, and taking another one for Steve. Girls take care of their guys, after all.

He was over at the grill with Tiny and my dad. I got a smile for slipping under his arm, and a kiss for the soda. Maybe Amber was right.

The party wound down and people slowly trickled out the door. Steve and I helped my mom and dad clean up and it occurred to me Beverly was nowhere to be seen.

"She got called into work." Steve read my mind. "Some kind of emergency or something. Sometimes, I wonder how that place stays in business. There's always so much drama."

"So, I guess that means you need a ride home or someplace to stay tonight?" I looked at my dad. He put his hands up like he was surrendering, and just turned away.

"I'm not picky." Steve pulled me closer and kissed me. I looked for my mom. She had followed my dad out of the room.

The funny thing was, we didn't even have sex. We just lay there next to each other, holding tight, sharing delicate kisses now and then. I could have told him how much I was going to miss him. He could have told me he'd think about me every day. We could have agreed to call each other all the time, but those things were just understood. Words weren't necessary anymore.

I did wake him up with the most epic blow job I could, and he returned the favor, reminding me it wasn't Rob. It wasn't Bobbi. It was just me he loved.

He watched me get ready, like he was memorizing every little detail. My mom had breakfast ready for us, bacon and eggs, pancakes and hash browns. I felt like we had all piled into the car and gone to I Hop.

Damn him. He had parked his Jeep in front of the house, his small trailer all loaded with stuff for his dorm. He played me - again. I couldn't complain because I enjoyed the game so much. I walked him to his car and kissed him hard. It wasn't one of those long-drawn-out goodbyes, because it wasn't a goodbye. He was just leaving for work. A scenario I hoped to relive again and again in our future. Besides, I'd see him again in a few weeks, six, in fact. Exactly six. Forty-two days. Not that I was counting.

I stood on the curb and just watched as Steve drove away. My heart was sad, but my soul was so full.

"You got this?" My dad stepped up behind me, gently hugging me. It was as much a statement as it was a question.

"Yes, daddy. I've got this." I let out a little giggle.

Thinking about everything that had happened since Rick and Rachael had ambushed me in the backyard. Everything that my family and friends had done for me. Everything I now knew they would do for me. Yeah, whatever came, I had this. And for maybe the first time in my entire life, confident in who I was, trusting those who loved me, I honestly believed it.

---

Thanks for reading my story. I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bobbi has her entire life in front of her now. Maybe we'll get to catch up with her again, sometime. No promises, but know the idea is in there somewhere. For now, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of her coming out story. Your comments help me become a better writer.