Ted's happy place

He kisses her in places she's never been kissed before. His touch is gentle yet firm. Only time will tell how long she'll be able to contain herself Nine months later... I'm wearing the floor out with my pacing. It's all I can do to endure every nerve wrecking that I to wait and then I hear the doctor's voice, "You can give my floors a break now. It's a boy!" Soon I hold six and a half pounds of life in my hands. Such a little thing full of life and energy. I still have no idea what I'll name him. My wife's face speaks of relief and relaxation, the labour was tough on her but she was tougher. I put him back in her arms and take a few hours to savor this moment. If you'd have told me that I would be married let alone a father I'd have called you nuts but reality doesn't lie and I see it right before me. She's getting sleepy now and so is my little soldier, I'd better get home now. "Yes ma. It's a boy.... he looks just like his mother. Yes she's ok..." My mother worries too much and it annoys the hell out of me but given the circumstances I'll allow it. This is her first grandkid after all. She tells me she's coming over in two days time. Probably needs to see if anyone will look after the house while she's gone. After she hangs up the phone I'm truly grateful to whatever unseen diety that has brought me to this happy place and as I look out my window I'm seemingly transported back in time to where this journey all started. "Mom I'm leaving tomorrow." Those were the last words I thought I'd never ever say in my life. This house had been home ever since I was born, about twenty five years ago. It had been my palace now it felt more like a prison. You could almost hear a needle drop as my mother let that revelation sink in. Her only son was leaving her to go work in the big city. At that time I felt that there was more to the world than what I'd experienced in my rural Kansas. I was hungry for more and ready or not it was time for me to go. By the time the train arrived my lapel was drenched with an aching mother's tears and my uncle couldn't stop giving me bear hugs that lifted me off the ground and make me look like a ten year old. I must've seemed like a marine off for duty except for my hand me down suit which I planned to rid myself of once I made enough dough. The passing fields and trees of my old rural home whizzed past my window. Lord knows how long it would be before I would see them again. All I knew was that my destiny awaited me in the big city. Disembarking the train I was welcomed by the pouring rain into New York. A welcoming committee of street peddlers sounded me desperate for me to buy each of their wares. It was in those first few moments I was to learn that ones possessions must be carefully guarded. If not for the merciful intervention of a nearby officer my wallet which contained all my money would have become someone else's. This city was unlike any I'd ever visited with towering skyscrapers that dwarfed my ant-like presence and with scores of people each going about his or her business. They were so busy that there was no time for the pleasenteries that I'd become accustomed to in Kansas. The streets went on for miles and miles and it would take an aircraft just to see the length and breadth of this gigantic metropolis. Fortunately for me employment and accommodation had been secured before my journey from Kansas and with a little aid from my map and a stranger's directions I arrived at my new home. Homesickness, loneliness and stress were often my companions as I navigated life in the big apple but with time co workers, strangers and acquaintances soon became valued comrades and confidants. Life looked a little brighter as I hurried along in my rat race. I was finally my own man independent and free. However as days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years and in all that time my journey to 'success' as I saw it seemed vain and further out of my reach. It's funny how you shape your life to go a certain direction and speed and yet in the end it flip turns your plans upside down. My steady job fell victim to the looming recession and soon I had to settle for a job that paid less in money and fulfillment. By now my goals of wealth and riches slipped further out of reach and were firmly in a ditch until then I met her. "My name is Nancy", she said. As cliche'd as it sounds her voice was angelic and all I could say in reply was, "Ted" not, "Hey girl my name's Ted" or ,"Hi the name's Ted." No just "Ted." Any swagger I hoped to salvage in that moment vanished as she laughed and said, "It's nice to meet you 'Ted' now if you could just let go of my hand we could meet some more." Her hand felt as soft as a marshmallow against my own calloused one and it took a while before I finally let go. Soon I found very convenient ways to 'bump' into Nancy and ask her out. My initial requests were rejected but I finally managed to get a 'casual' cup of coffee with her. That led to a dinner which led to a dance and before long we were officially courting each other. Nancy was an interesting girl very unlike the ones I knew back in Kansas. At times she could be clever and witty whilst at other times she could be shy and introverted. There were so many layers to her personality that it was hard to put her to just one. She was easy to be around and I felt more relaxed with her since I moved to New York. She was the calm in this city of a storm and an anchor amongst these fickle beings. I often wondered how I could deserve such love of which I wasn't worthy. Maybe the merciful god above didn't need me to deserve it and just generously gave me one of his gracious gifts. The time I spent with her was an oasis in a dry crummy desert and soon I made the realisation that I couldn't be without her any longer and that I had to marry her. However bringing up such a proposition scared me to bits and for weeks I contemplated how I could ever bring myself to propose. No time ever felt right and my preconceived words sounded wrong until I worked myself into a nervous breakdown. How could I tell the woman that I loved that I could not be without her. Nancy at this time sensed that something was wrong whenever she tried to get me to talk all she got was my cold responses. It got so bad that she suspected that I was cheating on her and that led to one of the biggest argument in our relationship. We didn't speak to each other for a week. I remember after that week feeling a need, a desperate need to make things right so I trekked all the way to her apartment in the bitter night and after knocking for an eternity my sleepy eyed lover answered the door. Mere seconds hadn't passed before she laid into me about how inappropriate my present actions were and how strange I had been behaving. The only thing I could do in that moment is offer the only apology I knew to give, a heartfelt kiss to Nancy's lips. She tried to push me away in protest before she succumbed to my peace offering and pulled me into a teary embrace. An embrace that said "I miss you. Let's never fight again." No words were necessary for what followed. It was all passion, lust and hunger between two reconciled lovers. In short that was a night I'll never in all my years forget. It was the beginning of wonderful things to come. When all was done she told me that I'd, "kissed her in places she's never been kissed before" which I took as the ultimate compliment any woman could ever give me. After that night there was little point in delaying the inevitable and I proposed. Through a nice and quiet legal ceremony we became husband and wife and a month since that fateful night we discovered our pending parental responsibility. As my memory returns me to the present I register the gray clouds and light drizzle outside my window. The receiver is still in my hands and I put it back where it belongs. I gaze out the window and recognise that all those years ago when I left in search of riches and glory I was actually pursuing one of the greatest treasures of all. The love and companionship of another human being.