Danielle

At Thanksgiving, Danielle traveled to Omaha with me and met my mother and brother. My sexuality was never an issue for them and they welcomed her with open arms.

Danielle held me as I stood before my fathers' grave in the quiet Baptist cemetery and introduced her with tears streaming down my cheeks.

The Christmas holidays were more problematic when we visited Danielle's parents in Philadelphia. After we declared our love for one another, she telephoned them dozens of times to explain what happened with Conrad and how I was now part of her life.

I would listen with total fascination as Danielle mixed English and Italian into her speech effortlessly. The tenor of her conversations varied wildly; sometimes angry, placating, sentimental, exasperated but always ended affectionately.

"Ciao ma, I love you," she would say from her heart.

On Christmas Eve, I stood nervously in Danielle's parents' dining room. Her mother insisted that I sit next to her and I was intimidated beyond words. My glass was brimming with some potent homemade red wine that I found curiously appealing.

The table was filled with a variety of fishes, meats, bread, and salad. The varied tastes and aromas were extremely pleasing to my senses but holding true to my mid-western roots, I took only small portions of food.

Danielle's mother, Mrs. Centomare, was regarding me suspiciously.

"Danielle, your friend, que cosi? She doesn't like my cooking?" she asked with a big frown.

"Ma, she's from Nebraska," Danielle said definitively.

"What? Qui fait, they don't eat in Nebraska?" she asked with frustration.

"Please load up your plate and eat as much as you can," Danielle whispered imploringly in my ear and I did exactly that.

By the time Mrs. Centomare brought out a huge platter of pastries for desert, I was totally stuffed. But, heeding Danielle's earlier advice, I ate several sweet confections and licked my fingers.

In all my life, I had never consumed so much food at one sitting. However, Danielle's mother had a very pleased look on her face.

"See Danielle, I told you she has a good appetite," Mrs. Centomare stated with supreme knowledge.

Gradually, over the three days we spent at her parents' home, her mother came to accept me.

Danielle stood in the living room looking at the bare walls of her former residence.

"Gonna miss it?" I asked sympathetically.

"Nah, not when I have you in my life," she said lovingly.

"Oh, you've got me; in fact, you had me at hello," I stated emphatically.

"You mean since day one when you walked into the studio to repair the computers?" she asked with surprise.

"Yeah, it was only the second time in my life that I fell for somebody that I just met," I said with a smiling face.

We were walking through the house, checking window locks and doors when Danielle with a very curious look on her face turned to me.

"Can you tell me about the first time you fell in love?" she asked with compassion.

Although my eyes welled up with tears, I kept myself from crying. I knew that Danielle had no hidden agenda concerning my past loves and was only inquisitive. I was well acquainted with her past; far more than she was with mine.

"Well, let me start off by saying that she broke my heart," I whimpered sadly.

We sat on the kitchen windowsill with Danielle's arm around me as I sometimes blubbered my way through the story of Olivia. However, when I recounted how I learned about her death in the Alumni magazine, I openly wept and covered my face with my hands.

In spite of the fact that I had gotten over the break up long ago, her passing never failed to cause me emotional distress. With the patience of a saint, Danielle held me in her arms and comforted me.

"But, look at me now; I'm madly in love with you and my life couldn't be better," I exclaimed positively as we walked out the back door for the last time.

On the driveway, Danielle stopped and had that adoring look on her face again. It never failed to make my heart swell with love. I hugged her with all my strength and kissed her with ardor. When we finally came up for air, she motioned toward our vehicles.

"Hey, let's get out of town before the neighbors have a hissy fit," she stated amusingly.

With Danielle in the lead, we drove off and I never looked back.

Later that night, I was browsing through a pile of travel brochures. Danielle's twenty seventh birth day was the following month and I wanted to do something extra special. She walked into the family room wearing a cute short set that beautifully complimented her sexy body.

"Hey babe, wassup?" she asked in a loving voice.

"Which would you like better? A seven day cruise to the Caribbean or a week in the Dominican Republic at the Punta Cana resort?" I inquired.

Danielle sat next to me and put her arm across my shoulders. And, that's what I adored about her, the physical closeness from her many hugs, gentle squeezes and tender kisses.

Whenever we watched a movie, I was either nestled in her arms or she in mine. Our nights were spent wrapped in each others loving embrace which I treasured the most.

Danielle perused the folders for a few minutes.

"You decide," she replied quietly and kissed my cheek.

"You have no preference at all?" I asked with some exasperation.

"I have everything I want right here," she purred and gazed at me with the deepest affection.

"No Danielle, no sex until we decide. I see how you're looking at me" I stated with determination.

"Party pooper," she declared mockingly and gave me a raspberry.

"Jesus girl, you're the horniest woman I've ever known," I exclaimed.

"Are you complaining?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm not. But, let me ask you again, do you have any idea what you'd like for your birthday?" I inquired pleadingly.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," she said in a revealing tone and hesitated.

"Go on," I begged.

"Simply this, that you love me with all your heart as I do you. That's all I want because really, nothing else matters," she stated very wisely.

I was moved to tears and Danielle enveloped me in her soothing embrace. In a halting and sad voice, I recollected for her the same sentiment that my father told me.

"Knowing that I loved and cared about him was most important to my dad," I said quietly, sniffing back tears

"That's all that really matters in life," he would say to me.

Danielle gazed at me with damp eyes and wiped a few tears from my cheeks.

"I miss him so much; I wish you could have met him," I said in a sorrowful voice.

"In a way I have, because I'm holding a part of him in my arms," she stated with gentleness.

I gazed adoringly at the remarkable young woman that I had fallen head over heels in love with.

"I love you with all my heart," I declared sincerely and kissed Danielle with stormy passion.

The happiness that I had known with Olivia returned with Danielle but it was a deeper, broader feeling that permeated my entire being.

In my life's journey, I had found my soul mate who loved me unconditionally and I her. And, that's all that really matters.