It Happened On Halloween

I still have no idea if Mr. Seton was any closer to finding the leak in his office. The only thing I hadn't been able to do was to privately interview any current sex workers. I knew that I didn't stand a chance of talking to them at the various places where they worked. I'd even staked out one of the "Live Models" places, but I never saw a girl alone. They traveled in groups and I figured one of the girls was probably a gang member.

On the personal front, things were going great with Tyler. We'd had bumps and even some knock-down-drag-out-fights, but we hadn't broken up, walked away, or resorted to our professional relationship to keep our personal one going.

Two weeks after we first made love we had the take-the-guy-home-to-meet-the-parents. It was weird, but part of it was that I'd never brought anyone home. My parents had met my other boyfriends, but the significant ones were in high school and college. You don't have a high school beau for a sleep-over and my college "friend" never left New York.

I'd spent hours on the phone preparing my parents for the visit. My folks are blue-collar, but smart and funny. Part of the problem is that much of their humor is, uh... shall we say not politically correct. Then there's the N word. My parents are of different races, it doesn't matter which is which, but the N word is used regularly by my parents in public... and no one is offended. Hispanic and ethic white jokes flow... look my parents went through a lot of hell from all sides of the racial wars, and they don't have a prejudiced bone in their bodies; they just don't have a "sensitivity" one either.

Tyler, as you might expect, is very careful about what he says. To say I was terrified would be a bit of an overstatement, but not much. I was already deeply in love with Tyler, but it was important to me that he like my family. Not only am I immensely proud of my parents, they're my fans. The first few hours were so stiff and unnatural. Everyone was walking on eggshells and it was driving me up the wall.

Finally I turned to Tyler and said in a horrible Spanish accent, "Hey man, are you really a Spic, or did you just change your name to cash in on the affirmative action goodies?"

Tyler gave me a questioning look and I replied with one that said, "I dare you." Then he launched in an equally bad accent.

"Hey man, my mother was a wetback who had a fifteen-minute meaningful financial relationship with an albino gringo, so what you expect me to look like?"

Bless their hearts, my parents didn't hesitate a second before they burst out laughing. What followed was hours of ethnic humor, none of it mean, but the type of things that show people are comfortable with who they are and how you'll accept them.

We had serious talks that weekend, and Tyler was grilled at length about his intentions and qualifications to date their Oreo. Before the weekend was over they had established a mutual admiration society. We started going down every couple of weeks. Six weeks ago Dad asked Tyler if he could call him son.

I had tears in my eyes, and Tyler's voice was husky when he responded, "Sure, Dad."

If I had any complaint it was that I didn't want to go home as much as Tyler wanted to take me. Last month Tyler made two trips down to Corpus without me, just to spend time with my folks. He told me that I had no idea what it was like to never have a family.

Frankly, I thought one of those trips might have been an old-fashioned "ask for my hand" kind of visit but Mom told me they spent the whole weekend dove hunting, and planning a deer hunt. I was mildly pissed I wasn't invited for the hunt or the planning. I'd gotten my first deer the day before I had my first period. Thank God, dad had taken me home right after my kill. I still shudder to think what it would have been like to start without a woman at the hunting camp.

I finally decided that it was more important for Tyler and Dad to bond than for me to be with them on opening day. It also meant that my hints of "special date" around our Halloween anniversary had been ignored. Deer season opens on November 1st.

That's the only other thing that has been less than perfect lately. I will not ask Tyler to marry me, and no matter how many hints I drop he won't pick up a single one. We've been dating for almost a year... I count the time from our professional date, even if Tyler doesn't. The only weekends we don't spend in the same bed are the ones in Corpus. So now you understand why I'm not as anxious to go down there as I might be under different circumstances.

I dropped yet another broad hint today. I asked Tyler to be sure and bring me some ice, and make sure it was the kind I've been looking for. Okay, not the greatest example but I've done all the easy stuff like window shopping for endless hours in front of jewelry stores, dragging him to every wedding I could get invited to, and even asking his advice on buying a house as a single person. How can someone so smart be so dense?

** ** ** ** **

When Tyler arrived Friday night, he had a large bag of ice and a gleam in his eye. He also brought some take-out from our favorite Chinese place. After dinner we watched a rather sexy chick flick I'd picked out. I should have expected something when Tyler carried an ice bucket and a couple of cokes with us back to the bedroom.

Still, as I undressed for bed I didn't suspect a thing. I just admired his wonderful body and wondered why I'd overeaten earlier when I knew what we'd be doing a few hours later. As he slipped under the covers with me, I ran my hand over his silky smooth skin, feeling the hardness of his muscles underneath. We kissed and touched and I was more than ready for the main event when Tyler moved down between my legs. I love the way Tyler makes me feel with his tongue. Still, I wanted something more substantial than a tongue when I felt his swirl around my opening. Then, without warning I felt something hard and very cold penetrate me.

My eyes shot open and I wasn't quiet sure what he'd done, when I felt the same thing happen again. "What is that, it feels..." I wasn't sure just what if felt like but something inside me was very cold!

He didn't raise his head or move his mouth, but I felt that same sensation a third time, and I KNEW it was too cold to be natural. I was squirming but I still didn't understand what was going on. Then I saw it!

Tyler reached over to the ice bucket and quietly picked up a handful of little ice cubes. He'd just put ice cubes inside me! For several seconds I didn't know how to react, when I felt a whole series of new cubes enter me. It was cold but I was suddenly hotter than I'd ever been. I grabbed Tyler by his hair and pulled him up to me.

In one thrust he was fully inside me. Now I felt both the ice and the heat of him inside me. My body was going schizophrenic. I stretched my neck up to kiss him, but all I could do was pant. I strained against him and I had a massive orgasm, but Tyler didn't stop. Instead he leaned over and grabbed a huge handful of ice, pulled out of me for a second and filled me, first with ice and then with himself.

I felt the cold melting in his heat. I felt the icy water running out of me and soaking the sheet beneath us and I couldn't form coherent words. My orgasms had taken charge of me and I was trapped by them. Grasping his arms, I clung to him like I was drowning. I lifted my back off the bed while my orgasms convulsed me so violently I looked like one of those bobble head toys.

Tyler was thrusting hard into me and with a final hard thrust, he arched his back and for the very first time I heard him roar. I don't think I've ever been able to feel him actually shoot cum inside me, but I did this time.

Later, after we'd changed the sheets, Tyler held me, occasionally giving me loving pats until I was almost asleep. So close to sleep that at first I didn't hear what he was saying.

"What are your plans for Halloween? That marks the end of our agreement. How do you want to celebrate it?"

I went from warm and fuzzy to icy cold in an instant. I know I'd stiffened for a second but my reaction was to seek his warmth to remove my chill. Tyler wasn't going to dump me, the idea wasn't even worthy of a passing thought.

"We could go up to Austin and take part in the party on 6th Street."

I felt his head nodding, and then he said, "I've always wanted to take a cruise. They have a one-week cruise leaving Galveston which would have us at sea on Halloween. How would that sound?"

I was so conflicted that I wasn't even aware of what I said until after I'd blurted, "Oh, I couldn't do that. Dad would kill me if we took a trip like that and weren't married."

As soon as I'd said that last word I wanted to dig a hole in the bed and disappear. Instead, summoning all my courage, I looked up at his face. There was no expression at all!

"Okay, well it was just an idea. I guess 6th Street sounds like fun. Do you have any idea what you want to wear?"

I wanted to hit him, I wanted to cry, I wanted to throw him out of my bed, and I wanted to cling to him for dear life. Instead I tried to calmly discuss costumes and Halloween plans.

** ** ** ** **

For the last week, Tyler has disappeared. Oh, I talk to him on the phone frequently, and I get text messages but I had to throw a tizzy fit to get him to join me at the costume shop to make sure our costumes fit. Now it's almost closing time on Halloween and there's no sign of him.

I was having the hardest time not wondering if my faux pas three weeks ago about marriage and the Halloween anniversary didn't have more sinister undertones. I knew that Tyler loved me, but he refused to make any long-term plans, any plans at all for that matter. Just as I saw him round the corner, I saw a low-rider gang style car speeding past me down the street.

I couldn't breathe as I saw a kid stick a big gun out the passenger window. Just before the car passed Tyler, I heard the shots. I saw an invisible giant hand lift him off his feet and slam him into the wall. For an eternity I saw Tyler twist and recoil against the wall as bullet after bullet tore him apart.

I was running to him before I was even aware that the car hadn't sped on but was screeching to a stop. I reached him, cradled his head in my arms, and saw blood foaming at his mouth.

His eyes were dim, I don't know any other word to describe them; the lively spark, the twinkle I loved, wasn't there. My vision narrowed and all I could hear was how hard he was working to take a breath. His pain was more than I could bear.

I saw the concentration of a drunk trying to appear sober, as he managed a single word "Apartment," and his head lolled away from me.

After a second he managed to turn back to me. His eye were wide and beseeching as he whispered urgently, "Run Morg, RUN!"

I was terrified by the lack of strength in his order, but the National Guard couldn't have made me move. Something else did. One of the young men was standing over us, calmly inserting a new clip in his pistol before pointing it at Tyler's head.

I threw my arm out to protect him just as the kid pulled the trigger. I heard the shot, I heard the sound of it striking before I realized that I'd been shot, but what I was most aware was the blood that was erupting from Tyler's forehead.

At that moment my fifteen years of martial arts training... deserted me. Fortunately my reflexes didn't. There was no form or grace as I launched myself at the tattooed gang member. There was no art as I kicked as hard as I could at his crotch. I didn't hear his scream, but I did know I'd broken his pelvic bone and I somehow managed to grab his pistol.

I've never been much of a pistol shot. It didn't matter as I shot the gang-banger in the face, then began shooting at the car he'd been in.

It had started moving before my first shot. Then it swerved and crashed into a parked car across the street. I didn't stop shooting until the gun clicked empty.

I heard sirens, I saw people running, but I wasn't there. My head felt light and the world was very far away. For the first time I was aware of my pain. I looked down and was confused by the amount of blood on my blouse. I felt weaker and ever more confused. I knew Tyler was dead, but could I be dying too? I tried to sit down but it was more of a collapse, and my last thought was that if we hadn't been married in the eyes of men in life surely God wouldn't hold that against us in death. He wouldn't keep us apart now.

I woke up feeling entirely too much pain to be dead. It took a few seconds to realize that I was in a hospital but I was instantly aware why I was there. My arm was immobilized, and I was aware of the floaty feeling of narcotics trying, unsuccessfully, to make my pain hazy. I just wished the drugs did something for my real pain. Tyler was gone! How could my beautiful Tyler be gone?

I screamed. I screamed until my vocal cords collapsed at their abuse. How could God have left me here when Tyler was gone?

People began to materialize like in a Sci-Fi movie. My editor was there. My parents were holding my good hand. All their mouths were moving but I couldn't hear them over my screams.

A nurse appeared. "Honey, I don't want to give you anything else because it might hurt the baby."

A cooler of ice water wouldn't have been more effective. The urge, the need to continue my primeval scream was frozen. Baby? What baby could she mean? I turned to her, my eyes pleading, my vocal cords incapable of sound.

"You didn't know? You're pregnant. We ran the tests when you were brought in. You're going to be fine. You lost a bit of blood, the bullet nicked a vein, but they got the bleeding stopped before it was serious. You have a distal ulna fracture. It's the less common break but it's not going to require anything more than a cast for about six weeks. You'll be able to hold your baby when it's born.

I could feel my tears, "Oh, thank you God! If I can't have Tyler I can have something of him."

After a few seconds of silent prayer I asked, "What's being done about Tyler. I want to make the funeral arrangements. Is that going to be a problem?"

A professional mask fell over the nurse's face. "He is in bad shape. They took him back into surgery an hour ago. We're not sure he's going to make it. So you will need to be prepared for that."

"He's not dead? I saw the bullet hole in his head... Oh God what did it do?"

With her professional face very much in place she used a dulcet voice to say, "Oh that wasn't serious at all. Your ulna deflected that bullet. It did little more than give him a nasty gash just below the hairline. He was wearing a vest but the Essa used armor-piercing bullets. They tore up his chest and left lung. He lost a lot of blood and was still bleeding after the first surgery."

"Can I go see him? When he's out?"

"The doctors want to keep you overnight, just for observation, but as soon as he's out I'll take you up to see him in a wheelchair."

Mr. Seton chose that moment to materialize. After he explained how the shooting had exposed their mole, he asked if I had a key to Tyler's apartment. I did, but I asked why.

"Tyler was conscious in the ambulance and kept saying he wanted you to go to his apartment. It was all he'd say, almost a mantra. I've checked with the hospital and if you have a nurse and an ambulance to take you there and back, they'll clear the visit. It seemed so important that I thought it might be a good idea if you went while he's in surgery. They told me it'd be several hours before they'd be out. If you think you're up to it..." His voice trailed off.

So, we all traipsed off to Tyler's apartment. When we got there, I briefly thought about asking Mom and Dad to wait outside. I was certain that there would be evidence that I'd spent the night there frequently. Then I thought, "Duh! I'm pregnant-- they know that I'm doing more than chastely kissing Tyler goodnight."

I was doing my best not to break down as I was wheeled into his living room. The place was saturated with Tyler. My heart couldn't stand the thought that we might never be together here again.

I couldn't contain a gasp when I saw what Tyler wanted me to see. There on the middle of his dining room table was a large gaudy Halloween sack. It was chock full of Godiva and Richard Donnelly chocolates. I'd told Tyler of my secret vice of buying very expensive chocolates, but the sack of candy wasn't what made me weep. Sitting on top of a boxed Tortuga Rum cake, another of my favorites, was a small velvet box.

My hands were trembling as I opened it to see the most beautiful ring that I've ever seen... at least a dozen times! It was the one I pointedly admired, but that Tyler had never seemed to notice. Now he was in surgery, he might die, I was pregnant, and I couldn't tell him how much I wanted to be his wife.

Only an Englishman's' mastery of understatement would have called me an emotional wreck. Without looking or being aware, I'd opened a bar of chocolate and scarfed it down on the way back to the hospital. To eat one of those divine chocolates without savoring it showed just how distraught I was.

Twenty minutes after I got back, Tyler was wheeled into ICU. The doctor, in his green scrubs, came over to take my hand.

"I think he's going to be fine. There were some little bleeders that looked bigger than they were, but we got them and I'd say his condition is now good. He normally would come around in about an hour or two, but I'm going to keep him under until tomorrow afternoon. Why don't you let us get you back to your room? You can get your clothes, go home, get some rest, and then get all fixed up before he wakes up."

I made them take me to see him first. I kissed his lips around the tube in his mouth, and I felt the breath that proved my love lived.

A little after one the next afternoon I was at Tyler's bed side, popping Donnelly chocolates like popcorn when Tyler began to come around. It took a few minutes for him to become coherent. When he did, his first words were, "Do you have any idea what you're eating?"

If I'd guessed for a thousand years I would never have thought those might be his first words. I held out my left hand with the ring on it and said, "Yes, of course I'll marry you."

Tyler gave me a weak smile and said, "I won't ask you yet. Do you understand what you're eating?"

I know I shouldn't have been irritated, people coming out of anesthesia can say all sorts of crazy things, but to say he wouldn't ask me hurt. It hurt deeply.

He must have seen it in my face because he said softly. "Morg, you know I love you. I can't imagine life without you. I read that passage in Plato you referred to all the time and I know that you are my missing soul. But first you have to decide if you can forgive me."

"What are you talking about? It wasn't your fault we got shot. I don't blame you for that!"

"Not for that, but for what you're eating. I'm the one. I'm the one who stole your Halloween candy when we were kids. My mother had just died and I was mad at the whole world. I never knew you were a girl. It changed my life. I'd been in tons of fights when I was younger. You know I did some time in TDCY for putting other kids in the hospital for making comments about my mother. But, I'd never stolen anything. I had a dream that night of my mother telling me that she was ashamed of me, and I decided to change."

His eyes pleaded with mine before he continued. "I've spent years trying to figure out how to make it right and when I saw your column I was going to let you give me a few licks. Then I saw you, and I just couldn't. I wanted you in my life and I wouldn't risk losing you. Will you forgive me? If you will, I can finally ask you to marry me."

If you liked the story, I hope you'll write and let me know. If you didn't, I would really like to hear from you to help me get better. If you felt it was just blah then I'd especially like to hear from you... I guess I'd just like to know your opinion no matter what it is. It's why I write.