Willow's Struggle

Materials for the Dress

    The café was a lot busier today and it made the day fly by.  Before I knew it, I was leaving the café and heading to the fabric store.  Between my gig money and the tips I had earned the last two days, I finally had enough money to get everything I would need to complete my dress project.  

    I spent about two hours at the store looking through all kinds of different fabrics and lace, not to mention the many threads, beads, sequins, and other accessories that could be added.  I picked out a dark pink satin fabric for the top of the dress and the bottom layer of the skirt.  I got a lighter shade of pink lace material for the outer layer of the skirt.  I also got a strand of light pink satin fabric to add to the waist of the dress, and a set of light pink rhinestones to line the top hem on the front of the dress.  I left the store with a big smile on my face and a newfound determination to make this dress absolutely beautiful.

    When I finally pulled into my driveway, my momma was already home.  When I walked in the door carrying the bags full of the materials I had just bought, she ran over to me and grabbed a few.  She followed me to my room and set them down with the ones I had been carrying.  "What's all this for?" she asked.

    I quickly pulled out the sketch of the dress and handed it to her as I proudly said, "I finally saved enough money to buy the materials I need to make this dress."

    "I can't wait to the see the finished product.  I am sure it will be perfect since you will be the one making it," she said lovingly as she gazed at the sketch.

    "Thank you momma.  You are the best," I said as I gave her a little hug.

    She hugged me back, then said, "You're welcome.  I am going to make us some dinner.  I'll holler up to you when it's ready."

    "Okay," I responded as she left my room.  

    I immediately started pulling the materials out of the bags and separated everything.  I cleared everything off of my sketching table and gave it a really good scrub to make sure there was no pencil lead or anything on it.  When I was finished, I laid out the dark pink satin fabric and drew the designs on the back of it before cutting the material to the correct size patterns that I would need.  As I was cutting the last pattern, I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

    When I opened the door, Evan was leaning against my door frame smiling.  I cleared my throat then asked, "What are you doing here?"

    "Didn't you read the texts I sent you?" he asked instead of answering my question.  Ughh, I can't stand when people do that s**t.

    Sassily I retorted, "If I had, I would've texted you back, now why are you here?"

    "Well, I was going to see if you wanted to go back to the park with me this evening, but I can see that you aren't in the mood for company, so..." he said indifferently.

    "Sorry, I was busy," I said feeling kind of bad for being sassy a second ago.

    He shrugged and walked past me into my room.  He looked around my room, then said, "What in the hell are you doing anyway?"

    As a blush rose to my cheeks, I said, "That's none of you business."  Than I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of my room.  Still holding his hand, I walked to the kitchen and asked, "Momma, will we have enough food for one more?"

    Without turning around from the stove, she replied, "Yes, dear.  Who will be joining us?"

    As I said, "Evan," he said, "It's just me Ms. Summers."

    She spun around and eyed him from head to two with narrowed eyes and a scowl on her face.  After a minute of him shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably under her glare, her lips curved into a smile as she said, "Hello Evan.  It is nice to see you again."  Then she turned back to the stove and continued cooking.

    "We will be on the porch," I said as I left the kitchen.  When we got out I plopped down on the porch swing and glared at Evan as I said, "My momma didn't know you were here, judging by the surprise I seen in her eyes.  Care to explain?"

    He looked down to the ground as he responded, "I knocked twice and nobody answered.  I knew you were here so I let myself in and knocked on your bedroom door.  

    "Hum...Don't ever do that again or I will throat punch your ass," I deadpanned.

    He held his hand over his heart jokingly as he said, "Ouch, don't worry, kitten.  It won't happen again."  Then he winked as he sat down beside me.  He wrapped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his side as he said, "You really should pay more attention to your phone."

    I giggled then said, "Sometimes I hate that thing.  It always rings or pings at the worst time.  I have to silence it at work and most of the time I forget to turn the volume back up."

    He chuckled in return then said, "Next time, I will just throw something at your window."

    "Oh hell no, you will not.  I can not have you breaking my damn window.  Not cool," I said seriously.

    "Don't worry, I won't break you window, silly," he replied as he chuckled again.

    "You better not," I deadpanned.

    A few minutes later my mom called us in for dinner.  She studied Evan the whole time we ate, narrowing her eyes and scowling from time to time.  It took everything I had to not laugh at how she was acting.  She hardly ever scowls so it looked so comical to me.  Evan on the other hand kept squirming in his seat nervously hardly talking unless somebody asked him a question.

    As soon as he set his fork down, my mom cleared her throat then said, "So tell me Evan, what are your intentions with my daughter, and don't try to feed me any of your bullshit?"

    I literally heard him gulp before he cleared his throat and said, "Well, Ms. Summers, I have recently realized that I never got over your daughter after we broke up last year.  I loved her back then but I couldn't admit it to myself until recently.  I plan to prove that to her in hopes that she will take me back."

    "Is that so?" she asked skeptically.

    "Yes, Ms. Summers, that is the truth.  I love you daughter, and I want to be with her," he deadpanned while looking her straight in the eye.

    I could tell my mom saw the same determination in his eyes that I was seeing.  Her lips curved up into an ear to ear grin, then she said, "Okay Evan, but do know this, if you hurt her in any way, I will not hesitate to kick your ass myself.  You are not a kid anymore and don't think for a second that I can't do it, because I promise you, I can and I will."

    He gulped again then said, "Yes, ma'am, I understand."

    "Good, now you can help Willow clean the kitchen," she said as she stood up then left the kitchen.

    When I saw the look on his face, I couldn't hold the laughter in anymore.  I laughed so hard it looked like I was crying.  When I finally quit laughing, Evan glared at me as he said, "Are you ready to clean this mess up?"

    "What?  I thought you were doing it to prove your love for me," I said as I giggled.

    He scoffed then started taking the dishes to the sink.  I thought about getting up and helping him, but I really wanted to see if he would actually do it, and surprise, surprise, he did it.  When he was done, every dish was washed and the counter, table, and stove were wiped clean.  He walked over to me and grabbed my hand, then pulled me to my feet.  He leaned in closer and whispered in my ear, "Now you have to go to the park with me."

    "Okay, I guess you earned that," I said as I shrugged him away from my ear.  I slipped a pair of flip flops on and walked out the door.  He ran to his car and opened the passenger door for me before getting into the driver's seat.

    While driving to the park, Evan said, "I never realized your mom could be so damn intense."

    I laughed then said, 'She doesn't show that side very often.  I guess you just bring the b***h right out of her."

    He chuckled and said, "I guess so."

    When we got to the park, he led me back to the same bench in front of the pond.  We got here later in the evening this time, so the sun was already setting in the sky.  As we watched the sky, Evan held my hand rubbing circles with his thumb.  When the sun finished setting, he turned me and asked, "How long will you make me keep proving myself before you make us official?"

    I searched his brown eyes for any sign of bad intentions but saw nothing but love and hope.  After a minute, I responded, "We can make us official now, but you are not done proving yourself to me.  Consider yourself on probation in this relationship until further notice."

    I expected him to protest and argue, but instead he grinned from ear to ear, then leaned forward and pecked a quick kiss on my lips.  When he pulled back, he said, "You won't regret this."  He stood up and held his hand out to me as he said, "My star needs her beauty sleep for her gig tomorrow.  Oh and I will pick you and Skylar up before the gig.  You don't need to be carrying all of that stuff."

    I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face as I grabbed his hand and let him pull me up from the bench.  When we got back to my house, he walked me to the door, but I pulled him the porch swing and sat down.  He immediately plopped down beside me, and wrapped his arm over my shoulder.  I leaned closer and snuggled into him.  He chuckled then said, "Thank you."

    Confused, I asked, "For what?"

    "For giving me another chance, kitten," he said seriously.

    I giggled, then said, "Just don't make me regret it."

    "I won't. Promise," he said with determination.  A comfortable silence fell between us as we cuddled on the porch swing.  

    After a little while, I stood up and walked to the door with Evan right behind me.  "Off to bed I go," I said as I turned around to face.

    He immediately smashed his lips to mine.  When he pulled back he said, "Goodnight kitten.  See you tomorrow."

    "Goodnight Evan," I responded then walked into the house.  

    I headed straight to my room after locking the door since my momma had already gone to bed.  When I got there, I finished cutting out the last pattern I was working on when Evan showed up earlier.  Then I put everything away, and took a quick shower.  After I ran a pick through my curls to get any bad knots out, I climbed into bed then turned my lamp off.  Even though I had a lot on my mind, it didn't take long for sleep to take over.