We find a parking spot, he helps me out and I follow him to the trunk of his car. He hands me a blanket and a small cooler, then takes out a fairly large hard-sided case. We find a nice spot well away from the few other couples here and I spread out the blanket as he set up the telescope.

Taking a seat once we finish, he hooks the telescope up to his laptop and starts a program.

“What are you doing?”

“My telescope is computer controlled, so I type in what we want to look at and it points it in that direction and keeps it on target. The telescope also sends the image to the laptop. We can view it there and I can also record everything.”

I never knew they had things like this, other than for the big telescopes. Kneeling down behind him, I cuddle against his back as he works. I loosely wrap my arms around his neck, lean my head against his and murmur in his ear, “That’s so cool. What will they think of next?”

“They have some digital 16” telescopes out. I’d like to have one, but $4,000 is a bit much right now.”

I know what someone is getting for their next birthday, which brings up another subject. “Dan?”

Still continuing to work he mutters, “Hmm?”

“When is your birthday?”

“June 19th.”

“Can we do something on your birthday? I’d like to celebrate it with you.”

“Sounds good. It’s not like my parents will be able to do anything for it since they work all the time.”

I nuzzle his cheek as I reply, “Mmm~ You just name what you want to do and we’ll do it,” As I softly kiss his neck, it hits me what I said and how it could be taken. “Within reason that is.”

He seems to get what I mean since he chuckles and pats my arm. Turning to look at me, he says, “Andie, you needn’t worry about that. I meant it when I told you that I’d never pressure you for something you aren’t ready to give. For that matter, we can wait until marriage.”

My eyes widen in surprise since I never expected him to say that last part. It does make me a bit happy, while at the same time a little concerned. “So, you already see yourself marrying me?”

He sighs, sits down and pulls me into his lap. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “Andie, I know you don’t see yourself as anything but an ordinary girl.”

I nod because to me that is what I am. Nothing more and nothing less. I want what most girls want. I want a loving and caring boyfriend, which I think I may very well have, good friends and having fun with both. I want to go to college and eventually, I’d like to get married and have children, but the thought of doing that right now hasn’t even occurred to me.

“You are far from ordinary.” I start to say something and he touches my lips with his finger to stop me. “I know, you don’t see it, but I do and I’m sure others do as well. You could have nearly any boy you want to go out with, yet you chose me. I don’t get it, but I’m glad you did. Yes, you’re very pretty. No one would ever dare say otherwise, but,” he taps his finger over my heart, “it’s this that sets you apart from the rest of the girls. You kind of have a dark outlook on a lot of things and I get that, I really do. You can’t have a father that did the things to you that he did and not develop one. Yet, you never let that control you. Even with all that happened there, you are kind, open and honest. Andie… What I am trying to say is that you are a very rare girl. You are worth waiting any length of time for and all I want to do is make you happy. Does that make sense?”

Even as I smile happily at him, tears form and create rivulettes as they flow down my cheeks. I pull him to me and cling tightly to him as I bury my face against his neck. He gently rubs my back as I wonder why I’m crying since what he said made me very happy.

After a few minutes, I lean back and he wipes away my tears. I quietly say, “Dan?”

“Yes?”

“I might be falling in love with you.”

He kisses my forehead and murmurs, “You’re a little behind then because I’m already in love with you. No hurry though.”

My eyes widen and I breathlessly ask, “Y-you love me?”

“Of course.”

My heart leaps into my throat rendering me unable to speak, all I can do is stare at him wide-eyed and frozen in place. I want to say something here, but I’m unsure what. I like him. I mean, I really, genuinely like him a lot, but I can’t say that I truly love him yet. I’ve never been in love before, so how would I know? I think I might, but I want to be sure before saying it.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious how he feels. Look at how he treats me, he spends as much time with me as he can. Let’s not forget all the tiny little things he does to show how much he cares about me and yes, I know it could be a ploy to get into my panties, but I don’t think it is. He doesn’t come across as only being after that. He’s had plenty of opportunities to be inappropriate with me. In the hotel I was wearing very little and he never tried to go farther than I told him I would. Same thing all of the times when we’ve been alone in my bedroom. I could feel just how excited I made him each and every time, yet he never did anything other than hold and kiss me.

My mind spins with these multitude of thoughts, until he touches my cheek and gently says, “Andie, it’s alright. You don’t have to say anything more until you are ready to. Relax and let’s just enjoy ourselves like we always do, okay?”

I’m guessing my confusion and anxiety showed in my expression. I take a deep breath, slowly let it out and then nod. “I’m sorry about that.”

He runs his thumb along my cheek. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

What am I freaking out for? I’m the one that started this conversation. This doesn't change anything between us, other than I know for sure how he feels about me. Whatever, I want a kiss.

Closing my eyes, I offer my lips for a kiss, which he gives me and quickly deepens it while pulling me closer. It doesn’t take me long for me to relax into it and merely enjoy being with him.

A bit later, he breaks our kiss and asks, “Are you ready to see some planets and stars?”

“Definitely.”

Turning around, I sit between his legs and we start with Mars. Moves on to Jupiter, and then Saturn, which I have to say the rings are gorgeous. Moving out of the solar system. He focuses on a binary star called Alberio.

“How far away is it?”

“433 light years. The fastest spacecraft we have right now would take almost 8 million years to reach it.”

“I wonder if we'll ever see the human race move beyond Earth?”

“I hope so. It’s far too dangerous for us to have all our eggs in one basket. One large asteroid or comet strike and it’s pretty much game over for us.”

“I’d love to go into space, visit the moon or another planet.”

“Me too.”

Next he moves on to the trinary stars of Beta Monocerotis, which he tells me is 700 light years away. We see a few others before it starts getting late, not to mention it’s getting a little too chilly for me, and we pack up so he can take me home. He again helps me into the car and buckles me in, then goes around and gets in.

I really enjoyed tonight and I learned a lot about stars I had never heard of before. Yet, Dan rattled off facts about them as if it were common knowledge. I said that he was far from dumb and this just goes to prove my point again.

Parking outside my house, he helps me out and walks me to the door.

“I meant to ask earlier, but it slipped my mind. Do you want to go to the beach tomorrow? Brian is asking Alla to go as well.”

“Heck yeah! I love the beach.”

“Good. We’ll pick you two up at 10 then.”

He gives me a kiss and tells me goodnight. Heading inside, I lock the door and go to the kitchen for something to drink to find Mom sitting on the sofa reading.

“Hi Mom.”

“Welcome home. How was your night?”

“It was great. He took me out to Fox Observatory and showed me some of the planets and stars.”

“It sounds like you had a lot of fun.”

I walk over and sit down beside her. “That I did. Mom, how do you know for sure if you love someone?”

She puts down her book and looks at me. “Did something happen?”

I shrug. “Kind of yes and no. I think I love Dan, but I’m not sure.” I sigh and then continue, “I know I like him. I like being with him, but it’s not as if he dominates my thoughts or anything, though I think about him a lot.”

She chuckles for a moment. “Baby, love means that you want them in your life without any conditions. It’s as easy as it is complex.”

“That doesn’t really help.”

“It didn’t help me much either when my mother told me the same thing. Defining love isn’t easy and that definition isn’t the same for everyone. The question is do you think you love him?”

“I think I’m falling for him, but I’m not sure if I love him or not. I like being with him and I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together.” Smiling brilliantly, I continue, “Seeing him in the morning makes my day.”

Mom nods. “Do you see him having a place in your future?”

“I do. I see us attending college together, but I haven’t thought beyond that.”

“Who’s your best friend between him and Alla?”

“I love Alla and she’s like a sister to me, but I’d have to say Dan.”

“So… What do you think that tells you?”

“Thanks, Mom. I think I know my answer now.”

I give her a hug and stand up.

“Are you going to tell me?”

I roll my eyes and suppress a grin. “Why in the world would I give my Mom, who loves to tease me, even more ammunition?”