Good Day Iowa!

She smiled and whispered back, "I love you, Brian. Let's show them our love for each other."

We began dancing close to each other, but once Tracey got comfortable moving with me, I started enticing her to do some twirls as I held her hand high above her head. She picked up on the cues right away, and we began to move as a duo all around the dance area. In the middle of the song, we were dancing close again, and I said, "I'm going to dip you right at the end of the song. Don't worry, I won't drop you. I'll never drop you, my love!"

As we danced, I realized that our gaze never left each other's face, and we smiled through the entire song. It was as if the guests had disappeared, and it was just the two of us, dancing for our own pleasure. It wasn't planned, but then being the first dance couple wasn't part of our plan either, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my dance career. The song came to the end, and during the final flourish of the saxophones, I pulled Tracey close to me one more time, and then dipped her low, causing some of the guests to gasp in surprise. I leaned down to her to kiss her in front of everyone. If they didn't know that we were a couple before, they knew now.

The rest of the dance was more or less a blur. I was surprised at how well she continued picking up my cues, and by the time the evening was almost over, we were dancing together like we'd been dancing all our lives. A few of my old dance friends came over to greet me and I proudly introduced them to Tracey. One of my friends mentioned the opening dance and how it brought back terrific memories of Lucy and I dancing to the same song, and I was able to tell her that I had that same memory before the dance started.

Right before midnight, we heard Chad Bozarth's voice again. "Friends, it's time for the final dance. Since Tracey and Brian started us off in perfect fashion tonight, let's all dance this last song as the band closes with 'Moonlight Serenade' again."

I pulled Tracey close again, but this time there were no twirls or dips. We danced as tightly together as we could. I knew she could feel my excitement and I didn't try to hide it because it was a testament to her beauty and my love for her and I wanted her to know it. As the song came to an end, we kissed as the dancers broke into applause for the band. It was the magical end to a magical event.

The dancers slowly began to file out of the venue. Most of them stayed for the entire evening, which led me to believe that we would hold this event again. We were moving to our table to pick up our programs when we were stopped again by Marilyn Loomis.

"You two - you looked so beautiful out there! And what an event! Thank you so much for all your hard work - it certainly paid off!"

I was my usual fundraising self as I answered, "It was a great night for ALS, and I hope we can continue with events like this because we still have work to do."

"It was a great night for ALS, but it was also a great night for lovers, and you two certainly proved that!"

Tracey blushed. "Good! I wanted the world to see that this was my man, and that we love each other deeply!"

Marilyn smiled. "You showed that completely. You are a great couple!"

As she walked away, I turned to Tracey. "So, I'm your man, eh?"

"That's right, and all those other women had better leave you alone!"

I shook my head. "That wasn't really a problem before."

She disagreed. "Oh, but it was - you told me that yourself. You had plenty of women who were interested in you, but you turned them all down because you were waiting on ME! Was it worth the wait?"

I kissed her one more time. "Does that kiss answer your question?"

She kissed me back, while slipping her hand between us to rest over my cock. "Well, your kiss AND this monster that kept poking me all night long, especially that last song! It needs to be in me as soon as possible - can you make that happen?"

I offered her my arm, and she put her arm in mine. We headed to the car, both knowing what was ahead for us when we got home.

******

Tracey's flight left a few minutes after one the next day. The night before, we couldn't wait to get into my bedroom before our clothes started coming off. I turned out to be correct when I had said earlier that as amazing she looked in her dress, it was much more exciting to see it on the floor next to her naked body. She had asked that the first time we make slow, passionate love, so that's what we did. The second time was plain and simple fucking, with each of us trying to do all we could to make each other cum.

We had made love again earlier when we'd awakened that morning and followed that with getting each other off orally in the shower. After a quick light lunch, we headed to the airport. We were both quiet, and I was sure she was thinking what I was thinking - this was the hardest part of being in a long-distance relationship, not knowing when we'd see each other again in person.

As we got closer to the airport, Tracey could not be silent anymore. "Brian, I hate this! I'm not even gone yet, and I already miss you! The last three weeks were awful, and while the reunion was tremendous...well, after I quit feeling sick...it doesn't make up for the fact that it's so hard without you."

Her feelings were the same as mine. "I know. I felt like I went back to the time before I met you and we became friends. It was lonely, and I hated it as well. It's my turn to come and see you. Let me see what I can get worked out. I don't want to wait three weeks again; I know that for certain."

I could see a tear streaking down her cheek. "I hate it that our schedules don't line up so that we don't even have one day off with each other. If you'd come and see me, I promise we'll just stay in the apartment when I'm not at work and we'll do...well, you know what we'll do."

Not wanting to dump her out at the terminal door, I parked my car in the short-term parking lot. I grabbed her bag out of the back seat, and we held hands as we entered the terminal. I waited back while she checked her bag, which did not take long at all. Once that was done, she came back to me.

We hugged, holding each other for a long time. As we hugged, I whispered in her ear, "Thank you for coming and being my date to the Valentine's Ball. I've been so fortunate in my life to always be with the most beautiful woman in the world, and you certainly proved that last night."

She gave me a long kiss. "I love you, Brian. I looked for a long time, hoping to find the man that would give me the kind of love where nothing else matters in the world. I had just about given up, and then you swooped in and rescued me, and now look at me - deeply and madly in love with you! Please come and see me as soon as possible. I promise I'll make it worth your time!"

"I love you too, Tracey. I'm the lucky one. I had the perfect love once, and then it was taken away from me. I didn't expect to find it again because I was afraid you only have perfect love once. But you have shown me that it's possible a second time! I love you so much! Please be safe on your trip and let me know when you make it home."

We kissed one more time, and then she turned to walk to the screening process. She looked back at me once before disappearing and even from that distance I could see tears in her eyes. As I started walking back to my car, I was fighting to keep from crying. She'd been gone for two minutes, and my heart was aching in her absence.

And then I got angry with myself. I knew this was my fault, because I still couldn't make the decision to close out the Iowa portion of my life and move to be with her in Columbus. I was failing at analyzing what it was that was holding me back. I had lived in Iowa all my life, and for some reason, the roots I had placed in this state - especially the roots Lucy and I had placed together - were still holding me back. I could not find what it was that would let me cut the roots loose and move to be with Tracey, but I tried to figure it out during the drive home, and I tried to figure it out the rest of the day once I got home, but I failed.

I was letting Tracey down, because she deserved to have the man with her that had helped her find the love she'd been searching for all her life. And I was letting myself down, because my fears of giving up the Iowa life were preventing me from the joys that I knew would be the Ohio life.

The proverbial straw that finally broke the camel's back came to me in a most unusual and unexpected way. On my lunch break the following day, I looked at my phone and found a message from Marilyn Loomis. Her voice mail told me it was urgent that I call her back as soon as possible.

She answered on the first ring. "Brian, thanks for calling back. I have something important to tell you, so please listen carefully..."

******

It was a Sunday evening three weeks after the Valentine's Ball. Tracey was just finishing her 10:00 p.m. news broadcast. She had one more read following the last commercial. She didn't know that I was waiting in the wings of the studio, hidden in the darkness by the bright lights that shone on Tracey at the anchor desk.

It was time for my next television performance. I listened as the floor director began the countdown to come back live for the final segment... "Five...four...three..." and then hand signals for two and one. Tracey looked up at the teleprompter and began her last read.

"Finally tonight, a local television news anchor got the surprise of her life this evening when her boyfriend unexpectedly stepped out in front of the camera to propose...."

She stopped, with a confused look on her face. This was not the read she had expected. It was my time. I stepped out into the camera range, just as she had read. When she saw me, she shrieked and put her hands over her mouth.

Because the crew was aware of what I was going to do, they had set up a boom mic that would hopefully pick up my words, although the only one that needed to hear them was Tracey.

I got down on one knee and began. "Tracey, I can't go another day without you. Since I've decided to move to Columbus, I want to make sure there's no doubt in my intentions." I opened the box that contained her (hopefully) engagement ring. "I love you, Tracey. Will you marry me?"

Tracey still had her hands covering her mouth, so nobody else heard her say "Yes." But she nodded as she said it, and immediately the crew of the station broke into applause. She took her left hand away long enough to let me slip the ring on her finger, and then hugged me in front of her news audience. We kissed as the weather reporter came over to us. She knew Tracey would not be able to finish the final goodbyes, so as she got to us, she turned to the camera and said, "Thanks for watching on this very special occasion. Goodnight."

Everyone froze for a few seconds until the floor director said, "Off." Once that happened, the entire night news crew came flocking over to Tracey, who by this time was holding her left arm out with her hand raised high so everyone could see it. They also greeted me, telling me they'd heard a lot about me and were looking forward to seeing me around the station.

Once the well-wishers left, Tracey turned to me, holding out her arms to welcome me with a hug again. As we hugged, she softly said, "Brian, my god, I was not expecting this. Did you say you've decided to move to Columbus?"

We broke the hug, and Tracey led me to a table where she needed to leave her mic pack. She reached behind her to unplug the mic so she could thread the wire through her blouse. Once the mic was back with the pack, we continued to the newsroom. She found an unoccupied chair for me, and we sat together as I told her about my decision.

"I had been thinking I needed to do this ever since you found out you were moving to Columbus, but something was holding me back. Even though I knew what it was, I was afraid to voice it, because that meant I needed to make decision about it.

"Finally, therapist Brian was able to get through to lonely guy Brian, and I realized that while the memories of Lucy in that house were strong, it was my heart that was keeping her memory alive, and not a collection of walls and floors and ceilings. No matter where I went, Lucy would always be with me.

"And then one more completely unexpected sign was given to me. Marilyn Loomis called and left an urgent voicemail on my phone, telling me I needed to call her ASAP. When I did, she gave me very surprising news. She told me of a vacancy in the public education and awareness office of ALS Ohio, located here in Columbus, and assured me that I would get nothing from high praises from her for my work in Iowa.

"So, I applied, and did a virtual interview. I don't know what Marilyn told them, but they were excited about my qualifications, and having a staff person with a personal story to tell about ALS was a bonus. They offered, and I accepted! I start in next month!

"That is...if you still want to be with me every day. You know that's what I want."

She kissed me - with a kiss that probably wasn't appropriate in a workplace setting, but I knew she didn't care. When we finished, she held up her ring again. "Since I'm wearing this, I think you know the answer! Brian, I am totally blown away by all of this! You have made my life perfect again, and I'll never let you leave!"

We kissed again, and then I could tell Tracey had something else on her mind.

"Brian...do you remember my air sickness problem when I came back for the ball? It happened again on the flight home. And then...it happened two days later, when I wasn't flying."

I knew she was trying to tell me something, but apparently I was too dense to figure out, so she continued.

"I began to suspect it was something else, and my suspicions were correct. I did a couple of home pregnancy tests that were positive and followed that up with a visit to an OB/GYN here in Columbus, and she confirmed it. Apparently no birth control is 100% effective, and I'm now in the statistical group that proves that."

As she was telling me this, it hit me what she was saying, and my heart started beating faster the longer she talked.

"You're saying I'm going to be a father again?"

She nodded her head, grinning over the excitement.

I sat back in my chair as my brain tried to grasp what she had just told me. I tried to do some quick mental math, the then therapist Brian told me that we'd worry about those kinds of things when they happened, and in the present moment, we should celebrate that the most beautiful woman in the world had just agreed to marry me while at the same time telling me she was carrying our child.

I hugged her again, and said, "I think I know of a perfect place to celebrate all this good news."

"Where, Brian?"

My smile gave it away, but I said it anyway. "Your apartment - let's go!"

We did go, and we did celebrate!

******

We were married in a judge's office three weeks later, once I had closed my life in Iowa. Our daughter Brianna Lucy Willis-Stewart was born about eight months after that. My Lucy loved our two boys, but I knew she had been a little sad that we'd not had a girl. Maybe somewhere above, she was pulling strings for me so that I could raise a girl with my new wife.

My work with ALS Ohio was very fulfilling - I was getting paid for the things I'd done in Iowa as a volunteer. Tracey came along with me to every event we held, and while her station had not yet picked up ALS as a cause like the station in Iowa did, it certainly wasn't because she was quiet about her passion for the cause.

I have been blessed to experience a once-in-a-lifetime love twice now. I know I'm not a typical new husband and father, but I'm fine with that, because I know age doesn't determine a husband and father's ability to love his family. For as long as I can, I intend to show my girls just how much I love them, knowing that they will love me back, no matter how old I become!

******

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my story! Please vote and comment, because your kind words and votes keep me motivated to write more stories. And if you're looking for the next organization to support financially, may I suggest your area ALS Association? I've had several friends who were afflicted by ALS and had their lives cut short. Even the smallest donation makes a difference!