BMB: Version 4-3

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and it was created solely by me as the author. Any similarities to characters, businesses, places, or things are all happenstance, though my appreciation to those who have inspired my works is immense.

Sidenote: Please excuse the length of time between submissions. Technical difficulties! I'm going to ride that newbie train of excuses until I finally get it! I hope you're as excited to see it up as I am!

Author's Note: This entire series is based on the same characters, places, and general situations, but will be shared in the form of five different versions. I'm hoping you'll appreciate the various approaches as they are posted. And be aware: some versions go into certain details more than others, so remaining calm and awaiting the next installment may be necessary, but I assure you, it'll be worth it. Questions and comments are welcome. I hope everyone will be kind.

And this story will make little to no sense if you haven't read Version 4-1 or 4-2.

BMB: Version 4-3

When they arrived, Trin watched as Tommy drove slowly toward his plot of land at the campground which he'd turned into from the main road. He had to enter a code to get onto the grounds. He navigated through different roads until they got to a little cabin and an open grassy area.

When Tommy put the truck in park, he turned to her. "I'm going to take you to the cabin first so you can familiarize yourself with that. Then I'll show you where we'll be sleeping."

Trin nodded and got out to follow him. He took her hand and led her to the cabin. There was a small living room, a little kitchen area, and a bathroom. When she walked into the bathroom, she heard Tommy say he'd be back with the food he'd brought. She entered and laughed when she saw the elaborate set up of the bathroom. The shower was set up to be a walk-in with multiple heads and plenty of room for two people. The toilet was behind a wall, and the double sinks and grand mirror were set up against the opposite wall. And a hot tub? This cabin was basically built to house the bathroom, and the kitchen and living room were last minute additions. It was glorious.

When Tom walked in with seven plastic bags, she laughed harder. "That's a lot of plastic for all that food," she teased. "I told you. Paper bags would have been better for the environment, and all that food could have fit nicely in only two bags. One," she stated and lifted one arm, "and two," she said and lifted the other arm. Tom set the bags down on the table in the kitchen and then walked over to Trin.

"You think you're so funny," he whispered and leaned down to put his mouth by her ear. She put her hands on his shoulders and sighed. "Do you like it when I do this? When I put my mouth by your ear? When I hold your waist and press my body to yours? Trin nodded as she felt the reaction of her body. She wasn't laughing anymore. She was, well... she was breathless. "Good," he told her and then left her and walked back to the kitchen.

When he'd put all the groceries away in the fridge and cabinet, he turned to look at her. She was still frozen in the position he'd left her in. He laughed and walked back over to her. "What's the matter, Trin? Did you just get payback for teasing me? Wait, what?" he said in a high-pitched voice and laughed again. "So, anyway, what do you think of the shower?"

Trin snapped out of it and gave him an exasperated look. "Are you kidding me? That whole bathroom is the main stage for this property! It's amazing!"

"I kinda figured you'd like it," Tommy told her and took her hand. "Well, I also think it's pretty awesome, but I think you might like this next part better."

"Better than that?"

"You'll see," Tommy answered and brought her back outside to the truck. "Remember when I told you that I loved my truck, but that I still wanted you to have the key? You know, for when I lost mine?" Tommy smirked. "Well, this is why I love it." He opened the tailgate and then walked around to the driver's side door to push a button on the inside of the cab. Before she knew it, the bed of the truck was transformed into a sleeping area. The cover over the bed was lifted to be a nylon roof, and the sleeping area was made of an air mattress, blankets, and pillows."

"Oh, my gosh," Trin told him and turned to jump on the tailgate to sit and look at him. She'd done this before and realized she was just a tiny bit taller than him when she did it. Everyone had been around that day so she couldn't kiss him, but she could now. "Tom, this is fantastic. I can't wait to sleep in there."

"Amendment?"

"Whatcha got?" she asked and watched him as he came to stand between her knees. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"I can sleep under the blankets too, right?" Tommy asked. Trin burst out laughing and leaned in to give him a kiss. What was supposed to be a small one deepened into a much more passionate one.

When they finally broke away, she sighed. "You'd better," she whispered and closed her eyes as she put her forehead to his. "Thank you for this. In fact, if I forget to tell you, I had the most amazing time with you on this trip."

"Pretty Woman. Classic," he teased and ran his hand up her back. "I'm pretty sure I can say the same thing. Come on. Let's go make a late lunch. I have a feeling we'll be going to bed early tonight. I'd suggest a nap, but you're all worked up, and I can almost guarantee that there would be no sleep to be had."

They made lunch together and sat and ate while they discussed the sleigh trike she'd designed. Tommy pointed out the things that he loved the most about her ingenuity. He then pointed out a few concerns he had for it, but she justified her decisions when she gave her reasoning. She won him out on two of the three points. He decided they'd try for the third one but maintained that he just didn't think it would work. When he said, "But what do I know?" she laughed and put up her hands.

"Fine, you might be right," she conceded and laughed. "When are you thinking about doing this build?"

"I talked to Dad," Tommy told her. "Actually, that night I got the design from you, I showed it to him. And when we were about to leave yesterday to drive home, he told me it would be our next project. As in you and me, Trin. We'll be building it together."

"Wait, what? I don't know anything about..."

Tommy quickly held up her design and yelled, "Objection! Argumentative!"

Trin rolled her eyes. "Too many cop shows, Tom. But that is just a drawing! I have no idea..."

"That's where I come in," Tommy interjected. "You've done so much for the company and in your position that you are going to be told that you're gonna do part-time work with marketing as you keep up with the stuff you've done and then spend the rest of the time with me doing the build."

"I'm gonna be told?"

"Yeah, I'm giving you a heads up, but he'll be calling us into his office on Thursday," Tommy explained. "Are you OK with that?"

"Yeah, I mean, whoa," she answered and shook her head. "Do you really think it'll work? Is it really that good?"

"Trin, it's that good," Tommy verified. "It's gonna be amazing."

Trin smiled but shook her head. She shouldn't have been surprised. She did work at a shop called Build More Bikes. But she'd made that design for Tommy, not to waste anyone's time trying to make it work. She was so confused. "I'll do the dishes," she informed him and stood up to take their stuff to the sink. As she filled it with soapy water, Tommy quietly walked over and put his hands around her from behind.

"I could get used to this," he whispered in her ear. So could she. That's what was kinda scaring her. She wanted this life now. She wanted to be with him daily and not in secret. She'd told Jeremy that she wanted to wait the one year. She'd told Tommy that too. Why now? And how was she going to deal with the dry spell until Halloween? Up here, she could kiss him whenever she wanted. Back at work? She could barely talk to him without someone hearing what they were saying.

Trin shut off the water and turned to face him. "Me too, but I'm worried, Tom. You keep talking about three more months, and I had decided a long time ago to go a whole year at work without any big thing in my life. Now I'm on vacation with you where the temptation is incredibly high for me to throw it all to the wind and go for it."

"Can't do that," he reminded her and closed his eyes. "That part sucks, but this experience? The kissing and the holding hands and the date last Wednesday, and having something of a relationship before we really can? It's holding us over until that time comes."

"Yeah, but the 'something of a relationship' is what's tripping me up. I'm committed, Tom. It's only you, like I told you. But I can't kiss you anytime I want, and I can't sleep with you, and I know I'm complaining, and I know it's not just you saying we can't, so I'm not blaming you! I agree! We shouldn't until December. But I'm scared, Tom. What if you get your fill of me, and when December comes around, you will have gotten a year's worth of me and that was enough?"

"Trinity!" Tommy exclaimed and continued holding her as he brought her into a hug. "Breathe, alright? From that first kiss, hell, even before then, Trin, I was all in. When we kissed and then I got a chance to kiss you again and then again, I realized that it was a chance for us to still get to have little moments throughout the year to tide us over because I can't, we can't. But I never wanted to mess with your head. Believe me, believe me, Trinity, no one wants it more than I do. Not even you," he told her as he lifted her chin.

"You won't get sick of me?"

"Sick of you?" Tommy asked and sniffed a laugh. "Trin, in all ways, at least to me and as far as possible, you're my partner. At work, in private, and as soon as we can, I want to be in all ways, together. You know, if you'll have me."

Trin smiled as he finished his thoughts. "Kiss me so I can get back to these dishes," she instructed. He leaned down and gave her a hot, slow kiss that left her weak just like the one on New Year's Eve. She turned around and began washing the dishes and laughed when he hadn't really moved from behind her. He laughed when she laughed and slid over to lean on the counter to continue hanging out with her. As she finished the last dish, she cleaned up around the sink and hung the towel back on the hook.

"Come sit with me," he requested and offered her hand. "I want to talk to you about something."

"What's up?"

"I'm just asking," he began as he sat her down on the couch. He sat on one cushion, and she sat on the other, and he held her hand as he got ready to ask her a question. "We haven't really ever talked about them, but I wanted you to tell me about Mark and your girls. Are you comfortable with that?"

"Yeah," Trin answered and nodded. "I'd always be comfortable talking about them, but usually it makes people uncomfortable just hearing the word 'widow' unless they themselves have had a loss, so I just got used to not talking about them. Gram, though? She and I meet up regularly and talk about them, and she even brings up Bob, her first husband. Personally, I love the stories about Tom, your grandpa, but yeah, it's been amazing that I have had the opportunity to have that support since moving here. Plus, duh, Tom. It's Gram."

"I'm glad you two have each other," Tommy told her. "I knew it the minute I saw you two talking about my kindergarten birthday suit." Trin laughed. "So will you talk to me about them?"

"Yeah, Tom," Trin told him and rubbed his knuckles as she took in a big breath. "Mark and I met at our workplace and ended up getting married when I was 20. We had two beautiful little girls. Can I show you their picture?" Tommy nodded and seemed really interested, so Trin took out her phone and found her favorite picture of her daughters. "Tom, I'd like to introduce you to Christiane and Irelyn."

"Oh, Trin, they really are beautiful," Tommy told her and smiled. "I see a lot of you in them. Christiane has the red in her hair like you," he noted and sniffed a laugh. "I bet they were fun. I can't imagine you not having happy, smiling babies."

"Oh, gosh, they were happy, Tom. I would have loved for you to have met them. I know you know about Irelyn's name, you know, as it's my middle name. Mark's middle name was Christian. It was his idea, so we started with his name, but we had a girl, so we made it like Christy-anne."

"How old were they?" Tommy asked her.

"Christiane was three, and Irelyn was a year and a half," Trin answered and smiled down at her phone. "I was most concerned that they had felt pain and suffered when they died, but Mark's mom assured me that they were both very likely asleep as she had kept them awake on purpose, so that he could have a peaceful drive home. And the police told me that Mark probably died on impact. It all sucked, of course, but knowing they likely didn't suffer helped me through it."

"What were the girls like?"

"Christiane was such a little Miss Independent," Trin began. "She never sucked her thumb or took a pacifier. She was just cute and perfect." Trin laughed. "The words of all moms about their kids, I suppose. She had the cutest little giggle, and her piggies? They had a natural curl to them."

"Piggies?"

"Pigtails, like in her hair." Trin clarified and then held her hands in fists up to her own head to show where Christiane's piggies would be on her head. "You know, piggies?"

"Ah, gotcha," Tommy told her, laughed, and reached for her hand again. "And Irelyn?"

"She was hilarious. I can only imagine what she would have grown up to be," Trin said and smiled. "She just had this cute blond hair, and her smile lit up a room. Sometimes, I miss them a lot. Sometimes, I catch myself forgetting that I once had kids. That can be a slap in the face. Other times, I just shove it down and keep moving forward."

"And Mark?" Tommy hesitantly asked.

"Mark was a great husband and father," Trin answered. "Did you know what he was doing at his mom's that weekend?"

"No, I just heard it was a drunk driving accident," Tommy informed her.

"Mark gave me a whole weekend to myself," Trin told him. "He took the girls to his mom's house which was about an hour away. I got to have a quiet house, a weekend without having to be mom, housewife, cook, or maid. I scrapbooked and watched romances and took random naps. It was his Mother's Day gift to me. And he gave the gift of time and her grandkids to his mom, so it was really cool. But then that weekend turned into forever."

"Wow, the irony," Tommy said mindlessly and then gave her a shocked look. "Oh, gosh, Trin, I'm..."

"No, Tom, you're right," Trin told him and laughed. "Think I didn't think of that? Suddenly, I had a whole house, a whole life's worth of Mark's things and unneeded baby stuff. The first year was tough, but once I donated Mark's stuff to a couple families in need and the baby stuff to a mom's group, I started doing better. I began moving forward, making new goals, and that was when I looked up some job opportunities out of state. I needed to get away from where I was and to start making a new life for myself."

"I'm glad you came here," he told her and smiled as he rubbed her hand.

"Me too," she answered. "I had to fight for it, though. I just really felt like this was the place for me. I left Tom messages and stuff, but when I showed up for the meeting, I think he saw that I was truly the package which I claimed to be, and thankfully, he gave me a chance." Trin smiled and looked down.

"What?" Tommy asked and tilted his head to see what she was doing.

"When I proved myself to him and got him to hire me, I went back to my hotel room and did some stupid stuff," she admitted and laughed. "I was so proud of myself that I did it. I actually got a meeting with him and then was given a chance. And then I realized I was really going to move to New York. After almost 26 years in Illinois, it was quite an accomplishment."

"So, what did you do?"

"I jumped on the bed," Trin confessed and then laughed to herself as she looked up at him. "I turned on loud music, took a very long swim in the hot tub, and then walked around naked in my room for a couple hours. That got old pretty quick, you know, being alone and all. I kinda just got dressed, fixed the bed from the jump party, and then ordered room service and enjoyed a terribly expensive meal. A month later I was here and knocking on your grandma's door. And two hours later, I met you."

"I remember everything about that part of the day," Tommy told her. "You were wearing a really nice sweater. It was blue with some shimmery things on it. And jeans. And your hair was twisted and clipped up. You don't do it a lot, but when you do, I think back to that day."

"You remember that?" Trin asked and smiled. "That's really nice. And if I dig into my memory," she offered and acted like she was struggling until she calmed her face and smiled as she looked at him, "you wore that Harley t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and running shoes. You don't wear those often, but when you do, I notice it too." She winked at him and smiled.

"So, that was Mother's Day weekend when the accident happened," Tommy mentioned and then thought about something. "I didn't even think about that day as a day to kiss you. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to, but it was a Sunday, and I knew you wouldn't be over or anything. I'm glad I didn't push that one. Do you struggle with it? I just know sometimes the day or date or the time around those anniversaries for some people hits really hard."

"Father's Day the next month was kinda harsh since I had already picked out his gift," Trin shared and shrugged. "And his birthday and our anniversary were a day apart two months later in August. I had quite a pity party that weekend," Trin admitted. "The first Mother's Day a year later was difficult," Trin told him. "But that was actually the day I'd decided to start looking for a new place to build my life.

"This year, because I was here and surrounded by a new life, I think I learned to deal with the hard days with a new way of thinking. Gram had me over to share with me how she'd dealt with it and then encouraged me to come to terms with the fact that not only was it OK that I was moving on, but that it was healthy to do so. It didn't mean the memory of them couldn't still exist or be stronger at some points of the year and much less at other points. It was a sign of my life being healed of the hurt I'd once had and was moving on to create more of a life that just had some new people and places in it."

Through all of their discussion, Trin didn't cry, and even she was surprised by the lack of tears. The time spent with Gram had truly been helping her, and she was thrilled. She was concerned with one aspect though. "Tom, are you comfortable with me sharing this? I mean, I know you asked, but I have a past, you know. Are you, I don't know, OK?"

"What? Trin, I have come to know you as you, the person I met at my Gram's house and the person I continue to thank God I know. Part of who you are is who you were. That includes what you've been through. And yeah, I asked, and I'm really grateful that you felt you could share it with me."

"I've always been willing, Tom," Trin told him and rested her head on the back of the couch. "The same that I was always willing to hear about your past too, you know. But I'll never push it. I accepted it when I heard about it and have always respected it. I have the utmost respect for you, particularly because you're still around it and just avoid it."