Reunited and it Feels So Good

I honestly have no idea how Lee and I got back together. We just did. One day we were barely speaking. And then poof. We were back together. There was no big moment. No getting down on one knee and begging for forgiveness. No official proclamation that we were once again boyfriend and girlfriend. That’s never really been our style.

Lee had a pretty rough life. He was abandoned by his father at conception. By his mother at birth. His grandmother (Granny) raised him his whole life. The first real love of his life left him. And then later cheated on him. I betrayed him (even though we were on a break). So commitment was always a bit scary for him. You have to kind of ease in to it with him.

Keaton was sick. A LOT. When he was a baby. First with a bad cold. Then an ear infection. Followed by bronchitis. Another ear infection. A really bad diaper rash that required prescription medicine. And then pneumonia. I had him at the doctor’s office at least once a week from Halloween to Valentine’s Day. My mom took days off of work to watch him. My dad took days off of work to watch him. My roommate took days off to watch him. My roommate’s mom even watched him once or twice. But in March, just before my six month probationary period was up at work, I was fired for missing too many days.

In the meantime, my roommate’s job was transferring her to another city…more than 2 hours away. I couldn’t afford to live in the apartment by myself. Especially with no job. So we had to break our lease. And I had to move back to my mom’s house.

I don’t know if Lee was really back together with Justis’ mom at this point or if they were just hanging out. Lee can’t remember. They definitely weren’t living together. But the relationship (or non-relationship) ended abruptly when Lee discovered she was sleeping with another one of his friends. And shortly there after Justis and his mom moved out of state.

At that point Lee’s late night calls to me increased in frequency.

Eventually, around May 1995 when Keaton was almost nine months old, we actually started talking during the day time too.

And then we went on a couple of dates. He took me to the movies. Or out to dinner.

At first we didn’t hang out together with his friends. He’d spent the last year and a half telling them I was the devil. So reintroducing me as his girlfriend was a little embarrassing for him I’m sure. Not that any of his friends were really all that shocked when they finally did find out we were back together.

In June we celebrated my 21st birthday together. We pretty much wrecked my liver at the bar. And then continued the party at a hotel with a couple of my friends. The next day I was feeling pretty rough. The second we walked out of the hotel and in to the sunlight I threw up in the bushes. Trying to give Keaton a bath later that day was hard. He loved baths and kept screaming in delight with his toys and the water. My head was pounding. Hangovers and babies just don’t mix.

By Keaton’s first birthday in August 1995 Lee and I were going strong. Pretty much everybody knew we were back together (except for my family). And we were starting to talk about taking the next step.