Answer Key

July 2010

My birthday month. My day was sandwiched in between a weekend trip Big had planned with his friends and me leaving for a week-long vacation with my friend and her family. It would be the first significant period of time that Big and I would spend apart. I was interested to see how we would handle that, and I was a little worried that Big might forget my birthday. 

Can you guess what happened? Not only did Big not forget my birthday - he celebrated with me for two days, and he bought me a present on his trip. So there I was - out of sight, but not out of mind.

My vacation plans changed, and I came home a few days early. I'd texted Big that I was on my way, but it was late by the time I pulled into my driveway. It wasn't worth the risk that I would wake him just to announce my safe arrival. As I grabbed my bags to go inside, there was Big. He was texting, well after midnight on a Wednesday, just to be sure I got home safe. Again, I felt like I was on his mind.

He messaged me the next morning. We chatted, and made plans for the weekend. He had something going on with friends Saturday afternoon. I woke up and hung around while he got ready, planning to head home when he left his apartment. 

Big thought I might prefer not to have to rush. He thought maybe I'd like to shower and relax before heading out. So, he was offering to let me stay at his place without him there. As if that wasn't enough to knock me off the sofa, he offered me a key to his apartment, so that I could lock the door behind me when I left.

I didn't take the key. Instead, I left when he did. As happy as his offer made me, I didn't want to press my luck, or put any pressure on our relationship that it wasn't ready to handle. I didn't make a big deal of that to him, I just let it go.

I considered this some pretty big personal growth on my part. I was so invested in him, and in us, that I was happy to wait before taking the next step.

It seemed like Big was happy to take that step with me when we were ready....