Read Online Deciding Tomorrow by Renee Ericson - Free Book Online

duffel lies a gift for Brent that I brought from Chicago. I had considered saving it for tomorrow, but I think now would be the best time.
    I extract the blue-and-silver wrapped package from my bag and place the gift into his hand.
    “What’s this for?” he asks, curious.
    “Just a little present. Tomorrow’s your birthday.”
    He smirks, dimples dancing.
    “Did you think I wouldn’t remember?” I ask, mocking astonishment.
    “No, I didn’t think you would,” he says, unmoving. “Thank you.”
    “Well, go on,” I encourage. “Open it.”
    Brent rips off the thin navy paper as I await his reaction. The cotton garment unfolds in his outstretched hands, and a glossy picture that was wrapped inside falls to the ground without him noticing. I bend over to pick it up as he laughs next to me.
    “This is perfect,” he tells me, turning the T-shirt around. It displays a graphic on the front that depicts the simple image of a hot dog with the Chicago skyline outlined behind it, referencing the hot-dog shop we went to last weekend. Just below the image reads, Bitches Love Hot Dogs . He lays it against his chest. “Should I wear this when I take you to the airport?”
    “Sure. I love a man who wears his wiener with pride.”
    “Nice.” He folds the shirt and then sets it aside. “You sure do have a way with words.”
    “Or with wieners.”
    Brent purses his lips, withholding laughter. “Okay then. Glad we got that sorted out.” He grabs the backs of my thighs, pulling me between his legs. “You really are…you just make me happy.”
    “The feeling is pretty mutual.”
    His eyes rest on my hands.
    “What’s that?” he questions, referring to the picture.
    “It’s part of your gift.”
    Taking the photo in one hand, leaving the other at my thigh, Brent scans the image of us from long ago. We were freshmen in college, completely in love, and together in a city new to both of us and ripe for our curious minds.
    That fall, during our first few months at school, Brent and I explored the sights of the city as much as possible, including Millennium Park. In the photo, Brent is holding me upside down by the knees underneath the metallic, mirrored Cloud Gate, also known as The Bean. My brunette head of hair sweeps the ground, and my middle is slightly exposed as gravity tugs at the hem of my jacket. We were so carefree, the way any young couple should be.
    “I remember this day,” he says, tracing the figures on the glossy paper. “It was warm, warmer than usual, and we spent the whole day along the lake. I think we walked all day until the sun went down, maybe even longer. I remember being so tired when we finally made it back to the dorms. You ate a lot of cotton candy at Navy Pier. It was blue. I remember that part because I wanted to kiss you a lot, to help you eat it.”
    “I remember that, too.”
    Brent scoots up the bed, reaching back toward his bedside table, and he pulls out a stack of pictures from a small drawer. He shuffles through them as I walk around to join him. Finding the one he’s looking for, he sets the pile on top of the table and then hands an image to me.
    I’ve never seen this.
    “This is one of my favorites ever,” he says.
    It’s a self-portrait of Brent and me with my body curled into his side on a grassy meadow. His expression carries an aura of contentment, an easiness that I don’t think I’ve ever seen despite having known him so well and for so long. This picture could have been taken anywhere, but it was definitely taken some time ago. We both look so young.
    “When is this from?” My index finger floats along his face on the paper.
    “That last day on our island where we grew up, right before we left for Chicago. We spent the whole day there, just you and me. Do you remember?”
    “Yeah.” I hand the picture back to him. “I do. It was really overcast that day, and the leaves had just begun to fall. It was early for the season.”
    His fingers play with the corner