Chapter 113
Chapter 113
***Chastity***
Shopping with Rowen had been a lot of fun. Yes technically we’re both adults, but it was fun to act like pups sometimes. I still couldn’t believe he bought me those dolls. I wasn’t sure where I was going to up them though. I guess i would have to figure it out later. We had just put in our drink order when Robert, and Beth arrived. After greeting each other, they sat across from us.
“What did you two do this morning?” Beth asked after putting in their drink order.
“I took Rowen to the comic book shop down the street.” I answered.
“Danny’s place?” Robert questioned.
“Yes.” I said with a smile.
“I love that place. I get a lot of my Star Wars stuff from him.” Robert said excitedly.
“He, Blake, and Darren go whenever they get a chance.” Beth said with a giggle.
“You like Star Wars?” I questioned.
“Please, please don’t get him started.” Beth pleaded, making me giggle.
“Yes I do. Very much. Have you seen any of them?” Robert asked, eyeing gleaming.
“No.” I responded.
“You really need to. They are the greatest movies. making me giggle.
“We need a shop like that is Moonlight.” I stated.
Robert started excitedly, but Beth stopped him
“Talk to Danny about it the next time you’re there.” Robert suggested.
“He wouldn’t want to move.” I stated confused.
“No he wouldn’t, but maybe he’d be interested in opening a second shop, and finding someone in your pack to run it.” Robert stated.
“That can be done?” I questioned.
“Sure. They do that in the human world. I’m sure we wolves can do something like that too. We do a lot of pack trading, and such already.” Rowen stated.
“That’s true.” I stated.
“Talk to him about it the next time you’re there Chas. If he’s interested tell him to come talk to me. Rowen, and I can look into making it work.” Robert advised, and I nodded.
When the waiter returned with our drinks, we placed our food orders.
“So I got your email this morning, Rowen.” Robert stated.
“And?” Rowen questioned.
“You know we have to run our own back grounds checks for security purposes, but as long as everything checks out, we should be good.”
“If you need a few more, just let me know.”
“There is a chance I might, but I’m not completely sure yet.”
“More responses than you expected?”
“No. That’s not it.”
“Was there some kind of threat?”
“No. Nothing like that. I got a call this morning. The King, Queen, Prince, and his mate are coming.”
My eyes widened, and I felt like my jaw hit the floor. I glanced over at Rowen to see him in pretty much the same state. Robert, and Beth were both nodding.
“I had the same reaction.” Robert admitted.
“Do you know why they’ve decided to come to this?” Rowen questioned after the shock wore off.
“From what I’m told, since it is the first mate ball held in so many years, the king wants to do his part to make sure it goes well. I think he also wants to observe how his people behave in a large group like this.”
I guess that makes sense.”
“Do….do you think they are going to attend all of them moving forward?” I asked.
“I’m not sure honestly. I guess time will tell.” Robert answered.
“Will he be bringing his own warriors as well?” Rowen questioned.
“I’m sure he will. He told me that he would send me a head count of how many people will be in his party in about a week.”
“Alright. Well let me know, and if you need more warriors for the weekend I’ll do what I can to make it happen.”
“Great. I really appreciate it.”
“Where will they be staying?” I asked.
“That’s the fun part.” Beth answered with a small giggle.
“How so?” I questioned, feeling confused.
“They’re staying at the pack house. When I told Clair this morning she got really excited, but then she completely freaked out. Suddenly the whole pack house needs a complete make over. Jeremy had a calm her down. I have never seen her like that before.” Beth explained.
“Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good.”
“Oh no. It is. She is over the moon happy to have them here, and staying in our pack house, but she’s so worried about making a good impression that she was scouring her Luna bible for how to handle royal visits.”
“Have they never been here before? I thought the Alpha meetings were rotated to a different pack every year?”
“It is, and she forgot they were just here 5 years ago.”
“So she’s worried about nothing, basically?”
“Pretty much, but that’s mom.” Robert said with a chuckle.
“I don’t know. I’d probably feel the same way in her shoes.” I admitted with a shrug.
“Why? They’re not here to see how the pack house looks. They’re here to see how the ball goes.” Rowen stated sounding confused, and I shook my head.
“You wouldn’t get it. It’s a female thing.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“How long are they staying?”
“They’ll get here the Friday the before, and leave Monday.” Robert answered.
“How many additional warriors do you think you’ll need?” Rowen asked.
“I’m not sure yet. The king’s assistant said they will be bringing their own contingent of warriors with them. I’m just waiting on a head count.”
“Well just let me know as soon as possible.”
“I definitely will.”
“Do you guys need any help getting the pack house ready?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I know Clair plans to start going through all of the guest rooms, and everything than make some decisions. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.” Beth stated.
“Ok. I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Just don’t over extend yourself. You’re getting into the harder classes now, right?”
“Yes. I can’t promise I’ll be a lot of help, but I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you. I’ll let Clair know.”
“Have decisions been made on where everyone will be staying for the weekend?” Rowen asked.
“After reviewing everything, and the potential head counts, we don’t have the space needed for everyone. There are several, large human hotels about an hour from here. We’ve sent all of the packs the hotel information.” Robert answered.
“How are they going to explain such large groups of people staying in those hotels, and leaving for hours. on end?” I questioned.
“The same it’s explained whenever we have Alpha meetings at smaller packs. Humans have what they call conventions, and stuff like that. I guess our gatherings can be called the same thing.” Robert answered.
“But couldn’t that draw attention to us?”
“It could, but we’re got precautions in place to minimize as much attention as we can. It’s a risk, but we’re hopeful.” Robert answered.
“We don’t have much choice. It’s either that are people travel a lot all in one day. That’s too much of a risk.” Rowen added.
“Well hopefully all goes well.” I stated.
“We have informed the schools that anyone who is already mated, and not attending the ball will be required to stay on their campus for the weekend. My warriors will already be pretty busy keeping things under control with the influx of wolves for this, I don’t want to add to that by having people who aren’t on the guest list wandering around.” Robert said.
“Oh. That makes sense. Maybe I could go home for a visit that weekend?” I suggested, as I looked at Rowen.
“I had considered coming here to spend the weekend with you then, but maybe going home would be the better idea.” Rowen said as he smiled at me.
“Ok. How about asking the students who are here from other packs, and that can’t go to the ball, to go home for that weekend, instead of staying here. Maybe talk to the schools about taking a long weekend, closing Thursday, and reopening Tuesday?” I asked, looking back at Robert.
“That’s not a half bad idea. I think Denu may be the hardest one to convince though.” Robert stated.
“Why is that?”
“The nature of their training is pretty intense.”
“It’s worth a try though.”
“It is.”
“If you can get the schools to shut down for that weekend, maybe some of their empty dorm spaces could be used for guests.” Rowen said.
“That I know they won’t do.” Robert said.
“Why?” I questioned.
“Now remember that wolves tend to be very territorial by nature. The students here from other packs are already suppressing their nature to keep those away that don’t belong to their pack. It’s not always easy, and some times can cause big problems. The schools contend with issue between student fighting over what they perceive as theirs enough as it is. Adding more unknowns, even for a weekend could cause potentially dangerous situations. The schools don’t want to take that risk. Especially Denu as ALL of their students are warriors, and very protective.” Robert explained.
“Really? How come I have never had any problems, nor seen any?” I questioned because I really didn’t understand as I had never once felt territorial or anything.
“Don’t take this the wrong way sweet girl, but you’re situation is a bit different.” Rowen said gently, as he took hold of my hand.
“How?”
“It wasn’t until a few weeks before you came here that you had anything that was really yours. Everything belonged to others, or was taken from you before you made an attachment to it. You’ve never been in a position to really be territorial.” Rowen explained.
“On top of that, we Omegas are more giving than possessive. We give, and do all we can for others. Yes we’re protective of those that mean the most to us, and our homes, but we’re less likely to get into a physical altercation over what is ours.” Beth added.
I sat back and thought about what they both said for a bit. I could see what they were saying, and I guess they weren’t quite wrong.
“I guess that makes sense. I haven’t really seen any issues at Cloverland though.” I said.
“Most of your classmates are Omegas so again less possessive, and more giving. That’s also one of the reasons classes tend to be smaller in all of the schools. The less students, the easier it is to prevent in fighting amongst them.” Robert stated.
“I guess that makes sense. So all the schools have smaller classes, and smaller student admissions?” I questioned.
“Some yes. Some no.” Robert answered.
“What do you mean?”
“Well the medical school is a lot larger due to there only being 2 in the country for wolves. What they’ve
done is divided the school in half to try to keep a lower head count. They also rotate which group works in the hospital for their practical’s. The doctors in training also only do one year of residency before they go home to finish under the doctors in their own packs. They only do that year of residency here because they are still in classes. Once their classes end, they leave.”
“Oh. Which other school has a high number of students?”
“The teaching school. As educators are incredibly important we have a lot of people attending. They do the best they can, but it can be really difficult. If Molly, Rowen, the Dean, and I can come to an agreement about moving the early education program to Moonlight it should help them a lot.”
“Can our pack really handle a school like they have here?” I asked Rowen.
“We can. Dad has already mapped the space for where it will be. We have more than enough warriors for security. We will have to build security gates like they have here, but it’s doable. I have to do the same with the program I’m setting up so it was already in the works.” Rowen answered.
“How is that coming along any way?” Robert asked.
I knew they would be spending a lot of time talking about his program. I was excited, happy, and proud of him for doing this, but I also already knew everything about it so I turned to Beth. “Where will the ball be held?”
“In the banquet hall in the pack house. Thankfully it’s big enough.” Beth answered.
“That’s true. It is pretty big.” I answered.
“Yes it is. It also has it’s own separate wing. The living quarters of the building will be closed off so we don’t have to worry about anyone going where they’re not supposed to be.”
“That’s good. What about decorations, and food?”
“All of us females have been looking over pictures from previous balls to get some ideas. Thankfully it doesn’t seem like decorations were too crazy. We should be able to keep it pretty simple, but elegant. We’ve given the head chef who handles meals for all of our events free reign over all of the food. He’s got some really great ideas.”
“Like what?”
“To try to accommodate a wide range of tastes he’s been contacting other packs to get ideas on dishes that are specialities.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“I agree.”
“Do you all need help with the decorations?”
“We could always use another hand.”
“Why don’t I help with those over the next couple of weekends, during our meetings?”
“Definitely. So what are you and Rowen doing to celebrate today?”
“Rowen, obviously is a big steak fan so I made us reservations at the steak house in town. After that I was thinking we could go to the concert in town, but with the curfew at Cloverland we can’t. It ends after we have to be back.”
“Well that kind of stinks.”
“It’s ok. We’ll probably walk around or something for a bit.”
“They’re playing some romantic movies at the theater this evening.”
“I looked into that, but neither of us are really big romantic movie fans.”
“Most males aren’t.”
Beth, and I both giggled at that.. Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
“True. I can’t say I am either though. They always seem so far fetched, and kind of boring.” I stated.
“I can’t argue with you there. Humans are so weird when it comes to love, and relationships. I mean, how do you not know who your soulmate is as soon as you see them? Why all the crazy, win their hearts stuff. We wolves have it so much easier.”
“You’re not kidding. If what those movies show is true, it is a lot of hard work.”
“Like us female wolves have it much easier. Look what we have to deal with? A bunch of crazy, hard headed males, and we have two of them. The wolf half, and the human half.”
“So true. I always meant to ask, how did you and Robert meet?”
“Oh now that’s a fun story.”
“Can I hear it?”
“Of course. He, Anthony, Heather, and Blake had come to my pack during their tour. They were already a few months in. My mom was one of the pack house Omegas who did the cooking so I was there after work every day.”
“What did you do before you met Robert, and moved here?”
“I was a bookkeeper for a couple of businesses in our pack.”
“Oh ok.”
“Yeah. That training has helped me a lot. Anyway. It was the second day of their trip. Robert, and Blake were surrounded by females hitting on them as I was approaching the house, with my cousin who’s arm was thrown over my shoulder. I hadn’t quite caught his scent yet, but I guess Robert had caught mine. I heard a growl, and looked up to see what was going on. That’s when I saw Robert. He pushed past the girls, stormed right up to us, punched my cousin in the face, and yanked me against him. Scared the crap out of me because I had no clue what was going on.”
“He didn’t?”
“Oh he did.”
“My cousin jumped up to go after him, but by that point I knew what he was to me. I had no idea who the hell he was, just that he was my mate. I stood right in front of him as my cousin was barreling at him, and growled. My cousin, and I had never fought a day in our lives, we grew up together. The look on his face was priceless. It was some where between pissed off, shocked, and hurt.”
“Oh no.”
“Yup. I just said that’s my mate don’t touch him.”
“What did your cousin say?”
“Nothing, he just stood there, and blinked at me for a good minute then told Robert he packed a hell of a punch
“That was cool of him.”
“Yeah. You want to know the worst part?”
“What’s that?”
“For the first 30 minutes after that we still had no clue who either of us was. My Alpha was so worried about trouble starting because of Robert hitting my cousin that we didn’t even introduce ourselves to each other until everything calmed down, but Robert never took his hands off me the whole time.”
“Oh goodness.”
“It was my mom that had to ask who Robert was. When he finally introduced himself I thought my mom was going to faint. She never thought one of her pups would ever mate an Alpha.”
“Your poor mom.”
“She got over it quickly. The hardest part for her was that I would be leaving.”
“I’m sure I was. Do you see her often?”
“Not as much as we would both like as she lives 8 hours away from here, but we make do. It’s a lot of video chatting, and phone calls. She says when we have our first pup she’ll come here to help.”
“Are you planning to have a pup anytime soon?”
“Planning? NO. Not preventing? Yes. We figure it will happen when it happens, but we’re ready.”
“When did you stop preventing?”
“After Robert was given the position of Alpha. We decided to wait because we both wanted to be fully ready to take over our roles, and knew a pup may not get as much of the time, and attention they deserved as we prepared to step into our roles.”
“That makes sense.”
“Have you, and Rowen discussed pups or made any decisions about that?”
“We both know we want pups, but not beyond that. I want to finish school first, and he wants to be able to focus on training with his dad, as well as getting his training program up and running.”
“That makes sense. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Are you still unsure about becoming a Luna, and talking about taking up the role?”
“You know, I’m really not as uncomfortable about it as I used to be. I still worry that I won’t be any good at being a Luna. I think not really talking about it has helped. I don’t feel as pressured, but I think, when the time comes, I’ll be ready for it.”
“Let me just tell you, that as much as you don’t want to, you’ll always wonder if you’re a good Luna.”
“Oh great. I don’t need that, but what makes you say that?”
“Clair was Luna for almost 30 years, and even now questions if she was a good Luna or not.”
“From everything I’ve learned about her, and from her, she was a great Luna.”
“She really was, and has been amazing to help me prepare for the role. I think it’s just one of those things that happens when you’re in this kind of role.”
“I guess I can see that.”
“Trust your instincts.”
“Clair always says that.”
“She does, and she’s right. A big part of what we do is instinct.”
“That’s true.”
“How goes the search for another midwife?”
“Ugh. I thought I found someone, but some problems came up today, and well, she won’t be joining us.” “What happened?”
I told her all about what had happened with Julie. A part of me thought I should feel guilty about the way I had talked to her, but I just didn’t. She crossed the line, and I just couldn’t let that slide. Rowen was mine, and no one was going to take him from me.
“Good grief. That’s ridiculous.” Beth stated when I finished.
“It really was.” I agreed.
“You did the right thing.”
“Thanks. Have you had issues like that with females before?”
“A few. If I’m being honest, I was so jealous of Robert’s friendship with Lexi when I first got here. I wanted to rip her apart.”
“Lexi? Really? But Lexi is so….”
“Awesome? Yeah. I know that now, but I didn’t when I first met her. When we arrived she hugged Robert, and I was not having it. It took a few days of Robert calming me down before I could even look at her. When I realized who she was, and what was going on with her because of Anthony, I felt like shit.”
“Kind of how I feel about Julie right now?”
“But you shouldn’t feel that way. That female is not your friend. If she was, she never would have said what she did.”
“You’re probably right. What are you and Robert doing for Valentine’s day?”
“I have no idea.”
“Why not?”
“He won’t tell me. He says it’s a surprise, and that I’ll love it. I’ll tell you what though, if he does what he did last year I just might kill him.”
“What did he do?”
“Ordered pizza, and had us watching some human wrestling crap on TV.”
“Oh no. Why would he do that?”
“I asked the same question.”
“What did he say?”
“He thought I would enjoy it because we were spending time together. That it shouldn’t matter what we were doing because being together was romantic enough.”
“Oh Goddess. Please don’t tell me that he’s one of those males that thinks sex is romance? My brother Jax thinks that way, and Molly is forever yelling at him about it.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
“That’s crazy. No. Robert isn’t one of those, but he honestly believed that us spending time together was romance. Even if it was watching some humans beat each other up.”
“How did you deal with that? Or explain it to him?”
“I didn’t. His mom did.”
“How?”
“Well I was so angry I made him go sleep at his parent’s that night. From what Clair told me she whacked him upside the head with a book, and lectured him for an hour.”
“Ouch.”
“Oh yes. Don’t get me wrong, Clair loves her pups, but when they’re being dumb she has no problem making them aware of it.”
“Sounds like it.”
We continued to chat for awhile as Rowen, and Robert discussed whatever it is males, and Alpha’s discuss. Over the last few months Beth, and I had started to build a friendship that I really treasured. She joined Clair, and I for all of our meetings now. Lexi, Beth, and I also tried to do lunch together once or twice a month. Beth said that it was good for us to build such a strong bond because we Lunas needed support as we moved forward in our roles. I couldn’t argue with her there as I learned more and more about what being a Luna entailed
We ended up spending more time at the diner with Robert, and Beth than we expected. It was really nice to spend time with them. I liked that Robert wasn’t too serious, even as an Alpha. He was an interesting person, and a lot of fun to talk to. It was obvious that he was strict when he needed to be, but otherwise he was laid back. He reminded me a lot of Joe. Rowen, and I did a little more wandering
around Dark Moon before heading back to Cloverland to get ready or our date. Rowen was going to get ready at Lexi, and Colby’s place while Lexi was coming to get ready at mine.
As this was my first Valentine’s day I had been a little worried about what to expect at first, but Lexi told me it was pretty much like any other date, and not to stress it. She felt that too much pressure was put on, what she called a Hallmark holiday. From that perspective it made a lot of sense. Now all I was really worried about was if Rowen would like his gift. He wasn’t always easy to shop for, but I did find something I hoped he liked.
I got a signed book by his favorite author. It was rare for us wolves to be able to go out into the human. world to meet famous humans. I had just gotten lucky to find the book. I also found him a first edition copy of the comic book Captain America first appeared in. I had never seen him read comic books, but I hoped he liked it any way.
“Are you looking forward to a date with Colby tonight? I know you two haven’t been able to go on one for awhile.” I asked Lexi.
“Yes. I think he is too. He’s been beating himself up pretty bad lately about our lack time together.” Lexi responded as she twisted then clipped little sections of my hair.
“He knows you understand, right?”
“Of course he does. I don’t know how you, and Rowen do it though. On days he has night training or has to be gone for the weekend, it’s tough.”
“It’s not always easy, but Rowen, and I keep reminding ourselves that it’s only temporary. I do miss him a lot when we’re not together. Being so busy with school does help.”
“I can see that. So Julie.”
“I don’t even want to think about it, if I’m being honest. We’ll keep looking.”
“Good. Still wish Norm would switch. It would be awesome for him, and Marcus to be moving with us when we graduate.”
“It would be, but Marcus also loves his new job.”
“True. All set. What do you think?”
I looked at myself in the mirror. I had gotten a dark green knee length sweater dress. It wasn’t flowy or anything like that, and not quite form fitting. It showed just the right amount of figure, as Norm said. I liked it because it almost matched my eyes. Lexi did small, short twisted sections of my hair that started at my hair line, and went back about an inch. She also made my natural waves more curly. I wasn’t sold on the twists though, and wrinkled my nose at them.
“Yeah. I kind of agree. It doesn’t look right.” Lexi stated as she inspected the further, “Sit down. Let’s try something else.”
“I should probably learn a bit about styling my hair, shouldn’t I?” I asked as I sat back down, and Lexi started removing the twists.
“Probably, but it’s not too important right now. Most of the time we have to keep our hair back any way.”
“True.
“You’re hair is so beautiful that it looks great just being down.”
“Thanks. So I should just leave it down tonight?”
“Yeah. I think so. Leave the curls, but don’t do anything fancy with it. You don’t need to.”
“Alright. What are you doing with yours?”
“Colby likes it when I put it up in high pony tails?”
“Oh? Why?”
“He says it gives him a better view of my neck, and his mark on it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yup. He says my neck is my sexiest feature.”
“Huh? I always thought he was a boob male?”
“Oh he is, believe me. He LOVES my boobs. He especially loves to use them as pillows, but he says my neck is even sexier than my boobs.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I don’t think he realizes that his fat head smashes my boobs when he lays on them.”
“Have you told him that?”
“Nah.”
“Why not?”
“It may hurt, but I like having him that close to me.”
“Huh. I guess that makes sense.”
“What about Rowen?”
“He’s never laid on my chest. I’m so small that I think he’s worried about hurting me. I do like being wrapped up in his arms with him behind me. He kind of wraps himself around me. Especially when I’m
going to sleep. I feel safe, and protected.”
“Colby isn’t much of a spooner. He prefers having my head on his chest. I admit I like that because I can listen to his heart beat.”
“Aww. That’s kind of sweet. I’ve done that a time or two with Rowen, and I do like listening to his heart beat too, but he’s so much bigger than me that I’m not comfortable in that position for long. The one time I fell asleep on his chest one of the nights we watched movies at his place. I ended up waking up with a crick in my neck.”
“That sucks.”
“It kind of did, but it was a small price to pay for getting to snuggle with him.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Have you two, explored at all since we had that talk around Christmas?”
“A bit yes.”
“How are you feeling about it?”
“I’m slowly becoming more comfortable. He’s really patient with me so that helps a lot.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it’s not natural to be so uncomfortable with sex. Especially with your mate.”
“Yeah. I’m learning that. We’ll get there.”
“I have no doubt.”
“Oh. I was thinking that the weekend of the mate ball, you, Colby, and me could go home for a visit.”
“Do you think we’ll be able to?”
“Robert said he’s working with the schools to shut down on Thursday, and reopen Tuesday, as well as suggesting that all mated wolves that are not Dark Moon members go home.”
“Why?”
“It’s that or we’ll all be stuck on campus for the weekend. They’re going to have enough wolves from other packs here as it is. It would make it easier, and less confusing for those that are mated, but not pack members to just not be here.”
“That does make sense, and sounds like a really good idea. I’ll talk to Colby about it.”
“Ok”
“There. All done.”
I got up, and went to look in the mirror again. Lexi was right. My hair did look better down. She did redo the curls, but it looked good this way.
“You don’t think my dress is too plain do you?” I asked as I came out of the bathroom.
“No I don’t. You don’t need anything too frilly, and crazy to look beautiful. You’re going to want a jacket or something though. It’s supposed to get chilly tonight.” Lexi stated as she pulled her hair up into a pony tail.
“Yeah. I bought a black pea coat too so that should work.”
“Definitely. What shoes are you wearing?”
“Well I considered wearing the ones I wore for Robert, and Beth’s ceremony.”
“Or?”
“My black cowboy boots.”
“You, and your boots.”
“What? I love them.”
“I know you do. You wear them anytime you’re not in class.”
“I know.”
“How many pairs do you have now?”
“Only 2. The Black ones that are more dressy, and the brown ones I wear all of the time.”
“Alright. Go grab both, and let me see.”
I nodded than pulled out my boots, and the shoes I made for Robert’s ceremony. I put on one of each to show Lexi. She couldn’t decide so she took a picture of me to send to Naomi for her opinion. After our last visit home, Naomi had become kind of our fashion consultant. Naomi ended up recommending the boots, saying the shoes were nice, but too sparkly to go with my dress.
“Oh. Chastity, did Rowen get those glass roses for you for Valentine’s day?” Lexi asked as she pulled on her own shoes.
“He did. He had the glass blower at home make those, and the vase.” I answered.
“They’re really pretty.”
“I thought so too.”
“He does spoil you.”
“Yeah. He does.”
Once we were finished getting ready, I checked Lilacs food, and water, grabbed my stuff, and we headed over to Lexi, and Colby’s apartment. I was really looking forward to tonight. I always looked forward to my dates with Rowen, but I guess because it was my first Valentine’s Day I was really excited about it. I knew it probably wouldn’t be anything different than any other night, but that just didn’t matter. This seemed special to me.