I Will Always Love You (4 page)

At night, Melissa and Stefan spent as much time together as possible.
They shared double dates with Brigitte and Rolf, but they also spent time
alone talking and learning about each other’s lives.

“So, you live in a big, fancy penthouse apartment,” Stefan said as he and
Melissa sat in a local pub alone one night.

Melissa laughed at him. “It’s not a penthouse. My family has money, but
we’re not rich. And speaking of big fancy homes, your
parents’
home isn’t too
shabby.”

“’Shabby’? What is that?”

“’Isn’t too shabby’ means that it is also nice and big and fancy.”

Chuckling, Stefan nodded. “No, it is not too shabby. But it is my parents’
home, not mine. I am afraid that I have no money of my own to speak of.”

“Stefan, do you think that money is so important to me that I’m with you
only because your father is a doctor and your mother is a teacher and they
have a big house and drive a BMW and a Mercedes?” Melissa asked
incredulously.

“No. I did not mean to imply that. I just want you to know that if we are
beginning a lifetime commitment, then you need to understand that I am not
financially secure, at least not yet. First, I need to become established as a
writer.”

That statement took Melissa by complete surprise. With a serious
expression on her face, she asked, “Is that what we are doing, Stefan?
Beginning a lifetime commitment?”

“Is that what you want, Melissa?”

“Is that what you want?” she retorted.

With a sly smile on his face, Stefan said, “I asked you first.”

Melissa sighed and lowered her head. She took a deep breath and looked
back up into Stefan’s eyes. “Please don’t play games with me.”

Stefan reached across the table and took Melissa’s hands in his own. “I am
not playing games with you. I know that we have only known each other for
three weeks, but I have never felt like this before. I think about you all of the
time. My days are so long without you, and I cannot wait to see your beautiful
smiling face. You have brought so much love and laughter to my life, and I do
not want that to ever end.”

“Oh, Stefan,” Melissa said with tears in her eyes.

He saw the tears in her eyes and his heart dropped. “You do not feel the
same way about me,” he simply stated.

“Oh, but I do. These are tears of joy. I love you, Stefan.”

“I love you, Melissa. And I do not want you to go back to America in two
weeks. I want you to stay here with me.”

Melissa was taken aback. She blinked her eyes as if she didn’t understand
what he said to her. “You want me to stay?”

“Yes. I do not want to lose the woman that I love. I want to spend the rest
of my life with you. I want to marry you and have a family with you.”

“But how can I stay? I start college in a few weeks and in December you
go into the army for two years.”

Hanging his head, Stefan said, “Yes, I know.”

“Maybe we should have just stayed friends,” she said dejectedly. “At least
things would have stayed much simpler.”

“No. What we have is real and we cannot let it end.”

“But what are we suppose
d
to do? I go back to America in two weeks.”

“Will you wait for me, Melissa?”

“What do you mean?”

Leaning forward, Stefan looked deeply into her eyes. “Will you wait two
years for me until I am finished in the army? You can go back to America and
go to college. But when I am out of the army in December 1987, will you
come back and be my wife?”

She smiled. “Yes, I will.”

“I know that your college is for four years, but maybe you can finish here
at the local university,” he suggested.

Melissa gave him a dismissive wave of her hand. “Don’t even worry about
that now. I’m sure that something can be worked out.”

Melissa and Stefan sat gazing into each other’s eyes. “You have made me
so happy,”
S
tefan said as he once again took Melissa’s hands into his own.

“I’m so happy, too. I never thought that I could ever be this happy.” She
gave him a wide smile.

“This is only the beginning,” Stefan promised.

* * *

The next morning, Melissa was bursting with happiness. She and Brigitte
were enjoying a late breakfast together in an empty house.

“What are you so happy about?” Brigitte asked her cousin.

“What? Oh, nothing really.” She tried to hide her smile by taking a drink
of coffee, but ended up burning the tip of her tongue. “Oh, damn,” she said as
she sat her coffee cup down and dabbed at her tongue with a napkin.

“That is what happens when you lie. Now tell me the truth because that big
smile does not look like nothing to me.” Brigitte sat back, crossed her arms
over her chest and waited for her cousin to tell her the truth.

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course I can,” Brigitte answered as she leaned closer to her cousin.

“Last night Stefan told me that he loves me and that he wants me to be his
wife.”

Brigitte’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. “What? When and
where did this happen?”

“I know. It’s all happened so fast. Last night, we were at the pub, and he
told me that he loves me. He said that he wants to spend the rest of his life with
me. Brigitte, I am so happy. I love Stefan so much. I never thought that I
would ever feel this happy!”

“But how are you going to marry him if you are going to college in
America?”

“We have it all figured out. I’ll go to America and go to college for two
years while Stefan is in the army. When he’s discharged in 1987, I will return
here and we will be married. And I might finish my education here at the local
university.”

“It sounds like you and Stefan have it all planned.”

“Yes, we do.”

“What about your parents? How do you think they will they react to this?”

“My parents will see how much in love I am, and they will be happy for
me.”

I hope so
, Brigitte thought to herself. She saw how happy her cousin was
and she could not help but smile. “It will be wonderful having you here all of
the time. We could even be neighbors.”

“Yes. And maybe we will have kids born the same year just like we were,”
said Melissa.

Brigitte shook her head. “No one said that I was getting married.”

“Maybe not, but I know that you and Rolf will get married soon.”

Brigitte raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know that?”

“I’ve seen the way you and Rolf look at each other. It’s obvious to
everyone that you are in love with each other.”

“He is a great man!” she exclaimed as the two cousins giggled and fought
over the last slice of toast.

Chap
ter 6

On her last night in Germany, Karl and Inge gave a small party in their
home for Melissa. In attendance were Brigitte and Rolf, Stefan and his
parents, Helmut and Ursula, and a few close friends. They dined on snitzel,
potato salad, assorted cakes, beer, and wine. Everyone was having a
wonderful time, yet Melissa could not shake the feeling of dismay at leaving

the next day.

“Melissa,
liebschen
, are you feeling all right?” Inge asked her niece.

Melissa turned to look at her aunt who was the spitting image of her older
sister, Greta. “Yes,
Tante
Inge. I’m fine. But I am going to miss everyone so
much when I leave tomorrow. I’ve had such a wonderful time here this
summer. Thank you for everything.” She gave her aunt a hug.

“You do not have to thank me. We are family. We have enjoyed having
you here this summer. And you are welcome back here at any time.”

“Thank you,” Melissa said to her aunt with a genuine smile. She watched
her aunt walk over to her other guests.

“Are you okay?” a deep voice said from behind her.

Smiling, Melissa turned to Stefan. She looked up into his dreamy blue
eyes and felt like she was on cloud nine. “I am now.”

Stefan put his arm around Melissa’s shoulder and drew her closer to him.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Do you think we have been here
long enough? I want to spend some time alone with you tonight.”

Melissa was startled. She couldn’t believe that he would even suggest
something like that. She looked up at Stefan. “Leave? We can’t leave. This
party is for me.”

Stefan looked down at Melissa with a grin on his face. “We are going to
leave.” He turned his attention to the other guests. “Everyone, Melissa and I
are going for a drive now so that we can have some time alone before she
leaves tomorrow.”

“Okay, Stefan, but make sure that Melissa gets home at a decent hour,”
Karl said.

“Yes sir.” He smiled at Melissa, grabbed her hand and led her out the door
to his car.

* * *

“I can’t believe that you just told them we were leaving like that,” Melissa
said a short time later while she and Stefan were parked in his car on top of
a hill in Knauppshausen.

“Well, I had to if I wanted to spend some time alone with you.”

Melissa giggled. “I’m glad you did.” She leaned back in the front
passenger seat and turned on her side to look at Stefan. “I wanted to spend
some time alone with you, too.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Stefan leaned back in his seat and slid closer to
Melissa. Taking her in his arms, he began to stroke her hair as a Beatles song
came on the radio.

“Oh, not them,” he groaned.

“Don’t you like the Beatles?”

“No.”

Melissa leaned on her elbow and gave him a look of disbelief. “You’ve got
to be kidding.”

“All of their songs are so mundane and syrupy.”

“The Beatles is one of the, if not
the
, greatest band
s
of all time.”

“Melissa, you must be joking.”

She sat up, looked at Stefan and slowly began to shake her head. “No, I’m
not joking. And just what band do you think is the greatest of all time?”

“Pink Floyd.”

“Oh my God,” Melissa groaned as she rolled her eyes.

“What is wrong with Pink Floyd?”

“What isn’t wrong with Pink Floyd? Compared to the Beatles, they’re a
garage band.”

“Maybe we should just change the subject,” Stefan said as he pulled her
back into his arms.

“Okay,” she agreed as she gave up the cause of the Beatles. She snuggled
closer into his arms. “So, you said before that you want to have kids with me.
How many kids do you want?”

“Oh, about twenty.”

Melissa bolted up again and exclaimed, “Twenty!”

“At least.”

“Stefan, I am not having twenty kids.” There was sheer panic in her voice.

Stefan grinned at the woman he was in love with. “Okay. How many kids
do you want?”

“Two kids, maybe three.”

“I see that we will have to negotiate on this. What about ten kids?”

She shook her head. “That’s too many. What about three kids?”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I give up. Three kids it is.”

Stefan pulled Melissa back down in his arms and gave her a long, deep kiss.
The kiss seemed to last forever and finally she had to come up for air.