Seven of Diamonds

After a lovely dinner of pancakes and french toast, the two decided to do a bit of shopping. It was about time too. Some of these clothes they had were at least six or seven years old, some even going back ten years. They went to various stores, buying whatever suited their fancy. It felt so bizarre, almost guilty in a way. Anon's mind was so used to living paycheck to paycheck that buying so many things almost made him feel sick with anxiety, even though he could see the purchases hardly making a dent into the colossal number in his bank account. Trixie let her inner girly girl run rampant, buying all manner of cute dresses, stylish shirts, and multi-colored purses she could get her hands on. Though Trixie tried to play the part of tom-body, inside she was hugely feminine. Anon always found it so cute when girly Trixie was allowed to be free to the world. It was a much softer, gentler Trixie than what most people saw and it was a really treat to be able to see it. Anon, however, merely got a few sweatshirts and a couple of pairs of jeans.

"That's it?" Trixie stated in disbelief, eight fully stuffed bags of clothes hanging on either side of her arms

"I'll probably get more online or when we get to Colorado. The fashion here just doesn't suite my tastes."

"I'll hold you to that. No husband of mine is going to dress so ratty."

"You need some help with those bags?"

"That would be lovely."

Trixie passes of four of the bags to him and they walk down the sidewalk, finally running out of places to shop.

"Anything you want to do before going back to the trailer for the last time?"

"I think I want to go back there. Enjoy it while we have it."

Anon laughed a bit.

"Don't tell me you're going to miss that old thing."

"You know how sentimental I am. We've had a lot of good memories in that trailer. Sure it wasn't easy but it was never not worth it."

"Like all the times we downed beer and fucked in the back?"

Trixie playfully slaps him, snickering

"You're a real pig you know that?" she joked

"It's not my fault. I can only control my masculine instincts for so long around the hottest girl on the planet."

Trixie snorts

"Where? I don't see her."

They both laugh, stopping right there to make out a little bit then heading home. Trixie began to paint her nails a pretty bubblegum pink.

"I miss her already." she said

"Sunset?"

"Yeah. She was just a doll wasn't she?"

"Absolutely. I can see why you like her so much."

Trixie walked into the bedroom, pulling a blue scrapbook from underneath the bed

"Want to reminisce with me?"

"I'd love to, sentimental Sally."

he walked over and sat on the bed, putting one arm around her and she opened to the first page. It was fully of baby pictures. Anon giggled, pointing at toddler Trixie.

"Look at you! You were so cute."

"Were?" she teased

He kissed her nose

"Were. You're just plain beautiful now."

Trixie turned to the next page. It was a photo of seven year old Trixie. Her hair was just starting to grow out and was entirely blue this time, rather the the white-blue hair she currently had. She was standing by a large tree with leaves turning all the colors of autumn, wearing a long white dress with a matching hat.

"There was a good story behind this." Trixie said "I was in grade school and doing our annual school fundraising race. It was called the Running of the Leaves, if I remember correctly."

"You were running a race in a dress like that?"

"Oh that was just for the picture."

She pointed to another one of her in a tank top and shorts, standing on a track next to a large open field.

"That was what I wore during the race. It was someone silly thing our teachers made up. They said that the only way for the leaves to fall in autumn were to run and hit the ground with our feet. I believed that for years."

"Very scientific"

She giggled

"We were children you dork." she pointed to another picture of her racing down the track But of course we had to make it into a competition"

"And let me guess: The least competitive girl on the planet decided she'd rise above it?"

Trixie laughs so hard she snorts

"Yeah right, as if. I went and ran as fast as my little legs would take me. No way was I going to lose."

"Did you win?"

"No actually. Stupid bitch named Twilight did. But I got second place and my mom was so proud of me she said I earned a medal."

She put her finger to another picture of her next to a purple haired girl. She had her arms crossed and looked extremely pouty. Around Trixie's neck was a paper mache medal with a number one on it.

"You really had a great mom."

"Yeah. I did anyway. When dad left she really lost her mind."

There was a long silence

"Promise me you'll never leave."

"I'd never do such a thing. I promise."

"Thank you."

Trixie turns the page again and her smile returns as she sees a picture of her in a pumpkin costume. The girth of the costume was so big her arms couldn't touch her sides. Her face was so sour.

"And this was a picture of me on one faithful Halloween in second grade. My mom said she wanted me to wear this because I looked so cute. And I absolutely did. But I could barely even move in it. I was so pissed."

There was a collection of pictures of her in the Halloween costume, all of them featuring her with a huge scowl on her face.

"I'm judging from the picture that there was a second grader who wasn't too pleased." Anon chuckled

"Understatement of the year. I got so mad that halfway through the night, I used all my little girl might to rip a huge hole in the costume. My mom paddled my ass so hard I was walking funny for a week."

Trixie flips the page again, this time turning to a picture of her in her early adolescence. She was standing in the middle of a forest, arms crossed with a big smile on her face.

"Ah yes I remember this. This was when I was thirteen. My parents made me go to summer camp. It was my first real exposure to camping and it really stuck with me. I can still feel that cool air on my face."

"We're definitely going to have to take Sunset on a camping trip or two."

"Absolutely. It would be remiss of me, or us rather, not to give our child such an experience. Did you ever going camping as a kid?"

"In a sense. I was raised on a farm remember? Just a dumb old farm boy. But I'd hardly call my farm life camping."

Trixie giggles

"There is nothing dumb about you baby."

They both kissed again. Trixie reached for the crease of the next page but not turning it. Both of them knew that this was the part of Trixie's life that wasn't the happiest. Anon hugs her close.

"We don't have to keep going if you don't want too. We can stop here. Or even skip ahead."

"I want to try."

"Whatever you say. But if you need to stop you just let me know."

"Right. I can do this with you here."

Trixie turns the page. It was her next to a small blue house. She looked sickly and pale with eyes devoid of light, like a walking corpse.

"This was the year my dad died." she said "He was killed in a construction accident. It really cut like a knife. My mom transformed into a kind, loving and supportive pillar in my life too an necrotic, self absorbed, anxious train wreck. It was like everything she believed in crumbled to ashes. It really weighed heavy on me too."

She shifted to another picture of her in baggy clothes, sitting at a cheap wooden table

"This is when I began to hate my body. We also subsequently lost a huge source of income. My mom made only a tenth of what my dad did. We were forced to move to a poor area of town and could barely keep food on the table. I lost so much weight."

Not being able to handle the mental stress of it, she flipped through four pages. The next picture put a smile on both their faces. It was her at seventeen, him at twenty, standing with their arms around each other at the farm he worked at.

"Where we had out third date." he said

"And what a date that was. I'll never forgive that pig for splashing me with mud."

Anon couldn't help but chuckle

"I still can't get over that. That was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time."

The next picture was even better. It was of both of them, under a large redwood tree sitting on a picnic blanket. Trixie wore a beautiful yellow dress and a large hat while Anon wore only a white tee-shirt and jeans. On the tree was craved a heart with A+T in the center. They nicknamed it the Lover's Tree and had many a date under it.

"I wonder if the tree is still there?" Anon asked "Or if the craving got erased."

"I bet it is. It was in a pretty off the beaten path area. I'd be surprised if anyone but us knows about it."

"We really should go back some day."

"We had so much fun under Lover's Tree. I really miss those days."

"If you could go back would you change anything?"

"Not one thing. Because without all of that shit I never would've met you."

"I love you so much, Trixie."

"I love you too."

Trixie closes the scrapbook, a smile going across her face.

"We're stopping here? But we're just about to get to the best part!"

"I'm getting a little sleepy. I'll be sure to fill this thing up plenty more as time goes on. We still have about 8 pages left. Hopefully all filled with Sunset."

She gets up and reaches under the bed, pulling out a camera. It was old and worn, the glass on the lens completely cracked.

"Remember this?"

"Remember it? How could I forget it? The thing was around your neck so much I could've sworn it was attached."

She giggled

"Oh hush." she said, brushing some of the dust off "It wish I didn't drop it."

Trixie lets out a big ole yawn

"You alright there mama bear?"

"I'm fine. Just something about reminiscing gets me really-" She yawns again "Tired."

"Well you better get some rest. Nothing wrong with turning in a little early."

Trixie snuggled under the covers

"You joining me?"

"Nah, I'm not too tired. I'll be happy to watch over your pretty little face though."

She giggles again

"Never stop making me giggle ok?"

"As long as there is breath in my lungs and blood in my veins, I never will."

She closes her eyes and almost instantly is off to dream land.