The V-Day Plan

The other night, post baggage-reveal, Mr. Curls brought up V-Day.
"So," he said, "Sunday..."
"Oh yeah, that thing."
He chuckled. "I was wondering what your opinion of Valentine's day is."
"Pretty neutral, really. When I was with someone, we'd do something low key, and I liked it low key. I'm not interested in making it into a big deal."
"Same here. Though, would you mind if I got you something?"
"I would think it was sweet, but don't feel like you have to."
"But if I did, that'd be okay, right?"
"Yeah, that'd be okay."
"Good."

We sorted the rest of the details out today. He's going to come over for an early dinner and we'll rent a movie. I told him that since he cooked for me the other night, I'd cook for him tomorrow. He insisted that I didn't have to, that he'd be perfectly happy with leftover runny lasagna (his cookery didn't turn out quite perfect, though it was still tasty). I get the feeling that he's not used to people doing nice things for him. It feels like he's usually the one doing nice things for other people.

Amanda and I had a long-ass phone conversation yesterday which covered, among other things, the latest updates with Mr. Curls. On the kids & ex-wives, she said, "You've just got to decide if you can handle it when it starts to affect your life, because it will affect your life if you're with him long enough. If you decide that you want to, I think that if anyone can handle it, you can." We talked a little about his marriages, too, and the part where I'm most concerned with the second marriage and how quickly it happened after the first - rebounding is one thing, a rebound marriage is more troubling. She mentioned the word "codependent," and I didn't argue with her. I don't know enough yet to draw conclusions, but there does seem to be a streak of it in him. We'll see. Depending, maybe I'm just the right kind of girl for him since I'm so independent. He may want somebody to swoop in and take care of, but I do a good job taking care of myself most of the time. I'm not looking for a savior, I'm looking for a partner.

All in all, I'm still cautious, but optimistic. There are so many things about him that I like, and I love being around him, and the way I feel about him is different from the way I've felt about anyone since the beginning of my relationship with my ex. Mr. Curls has a lot of complications, but I want to take this pair of shoes around the block. They might be scuffed, but they fit amazingly well.