323. To Those Who Wait

14 days.

15 days.

"I put in my two week's notice... again," Cayden said during our morning phone call on day 16. "My last day of work will be September 7th and I have my eye on a flight to Dallas on the 8th. Now let's just hope I get my visa and passport back before then. I don't really want to be unemployed longer than I have to."

"Good," I said. "I should be mostly recovered from surgery by then. If all goes as planned. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about you moving here on the 8th, but how awesome would that be?"

"I know," he said with a sigh. "I'd be there for my birthday."

"And my birthday," I added. "And OU-TX!"

My hopes were up.

Day 17.

The OR was fully booked, so my surgery was going to have to wait.

"How about September 6?" my doctor asked.

Oh, yes. Sign me up for that. Who wouldn't want surgery two days before their fiance moved in? My big plan to run and tackle him at the airport in the happiest moment of my life was looking less and less likely.

"Will I be able to walk by then?" I asked.

"...slowly. But no sex for 2 weeks."

Fuck me.

Day 18.

Day 19.

Day 20.

"Why in the hell do they say you'll have it back within 10 days when they clearly have no intention of doing so?" I whined. "This is getting ridiculous!"

"You're telling me."

Day 21.

Day 22.

Day 23.

My blood started to boil.

"So, when's he moving here? When's the wedding?" people asked.

"I wish I knew," was my only response.

We couldn't set a wedding date because we didn't know exactly when he'd be here. If we set a date in October and he moved here in September, he'd be unemployed for four months instead of three. My credit card balance didn't like the idea of that. Not one bit.

"What if we do a quick JP wedding right when you get here?" I offered. "That way you can get your paperwork filed and then we can plan a wedding for October or November."

"That might be our best bet," he said.

"And that way we'll be sure I'm 100 percent recovered from surgery by the time I walk down the aisle. And hopefully you'll have your Employment Authorization documents by December."

A plan was set in motion. No, it wasn't ideal. It wasn't the way we planned for things to happen, but we'd learned very early on in our relationship that when it's up to the government, it's best to have zero plans.

Day 24.

Day 25.

Day 26.

This is getting ridiculous.

Day 27.

Day 28.

Day 29.

"Surely, they can't keep your passport from you for that long, right? I mean, that's a pretty important legal document."

"They can do whatever they want," he replied. "They're the US Government."

I wanted to punch Mitt Romney through the TV screen with his "Let's keep America American" bullshit. It was like he was taunting me, rubbing salt in an open wound, sticking his tongue out and dangling immigration papers just out of my reach. Ass.

Day 30.

Day 31.

Day 32. I woke up to an email from Cayden.

from:		xxxx911@hotmail.com (Cayden)
to:		xxxxxxwp@gmail.com (me)
date:		Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 7:45 AM
subject:		Good Morning

Good Morning baby

So, check out the below. Yes, that right there is my one-way plane ticket to come and live with you FOREVER!!!!  I have the visa in my hand right now.  If you weren't excited before, get excited now because it's HAPPENING THIS WEEK!!!!

I'm so happy right now.

Well, I'll chat later

Love you lots