Page 41 of Heat Wave
“Oh my God! Waylon!”
He giggles as he comes over me.
“I never want there to be a day that goes by that I don’t get to be with you, to see how your body is changing and growing. We’ll be fifty and I’ll still be fascinated with you, absolutely spellbound.”
“I was going to surprise you.”
“I know. And I tried to keep quiet about knowing, but I saw you start to sit up and then get dizzy.”
“How did…? You’re amazing and I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby. And tomorrow you will officially be my wife, even though you’ve been that to me from the moment I slid that ring on your little finger, and I will officially be your husband.”
“Even though you’ve been my everything from the moment you first made love to me. Before really.”
His mouth lands on mine, and we spend moments just reacquainting ourselves with each other’s lips and tongues. After several minutes, it’s not enough. Our hands turn ravenous, and clothes are being pulled from our bodies. His mouth starts traveling down my neck before finally latching onto my hard nipple. Now that I think about it, he has been gentler with them when he plays with me over the past two or three weeks.
“Waylon,” he looks up at me, “thank you.”
“For what, love?”
“For…everything. For taking care of me. For being the man I’ve always dreamed about falling in love with. For saving me. For showing me what love is and what it can be. I just…I love you, and you always take such good care of me.”
My eyes mist over, and I become emotional as he grins so sweetly at me.
“I’m sorry. I’m…”
“It’s the baby. I’ve read that sometimes the hormones will make your emotions get even deeper and more intense. I love you. You are my world. You can be all teary and as emotional as you want as long as you remember I love you and I will always love you.”
I give him a watery smile, “Make love to me. Let’s spend our last night as single people together, showing one another how much we mean to each other.”
“Absolutely, sweetheart. Abso-fucking-lutely.”
We spend the rest of the night holding and loving each other, celebrating our love and the life we've made.
Epilogue II
Nine Years Later
Waylon
“How did you and Dad meet?”
I sit down on the bed and await the answer. The girls are in the baby’s room, and the baby monitor lets me listen in. The soft little voice of our firstborn asks the question while our second little girl backs her up.
“Yeah, how did you meet Daddy?” She’s just turned seven and is her older sister’s shadow. And both of them are glued to my wife’s side, especially now that our little boy has arrived. I might have told them that when I’m not here, they should help their momma any way they can. They took it to heart.
“Well…we knew each other for years before we ever thought of dating one another. I guess the first time I met your Dad, I was a little too young to date. I was thirteen.”
“And Daddy waited for you to get old enough?”
“Yea, he did. He waited until I was old enough to date. But I met him when I first spent the night over at Aunt Terry’s house.”
“Aunt Terry and Uncle Land?”
“Not exactly. It was just Aunt Terry then.”
“Uncle Land had to wait for her, too,” Alley answers for Oakley, making me strangle back a laugh.
