Page 101 of Chosen Road

“What does it mean?”

“Hope.”

I pulled her close and she nestled in for a moment, and I wondered how long it would last. When she started to squirm, I laughed. “You may not like me to leave your body, but my cum dripping down your thigh makes you crazy.”

“It does,” she admitted ruefully.

I stroked my hand down the length of her back. “Should we go home and rechristen our bed?”

“How about we have one more practice run, where we don’t have to worry about noise, and then go home and sleep in our bed?”

“You going to sleep with me tonight?” I planned to not push, but I couldn’t stand not knowing.

“No.” She paused, and my heart sank like a stone. “I’m going to sleep with you every night.”

Chapter 32: It’s Over

Amber

The bedroom door hit the wall with a loud bang, and Alex’s voice rang out, panicked.

“Dad! Mom’s not in her room and she’s not downstairs! Yiayia doesn’t know where she is!”

My eyes popped open, and I struggled to pull myself out of my deep, sated sleep. The weak light of a cold sun slanted high through the window. It was way past time we normally got up. I twisted my neck around. Gus looked unsure, this was not how we planned to tell him, while I struggled to wake fully.

Lying on his side with me spooned against his chest, I was hidden from Alex’s view.

Oh, well. No time like the present. Anyways, we couldn’t have him worrying. I lifted a hand over Gus’s back to wave at Alex. “Hi, agori mou. I’m right here.”

His silence came as a surprise.

Gus pushed himself up on his elbow and twisted around to smile at Alex. The only sound Alex made were from the creaks of the floorboards as he crossed our bedroom to peek over his dad’s back.

“Hi, agapi mou.”

He looked like a miniature version of Gus in his Henley and plaid sleep pants. His fair hair stuck up in every direction, while his grey-blue eyes, so like his dad’s, openly conveyed his surprise, hope, and doubt.

“Good morning, buddy,” Gus murmured, his voice gritty with sleep and the first hints of concern. “You want to get in with us?”

Our Sunday morning routine. Cuddles before breakfast, then packing up to go to Yiayia’s for dinner. I wondered if Alex was too old to do this now, and a wave of sadness hit me for all that I took from him.

I looked down quickly, noting I wore Gus’s t-shirt which was just as good as a nightie, and began to shift over to make room for Alex in the middle.

Alex’s eyes darted between us, then he rounded the bed and tentatively climbed up from the bottom.

He lay down stiffly, his hands at his sides, eyes darting back and forth between us. He swallowed, his little Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Is this for … like is this …” he stuttered.

I turned on my side to face him and placed a gentle hand on his tummy. “This is for real and for keeps. You ready to move home for good, agori mou?”

Alex blinked, his gaze turning inward as he turned the new information over in his mind. He reached out with both hands, one to tangle in the length of my hair, and the other one fisted in the front of his daddy’s t-shirt. Then his mouth opened, and he wailed.

“Oh, God!” I met Gus’s astonished gaze over top of Alex’s head and then bent to our son.

Leaning forward, I pressed my forehead gently to his and rubbed gentle circles over his heaving chest. “It’s okay, agori mou. Agapimeno, it’ll be okay now.”

Gus reared up over us both, cupped one big hand around the back of Alex’s head and the other around mine. He murmured sweet nothings to our son as I rubbed his chest and kissed his hair.

It took several minutes for him to calm. Even then, the air of doubt in his eyes did not dissipate, and he continued to rub my hair between his fingers.

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