Sewn Into The Fabric
He watched her as she rocked the infant in her arms. If you did not know her well, you would not know she spent the last few months behind bars. She was always so fierce-even when she was in prison for murder.
"How does a person abuse their child Bo," she asks, her voice nearly breaking. "How do they live with themselves?" He wishes he could give her the answers she was craving.
"How does a husband abuse his wife," He counters. "How can someone promise to cherish you and then almost kill you?"
She knew he was speaking of her ex—the reason she was always just a little broken—the reason they almost did not get to adopt these defenseless children. She was fine, she told herself. She always had to be.
She put the little girl in her crib and shut the door, leaving it open just a crack. He was waiting for her in the bedroom with those understanding eyes that always left her wondering what she ever did to deserve him.
"I'm fine Bo. Really. What happened to me was a really long time ago."
He takes her face in his hands as he brushes his calloused fingertips across her eyelids...where just a hint of unshed tears is visible.
"You are not fine Nora. You might be able to pull the wool over everyone else's eyes but not me. I see how you jump when the phone rings or how you tense up sometimes when you think nobody is watching…But the thing is baby…I am watching. I am watching because I never want you to feel that way again…I want you to be able to breathe in your own skin."
She smiles when she feels his strong arms pull her close. She can hear the steady rhythm of his heart against her own as he kisses her shoulder blades.
"Even if I did feel that way, how could I ever feel it now?"
He kisses her earlobe first, slowly making his way down to her neck and her collarbone. Whatever she was about to say, she does not remember now…She is focused on what his fingers are doing to her senses.
"Bo," she whimpers, as his hand slides down her backside, and then wraps around her waist as he tugs her limp body against his own.
"Is there something you want," he teases.
Her legs feel like jelly as lifts her into his arms and carries her to the bed. She can feel the electricity of her desire as he slowly lifts her robe off her shoulders.
"I missed you so much baby," he whispers into her ear. The warm wetness between her legs just proved that she was aching for his touch.
"Touch me Bo…Please."
He gently lays her on the bed as he kisses up her naked body with hot, wet kisses. She closes her eyes as she inhales sharply and her body begins to tremble.
"Tell me Red…Tell me what you want," he asks?
"You," she demands. "I just want you."
She presses her lips to his as the warmth filled every part of her. She could hear his breath quicken as he kissed her again…until there was no more space left between them.
His name was on her lips when he drove his desire so deep inside her that she felt fireworks. Every time he touched her, she felt like she was on fire.
Her head now came to rest on his bare chest as she kissed it. He wrapped his arms around her as they came down from the high of their lovemaking.
"Thank you," she said, and he kissed her head.
"For what," he asked.
"For being such an amazing man…but mostly because you believe in me. You never once questioned me when their parents were found dead."
"That's because I know you…and I know that if you killed them, it was because they threatened your children…our children. I would have done the same thing if I had gotten there first."
"You make it sound so easy Bo…those animals abused their children…especially Noah. That sweet little boy has been through hell in his three years of life."
"And you made it better Red. You and I both know that you are the one who rescued them. You noticed things that nobody else did and now here we are with them right down the hall, sleeping like the little angels they are. You did that Red…You…Don't you ever forget how much good you bring into the world…And how you have changed so many lives…most of all mine."
"You give me far too much credit cowboy."
"No Red…You don't give yourself enough."
He kissed her softly once more and they returned to their children's bedroom hand in hand. Noah was frightened because of a bad dream so Nora sat him in her lap as she looked at her husband. "Don't worry Noah...Nobody is going to hurt you ever again. We are your family now...you and Lake. and who knows, maybe sometime in the very near future, you'll even have another brother or sister to love...would you like that? "
He shakes his head and Nora holds him closer. "You're not going to leave are you?"
"Oh sweet boy, your mother and I will never leave you," Bo soothed. He was holding Lake in his arms as he and Nora joined hands. These Children needed stability. These children needed reassurance. They would give it to them.
"How would you like to sleep in our bed tonight," Bo asked? Nora smiled back at him, because she knew what his invitation meant. He was a father above all now just as she was a mother. And that night as the four of them lay together on that big bed, they knew that no matter what happened they would always be together...They would fight for each other...and above all they would love each other...no matter what pain they had to get through.
Family isn't always blood...sometimes family consists of those who embrace you when the world shut you out.