(Disclaimer- Don't know them, don't own them, this is a work of fiction!)
I gasped as his hand slid across my hip; waking me from a deep sleep. "You're hands are cold." I whisper still half asleep.
A soft chuckle comes from deep within his chest as he presses his body to mine. "I just got out of the shower, I'm surprised you didn't hear me come in." he says as he softly kisses my bare shoulder. "Long day baby?"
I nod my head; eyes still closed. "What time is it?"
He shifts his body, looking over his shoulder to the clock; "It's just after 2:00. Sorry I'm so late coming in. It seemed like every time we decided to go home we got another lead."
I snuggle in closer to his body, pulling his arms tighter around my waist. "It's okay. You're here now." I say smiling into the dark room. I took a deep breath forcing my eyes to open and rolled over to face him. "Mmm you smell like soap. So clean…" I say with a sigh.
I could feel him smiling as he pressed his lips to my forehead. "How were the kids today? Give you much trouble?"
"Your children were awful."
"My children? Why are they only my children when they misbehave?"
"Because I would not birth such hellions…so they must belong to you and you alone." I say, trying not to laugh.
He shakes his head, laughing. "What did they do this time?"
"What didn't they do, might be a better question…" I tell him as he starts to run his fingers through my hair. "Laney and Olivia got into a fight over who was going to wash the dog and somehow in the middle of the argument they ended up pushing Kaiden into the pool. So, Kaiden freaks out and thinks he's going to drown; although he can swim. So I have to dive into the pool with my clothes on and save him… It's not funny; stop laughing." I say, as I playfully swat him on the butt.
"I'm so sorry baby." He says between laughs. Minutes later we fall into a comfortable silence; each of us reflecting on our long days.
These late night chats, as I called them weren't uncommon between us. I guess after seven years of marriage you had to find the time to talk to one another as husband and wife; not mother and father. And if 2:00 in the morning was the only time it could be done, then so be it.
"I've been thinking…" Leland starts to say but then stops; no doubt waiting for a smart ass remark from me about that being surprising… but, I decided to keep quiet this time.
"I've been thinking that maybe we should try have another baby."
I pulled away from him, wishing he could see my face in the dark room and say, "Are you high? After what I just told you, you want to put one more child in the mix? I just don't know if I could do that… I don't think my body or my mind could take much more."
Defeated, he lets out a breath he'd no doubt been holding since getting into bed. I knew my husband and I knew this had to be something that had been on his mind for a while. He was always so great about considering every possible scenario when it came to a big decision; like having children.
"I knew you would say no..."
"Well, you were right."
"It's just - "
"It's just what? I know you want a big family Leland and I understand that. I'm afraid that we're in over our heads now with the three we've got…and you have two older sons…that's five children that you're emotionally and financially responsible for."
"I'm sorry I brought it up; let just go to sleep." He says rolling onto his other side; his back now facing me.
I huffed, closing my eyes. It wasn't often that he was mad enough to turn his back to me.
"No, I'm sorry. I shot you down before I even considered your feelings. Can you give me a little time to process this?" I ask, pressing my bare chest to his warm back.
"Sure baby." He says quietly. "Love you, goodnight." He says before drifting into a deep sleep.
The next morning I woke up with a bright ray of light shining through the bedroom window, rolling over I reached out to my husband only to find cold sheets. I sat up looking at the clock; it was 11:00.
"Wow." I say to myself as I run my hands through my wild morning hair. Hearing the laughter coming from downstairs I got up, putting my clothes on and made my way out of the bedroom to find my family.
"Mommy!" Olivia yells running toward me. "Did we wake you up? Daddy said not to be loud because you were sleeping."
I smiled, pulling her into a hug. "No sweet pea, you didn't wake me up."
She seems satisfied with my answer and runs back to her sister and daddy who are playing Barbie dolls.
"Good morning beautiful." Leland says, standing up to kiss me softly. I return his kiss, eliciting a few "eww's" and "yucky's" from our kids.
"Thanks for letting me sleep in."
He winks, giving me another brief kiss. "Anything for you."
Having a rare, quiet afternoon to myself I tanned topless by the pool; it was one of the perks of living at the end of a very secluded street. I rolled onto my stomach, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.
The backdoor slid open and I pushed my sunglasses on top of my head and squinted as he stepped into my view.
"Hey sexy."
"What a shame, I didn't know I was missing all this." He says licking his lips. "You know, one of these days you're going to get caught." He says sitting down on the lounge chair next to mine.
"Get caught doing what exactly?"
"Lying around naked." He says, leaning back in the lounge chair. "I have to say, you're not leaving much to the imagination."
I roll my eyes, laughing. "I have bottoms on."
He leans in closer to me, "The top is what we all want to see."
The heat rose in my cheeks as he flirted with me. Flirting was something I had always enjoyed with him. It came so natural, so easy. I could see why women loved him.
"Besides – "he says leaning even closer, "We all know fake breasts are hot."
I looked up, shocked at what I was hearing. "They are not fake! They are perfectly real!" I say defending my boobs.
"Hmm… I don't know." He says mockingly.
I knew he was just trying to get under my skin; that was our game. He'd start out flirting and find a way to insult me. I wasn't sure what his game was. But it was always fun to play. Today I would get one over on him.
I rolled onto my stomach and sat up, my bare chest facing him. A gentle breeze blows by, making my nipples hard. I grabbed his hands, placing them on my breasts.
"Tell me how they feel?" I ask seductively.
"I, ugh… wow… they're really…nice." He finally manages to say. He swallows hard, looking into my eyes. "You're so fucking hot."
I heard a car door slam and the happy voices of my children. I gently removed his hands and slid my top over my head and walked back toward the house.
"We're home mommy!" my babies voices carry throughout the house as they run toward me followed by their father.
"Hey mommy." Leland says as he leans in to kiss me. "I saw Duane Lee's car outside, is he here?"
I smile innocently, "Yeah, he's sitting out by the pool."
