26. Silk
"Oh, isn't it beautiful?" Tin-Tin cooed, pulling a long green dress from a shopping bag at her feet, its slippery material cascading open for Virgil's inspection. Jeff looked up from where he sat reading at his desk to watch their interaction. The sight of the material sparked a vivid memory despite his best efforts to suppress it.
The night had already darkened to its deepest black when the wail broke through the quiet and the king-sized bed dipped slightly beneath Jeff as the mattress lost one of its occupants. He turned, still half asleep, and waited until his bedmate returned, bringing the quiet with her.
"Everything alright?" Jeff muttered through the fog of sleep.
"Just Gordon," Lucy answered in her night-raspy voice. "But he's fine now. I settled him down."
Lucy slipped under the sheets, drawing close to Jeff's side. He pulled her to him, his fingers gathering her silk nightgown into tiny bunches with groggy imprecision. The fabric was soft and familiar beneath his fingertips, luring him back to dreams.
As he drifted off, his last though lingered on Lucy's silk nightgown and how some things never changed no matter how different and hectic life became.