Chapter 37

Melissa and Glenn had decided five children were more than enough. She didn't want to have any more. Glenn joked and told her they needed another girl to even up the odds. Melissa didn't think he was funny.

She was busy from the time feet hit the floor every morning until she went to bed every night. She got up early with Glenn to spend a few minutes alone with him before he went to work. After he'd gone, she would get the kids up and feed them breakfast. She'd put Rachel on the school bus and get the boys ready for the nanny.

Glenn had finally talked her into letting him hire someone to help her with Patrick, Liam, and Anthony. She always seemed so exhausted at the end of the day taking care of them and the estate . The nanny really was a great idea and a big help.

With Patricia getting older, Melissa was taking care of her too. Glenn had found brochures for retirement homes Patricia had been reading. She insisted on choosing one to move to . Glenn told her it would be over his cold dead body before she went into a retirement home.

Melissa was in the kitchen cooking dinner when Glenn came home. He kissed her and spent time with the children. After dinner, he helped her get the children ready for bed. Laying against him on the couch, she said, "I want to go away for a few days. Just you and me. It hasn't been just us since our honeymoon."

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"I don't know. Someplace nice. But not too far," she answered.

"Alright. Set it up and we'll go," he said.

Two months later, they were driving to a cabin on a lake owned by one of Glenn's colleagues. Glenn had mentioned that Melissa wanted to go away but didn't know where she want to go. His colleague offered them the cabin for a few days. Melissa was thrilled when he came home and told her.

The cabin was perfectly secluded deep in the thick woods. Glenn carried in their suitcases while Melissa looked around, smiling. "This is perfect. There's nobody around."

"Is this what you had in mind?" Glenn asked.

"Yes, it is," she said, kissing him.

"Good, let's not waist a second," he said picking her up.

He carried her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He began kissing her when she pulled away. "Glenn, did you hear that?"

"Hear what? I didn't hear anything," he said, and kissed her neck.

"There it goes again. You don't hear that?" she asked him.

Frustrated, he said, "I don't hear anything, Melissa! There's nothing to hear."

Then he heard what she heard. Squeaking noises. It was coming from under the bed. They looked at each other and then at the floor. Moving back, Glenn told her, "Stay on the bed."

She stood up and pressed herself against the wall. Glenn looked at her, rolled his eyes, and said, "What the hell are doing? Don't jump on the bed."

"I'm not going to jump on the bed! I'm going to jump off it and run out the door," she said.

"Why?"

"What if it's a bear?"

"It's not a bear! Under the bed, Melissa? Think about what you just said! Stay on the bed and be quiet," he said.

He looked under the bed and said, "It's raccoon!"

He walked over and opened the window and went to the fireplace to get a poker.

"Don't kill it!" she said.

"I'm not gonna kill it, I'm gonna chase it out the window," he said.

He hit the poker on the floor. The raccoon bowed up and hissed and growled. He hit the floor and few more times before it finally backed toward the other side of the bed. When it backed into the wall, it hissed again Melissa said, " Aww, it's so cute!"

Glenn hit the floor again and it hissed and smacked the air. Melissa let out a small scream. When it finally jumped out the window, she leapt off the bed and slammed the window shut. He put the poker back, and said, "You're driving me nuts, woman! Bear under the bed."

Picking up where he left off, Glenn kissed her again and pulled her shirt over her head. She pulled back, and said, "Was that the only one?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"The only raccoon. What if it had babies? It might come back," she said. She put her shirt back on, and said, "We gotta check."

"We? When you say 'we', you mean me. Don't you?" he clarified.

She looked at him pleadingly. Shaking his head, he left the room. Coming back in, he said, "No more raccoons. I checked every single room."

"Thank you," she said kissing him.

They worked up quite an appetite making love. When Melissa went to cook them dinner, Glenn laughed at her. She cautiously left the bedroom, carefully looking all around her for more raccoons.

"There are no more raccoons, baby. Just the one. It's gone," he said.