* I know that the past few chapters have been fairly short, so here comes a bit more, um, "meat" to the story. Enjoy!*
It had been two weeks since Frank returned home. For all intents and purposes he had become an ideal father and husband. He learned everything he could about raising a baby in record time. He was even back to work at the Denton Pharmaceutical Company. Frank thought that he had proven that he was the man that Eva fell in love with and that everything was fine between them.
Eva was working on her second children's novel. It had the charms of a popular franchise about young wizards, but instead was about a group of children living on a distant planet. Her first book began to sell in record numbers and her publisher pressured her quite a bit for a second.
From the outside, Frank and Eva's lives seemed perfect, as if they hadn't missed a beat while Frank was away. From the inside though, one thing was missing. Eva had been trying to get Frank's "attention" for quite some time. She tried everything from dressing seductively to not dressing at all. Frank just came up with excuses, or else, unbeknownst to Eva, pretended to be asleep. Eva began to wonder about Frank's faithfulness to her. Was there something going on with someone at work? Or was it that Frank no longer found her to be desirable? When she finally mustered the courage to ask him about it, his response was something along the lines of, "Don't be silly, darling, I love you."
Eva knew that Frank had been through a lot in the past few months, but she couldn't understand why he didn't want to do more than kiss her. She knew that their relationship had never been based solely on sex (well, aside from their first…and second nights together), and sex wasn't even what she wanted. She couldn't help herself from longing for Frank to make love to her.
When they were first together, they made love every night, even after she became pregnant. It was so much more than sex, it was a time where they escaped into another world for a while, where they could profess an undying love for each other without uttering a single word. It was a time when they could join their bodies, minds, and souls together. Who wouldn't want to rekindle that kind of flame?
Eva had a meeting with her publisher, Jared Worthington, on a Tuesday afternoon. Jared had tried advancing on Eva several times during Frank's absence, but had never succeeded. Frank was at work, so Eva dropped Faye off at her mother's house.
Eva walked into Jared's office with her latest manuscript in hand. "Good afternoon, Eva," Jared said with a wide smile on his face. He walked to her and kissed her cheek. "And what gold have you brought for me today?"
"I'm not sure that it's gold this time, Jared, my writing's been…lacking."
"Something wrong, Eva?" Jared asked.
Eva sighed deeply. "Frank's been home for a couple of weeks now and…we…" She quickly stopped herself. "Why on earth would I say this to you of all people."
"Intimacy is lacking at home, isn't it, Eva?" he asked with an almost cocky smile. She nodded. He began to walk towards her. "You're telling me because I've been trying to get you to notice me in that way for a few months now."
"And I've been very good at telling you 'no' Jared. I'm a married woman, I have a child and…"
Jared interrupted her by doing what he longed to do since he first saw her. He kissed her and she…well, she didn't stop him. He kissed her with the intensity that Frank used to kiss her with, but his passion was lacking. She didn't realize what she was doing when she wrapped her arms around him. In her mind, he wasn't Jared; he was Frank. In fact, Frank's name escaped her lips in a soft moan. Jared pulled away.
"My mistake," Jared said. "I'll still be fair about your book," he chuckled. "Go home to him, talk to him…he's a lucky man."
Eva backed away. "I-I'm sorry," she whimpered, tears beginning to stain her cheeks.
"It's not your fault. I've had some pressure on you for a while and, well, I should've known better than to try to take advantage…" He gave her a halfhearted smile. "Go home, Eva."
Eva left the office and called her mother from her cell phone. "Mom, I'll be by later on to pick up Faye. Frank and I need a little time to discuss some things."
"Take your time, dear," she happily replied.
When Eva got to the apartment building, Frank's car was already in the lot. She was nervous, scared, and unsure of what she would say, what Frank would say. Her heart began to pound as she rode the elevator up to their floor. When she got out and walked to their door, she froze for a moment, wondering if she should say anything at all. Yes. She had to be honest with him or else things would begin to fall apart. She put her key in the lock and opened the door.
"Frankie?" she called in a shaky voice. There was no answer. She walked into the bedroom and he was changing out of his work clothes; he hadn't gotten farther than undoing the first few buttons on his shirt. "Frankie, sweetheart, we need to talk about something."
"What is it, love? Where's Faye?"
"She's still at my mother's." Her voice became more delicate. "Frank, There's something wrong between us and I want to fix it…I need us to fix it." He didn't respond. Thinking he was angry with her, Eva paused for a moment. She then began again. "Don't be angry with me for asking, but is there somebody else? Maybe someone at work that you find…more appealing than me? Have I changed in some way that makes you not want to be with me anymore?"
"Where would you get such an idea?" He sniffed at the air. "You, um, you smell of men's cologne." He sat on the edge of the bed. "What's going on, Eva?"
"I, well, I'm not sure, Frank," she replied, looking away.
He laughed. "I think you know what you want to say, Eva, so why not just do it now?"
"Do what, Frank?"
"Tell me you're leaving. Tell me that I chose to stay here, with you, for nothing…"
"Frank, what are you…"
"You've been with another man, Eva, I can smell it." His tone was soft, shaky. He was fighting back tears.
"I haven't been with another man, Frank. Jared, my publisher, he kissed me today…and I didn't exactly stop him." She couldn't bear to look Frank in the eyes.
"I see. You're attracted to him then?"
"That's the thing, Frankie…I was kissing him, and believe me, I couldn't feel worse about that, but I thought it…in my mind…I was kissing you. I even said your name, rather erotically I might add." There was only silence between them. "I couldn't shake the thought that maybe you had someone else…you haven't done more than kiss me since you've been back and even that feels forced…"
"Someone else? You think I'd do that to you?"
"You spent the last few months doing what you wanted to with who you wanted to and…"
"It wasn't me, Eva," he was somewhat frustrated and began to softly sob. "It wasn't really 'me.'" He walked away from her. "I want you Eva. I want to do with you what we did before I…we had something so amazing that we created a child."
"It doesn't take all that much to make a baby, Frank," Eva said, not thinking the words through.
"Not with humans," Frank replied coldly. He got up and walked over to where she stood. "Where I come from, sexual drives are fierce and at times uncontrollable. If the simple act of sex lead to a baby every time, there wouldn't be enough room on the planet for anyone."
Eva looked questionably at Frank. "Then how does it work?"
"The only way for a child to be brought into Transsexual is for those engaged in the act to be truly in love with each other on a very deep and intense level. I know it must sound horribly ridiculous to you, I mean if someone sneezes on another person the wrong way here they seem to become pregnant."
Eva let herself laugh a little. "I know that you love me, Frank, but is it only me that you want? And how am I supposed to know if you do when you don't want to, um, touch me."
"Eva, I want nothing more than to touch you, to be with you. I've never had such feelings course through my being than the ones I get when I make love to you…"
"But?"
"I'm afraid, Eva. I'm afraid it won't be the same. I'm terrified that you won't enjoy 'us' anymore because of what I've done. The thought of me and, well, whomever I've been with must be killing you in some way. I can say that with certainty because the thought of you and another…" He stopped.
"Go on," she smiled. "The thought of me and another…what?"
"The thought of you and another man…or woman really if you want to size everything up…hurts terribly inside. And those are just thoughts, you have to live with the fact that I've actually done those things." He put his head against the wall and waited for Eva to respond.
"I told you that it didn't matter…"
"But you didn't mean it. How could you? If you meant it, then you wouldn't think that I have someone else."
"I think it's a woman thing, overreacting is a perfectly natural response here…O.K., that's not helping." She began to pace. "I guess I…I don't know. I know, truly, deep in my heart, that I can stop worrying about what you did at the castle…because I know you love me, because I love you…because it wasn't 'you.' The problems that I have are simply these: Do you want a normal life after the one you've lived not only before you left, but before you ever knew me? And more importantly, am I enough for you?"
"I had no life before you, Eva. I had a very shallow existence that never satisfied me in any long term way…and what I had for the past few months was one long horrible high that I'm so glad to be down from. And, yes, you are more than enough for me. I couldn't ask for someone better in any way…"
"Prove it," she quickly interrupted.
"How?"
Eva raised an eyebrow. "You know how, Frank." She caressed his face and began to kiss him. She planted soft pecks on his lips, which soon became long sensual kisses, her tongue parting his lips. "Please, Frank," she said, almost pleading with him.
"You're sure?"
She started to unbutton his shirt. "Uh huh…Frankie, I need you."
"I need you too, Eva." He swept her into his arms and laid her on the bed. The shades were drawn and Frank turned out the lights. It was as dark as their very first night together. Frank let his hands roam over his wife's body, familiarizing himself with the curves he had been without for so long. He kissed her neck and traced his tongue up to her ear.
"Frankie," she sighed. She unbuttoned his shirt the rest of the way and slid it off his shoulders. She ran her hands along his cool chest, then down his back. She felt him shiver the same way he had in the beginning, when everything was new.
Frank undressed Eva with an intense amount of care and tenderness. Every time a new section of skin was exposed, he showered it with his affections. He was again indeed the man that Eva had fallen so deeply in love with. Frank kissed her with all the passion and fire that they had each been missing for so long.
It wasn't very long before Frank and Eva began to make love to each other. Eva held Frank as tightly as she could; she never wanted to let him go. Emotions flowed between them at a very heightened rate. They both let silent tears flow from their eyes; they had found each other again.