Chapter 142: Reach Out and Touch Someone
"Is sex dirty? Only if it's done right." – Woody Allen
"The only unnatural sexual act is that which you cannot perform." – Alfred Kinsey
"I can hear her heartbeat from a thousand miles / And the heavens open up every time she smiles
And when I come to her that is where I belong / And I'm running through her like a rivers song
She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love / She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down / And I'm coming to her when the sun goes down
Take away my troubles, take away my grief / Take away my heartaches in the night like a thief
She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love / She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love
And I need her in the daytime ( I need her) / And I need her in the night ( I need her)
And I want to throw my arms around her / Kiss and hug her, kiss and hug her tight
When I'm returning from so far away / Gives me some sweet loving, brightens up my day
And it makes me righteous and it makes me whole / And it makes me mellow right down to my soul
She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love / She gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love" – "Crazy Love" – Van Morrison
Sydney woke once during the night when Vaughn was coughing in his sleep. She smiled and replaced his oxygen and went back to sleep. When she woke in the morning, she was lying on Vaughn's shoulder and she could hear the faint noises of the other inhabitants of the house. She looked up at Vaughn, still peacefully sleeping and snuggled back into his embrace.
He woke a while later, gripping Sydney tighter as he woke.
"Morning," she said.
"Mmm, morning beautiful," he replied.
She smiled and leaned up to kiss him, "I think the night owls finally got in…"
He smiled, "Wonder where they went?"
"Don't know – we'll ask…you wanna eat breakfast with them – if they haven't eaten yet?"
"Sure."
"Ok, I'll go check," she said getting up.
"Sydney…"
"Yeah?" She said turning to him again.
"Last night…"
"I know sweetie," she said returning to the bed and sitting down with him. She looked at him seriously, debating about bringing her next point up, "Vaughn…I wanted to ask…just to make sure…" she looked away and then looked back at him again, "and I don't want to bring it up if you never thought about it…"
"What Sydney?"
"The oil…"
"Yeah…"
"The cherry oil…"
"Yeah…"
"Well…it burns…I just…wanted to make sure…"
He smiled, "I thought about it once, but I realized I was with you, I was safe…I was ok."
She smiled relieved, "Good…I thought about it to…I didn't want to scare you…"
"No, it was nice Sydney, my last few experiences with fire have been much more pleasant, I'm good…"
She beamed, "Good," and kissed him before she got off the bed again.
"Syd, can we eat out there?"
"Like at the table? Or on the couch?"
"Table."
"Sure, if you can sit there…"
"I wanna try."
"Ok," she said with a smile, opening the door and walking out quietly.
"Hey!" Will said as Sydney emerged from the bedroom, "The quiet ones finally wake…"
Sydney smiled, "The night owls finally make it home…where did you guys go?"
"Did you miss us?" Will asked.
"Oh yeah…terribly," Sydney said with a note of sarcasm.
Will smiled back at her while Francie answered, "We had a great day – we went to Descanso, then the California Wok for dinner, and then the Hollywood Bowl."
"That sounds like fun."
Amélie nodded, "They were very entertaining, and the Hollywood Bowl was wonderful."
Will rolled his eyes, "Yeah…it was great."
Francie smacked his arm, "You liked it – plus we went to the Wok for you…"
"It wasn't bad – and the eggrolls were superb," Will said with a grin, "And! We ran into Tom and Kaia – Kaia loves eggrolls…like A LOT…"
Sydney chuckled, "That's fun…sounds like you guys had a great day."
"We did…what did you guys do?" Francie asked.
"We did absolutely nothing ALL DAY LONG…it was glorious," Sydney said with a whimsical look.
"Nothing, huh?" Will asked, "Then…um…what is that–" he remarked, pointing to her neck.
Francie cut him off with another smack to the shoulder. Amélie smirked.
Sydney shook her head, "You have no tact Will…"
He smiled, "That's why you love me – Amélie loves me – she thinks I'm charming."
Amélie smiled, "He is a delightful boy."
"Oh yes, DE-lightful…" Sydney said as she and Francie giggled, "Did you guys eat already?"
"No, I was going to make brunch in a minute," Francie told her.
"Great…we'll join you."
"Cool," Will said, "Mike feeling better today?"
"Yeah, he's better."
Amélie smiled, happy to hear that her son was doing better.
"You guys stay right here," she said as Francie started to make brunch.
She ran off to the bedroom and smiled at him, "Ready to make your appearance?"
He nodded and Sydney quickly changed both of their clothes, dressing comfortably.
She helped him stand and started to walk out to the kitchen. Everyone was quiet, not wanting to break their concentration or do something that would hinder their progress.
Sydney eased Vaughn into the chair and he looked at the other people in the house as Sydney sat down next to him.
"What?" he asked.
Amélie smiled, "You're at the table Michael…"
"Yes…"
She got up off of her chair and moved over to him, embracing him in a warm hug and kissing his forehead. He hugged her back, knowing that she needed to do that, and realizing he needed it as much as she did.
When she was satisfied that she'd hugged him long enough, she sat back down and they resumed normal conversation.
Brunch was enjoyable and relaxed, and Vaughn managed to sit through the whole meal.
Afterwards, Sydney helped him move to the couch, and brought the medicine bottles with her. She opened the bottles and said, "Uh oh…"
Vaughn looked up at her, "What?"
"We need refills," she said showing him that there were only a few left in each of the bottles. "The antibiotic is ok…but not the pain pills…I'll have to go to the store…"
"Mmm…ok," he said.
"You be ok?"
"Yeah…I'll be ok."
Sydney looked over at Amélie, "You wanna come with me? Vaughn needs pill refills…"
Amélie smiled, "Sure."
Sydney smiled and grabbed her coat, and waited for Amélie to meet her at the door. She kissed Vaughn and blew him a kiss from the doorway, making a phone sign with her fingers on her way out.
He smiled, "Bye girls…"
Sydney flipped the radio to a soft rock station as they cruised towards the store.
Amélie smiled at her and started to talk softly, "I didn't want to say anything in front of Michael, but he seems to be doing better today…"
Sydney smiled, "Yeah, he is…"
"Is he really?"
"Yes. We spent a lot of time talking yesterday…it was good for both of us."
"Did he tell you what happened?"
"Yes he did."
Amélie pressed, "What did happen?"
Sydney's brow furrowed, "Well…she said some things to make him lose control…and he attacked her, but she talked him down…I really think it helped him, he's like a different person…his walls are down…"
"What did she say?"
Sydney sighed, "I'd really like to tell you, but I think that's more up to Michael…he needs to tell you himself when he's ready…" She glanced over at Amélie, "I'm not trying to keep things from you, I just…I don't think it's my place to say anything…I don't betray his trust…ever."
Amélie smiled, "That's the way it should be, I'm glad you won't tell me…does that make sense?"
Sydney smiled, "Yes, it does."
"And it's nice to know he's taken care of…that makes this mother very happy."
"How were you? I know it must have been hard, and I'm sorry that we couldn't talk earlier."
"No," Amélie said, "You needed to take care of Michael, and after I got over the initial shock, and came to terms with the fact that Michael is not as well as I think he is, I was ok…I'm dealing with it better now."
"Good…did you have fun with Will and Francie?"
"Oh yes, they are delightful, very fun. Will is adorable, Francie is very sweet…they were very nice, we had a great day."
"Michael and I did too."
"Good," Amélie said with a nod.
Sydney and Amélie arrived at the store and marched to the pharmacy counter.
"Hi," Sydney said cordially.
"Hello," a pharmacist with the nametag 'Mark' replied, "What can I do for you?"
Sydney dug in her bag, "I need these prescriptions refilled."
Mark took the bottles and took a minute to read them, "Ok…it'll be about a half hour…"
"Ok," Sydney said and then turned to Amélie, "What do you want to look at?"
Amélie thought a minute, "Hmm…I think I'll look at the shoes, I've been meaning to get a new pair for when I'm gardening."
"Ok," Sydney replied, "I'm going to go look at the clothes, grab a few other things…should we meet back here in a half hour?"
"Sounds like a plan," Amélie said with a smile, starting off in her own direction.
Sydney started off towards the men's clothing, and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse as she walked over.
Vaughn was sitting on the couch, watching TV when the phone next to him rang. He let it ring a half of a ring, knowing who it was, "Hey sexy…"
She chuckled, "Hey baby…how're you doing?"
"I'm ok…"
"Francie and Will treating you alright?"
"Yeah…they're great."
"Good…so, I'm at the store now…and I'm standing in front of all these shirts…I'll describe them and then you tell me which one you think you'd like best, ok?"
"Ok."
"Ok, here goes…there's one that's a dark red," she said fingering the shirt, "actually, I'd call it more maroon, and it's got like…plaid…never mind, no way…"
He chuckled, "Ok…"
"Let's check the other side of the rack, shall we?"
"Yeah…that's a good idea…"
"K, we got green…light green and dark, that'd bring out the color of your eyes," she said hinting, but he didn't take the bait.
"I like blue…and orange…"
"Well, they are complementary colors on the color wheel honey, but I don't know that I'm gonna find a shirt with them both…" she went to another rack, "Oh, hey, here's one…it's a kinda darker sky blue and it has little orange patterns on it…"
"Is it hideous?"
She laughed, "No…it's nice…I like it…"
"If you like it, I'm sure it's fine…but you don't need to buy me any more clothes Syd."
"I know…but I want to…we're shopping here, ok?"
"Yeah, ok…"
"K, what else? You need any tee shirts? I think you need a new white one…why don't I just get the three pack…" she said, not really letting him answer.
He chuckled again.
"What about boxers? Socks?"
"Hang on Sydney…I don't need all that stuff…"
"Ok…" she said drawing the word out, pouting. She had an evil idea, "Hey – are Will and Francie around?"
"Yeah – they're around."
"No, I mean like around like within your vicinity…"
He craned his neck, "No…why?"
"Where are they?"
"I don't know…I think Will's walking Donovan, Francie, laundry maybe?"
"Hmm…"
"Why?"
"What are you wearing?" she asked, in a more hushed tone.
"What I am I wearing? Sydney, you know what I'm wearing, you helped me get it on this morning…I'm wearing a blue tee shirt and boxers and sweatpants…why do you–" he stopped, punching in, "Is my mom there?"
She smiled into the phone, "No…So…what are you wearing?"
"Uh…I'm wearing boxers and a smile," he said, looking around the room, making sure that Will and Francie were nowhere to be seen and then hunkered down on the couch some more, "What are you wearing?" he asked in an equally hushed tone.
"Mmm…I'm wearing a white lace bra and bikini panties…they're g-string…" she let the visual sink in, "What are you doing?"
"I'm just sitting here, waiting for you babe…"
She smiled, "Mmm…well…I might not be home for awhile…you miss me?"
"Terribly…" he said, and she could tell that wasn't part of their new game.
"Oh…poor baby…I'll have to take care of that when I get back, but what to do with you before I get home?"
"Can't imagine…" he breathed out.
She could tell he was getting extremely turned on, "You know…I'm over here looking at the boxers…I'm not sure any of these would fit you…you're far too BIG for any of these…"
"Oh God Sydney…" he said, his head hitting the arm of the couch.
She smiled, "You like that?"
"Mmm hmm…"
"Michael?"
"Uh…yeah?"
"Can you hold the phone and still have a…hand…"
"Uhn…yeah…I think so…"
"Try it…"
He fumbled with the phone momentarily, moving on the couch so the pillow trapped the phone between his head and his shoulder, pressing it against his ear. That meant his right hand was free.
"Ok…"
"You have a free hand…to roam?"
"Yeah…"
"Good…you said you had boxers and nothing else on right?" she said teasing him, knowing he'd have to work around the sweatpants.
"Yeah…"
"Good…I want you to take your hand and reach down into your boxers…"
