The Path Home, Ch. 5
A/N: This chapter references my stories "Christmas with the Family," "Scrapbooks," and "The Visitor".
Also I want to give special thanks to Labyrinth for allowing me to borrow the characters of Lily Powers, Alexis, and Savannah from her wonderful "Welcome Her Home with Red Roses." If you haven't yet read it, what planet have you been on?
Chapter 5:
Now that she was relieved of any house hunting responsibilities Brenda could concentrate on Easter. She began scouring her cookbooks and the internet for menus.
When Fritz came through the door he saw her studying the computer screen while the printer spit out several pages. "Hi, honey. What are you doing?"
"Did you know there are all these websites with menus and recipes?"
"I never thought much about it, but I guess there are websites for everything. But why are you searching for recipes? I thought we were taking Charlie and your father out for Easter dinner."
"We are. But I'll be cookin' on other days."
"Why don't you just cook whatever you fix when you're in Atlanta? And I can help some too."
"I might. But look at this great menu for Easter breakfast. Maybe I could fix this breakfast casserole."
"What about Charlie? Maybe she'll do some of the cooking."
"Maybe she will, but only if she volunteers. She's our guest so I don't want to ask her."
Fritz then took the conversation in a slightly different direction. "I have another idea for a dinner while Charlie and Clay are here."
"Oh, what's that?"
"Why don't we invite Lily Powers and Alexis for dinner. They invited us and it would only be polite to return the invitation."
"I don't think I can cook a meal for that many people."
"It would only be six people and Charlie would probably be willing to help. And think about her. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to introduce her to someone closer to her own age while she's here?"
"Yes, but…"
"Otherwise she's going to be left alone with Clay the entire time we have to work."
"Well, that wouldn't be good. But we don't even know if Alexis is gonna be in LA for Easter."
"It sounded to me like she comes for most of her school vacations. We can call and invite them. Lily will tell us if she's coming or not. And if she doesn't come I'm sure Lily will still enjoy being with us."
"Do you think she'd get along with Daddy?"
"She's a certified social worker, Brenda. I'm sure she has the skills and training to handle Clay. Besides, I think Lily would get along with just about anyone. It's just one dinner, and we really ought to return her invitation."
"All right, Emily Post. Do you still have her phone number?"
"Somewhere. I'll look for it after we eat."
While Brenda finished wiping off the kitchen counters, Fritz went rummaging through his desk. "I found it. Here, I'll dial the number for you."
"This is your idea, so you do it," she answered while drying her hands before walking to the desk.
"No. The hostess is supposed to issue the invitation." As he handed the receiver to Brenda he punched the keypad.
"God, you really are Emily Post… Hello, Lily? This is Brenda Johnson."
"Oh, hello, Brenda. How have you been?" Lily's voice radiated warmth.
"Fine, thanks. And you? Oh, by the way, thank you for the tea. It worked wonders."
"I'm so glad to hear that. If you need more, just let me know and I'll mix up another batch for you."
"Thank you. I'll remember that." Then Brenda switched gears. "The reason I'm callin' is that my father and my niece, Charlie, are comin' for Easter and I'm wonderin' if you would like to come for dinner one night while they're here. And of course, Alexis is included if she's comin' to visit you."
"I would love to visit with you and Fritz again. And meeting your father and Charlie will be a special treat. But I don't know if Alexis will be coming or not. She wants to go to Quebec for some spring skiing with some of her friends but Savannah doesn't feel that there will be adequate adult supervision. Maybe getting to see you and Fritz again and meeting Charlie will be enough of a lure that she'll call a truce with her mother," Lily explained with a chuckle.
"I hope so. But whether Alexis comes or not, we both would love to see you again. I need to warn you, though. I'm not nearly as good a cook as you are. Dinner will probably be just plain home-style southern cookin' because that's all I know how to fix. Nothin' fancy."
"That sounds wonderful, Brenda. I would be pleased to come. All I need is the date and the time."
"Well, Daddy and Charlie are arrivin' the Thursday before Easter. How does that Saturday at 7:00 sound?"
"It sounds just fine. What can I bring?"
"Just yourself. I have plenty of antacids in case I totally botch dinner."
"Now, I'm sure I won't need anything of the kind. I'm going to call Savannah tomorrow and see if this invitation doesn't put an end to the latest teenage drama currently playing center stage in Boston."
"Good. Just let me know. I'm lookin' forward to seein' you both again. And now I'm gonna give you to Fritz so he can give you directions."
"Thank you."
When Fritz hung up the phone she said, "Well, Alexis has other ideas for her vacation, but it sounds like her mother has put her foot down. So, if she comes, we definitely will have come in second place."
"I bet she comes. She seems to have a crush on you."
"I just hope the girls hit it off."
"I'm sure they will. They don't have to become best friends. I just think that it'll be nice for Charlie to have someone closer to her own age to talk to."
The following week, Carol Franklin called and said she had the results of the inspections. No major problems were found except the pool heater and the chimney cap and screen needed to be replaced. As suspected the blockage was caused by a bird's nest. She had called the Hansons and had obtained the phone number of Kick Ash, the business which had cleaned the chimney in the past. Fritz took down the information and said he'd make arrangements for the work to be done just as soon as they closed on the house.
"The Hansons would like to close during the week before they move but are requesting that they be permitted to remain in the house until they leave on the weekend."
"I don't think Brenda and I would have a problem with that."
"All right. Of course, they will be responsible for any damage which might occur during that time. Your lawyer can prepare the appropriate form for them to sign at closing. If you know the name of the attorney who will be handling things for you I'll make all the arrangements and I should be able to call you with the closing date within the next couple of days."
He gave her the name of the attorney who had represented them when they'd sold the bungalow and ended the call saying, "Thank you, Carol. We are so appreciative of everything you've done."
"Well, it sounds like we're gonna be homeowners," Brenda said without a smile.
"You don't look pleased."
"I was just thinkin' about havin' to pack everythin' up."
Fritz knew that the specter of change was really what was bothering her. "We'll be doing it together." When Brenda nodded with a weak smile, he said, "But since I did it the last time, it's your turn to do all the unpacking."
"Is that so?" she replied as she threw a pillow at him.
At their next therapy session, Brenda began to unpack something else. Something that had been on her mind. "Dr. Leonard, I've been thinkin' back on somethin' my neighbor said to me. She seemed to think that I invited Phillip Stroh to my house."
"Are you thinking that your neighbor's conclusion might be correct?"
"My first reaction was that it's ridiculous. But I've been thinkin' about it and now I don't know. I should have realized, by attackin' him to get his DNA and then bringin' Rusty home with me, that Stroh would come after me. So I'm wonderin'. Did I have some kind of death wish?"
Fritz was shocked. "Brenda, are you saying that you think you were suicidal?"
"I don't know what I'm thinkin'. But I've never thought of myself as suicidal. I always thought Stroh breakin' into my home was completely unexpected. But I should have known he would do that. After all, my whole career depended on bein' able to anticipate what criminals would do and to be one or two steps ahead of them."
"What do you think was different about the Phillip Stroh case?"
"She was totally obsessed with him," Fritz said.
"I was. And now I'm wonderin' if that obsession caused me to draw him to my home."
"Do you think that's what happened?" Dr. Leonard asked as she took notes.
"I don't know. I just keep comin' back to the fact that if it were any other case I would have known that he might stalk me and I would have been prepared."
"I don't think you were suicidal, Brenda. But I'd like you to consider the possibility that you subconsciously lured Phillip Stroh to your home in order to create a final confrontation with him."
"I can see that, honey," Fritz said softly. "You were afraid of him, but you were also determined that he would not be the one who got away."
Brenda's eyes once again filled with tears. "If that's true I almost cost Rusty Beck his life, too."
Fritz put his arms around his wife and said softly, "You didn't do it on purpose."
"Brenda, it is certainly possible that you subconsciously created the final confrontation in order to end your obsession with him and to put him behind bars where he belonged," Dr. Leonard intervened. "But I would like you to remember that you used your skill and strength to fight him off. And you saved not only your own life, but a boy's life, as well. In addition you probably saved the lives of several other women he would have victimized."
Brenda blinked away her tears, cleared her throat, and said, "I'm no longer obsessed with him. At least, not like I was before. Well, maybe I still am a little because I keep havin' flashbacks."
"But you haven't had any in quite a while," Fritz said.
"That's the medicine. Doctor, what do you think?"
"You've got a lot more understanding of the situation than you did when we started therapy. And you describe being much calmer."
"That's true. I am. I don't even get a stomach ache any more when I think about havin' to face him again in court."
"Are you afraid of having to testify against him?" Dr. Leonard probed.
"Not really. I don't even dread it. I've had a lot of experience testifyin' and I'm very good on cross-examination. I really want my testimony to help put him away for the rest of his life."
"It sounds to me like you have confidence in your ability to get you through an unpleasant experience."
She nodded. "I guess so."
Brenda stood in the baggage claim area as the latest wave of passengers headed toward the luggage conveyor belts which were alternately sending forth the passengers' life essentials and reclaiming them again. Soon she saw Clay and Charlie and stepped forward with a smile to greet them.
"Aunt Brenda!" Charlie cried as she ran up and hugged her aunt. Clay trailed along at his own pace and also gave Brenda a hug and a kiss. Charlie's hair was a little longer than it had been at Christmas. It was no longer spiked and was back to its natural brunette color.
"You look wonderful, Charlie. And you're lettin' your hair grow. It's really becomin'."
"At least it's not red and green anymore," Clay muttered. "Now if she could get rid of all those holes in her face."
Charlie had heard her grandfather's complaints about her pierced nose and eyebrow many times so she just ignored his comments. "Thanks, Aunt Brenda. I got tired of bein' mistaken for a lesbian. Although if I'd been braver, that might have been fun."
"Charlene!" Clay was appalled that his granddaughter would say such a thing.
"Oh, Grandpa, I'm only kiddin'. See? Aunt Brenda's laughin'. She knows I'm not serious."
"Well, everyone who heard you doesn't know that."
Brenda broke in to change the subject. "Daddy, why don't you see if you can grab a luggage cart while Charlie and I get the bags."
When Clay returned with a cart, Brenda turned to him and said, "We found Charlie's but we haven't seen yours yet."
"Let me see. They'd better not have sent it to Timbuktu." He studied the carousel for a few minutes and finally reached for a suitcase at the same time a teenage boy grabbed for it.
"Hey, this is mine, gramps!" the teenager said.
"Oh, sorry, son. But just to make sure, how about checking the nametag?"
"Unless your name is also Brad Minton, this is mine."
"Well, where is mine, then?" Clay asked no one in particular as Brad took the bag and headed out the door.
"Daddy, you need to do somethin' to make your suitcase more identifiable," Brenda sighed.
"Well, I never remember it until I'm traveling." Just then he spotted his bag, checked the nametag and retrieved it triumphantly.
They took the shuttle bus to the parking lot and Clay loaded their suitcases into the back of Brenda's Prius. "Huh, I never thought they'd fit," he muttered as he closed the hatchback. While driving toward the toll booth, he noticed the lack of engine noise and asked, "Does this orange juice can on wheels have a motor?"
"No, Daddy. Just a rubber band… Of course it has a motor, but it runs on battery as much as it can. Now, no more complainin' about my car unless you want to buy me a new one and pay for all the gas it'll guzzle."
"Humph!"
"Grandpa, don't you think it's cool that Aunt Brenda drives a car that saves energy and doesn't put out so many greenhouse gases?"
"With all this traffic, I'd think it was cool if she drove a real car that could hold its own in a crash," Clay replied.
"Don't worry. It holds its own very well, Daddy."
"And this thing rides so low it couldn't clear a cigar butt."
Brenda's phone rang, throwing her a lifeline by interrupting Clay's non-stop complaints, so she pushed the button on her steering wheel to answer it. Fritz's name appeared on the car's navigation screen. "Hi, honey. Are you home yet?"
"I'm at the light at the end of the block. Where are you?"
"We're still about half an hour out. Heavy traffic. How about orderin' pizza tonight?"
"Does Clay want to eat pizza?"
Clay, not sure where to direct his voice, hollered "Yes. Sausage, ham, onions and peppers."
"Daddy, the microphone is up by the rear view mirror. You don't have to yell. What about you, Charlie? Is pizza ok for supper tonight?"
"Sure, Aunt Brenda, but I'd like pepperoni."
"Did you get that, honey?"
"Yes, pepperoni. I'll order both. See you in a few minutes."
"Don't forget the cinnamon sticks. A double order. And Diet Dr. Pepper, if they have it."
"I bet they don't have Dr. Pepper in LA," Clay grumbled.
"Then you can drink Diet Coke, tea, or I'll make a pot of coffee," Brenda said. Then she turned back to Fritz, "Better get two bottles of whatever they have."
"Ok, see you in a few minutes."
When Brenda, Charlie and Clay entered the duplex, they saw Fritz hunched over a large brown plastic mound on the floor.
"What's that?" Brenda asked.
"An air mattress. I borrowed it from Tony. It's the same size as a twin bed so it's bigger than the sofa. I think it'll be more comfortable for Charlie."
"We'll have to stash it in our room Saturday night," Brenda commented.
"No problem. We can just slide it under the bed."
"What's Saturday night?" Clay asked.
"We're havin' company for dinner. We met a woman and her granddaughter at the airport. They invited us for dinner so we're returnin' the favor. Lily's granddaughter is seventeen, Charlie."
"Oh," Charlie said, unimpressed.
"I know she's a couple of years younger than you are, but she's more in your age range than all of us old fuddy duddies are."
"Aunt Brenda, you're not an old fuddy duddy. But I'm chill with havin' company for dinner," she shrugged. "Do you want me to cook?"
"Oh, no, honey. You're our guest. I'm gonna do it."
"No offense, Aunt Brenda. But your cookin' reputation precedes you. And not in a good way. If you want the company to survive, you'd better let me cook."
"Hey! I'm not that bad. Your Uncle Fritz and Grandpa have survived."
"Just barely," Clay muttered.
Brenda shot Clay a withering look, then she turned back to Charlie and said, "But I'd be glad for your help. And while we work you can tell me all about Georgetown. I probably wouldn't recognize the place after all this time."
"Great. What are we gonna cook?"
"Well, I found this menu on the internet but I've got to go shoppin' for the ingredients tomorrow," she replied as she handed Charlie a sheaf of printouts with the menu and recipes.
"Can I come with you?" When Brenda nodded, Charlie grinned, "This is gonna be fun."
Their pizza party was interrupted by the ringing phone. Since Fritz was the closest, he answered it. "Oh, hello, Carol. What can I do for you this evening?" Brenda's attention immediately snapped to the phone conversation. "Oh, ok. Let me get my calendar." Then he turned to Brenda and said, "Grab your calendar, honey. We have to reschedule the closing. Yes, Carol, Brenda is getting her calendar too. How does next Friday morning sound to you?" When Brenda nodded yes, Fritz turned back to the phone. "Next Friday is ok. 10:00 AM? We'll be there."
They stood by the phone talking softly and dividing up the responsibilities for getting everything in order for the early closing. Then Brenda expressed some misgivings. "This is all comin' together too fast. What if we forget somethin'?"
"Don't worry. Our attorney has the time to review everything before the closing and he'll let us know if we need to do anything else."
When they both returned to the table, Clay asked, "What's this about a closing?"
Fritz smiled, "Well, Brenda and I are buying a house."
"That's great!" Charlie cheered.
"Well, it's about time. I was wondering if you were ever going to give my daughter a proper home," Clay glared at Fritz.
"It took awhile…" Fritz started.
"Daddy, it's not Fritzi's fault. He's wanted a house forever. I'm the one who didn't want to move."
"Can we go see it?" Charlie asked.
"The present owners are still livin' in it so we can't go inside, but we could drive by it after dinner on Sunday," Brenda agreed. "But, Fritz is gonna try to get the final inspection scheduled for next Wednesday or Thursday. So you might get to come with us and see the whole thing."
"So, you're closing Friday morning?" Clay asked. When Brenda nodded he objected, "But we have to leave Friday morning."
"We'll take you to the airport and then go on to the closin'. It'll all work out."
Clay immediately began his usual complaint about having to get up early and get to the airport just to sit around for several hours. This time, instead of trying to soothe him, Brenda ignored him.
And Charlie did the same. Instead she turned to Brenda and asked, "When are you gonna move?"
"Our lease here doesn't expire until the end of May so we'll move then. That'll give us time to get the place ready," Fritz explained.
"I wish I could be here to help you guys move," Charlie replied.
"I wish you could too, honey. Packin', movin', and then unpackin' are way up on my list of things that I hate.
During their next therapy session, Dr. Leonard asked, "How do the two of you make major decisions in your marriage?"
"Well, we talk about it and come to an agreement together," Brenda replied.
Fritz corrected her. "Sometimes that's true, but I often have to be the one making the decision."
"Is that true, Brenda?" When Dr. Leonard saw Brenda nod, she asked, "Are you comfortable with Fritz making the big decisions by himself?"
"I don't know… I guess so. But don't get the idea that we don't talk about things because we do. But, well, he's logical and he thinks clearly about things so I trust him."
"Fritz, are you comfortable with that?"
"I'd rather she'd be more involved, but sometimes it's hard to get Brenda to sit down and have a serious discussion."
"Why is that?"
"She likes to avoid major issues, especially the unpleasant ones. So she'll make an excuse and run away. And when she won't discuss things, I just give up and make the decisions myself."
When Brenda heard that she dropped her head and began twisting her rings.
"Is that true, Brenda?"
"Well… Sometimes he wants to talk about things when I don't have the time to deal with them."
"When that happens, do you suggest another specific time to sit down and talk things through?"
"No. I just know that, if it's really important, he's gonna take care of it." She was now intensely examining her fingernails.
"Then, is Fritz right when he describes you as avoiding difficult or unpleasant discussions?"
Brenda cleared her throat before answering, "Sometimes."
"It hasn't just been an issue of timing, Doctor. Brenda often has tunnel vision. She refuses to look at the whole picture. She can only see things from one point of view. Then I have to make the decision."
"Does Fritz frequently step in when that happens?"
"Yes. Well, he used to," she replied grudgingly. "But it's not like that now. I'm doin' better."
"I see. And do you also make the decisions when he won't deal with things?"
"No, I never have to. He always deals with things."
"So do you depend on him to be the caretaker of your marriage?"
"I don't think of him as a caretaker. Our marriage isn't a 'nanny state', but he's almost always right about things."
"Fritz, do you feel you always have to be the perfect one in your marriage?"
"I don't think about it like that." Dr. Leonard noted his surprised expression and when she continued to look at him, he admitted. "But I guess I've always thought I had to be perfect. For everyone."
"You don't have to be perfect for me," Brenda said.
Dr. Leonard made note of Brenda's comment but focused on Fritz. "Why do you feel you have to be perfect for everyone?"
He felt his emotions surging and struggled to speak. "I've had to be perfect ever since my parents died."
When she heard that, Brenda took his hand.
"Tell me about that," Dr. Leonard encouraged.
Fritz struggled to maintain his composure. "My parents died in a plane crash when I was 18 and Child Welfare tried to take my younger sister away from me, too. All we had left was each other. I had to prove to the judge that I could maintain my college grades, take care of her, the house, and keep us both out of trouble before I could get guardianship of her."
"So, keeping your sister meant you had to be perfect. That's a lot to ask of a boy."
"Yes, it was. But I did it. It was the only way I could keep Child Welfare from taking her away from me and putting her up for adoption." As he spoke his composure crumpled. His chin trembled and he teared up. Brenda turned to him and put her arms around him. She held him and rubbed his back as he cried.
Dr. Leonard handed him a box of tissues as she spoke. "So that terrible event made you feel you had to be perfect in every way. You said that you're a recovering alcoholic. Did the need to be perfect at all times contribute to your drinking too much?"
Fritz left Brenda's arms but still couldn't speak. He just nodded and gripped Brenda's hand.
"Yet you've remained clean and sober for over ten years now. Is that also a struggle for perfection?"
Fritz recovered his composure. "No, regaining sobriety was a struggle for survival. I didn't have any choice there, either. I would have lost my job and maybe my life if I hadn't gone into rehab and then AA."
"Was your struggle for perfection a factor in the failure of your first marriage?"
"My first wife was bipolar and I had to work extra hard to hold my marriage together. Her stability depended on me and she was unforgiving of any slip-ups."
"Did it work?"
"For awhile. But eventually it failed."
"And you got divorced."
"Yes."
"What was that like for you?"
"It was terrible. I felt like I had failed in keeping my marriage vows."
"Why do you feel that that failure was yours?"
"I took those vows seriously, Doctor. It was up to me to honor them."
"But that responsibility wasn't yours alone," Brenda interjected.
"Cindy was mentally ill. She couldn't keep them."
"Is Brenda right, Fritz? It sounds like you felt that it was up to you to maintain your first marriage all by yourself. But you couldn't have done that, no matter how hard you tried."
Again Fritz just nodded. He was still struggling to maintain his composure.
"And you're trying to do the same thing in maintaining this marriage. Even though you have a healthier partner, you're still trying to be perfect."
"I'm far from perfect, Doctor."
"But do you feel you have to try to maintain perfection to keep this marriage?"
"I… I don't know."
"Brenda, do you love Fritz?"
"Yes, of course."
"Tell him how you feel."
She turned and faced him and spoke earnestly. "I love you more than anyone else on earth."
"Good. And do you feel you need to be perfect for him?"
"No, I'm not even close to perfect. And he certainly knows that."
"Fritz, Brenda isn't perfect, but she loves you." Then Dr. Leonard turned back to Brenda. "Is your marriage important to you?"
"Yes, of course it is. It's the most important thing in my life."
"Are you willing to share the work of maintaining your marriage?"
"Yes, of course. At the beginnin' of our marriage, I always put my job first. But I don't do that anymore. I know it must sound like Fritz makes all the decisions by himself, but it's not like that all the time. I'm workin' on it and I'm doin' better."
"She's right. She is trying harder."
"So, Brenda is becoming more involved in building and keeping your marriage strong." When Dr. Leonard saw Fritz nod, she continued. "And how does Brenda sharing more of the responsibility feel to you?"
"It feels good, more like a real partnership."
"Earlier we spoke of you hiding your nightmares from Brenda. Is that the only thing you've withheld from her?"
As Brenda shook her head, Fritz looked at her. "What else have I hidden from you?"
"You hid your alcoholism from me. And you hid your promotion from me a couple of years ago. And, until Cindy came to our front door, you never told me anythin' about your first marriage."
"But you never wanted to hear about my drinking or about my first marriage."
"That's true. And that was my failin'. I never wanted to deal with anythin' unpleasant."
"Brenda, as you look back, what do you think now about your refusal to be more involved in your marriage?"
"It was really unfair to Fritz, and to our marriage. I was dumpin' all the responsibility on him and runnin' off to work. I knew how to solve crimes but I didn't know how to make my marriage work. I'm figurin' that out as we go. It doesn't seem to come naturally to me," she admitted.
"I'm glad you recognize that, Brenda. That's real growth on your part." Dr. Leonard then turned back to Fritz, "But do you now understand that, even if Brenda wanted to avoid unpleasant issues, it still was important that you tell her about them?"
"I did finally force her to listen to me about my alcoholism. But it was wrong of me not to tell her sooner, or to tell her about the other things."
"Tell me why you felt you needed to hide things from Brenda."
"I can't risk losing her. I can't imagine my life…" Once again, his shoulders sagged and emotion choked off his voice.
"Is that what you think would happen if she realized that you aren't perfect?"
"No. Yes. I don't know. They're not little things and I just couldn't risk it."
Brenda squeezed his hand. "You'll never lose me. I love you too much."
"How do you feel about what Brenda just said?"
"I know she means it, but she doesn't know how bad I can be."
"What would happen if she were to see that you aren't perfect?"
"I don't want her to ever see anything that would make her question if she wants to stay with me."
"Despite her avoidance, Brenda is very perceptive. Doesn't she already know those things? And you just heard her say that she wouldn't leave you."
Fritz nodded, then turned to Brenda and smiled. "Yes, I did. You did say that."
"I'd like you to consider something, Fritz. Brenda doesn't feel the need to always be perfect and yet you love her. Does she love you less than you love her?"
"No, she doesn't." Fritz looked at Brenda and smiled again.
"Our time is up for today but I want to give you both an assignment. I want you to spend time this week discussing every issue that comes up in your marriage. Schedule specific times, if you need to. And be honest with each other."
"We will," they both replied.
Brenda took a clean tissue and blew her nose, then picked up her purse. Fritz let out a deep sigh. As he stood up, his muscles ached and he felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. Yet he felt relieved. Not only were his secrets now out in the open and a painful session was over, but Brenda's response had been a heartfelt demonstration of her continued love for him. And his heart felt lighter. Walking to their car, Brenda put her arm around Fritz's waist and he responded by putting his arm around her. As they walked, their closeness filled their hearts.
That night, lying in bed, Brenda ran her fingers through Fritz's hair and caressed his face. She feathered kisses over his face and softly said, "I love you more tonight than I did this mornin'."
To be continued…
A/N: Please review.
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