This is another LeeAnn Womack song, titled "I May Hate Myself in the Morning." Of course I don't own it!

Never Again, Again

Chapter 2

Ain't it just like one of us
To pick up the phone
And call after a couple of Drinks
And say, "How you been? I been wonderin'
If maybe you've been thinkin' 'bout me"
And somewhere in the conversation,
An old familiar invitation always arrives
And I may hate myself in the morning
But I'm gonna love you tonight

Everyone's known someone
That they just can't help but want
And even though we just can't make it work out
Well the want-to lingers on
So once again we wind up in each other's arms
Pretending that it's right
And I may hate myself in the morning
But I'm gonna love you tonight

I know it's wrong
But it ain't easy moving on
So why can't two friends
Remember the good times once again?

Tomorrow when I wake up
I'll be feeling a little guilty, a little sad
Thinkin' how it used to be before everything went bad
And I guess that's what it is
In lonely late night calls like this, that we try to find
And I may hate myself in the morning
But I'm gonna love you tonight

I may hate myself in the morning
But I'm gonna love you tonight

Mike only knew that he wasn't happy. He missed being near his kids on a regular basis. Christine always let him see them whenever he asked, especially if she knew a deployment was coming up. He also missed her far more than he liked admitting. Their marriage had been good for a lot of years. Something changed. She wasn't happy with anything he did. He got tired of the complaining and cheated on her. The fights escalated and they split up. She filed for divorce. He missed her and wanted his family and home back, but things had gone so far. Was there a way back?

The kids weren't thrilled that he was leaving for the summer, but were thrilled that he would be in town for the holidays. He had missed the last Thanksgiving, Christmas and Katie's birthday in January. He was able to eat dinner with his kids and Christine and it felt good to be a part of their conversations and to hear about their plans. He was even able to tuck Hannah and Lucas in and to give Katie a hug before she went to bed. When he walked back out to the kitchen, Christine was bagging up some fresh-baked cookies that looked delicious.

"The kids are asleep. Thank you for dinner and letting me stay so late." Mike said.

"No problem. It was for them." Christine answered.

"I still appreciate it." Mike said. He put his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet, now knowing what else to do.

"Here. You should take these with you." Christine said. She held the bag of cookies out and he smiled in response. He had always loved when she baked anything. He took it from her and looked inside. "I only had stuff for chocolate chip cookies." Christine said.

"My favorite." Mike remarked.

"Yes, I remember." Christine answered.

"Well, I suppose I'd better go. I may call the kids before I leave tomorrow." Mike said.

"I have to drop a cake off at eleven but will be home otherwise." Christine said. Even though Katie was fourteen, she didn't have a cellphone yet. Mike had a thing about it and Christine went along with it.

"Okay." Mike answered. He had a feeling that Christine had something she wanted to say but was working up the courage. Finally, he just said what was on his mind. "Is there any going back?" Mike asked.

"Huh?" Christine asked.

"With the divorce. Stopping it." Mike answered.

"Is that what you actually want?" Christine asked.

"I…don't know. I do know that I miss having a home and family." Mike admitted. He sat down at the kitchen island and picked at his hand.

"While I understand that, there is a lot more to our problems than we can fix at the moment." Christine said.

"True and I leave tomorrow." Mike said. Christine focused on folding her kitchen towel for a moment before speaking again.

"How about this? How about I hit the pause button on the divorce. When you get back, we go to counseling again." Christine suggested. It was more than he had hoped for.

"You sure about that?" Mike asked.

"Is it over with her?" Christine asked.

"Its over." Mike said. It was only about the hundredth time he had said it, but if it meant getting his family back, he would say it a million more times. His relationship with Gwen had been a mistake.

"It has to be for me to even consider it. I can't be…the woman who lets you cheat time and time again. I watched my mom do that with my dad and I can't be like that. I can't set that example for our girls either." Christine said.

"I understand." Mike said.

"Mike; I am serious. That can never happen again. I know I drove you to it, but you made the choice. You could have said no." Christine continued.

"I know." Mike said. He hated eating humble pie but again, if he had to; he would. He was still staring at his hand when she came around the island and stood in front of him. She put her hand over his and squeezed. He looked up at her and shockingly, she gave him a long kiss. A kiss that started off with uncertainty but quickly became passionate. Finally, she pulled away to catch her breath.

"Can you stay?" Christine asked.

"I have nowhere else to be. Are you sure?" Mike asked and Christine nodded before giving him another kiss. He wondered if they would regret it. If they would wake up the next morning, wishing it had never happened and go back to hating each other?

"Can you lock up and shut lights off? I'll be in the bedroom." Christine asked.

"Sure." Mike answered. He kissed her again and watched as she walked to their former bedroom. He locked the doors and shut lights off on his way to the bedroom. He stepped in and smiled because Christine was already in her lacy nightgown and was taking her fancy pillows off the bed. He gave her another kiss before going to the adjoining bathroom. He took his clothes off and walked back in, wearing his boxers and a t-shirt. "Are you still sure?" Mike asked, wanting to give Christine plenty of chances to back out of whatever might happen next. He didn't want her to regret it.

"Yes." Christine answered. She gave him another kiss before pulling him onto the bed with her.

"I like this nightgown." Mike remarked between kisses.

"I bought it quite awhile ago, before we split up." Christine answered.

"Very nice." Mike said. He kissed her neck and carefully pulled the strap off her shoulder.

"If it would be easier, I can just take it off." Christine teased. She gently pushed him away and then straddled him before taking the nightgown off. "I'm not twenty-five and have had three kids." Christine said. She was referring to Gwen.

"Me too." Mike said. She laughed in response before giving him another kiss.

"You have too many clothes on." Christine remarked.

"Yes, Ma'am." Mike answered before he picked her up and laid her against the pillows, still hoping she didn't regret it in the morning. As he looked down at her, he wondered why he had ever slept with Gwen. He had a perfectly beautiful woman waiting on him at home.