Long Road Home
Chapter 2
Christine smiled as she looked around Mike's house. It was a blank slate and other than a recliner in the living room and a king-sized bed in the primary bedroom; un-furnished. No wonder Mike was struggling.
"I do have a patio table and benches along with my grill. Its shaded but will the heat bother Katie?" Mike asked.
"The fresh air will do her good." Christine said with a smile.
"So, can you make it nice?" Mike asked.
"This house has a lot of potential. Honestly, paint and light fixtures and such will make a big difference." Christine said.
"The kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled. Just missing lots of weird things like trim, doorknobs, light fixtures." Mike remarked. Just then the girls rejoined them.
"Did you figure out which rooms you wanted?" Christine asked.
"I like the yellow room with the big window looking out back." Katie said.
"I like the room across from that. The dark blue one." Hannah said.
"Do you want them painted different colors? That yellow was pretty bad." Mike asked.
"I like yellow. Maybe not that bright." Katie said.
"I kind of like the blue." Hannah remarked.
"We can get some paint chips." Mike said.
"They seemed to like that yellow." Christine remarked.
"Its loud." Mike said. Katie had settled in his recliner.
"You need more furniture." Hannah said.
"Yeah, I do. Maybe you can help your mom pick things out?" Mike suggested.
"Katie and Hannah both love watching home-decorating shows on television and the magazine people at the store always gives me their outdated magazines." Christine said.
"Good." Mike remarked. He handed Hannah a folding chair he had for company and smiled at the way she parked it next to Katie. The two sisters were very close.
"We will start lists while you start dinner?" Christine suggested.
"Sounds good." Mike said. He kissed the top of her head and smiled at the way she settled in another chair next to Katie with a notebook and pen.
Despite the air of tension between him and Hannah; it was nice to eat a meal with his family. They seemed to be savoring the taste of steak and Christine admitted that she had to make meals stretch as long as possible. Those days were over for them. There would be no more stretched meals.
He measured windows while Christine and Hannah cleaned supper up and they all headed back to Christine's apartment. Katie was exhausted and quickly went to bed and Hannah quickly followed. Now, Mike was at a loss.
Before, he and Christine had slept separately for over a year before he went to the Arctic. Their marriage was in shambles. It wasn't that he didn't want to fix his marriage. He just wanted it to be for the right reasons. Christine got out of the shower and found him in the living room.
"Mike; I was up at four am. I'm beat. Are you coming in?" Christine asked. She was standing next to her bedroom door in her cotton nightgown.
"Are you sure?" Mike asked as he stood up.
"I am." Christine answered.
"I'll take a shower first." Mike said. He leaned down and gave her a long kiss on the lips. He almost just followed her into the bedroom, but he wanted her to have a chance to reconsider. After a fast shower, he looked in at the girls and checked the front and back door locks. When he walked into Christine's bedroom; he smiled at the way she was already on one side of the bed, reading a book.
"We don't have to do anything, Mike." Christine said.
"You want to, though?" Mike asked as he climbed in next to her. He'd also locked her bedroom door on the way in even though the girls were much older now.
"I do. I've missed this." Christine admitted. He settled and she straddled his hips.
"We need to talk about things at some point." Mike said and she nodded between kisses. Things were becoming very intense. "Its been a long time. Since you and I…" Mike said.
"Thank you." Christine answered. Christine was much thinner but she was familiar, something Mike liked. They kissed for several minutes before her nightgown and his boxers hit the floor.
"Are you sure?" Mike asked as he kissed down her torso.
"Mike, please!" Christine demanded. He smiled up at her before giving her another long kiss and pushing in. Christine moaned in response and Mike was pretty sure he would have marks on his back from her nails.
It was odd how quickly it came back to Mike, what Christine's preferences were and that they had to stay somewhat quiet. There had been opportunities for him to move on over the years but no one had the same attraction to them as what Christine did, so Mike just didn't bother.
Their marriage had always been very passionate. They fought, argued, made up, and did well for a month or so before repeating the cycle. The make-ups were some of Mike's favorite memories. Three hours later, Christine curled into Mike's side and sighed.
"You said you were exhausted." Mike remarked.
"Yeah. Sundays are my day off so I can sleep in. This has been really nice." Christine said as she put her hand on Mike's chest.
"I'm beat now." Mike admitted.
"Good. I haven't lost my touch." Christine said.
"Not hardly." Mike answered. He kissed her hand and then wrapped his arms around her.
"I missed this the most. Feeling safe." Christine remarked.
"And you will feel safe from here on out. You will have no worries." Mike said.
"Except Katie." Christine answered.
"I have a friend. I'll call him Monday. He worked with Dr. Scott and has done a lot of research on the after-effects of the Red Flu. Hopefully, he can figure it out." Mike explained.
"Remember how when she was a baby, she was so colicky and even when she was a toddler, she was sickly?" Christine asked.
"That might be factoring in." Mike remarked. He gave Christine another kiss as they got comfortable.
"Mike; I love you. I always did, even when I was not good at showing it to you." Christine said.
"I love you too and I never stopped." Mike replied. Within just a few moments, they both fell asleep.
It was the soundest Mike had slept in years. Christine was sleeping on his chest and his girls were under the same roof. There was a lot to get figured out but he couldn't be any happier.
He helped Christine fix breakfast for the girls the next morning. Katie was extremely excited to have her own room. She was talking almost non-stop about it but it only seemed to frustrate Hannah. She finally stormed off to her bedroom. Christine seemed oblivious so Mike followed her. He found her sitting on her bed, staring off into space. He sat down at Katie's and thought for a moment.
"You don't like that you're going to have your own room, huh?" Mike asked.
"We've never slept in different rooms. And what if she can't breathe?" Hannah asked.
"Honey, we will figure out the medical stuff. I think you will find that you like being in a separate room. You can decorate it how you like, go to sleep when you want, study, play music…all that." Mike explained.
"You don't understand!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Hannah, this will be a good move for you, I promise. Besides; you and Katie will be next door to each other. You'll share a bathroom. And you'll be close to your mom." Mike continued.
"But nothing will be the same." Hannah said.
"Not the same, no. Better. Mom won't need to work. You won't need to either. I am going to try to get Katie some medical help. But we can be together." Mike answered.
"Everything is just fine right now!" Hannah said before throwing herself into her pillows. Mike heard Christine clear her throat from the door. She led Mike out and into the living room.
"Give her time, Mike. She was a small child when you left and she actually enjoys working and she likes the life she has. By insisting that there is something wrong with it, you are insinuating that she hasn't done her part or she's done something wrong." Christine explained.
"She's fourteen. She should be concerned about boys, phones, having an attitude, clothes, make-up, all that." Mike said.
"I agree. But that is not her world and its your world now. Just treat her with a bit of grace." Christine reminded him.
"How long will this take?" Mike asked.
"Its going to take a bit to get that house ready. She'll get used to you in that time. Just remember, we don't want to discourage how close she and Katie are." Christine answered. She leaned up and gave him a long kiss before rejoining Katie in the kitchen. Mike looked back into the bedroom, and saw Hannah crying into her pillow. He just wasn't sure it was going to do any good to go back into the bedroom. Right, wrong or otherwise.