It was a crisp Autumn afternoon in a local park. Jamie was dressed in a navy blue wedding suit. Nothing too elegant, but still nice. Kara was dressed in a modest white dress. Not a traditional bride's dress, but a white dress that cascaded from her neck down to her ankles. Again – nothing too elegant, but still nice.
Though Jamie came from a Catholic background, Kara came from a mixed background with a Presbyterian father and Catholic mother. Wanting to honor both faith traditions, they had the marriage co-officiated by Father James and Pastor Wilson. If Jamie and Kara were honest, they hadn't been the most observant people of faith considering they willfully and frequently engaged in sex outside of marriage. If they were even more honest, upon recent reflection, it was something they weren't necessarily proud of. Especially Kara.
But in pre-marital counseling with Father James and Pastor Wilson, they realized this could be a fresh start, spiritually, for them. They didn't regret the pregnancy or marriage, but if they had to do it all over again, they would've gotten married much earlier.
But that minor regret was eclipsed by the joy and pride Jamie felt as he and Kara exchanged wedding vows in front of God, family, and close friends. Eddie was Kara's maid of honor and Danny was Jamie's best man. Aside from that, to keep it small, it was just the four of them as the wedding party.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Father James proclaimed.
"What God has joined together, let no man tear asunder," Pastor Wilson proclaimed.
"You may kiss your bride and you may kiss your husband!" they both proclaimed in unison.
Father James declared, "It's Pastor Wilson's and mine's pleasure to introduce, for the first time…"
"Jameson and Kara Reagan!" Pastor Wilson finished.
The small gathering of guests cheered, clapped, and whistled so loudly, it nearly carried over to the other side of the park.
Though she was past the first trimester, she barely showed in her wedding dress. If anything, being in the second trimester and past most of the morning sickness, she glowed even more vibrantly during the ceremony and reception. Anyone with eyes could see they were so happy…
Jamie and Kara honeymooned at a beach-side cottage in New Jersey that one of Kara's college girlfriends owned. It was a magical time to just be husband and wife with no real outside interruptions.
"Hey, babe, do you mind if I ask you kind of a deep question?" Kara prodded as they were sitting on the beach in the 70-degree New Jersey weather.
"Well, we are married and all that entails," Jamie said, "and it doesn't get much deeper than that… Ask away!"
Kara smiled at Jamie's lame humor. Well, she thought, he said I could ask.
"Would you be okay if I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom?"
Jamie eyes lit up. "Babe, of course!" he exclaimed. "I would never want you to feel like you have to work if you want to stay at home with our children. Also, I would never want you to feel like you have to stay at home with our children until they're 18 if you want you really want is to go back to work."
Kara smiled at his thoughtfulness.
"I'm not just saying that, either," Jamie assured her. "I respected you from the get-go because of your character. When you testified against your partner after he murdered the prisoner, I knew that took a lot of character, character not many people at the 1-2 had back then. I'm not going to lie… That kind of turned me on."
"Jamie!" Kara gasped. Back then, they were strictly colleagues, and he only (secretly) had eyes for Eddie. Or so she thought.
"Come back with me to the cottage," she whispered into his ear. "Let me see if there are other ways I can turn you on…"
Jamie and Kara's bare bodies were pressed each other, as they caressed and groped each other, kissing each other on the neck and shoulders. It was passionate and near-unbridled, but never rough. They trusted each other. Jamie knew Kara loved and respected him, honored him as a man, not some boy toy who could get her off. Kara knew Jamie would never hurt her or take advantage of her in such an intimate and vulnerable situation, never mind when she was pregnant and showing. Jamie was a man, not some boy who could shave who wanted to try something in bed because he "saw it on a website".
Jamie lowered his head as he kissed Kara's breasts, sucking on her nipples. He'd alternate between light and teasing, and firm pressure, which made Kara ecstatic.
"Jamie… Jamie…" she said breathlessly, taking his right hand and placing it between her legs. "Touch me… Touch me here."
Jamie obliged, gently rubbing Kara's womanhood, warm and moist.
"Yeah…" Kara encouraged. "Just like that. Just… Ju... Just like that!" She held onto Jamie's shoulder with one hand, the other on the small of Jamie's back as she kissed his shoulder up to his clavicle, using her tongue to trace the crevices of his neck all the way to his ear and sucking on his ear lobe. But as she was getting closer and closer to climax, all she could do was hold onto Jamie for dear life.
"Gaaaahhh!"
And, then, the release came.
In the aftershock of the climax were deep breaths, punctuated by grins and chuckles from both Jamie and Kara as they fell back into the bed. As Jamie closed his eyes in revelry, he felt warm moist lips kissing and sucking on his pectoral muscles and nipples. Quickly, Jamie's manhood hardened. Normally, this is where the woman would mount her man and rock back and forth. But they'd have plenty of time for that later… that night.
For now, Kara's kissed a trail of warm, moist affection down to his waist. When Jamie realized what was about to happen, he was about to object, but Kara put her fingers over his mouth.
"Don't argue with your pregnant wife."
"Oh, you're using that one, now, huh?" Jamie cracked.
"You bet," she said with a wink.
And with that, her mouth engulfed his manhood, her tongue massaging his shaft in half-circles. Resistance was meaningless as Jamie laid his head back on his pillow, closing his eyes, letting his newlywed wife do her work. He had other lovers prior (as had Kara), but there was something about being with your person, your beloved that made all previous lovers seem almost non-existent, a mere technicality.
As she worked her mouth and her hand up and down his manhood, he reveled in the beauty of it all. It wasn't a sex act between them – at bare minimum, it was that. Nor was his massaging of her womanhood a mere sex act, either. It was an expression of their love, a love they had both worked for and towards individually and together.
Jamie felt the tension build within him.
"Kara, I'm gonna… I'm gonna…"
Kara blinked in acknowledgement, eyes full of encouragement.
"Huh! Aaaahhhhhhh!"
And the tension overtook him.
Kara swallowed Jamie's life force little by little, sucking in every last drop. It was only then that Jamie's arching back collapsed onto the bed in sweet, exhausted surrender.
Kara planted more most kisses up his stomach and onto his chest until she rested her head on it.
"You taste good," she said quietly.
They laid there, holding each other as they drifted off into peaceful afternoon slumber.
North of the river, Eddie walked in to her apartment from an exhausting yet exhilarating shift.
"Hey, Barry," she said as she walked through their apartment door, "you'll never believe the day I had! Witten and I, we talked down a suicidal man from the top of a building. Kinda sad, he was just an elderly man who missed his wife who had passed away. Anyways, we talked him down. Then we got a call to a robbery at a bodega. It was a kid, Barry, a kid no older than 15 or 16 with a gun doing it as some sort of gang initiation. We talked him into giving up without any fight. It could've ended so badly, but it didn't! Poor kid, I felt bad for him as you could tell he was just so damaged and desperate for belonging, even if it was a bunch of gang bangers…"
Silence.
"Barry?"
Silence.
"Barry?"
Silence.
"Barry, if you're trying to prank me, don't mistake my good mood for wanting to be pranked, babe. I am in no mood for that."
More silence. It was then she saw a trail of drops of blood and two shadows on their bedroom wall. Eddie drew her weapon, frightened.
In an effort to scare the possible intruder, she shouted, "Barry! Listen to me, right now! My weapon is drawn and the safety is off! You show yourself right now, this is no longer funny!"
Whoom! Their bedroom window closed.
"Eddie!" Barry said from their bedroom, gasping for air.
Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she kicked down their bedroom door so hard, it came off two of its hinges as she looked and saw Barry lying in a pool of blood.
"Barry!" she screamed.
She fumbled for her phone and dialed 9-1-1.
"This is Officer Eddie Janko. There's been an intruder in my home and my husband was attacked. Put a rush on the bus!"
After giving directions to her apartment building, Eddie cradled Barry in her lap.
Barry smiled and tried to touch her face, his fingertips covered in his own blood. He tried to speak.
"Don't speak, baby, don't speak," Eddie sweetly admonished.
"Eddie," he gasped. "I… Love… Always… No regrets. It's okay… Love… I'd do it… All again."
He drifted into unconsciousness.
"Barry! Barry! Nooooooooo! Barry!"
