Now and Forever
Chapter 12
"We'd better get up. You have a meeting." Christine said between kisses. Mike was kissing down her neck and groaned in response.
"One more time." Mike said. He knew they had gone too far. They needed to sort things out and Christine was fragile. It had only been two weeks since she had attempted suicide. But they had done what they did and there was no go-back.
"I will be here when you get back." Christine promised. They had ate the food and drank too much. One thing led to the other.
"If you promise." Mike said.
"I do." Christine promised. He gave her another long kiss before getting out of bed. He showered and shaved before dressing in a uniform that he strongly disliked. Christine was in the kitchen, wearing his robe and drinking a cup of coffee she had made.
"Got enough of that for me?" Mike asked. She handed him a mug and smiled at him.
"You're running behind and I can eat some of this leftover Chinese for breakfast." Christine offered.
"Hopefully, I am done by lunch. But, here's a spare key. If you want to go downstairs, there's a diner and grocery store. I can leave some money." Mike offered.
"I probably won't leave. We can explore the neighborhood when you get back. I'll be fine." Christine said.
"Listen, about last night and this morning…I don't regret what we did and I sure as hell enjoyed it, but…it was wrong of me to push you into something you weren't ready for. I wanted us to sort things out first but I kind of blew it." Mike said.
"It took two to tango, Mike. I agree that we probably should have waited, but I'm okay." Christine answered. She leaned forward and gave him a long kiss.
"I had better get going. Make yourself at home." Mike said as he poured his coffee into a to-go cup.
"I plan on taking a bubble bath in that bathtub. I noticed you had some bubble bath." Christine remarked.
"Yeah, feel free. When I rented the place, the building did some decorating. Stuff maybe terrible but go for it." Mike explained.
"Perfect." Christine said. She gave him another long kiss before he stepped away.
"Sorry, I'm leaving you like this. I love you." Mike said.
"You're fine. I love you too." Christine answered. Mike waved at her before he shut the door. He drove to the office and Kara Greene greeted him warmly.
"Admiral, I wondered if you'd make it in today." Kara said as she refilled his to-go cup.
"I have an appointment to negotiate the terms of my retirement." Mike answered.
"We wondered if you were serious about that. I heard you found Christine and the girls. I'm happy for you." Kara said.
"Thank you. More like Hannah found me. Remember those letters we got from the grade-school recently…well, Hannah was a tutor for that class and she wrote the letter that came to me. I got it and headed there immediately. Its been…tough at times." Mike admitted.
"Well, after so long apart; you can't imagine it would be easy." Kara remarked.
"Christine attempted suicide the night I got back." Mike deadpanned and Kara choked on her coffee.
"Hence the retirement. Is she okay?" Kara asked.
"She's fine. We just have a lot of issues to work out. There were issues before that we hadn't gotten worked out. I just don't want to rush into things." Mike explained.
"Did you bring her to St. Louis with you? The girls?" Kara asked.
"Christine, yes. The girls are at home." Mike said.
"Romantic weekend?" Kara asked.
"Well, it wasn't meant to be. Supposed to be packing my apartment up, such as it is." Mike said.
"You know, Danny is back in town. We could have you two for dinner." Kara offered.
"Thank you but that's not necessary." Mike said.
"Sure, it is. I know you kept very few groceries. It makes no sense to get them for just a weekend and who wants to eat out three meals a day, so we can at least do dinner tomorrow night." Kara said.
"Thanks. I will talk to Christine and text you. I had better go in. I am sure some people aren't so happy with my quick retirement." Mike replied.
"Good luck." Kara answered. He walked into his office to start the interview over the phone, feeling a bit nervous.
Two hours later, Mike had everything he had asked for and things he didn't. He didn't want a Congressional Medal of Honor or to be named 'Admiral of the Fleet' but it was fine. There would be a formal ceremony in a month's time. Mike was less than thrilled with that, but it would be a nice time with his daughters and wife.
He cleaned his desk off and slipped out, only saying goodbye to his secretary and Kara. He drove back to his apartment and smiled at Christine as soon as he walked in. They exchanged a kiss and Mike happily took the uniform off and put on regular clothes. Like shedding a skin.
