Her lips on his, prodding, exploring, as if she hadn't already mapped every inch of him there was. Her back arching into him as his hand gripped her hair at the base of her neck and pulled. Hard. Causing a beautiful moan to leave her lips. His other hand cupping her breast and roughly pinching her nipple before moving down, down, down and under her lacey black underwear, cupping her sex, slipping his pointer finger in her wet hot slit, circling her clit once, twice before pulling back.
Loving that fire that always entered her eyes when he teased her, letting out a groan of his own when her deceptively dainty fingers wrapped around him and pumped once, twice, before pulling back herself. Lenny deciding enough was enough before grabbing her around the waist and throwing her onto the bed. Midge looking at him as if she were an innocent maiden while contradictorily spreading her legs open in invitation for him.
Lenny crawling up the bed, up her body, showing each inch of skin the proper attention, starting with the tip of her toe and slowly making his way up, a kiss here, a nibble there, sucking so hard he was sure there was going to be a hickey. Finally, making it to her slit groaning at his own desperate want, no, need. Bending his head down and starting with one slow, long, languid lick from the bottom of her slit up to her clit. Enjoying the breathy exhale of pleasure coming from her as she laid down on the bed and spread her legs even wider pushing her hips out, needing more.
Never one to leave his lady waiting, Lenny bending back down, licking, sucking, tongue swirling, nibbling, reading her cues and repeating whatever gave him the most reaction, loving her moans, groans, and screams. Entering her with one finger, then two, thrusting in time with his mouth, feeling her tighten around him, thrusting himself into the bed just trying to get some relief of his own. Being sure he'd never been this turned on in his life, he loved every moment of it, needed more. Hearing her yell out her orgasm as her cunt quivered around his fingers. Pulling them out of her just to place them in his mouth and lick her essence off of him, her moaning at the sight.
"Fuck, Lenny." He thought he heard but was too lost in the moment to really comprehend, let alone reply.
Continuing his slow crawl up her body, taking one of her breasts in his mouth while properly fondling the other. Moaning into her skin when he felt her wrap around him again and align himself to her entrance, impatient with him taking his time. Fine, if she didn't want him to take his time with her, he wouldn't.
Thrusting into her, hard, giving her just a moment to adjust before pulling back out and starting a hard, bruising pace. Moaning into her mouth when she squeezes him, twisting his hips with every thrust, trying to reach that spot inside her, smiling gloatingly when he did.
Thinking, concentrating on anything else but her trying to last longer, trying to have her fall over the edge again, but she felt so good, especially with her sweet moans in his ear and her hand lovingly tracing up and down his back, because that was all he really needed, right? Midge showing him just a bit of love, and he was lost to her.
Snaking his hand down to her clit, knowing he wasn't going to last much longer, his thrust losing rhythm as his pleasure grew, holding off, going fucking feral on her, moving his thumb speedingly in the figure-eight motion he learned she loved. Feeling her start to quiver around his cock, her sweet moans in his ear turning into screams of pleasure. Closing his eyes, everything turning a bright white as ripples of pleasure course through his body. Biting down on her neck to muffle his own screams. Cumming, both of them, before his body lost all its tension and he laid all his weight on her. Seconds later, rolling over, taking her with him so she was on top as they came back to themselves and down from their highs.
Lenny's eyes snapped open. He wasn't sure if he loved or hated that dream, or memory, he supposed. Their last night together in Miami before she went to the next stop on her tour. That was only the first round of many that night. He looked down and scowled at his rock-hard erection, now was not the time for that. Fuck he felt like shit. At least he was sleeping now, the first week he was considering entering an insane asylum, scared the hallucinations would start any moment after the fourth full day with no sleep. The lack of sleep wasn't even the worst of it, no, that'd probably be the restless legs, or being freezing but still sweating enough to fill up a tub. Now that he was thinking about it, the puking and almost shitting himself was much worse. No, the shakes, yeah, the shakes and the cravings, the nonstop cravings, were most certainly the worst.
He covered his face with his hands and groaned as he rubbed his face and sat up in the bed. He cataloged himself, day 12 with absolutely nothing, completely cold turkey from the dope, the speed, and he felt… okay. Not great by any means, but much better than he had been feeling. Plus, today was the first day that his first thought when he woke up was something other than getting high, granted, that had a lot to do with the dream he had, but he counted that as a win.
He dried out before; he knew the next week would be spent physically feeling a little better every day, while the mental urge would still be there just as strong. Now that he got through the worst of it, he was going to stop playing sick and work on getting his life together, he had to pack what little stuff he had up, handle his affairs around here, and make his way to New York, find a place to live, and work on getting Kitty with him until Midge finished with her tour and they could move into a place together.
Christ, he hoped she wasn't insistent on staying on the Upper West Side, of course, he would if that was what she wanted but fuck did he not fit into a place like that. It was as if the Jewish population changed completely once they hit a certain number of dollars per year, and the Jews of the Upper West Side definitely hit the higher tax bracket. Lenny knew from experience he wasn't their cup of tea and didn't particularly feel like spending every day of his life being looked down on and judged by them. Then again, if that was what Midge wanted, of course he'd do it. He learned by now that saying no to her was a fool's errand for him.
The motel's phone rang, bringing him out of his thoughts. He placed his feet on the ground, groaning, still feeling stiff and shitty, before reaching for the phone and answering, "Yeah?"
"Lenny?"
"Midge," He said, his eyes wide, when was the last time he talked to her? Fuck, he was supposed to call her, wasn't he? "Hey, there, sweetheart."
"Don't you 'sweetheart' me! I was worried."
"What? Why?"
"Ugh, maybe because it's been almost two weeks since I've heard from you? Not since the night I left Miami. We agreed that there would be phone calls at least every few days, remember?"
Fuck, he did agree to that, didn't he? "Shit, Midge, I'm sorry. Christ, I fucked up, I've just been dealing with some stuff, trying to get everything settled for my move back to New York."
"Lenny, what the fuck? I was about to leave and come find you. Are you sure you're okay?"
He felt his hackles rise at the beginning of her sentence but was smiling by the end; it felt good to have someone worry about him. He wasn't going to give her the dirty details, though. He might have given her the broad strokes of his love/hate relationship with morphine, but she didn't need to know all this, especially because that was all going to be in the past now. Still, though, he had to tell her something, "Yeah, I'm okay, the doctor adjusted all my medication, and it hit me hard for a while. I'm better now."
"Oh, okay… Good." She said, and he could hear that she wasn't quite convinced. Thankfully, she dropped it. "Well, I'm actually calling for more than just to make sure you're okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, calling just to check in was all my phone calls last week that you didn't answer or return," She added snarkily, letting him know she was still a little pissed off, "No, now I'm calling because I'm going back to New York."
"What the fuck? Why? Are you okay?"
"Me? Yeah. It's Shy; he's going through something, he's putting the rest of this leg and the European part of the tour on hold for now."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry. What happened?"
"Uh, I'll tell you about it later. We're packing up now, Susie and I will be back in New York the day after tomorrow. If you didn't answer the phone today, I was planning to make a pit stop in Miami."
He ignored the snark in the last part of her words, he had already apologized, and she was probably just going to be pissed for a while, which was something he was used to. He always had an exceptionally good talent at angering his lady, even when he didn't mean to. "You don't have to worry about me, Midge. Like I said, I'm going to be heading to New York too."
"When?" Her anger was gone, and she sounded happy now, excited, and that made him smile.
"Uh, I need a day or two here to wrap everything up, then I'll catch a plane. Probably by the end of the week."
"Then we can decide where we're going to live together?"
His smile grew, "Yeah, sweetheart, that's right."
"Good because if I have to spend one more night at my ex-in-law's house there might be some murder/ suicide in my future, and that would be unfortunate, they're not bad people when you're not stuck living with them."
"Well we'll just have to find somewhere fast, I wouldn't want to have to visit my wife in jail every week. I'm the one in this relationship that's supposed to end up behind bars. Plus, I'm pretty sure the prisons won't cater to your intense beauty care routine."
Midge laughed, the rest of her anger and worry fading away, "How about we try to aim for none of us ending up behind bars."
"Might be a little bit of a farfetched goal, but hey, my Ma always told me to dream big."
She laughed again, but when she spoke, she was more serious, "So I'll see you later this week?"
"Yeah, Midge, I'll get there."
"And you'll call me when you have your flight information so I can pick you up from the airport and we can have one of those romantic reunions at the airport where we're sickeningly sweet and everyone rolls their eyes but it's really because they're jealous they're not us?"
It was Lenny's turn to laugh, "Sure thing."
"Good because I've always hated those people but at the same time wanted to be them so bad I could scream."
"Well, prepare to be hated and envied by everyone at Idlewild airport, baby."
Midge laughed, then stayed quiet for a few long moments, "Okay, good. I love you, Lenny."
The words still threw him for a loop; she only told him that one other time before, in front of her parents while they were trying to convince them that their marriage was good and that it'd last.
"Love you too, Midge."
He heard the smile in her words when she replied, "Okay, call me when you have the flight information. Bye, Mr. Bruce."
"See you soon, Mrs. Bruce."
He hung up the phone and took a deep breath; he had a fuck ton to do before he could leave this town behind and head back to New York, to his future. Fuck it, He thought, he was ready for this, and he wasn't going to mess up the good direction his life was going by doing something as stupid as calling up his dealer, no matter how much he wanted to. No, he was going to do this right, it'd be much easier once he left town and met back up with Midge, she had a way of making him forget all the bad habits and vices he had.
Midge took a deep breath when she hung up the phone, though Lenny kept telling her he was okay and that nothing was wrong, she couldn't push away the feeling that he was going through something, that he was in trouble, and he needed her. She just wanted them to be together again so they could get back to the way things were last week. The word medication kept popping in her head. She knew that was some type of clue letting her know what was wrong, but she couldn't figure out exactly what he meant. Maybe she'd ask Susie, she might know.
She shook her head; everything with Lenny would be better once they were in the same state and they had a place to call home as husband and wife. It felt wrong that she was going back to New York to stay with her ex in-laws, it felt weird before she left on tour since she and Joel weren't together, but it felt all kinds of wrong now that she was remarried. Yeah, she was going to start looking for places as soon as she got back to town.
She felt wrong not telling Lenny why the tour was put on hold; she didn't tell him back in Miami when she found Shy beat up, so she definitely wasn't going to tell him over the phone. It wasn't as if she thought he'd judge Shy or anything; it was more that she wasn't sure it was her place to tell anyone. Then again, he was her husband, he was supposed to be the one person she could tell anything and not have to feel bad about. Plus, she knew he'd keep a secret if she asked him to, and she knew she'd feel a lot better getting it off her chest. Yeah, when they were together and back in New York, she'd tell him everything, just to get it off her chest and hopefully to get some advice because she was lost right now.
Later that day, when she told Susie about her conversation with Lenny, how he didn't sound like himself, sick maybe, and reminded her how worried she'd been the last almost two weeks because he hadn't answered the phone once when she called, she was surprised when a small, almost proud smile came over Susie's face.
"Good for him."
"What?"
"Sounds to me like he's doing right by you."
"By ignoring my calls for two weeks?"
"By holding up somewhere and drying out."
"Drying out?"
"Getting off the dope."
"You think that's what he's been up to? And that takes weeks?"
"That's what it sounds like; he told you he was knocked on his ass because his medication changed, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then yeah? He decided to get off the shit and felt terrible for a few weeks, getting all that poison out of his system. Now he's starting to feel better, so he answered when you called. I'm sure he wouldn't want anyone to see him or hear him when he was in the thick of things."
"You think?" Midge wasn't quite sure how to feel about this information.
"Yeah. I mean, I don't know for sure, but I'd bet a lotta money on it."
"You'd bet a lot of money on pretty much anything."
"That's true." Susie shrugged, "But this is a bet I think I'd win."
"So you think it's a good thing?" Midge was confused, all she really knew about all that was what she heard from Lenny and the stories her mom told her from her time in Paris. This was all new for her.
"I do. He's a strong guy. I think he can stick to it if he puts his mind to it."
"Oh, good then." She stayed quiet, thinking, "Should I go there and make sure he's okay? I make a mean Matza soup; it always makes the kids feel better."
Susie scoffed, "No, of course fucking not. If he wanted help, he'd have told you. He obviously wanted to do it by himself and not make you see all that bullshit. The idiot probably still wants you to have sex with him, and seeing someone go through withdrawal will definitely affect how attractive they are to you, believe me." She continued quietly after taking a drag of her cigarette, "How sexy can someone be after you see things coming outta both ends of them?"
Midge scrunched her nose, eww. "Uh, okay then, I'm just going to forget you said that. I guess we have a lot to do anyway, we have to pack, we're leaving first thing in the morning."
Susie rolled her eyes, got up, went to the cabinets, grabbed her brown paper bag, and plopped it into her suitcase before closing it. "There, I'm packed."
"Okay, I have a lot to pack. Plus, I gotta figure out where I'm staying once I get to New York, I don't think I can take another night with Moishe and Shirlry, it's even weirder now that I'm remarried."
"Oh no, don't you look at me like that, there's no way in fuck you're staying with me, I'm already around you way too fucking much."
Midge's shoulders slumped, "Okay. It's probably for the best anyway; I need walls around my bed, I don't think I could handle being able to see the toilet and the kitchen sink while I'm trying to fall asleep at night"
"Hey, don't talk shit about my place, I like it."
Midge laughed, "Sorry."
The rest of the next two days were spent packing and traveling. Unfortunately, Midge had no choice but to stay in Queens with her ex-in-laws the first few nights she was back. She noticed Joel worked hard to avoid her; it was surprising to her, she figured he'd be all over her as soon as she entered the state to get information about her accidental slip of the tongue about her marriage. She knew the confrontation was going to happen at some point, and she was getting to the point that she just wanted to get it over with, she didn't want to live with this worry much longer.
Lenny's call came just when she needed it, she was going crazy, she felt like it had been months stuck in Queens, not just 48 hours, she felt like a prisoner who was going to live the rest of her life in the prison of suburbia. Okay, so she was being dramatic, but she was a city girl through and through.
"Midge! You have a gentleman caller!" Shirly said in her normal, loud, grating tone, holding the vowels much longer than necessary.
"Coming!" She yelled, scrambling down the stairs to the phone. When she got there, Shirley smiled brightly and winked, mouthing 'he sounds cute!' As she handed the phone over. Midge could say a lot about her ex-in-laws, but she knew in the end they loved her and wanted her to be happy. Most of the time, that was more than she could say about her ex-husband. "Hello?"
"Hey there, sweetheart." Her smile grew hearing Lenny's voice; it sounded a lot better than when she last spoke to him on the phone, more healthy, more alive. It made her think that maybe Susie was right in what she said before.
"Lenny, hey." She was sure he could hear how wide she was smiling. She felt like a teenager again, waiting for her crush's phone call. She felt the butterflies and everything just from hearing his voice. Fuck he had to get there soon, or she was going to go crazy. It'd been much too long since the last time she was with him, and she'd go insane if she couldn't feel his skin against hers again soon, feel him inside her again soon.
"Gotta pen?"
She quickly looked around and was happy Shirly dedicated a whole area for message taking, she quickly picked the pen and pad up, "Yep."
"Good. Tomorrow, 10 am, gate 12. Wear something easily accessible because I'm going to work my damndest to have my way with you on the cab ride home."
"Lenny!" She blushed, damn, she really was acting like a schoolgirl.
"Midge…" He parroted, his voice much more dark and husky, her breath started to become more shallow, quickening, she felt that signature tingling in her body that reminded her how much she wanted him, how ready she was for him.
She remembered she, in fact, wasn't a schoolgirl, she was a grown woman who knew well how to pleasure her husband and leave him begging for more. She lowered her voice a few notches"I might be able to work something out if you're a good boy."
"Oh, I have been, I promise."
"Good then. I'll be sure to reward you tomorrow."
He chuckled huskily. "You're killing me, Midge. How am I supposed to last the next 24 hours like this?"
She imagined he was looking down at his erection straining his pants. She smirked, "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to survive."
He groaned, "You're evil."
She looked around and made sure no one was listening while realizing she probably should have done that much earlier in the conversation. Once she knew the coast was clear, she said, "Hey, you're the one that married me, and you knew that beforehand, so that's on you."
"No way, you used to like to pretend you were perfect, little miss Upper West Side. I had no idea what I was in for."
"What? Having second thoughts? Regrets? Looking for divorce attornies?"
"Fuck no. No, I'm just going to go to bed now, sleep all day and night so I can get there faster."
"Wow. Lenny Bruce a sweet talker. Who woulda guessed?"
"No one, and you better keep that to yourself, I gotta reputation to maintain, you know."
"Of course. It's okay; I think I like keeping that part of you to myself anyway."
"Good. 'Cause it's all yours."
"Stop, you're going to make me blush," She joked.
He laughed, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Midge."
"I'll be there with bells on."
"Well, that will make trying to keep you quiet in the cab much more interesting."
She laughed, "Bye, Lenny."
"Bye, Mrs. Bruce."
She hung up the phone and smiled, things were looking up.
"And who was that, missy?" Midge jumped, hearing Shirly's voice right behind her. Fuck, how long had she been there? What had she heard?
"Oh, Shirly, hey!" She said while straightening her skirt, trying to get her thoughts in order.
"Well? Who was it? Does our Mirium have a new special someone?"
She laughed, a little awkwardly, "Uh, yeah, I guess I do."
"Is it serious?"
"Is it serious…" She repeated, taking a few seconds to think of an answer.
"Who are you talking about? Lenny?" Her dad asked, walking past them.
"Lenny? Is that his name?" Shirly asked, sounding a little judgmental, though nowhere near as judgmental as her mother when she heard his name.
"Ah yes, Miriam's new beau. I quite like him." Papa threw out as he was walking past them.
"Oh! Midge has a new man? Has Joely met him yet? Would I know him?"
"Uhh, I'm not sure you've ever heard of him, no. And No, Joel hasn't met him yet."
"Well then, when are we going to change that? He needs to be introduced to the family, and we need to vet him. He needs the Maisel family stamp of approval before you two can get serious."
"I'm afraid it's too late for that," Her Papa said as he was walking by again.
Thanks, Papa Midge thought with a roll of her eyes when Shirly turned to look at her, her eyes wide and her hands on her hips.
"What does Abe mean by that, Miriam?"
"Uh, I think he means that we're already past the meeting the parents stage. I met his mother in California, and he met my parents in Miami, although it turned out my parents already knew him from New York. I love his daughter, and he's going to meet the kids later this week. It's pretty serious already."
"Ohh, how exciting, do I hear wedding bells in your future?"
"Uh, no. It's a little late for that, too." She said before thinking better of it. Her eyes widened when she realized what she revealed to Shirly. Fuck, she really had to get better at breaking this news to people.
She was brought out of her thoughts when Shirly roughly grabbed her shoulders and turned her so they were facing each other, eye to eye. "What does that mean?"
"It means they're already married and have been since almost the day she left on tour." She heard her father from the other room.
"What?! And you didn't invite us? Miriam, are you trying to break my heart?"
"No! No, I'm sorry, Shirly, it wasn't like that, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing in Las Vegas. Don't worry, I already promised Mama a party once the tour is over. She's still not forgiven me for not inviting her either."
"Yeah, well, the party better be huge. And I want to help plan it. Poor Joel, he'll be crushed. He might pretend to be happy without you, but it's clear he still plans for you two to get back together one day." She shook her head as if ignoring her son's future pain, "So, is he on tour with you? It sure seems like he was in a lot of the same places you were over the last few months."
"Oh, no. He's in show business himself, so he was doing his own tour of sorts."
"Really? And you're sure I wouldn't know him? Must not be too good at what he does then."
"I just don't think he's your type of humor."
"Well, tell me his name already, I'll keep an eye out for him on the TV, he is on TV, right?"
"Uh, yeah, he has been on TV. Last year I went with him to the taping of the Steve Allen show, and a few weeks ago, I went with him to Miami After Dark, though I could kick his butt because he pulled me on camera without warning me beforehand." She wasn't sure why she was telling her ex-mother-in-law all this, perhaps to prove that she could do better than her son, that she didn't need Joel to be happy or successful.
"Oh, then he is a big deal. Go on, give me a name already, I won't be here forever, you know."
"Like I said, I don't think you'd know him. His name is Lenny Bruce."
To say Midge was surprised when Shirley's eyes opened wide in excitement would be an understatement. She started bouncing on her feet, "You're kidding, right?"
"Uh, no, I'm not. Why, do you know him?"
"Know him? He's Moishe and I's a guilty pleasure. Oh, and how handsome! I watched that Steve Allen performance, you were there? We get out to see him every chance we get!"
"Guilty pleasure? You must be talking about Lenny Bruce; now he's a funny man, Midge, you should take notes off him!" Moishe said, walking into the hallway.
Midge was pretty sure she was having a stroke, there was no way this was really happening right now, right?"
"No, Moishe, Midge knows him well, they're dating. Oh, sorry, they're married!"
Moishe turned to Midge, disbelief clear in his eyes before he started to laugh, he clapped his hands once, "Oh, that's a good one. See, you can be funny."
Shirley turned to Midge, "Wait, you're joking?"
"What? No, I'm not. That's who was just on the phone. I'm picking him up from the airport tomorrow, and then we're going house shopping." She didn't know how this turned into her trying to prove her marriage, the marriage she was hiding just minutes ago, but it did. She learned long ago that most conversations with these two took a turn that she never expected.
"Ha, good one, Midge, thanks for that, I needed a laugh," Moishe said before leaving the room.
Midge shook her head, officially done with this conversation. "Anyway, when is Joel bringing the kids over? I miss them. Plus, I should really talk to him before Lenny gets to town."
"So I was right, Joel doesn't know you're married yet."
"He knows I'm married to someone, just not who. I figure that deserves a conversation in person, not over the phone."
"Oh yeah, you're probably right." Shirley rested her hands on Midge's arm in comfort. "He won't hear it from me, cross my heart."
"Thanks, Shirley."
The rest of the day went by without incident, that was, until dinner when Joel and the kids arrived. She smiled awkwardly at him, a smile he completely ignored. Her smile turned more genuine when the kids ran up to her with their arms wide, excited to see their mom again. She wrapped them both in a tight hug, holding them close, she'd missed them just as much. Joel ignored her all of dinner, even with Shirley's unsubtle hints that they needed to talk. Midge rolled her eyes, at least she was trying to be helpful, even if Midge was pretty sure she was making things worse.
When dinner was over, and Midge was in the kitchen cleaning up, she heard Joel's footsteps walk up behind her. In a short, angry voice, he said, "We need to talk."
"Oh, yeah, you're mom's very subtle hints kinda gave me that impression too," She joked, trying to lighten the mood, she sighed when it didn't. She put the plates down and turned to face him, crossing her arms, "What's up, Joel?"
"So, married, huh?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so."
"And has he met the kids yet?"
"When would he have?"
"I don't know before you left on tour."
"What? I wasn't married before the tour! What the hell? I invited you to Vegas with the strict purpose of sleeping with you. How would I have done that if I was married?"
He shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first married person to cheat."
"We're not talking about you right now, Joel."
"Fuck you, Midge."
"Yeah, fuck you too. I'm not the cheater here."
"He's not meeting the kids."
"Yeah, he is, this week, actually."
"No, he's not."
"Yes, he is."
"No, he's not."
Yes, he is."
"No, the fu—"
"Children, children, stop fighting, the actual children can hear you!" Abe said, walking into the room.
Midge flattened her skirt and looked in the window, trying to see her reflection, "Sorry, Papa, you're right. It was good seeing you again, Joel. I'll see you next kid drop off. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend some time with my children, I missed them very much."
Joel opened his mouth to say something, to stop her probably, maybe even demand to take the kids back with him to stop the possibility of them meeting the new man in Midge's life, but one look from Abe made him close his mouth. Midge did exactly what she said she was going to: spent time with her children, first talking and catching up, then ending the night with some TV after Moishe went to his room for the night.
Joel wasn't sure what to do; all he knew was he was angry and it was Midge's fault. He wanted to get back at her even though he wasn't sure what he was getting her back for. Seeing Abe gave him the idea, he waited for her to leave the room before turning to Abe, "Do you know what your daughter has been up to?"
"No more or less than ever. That girl is an enigma to me."
"She got married!" He dropped the bomb, waiting for an explosive reaction.
"Oh, that. Yes, I know about that."
"What? And you approve? You vetted the guy?"
"No, she didn't come to me until after the fact, though I can say, I approve of him much more than I ever approved of you. Then again, that's not a high bar to surpass, I'd approve of almost anyone more than I approved of you. Huh, and would you look at that, I was right. You really were terrible for my daughter." He looked away, preparing to leave, "And they wonder why I have such strong opinions of her paramours, how could I not after the disaster that was Joel."
"Hey, wait!" Joel said, grabbing Abe's shoulder to stop him from leaving, when Abe turned back to him, his angry face caused Joel to change his mind and let go of his arm, "Uh, nothing, never mind. Forget about it."
"Yes. That was what I thought. Night, Joel." Abe ended on a perky note before walking away. Yes, though what he said was true, that he was sure almost anyone would have been better than Joel, he had a feeling Lenny was the right choice for her, the last choice. He had a feeling he'd never have to pull out his 'Vetting Midge's dates' file again, perhaps he'd even be able to throw it away, and he couldn't be happier about that, it was taking up much too much space in his filing cabinet.
Midge woke up bright and early the next day, and it wasn't even because the airport was far away and his flight was arriving early. No, she was just too excited to sleep. Today marked the rest of her life, the start of her life with Lenny and their blended family. They'd find a house and move in together and be husband and wife in more than name. Don't get her wrong, she took her vows seriously and had been since the morning she woke up married, but she felt like it'd be different once they were living as husband and wife, living as parents and co-parents to their children. That reminded her she needed to have a conversation with the kids about Kitty and what Kitty was calling Midge, along with the fact that she had to tell them they had a new stepfather.
So she got up and got to work making them breakfast. As they sat down to eat, she sat with the kids, leaving her parents and her in-laws to their own devices. Eithan laughed when she sat with them, so she blew a raspberry at him, she stayed quiet while they ate most of their meal, letting them enjoy it, enjoying time with their mom who they hadn't seen for so long before the important talks started. Once she decided it was time, she put her utensils down and sighed, drawing the kid's attention.
"So, I have to talk to you about something."
"What's that, Mama?" Ester asked.
"You know how mommy and daddy aren't married anymore, how we're not husband and wife?"
"Yes," Eithan answered.
"Well, because we're not married, that leaves us open to fall in love with new people, to find new husbands or wives, respectively."
"Okay…" Ester said, unsure where this was going.
"Well, while mommy was away, she fell in love again and got remarried."
"You're married?" Eithan asked.
"Yes, and that means you have a new stepfather."
"Daddy isn't our daddy anymore?" Ester asked, not sounding particularly upset or interested in the information. Midge worried about Ester sometimes.
"What? No, he's still your Dad and always will be, like I said when he moved out, remember? No, it just means you have two now, there's just more people who are here to love and take care of you." Midge really hoped she wasn't fucking this up; she had the thought that maybe she should have prepped for this conversation more, or at all, truthfully.
"Oh," Ester shrugged, "Okay."
"Is he going to live with us? There are already a lot of people in the house, I'm not sure I'd like having more."
Midge laughed, "Yes, Eithan, he'll live with us, but we won't live here. We're going to find a new house where me, you, Ester, him, and his daughter will live."
"Another girl!" Ethan didn't sound too happy about that, "Are you sure he doesn't have a son?"
"Positive."
"So if he's our dad, does that mean we have a sister?" Ester asked.
"Step-dad," Midge corrected, "And yes, you have a step-sister now, her name is Kitty, and she's five. She's very excited to meet you."
She shrugged again, "Okay."
"Uh, do you have any questions?" Midge asked, a little thrown off by how nonchalant they were taking the information.
"Nope," Eithan said, attention flicking behind Midge to the TV and back.
"No." Ester agreed.
"Oh, o-okay, then."
"Can we go watch TV?"
She sighed, "Go ahead."
That was both easier and more anticlimactic than she thought this would be. She was the one to shrug now, well, at least that was over. She looked at the clock and her eyes widened, she had to get to the airport now or she was going to be late. She ensured her parents and in-laws had the kids before grabbing her purse, hat, and coat and running out the door.
