“Sir?”

I force myself not to smile as I keep my gaze focused on the computer screen.  “Jessica?”

“What...what is this?”

“Hmm?”  I actually look at her this time.  She’s standing before me, waving a torn open envelope in the air, her eyes wide, her expression disheveled because she doesn’t know what to think.

Okay so, maybe I’m going overboard with this.  Abbey told me I might be, that ‘Braeden isn’t ready for romance just yet.’  But you know, I think she underestimates him.  I saw the way his eyes lit up when Jessica’s name was mentioned that first day in my office.  The way he defended her, like he knew every single emotion that brewed inside of her.  I understood it, because it’s the same way I’ve felt about Abbey from the beginning.

I guess I know...I know he might be in love with her, and I’ll do anything to get Jessica to realize that.  Despite the way I’ve treated her, I can’t deny that when she’s doing her job correctly, she really is very good.  So good, that I want to make her full time and get her through school too.  But, I can’t do any of that until she has her head screwed on straight, and I figured booking her and Braeden on a little getaway might just be the trick.

I guess I wasn’t expecting her to react this way.  I should have.  It’s like I’m invading her personal life and I have no grounds to do that because, as I’ve put so bluntly to her in the past, we’re not friends like that.

“Sir?”

“It’s just a little gift.  You’ve been working hard.”

“You hate the way I work.”

I laugh at her.  “I don’t hate the way you work, I hate the way your personal life effects the way you work.  I know you’re better than this.  Cheryl’s in your blood.”

She slowly approaches my desk, trying to remain professional, because she doesn’t want to let her real emotions shine through to me.  Of course I can understand.  “This is a trip to a bed and breakfast.”  She slaps the envelope down onto my desk. “I...I really don’t know what you’re up to.  If you’re one of those guys who cheats on his wife...”

“You’re crazy.  I’m madly in love at the moment, and you’re definitely not my type,” I laugh.  “I figured you might have a use for it, that’s all.”

It’s silent for the longest time.  She’s staring at me like she knows exactly what I did.  That I’m the reason Braeden called her, because I can tell that he must have.  This morning when I said hello to her, she barely looked at me.  She was a nervous wreck, and my only guess is that she’s going to be spending her lunch hour with him. It made me smile.  I was happy that the guy took my advice, because I really want this for him, even though my wife is so unsure.  When I explained the situation, I could tell she knew who Jessica was, but she didn’t get into it with me.  I knew it was a memory she wanted to forget, because her marriage to Braeden was long over.  Her life had changed drastically since then.  We’d gotten married, had children.  Our relationship was a happy, committed one, and our biggest problems were getting our twins through teething, and trying to convince Austin that he was loved, even if he didn’t think so.

I called Kim this morning, and even though she told me she would be glad to take Austin if that’s what he wanted, I could hear the sadness in her voice.  She was sure that the right place for the boys was with Abbey and I after we’d reconciled our differences.  Hearing me ask her to take him in, shocked her I think.  Abbey seems to think that the situation will be rectified.  That Austin wants to stay, but needs gentle coaxing to get him to realize it.  Honestly, I’m tired of battling with him, and the only reason I haven’t bought the plane ticket for him yet, is because of my wife.  She feels getting him away for the weekend, with just the two of them, will make everything okay again.  Naturally, I’ll let her do whatever she wants.  Take on Davey and two teething babies myself, because I love her, but I’m so afraid that it won’t work.  That she’ll come home and Austin will pack his bags and leave anyway.

I know that would crush her.  It’s my biggest fear.

“Did you give...give Braeden my number?”

“Yeah,” I admit.  “I did.”

“Why would you do that? You...don’t even know...”

“I know a lot, actually.  My wife was married to him for a while.  The rest is a long story.”

Her jaw drops open.  “Are you telling me...your wife is...that Abbey?”

I chuckle.  “Small world, huh?”

“I’m resigning.”

“No, you’re not.”

She turns as if she’s going to run out on me, but something seems to stop her.  When she turns around again, the tears are more than apparent on her face.  “You’re not supposed to do this!  You don’t even know...what’s happened in my life!  I can’t put on a happy face for Braeden when I’m this much of a fucking mess, Justin!  And yes, I’m calling you Justin! Not sir, not Mr. Timberlake!  If you can invade my space I can invade yours, you asshole!  I’m so fucking tired of kissing your ass and prancing around here on my tiptoes just so you won’t freak out!  Yeah, I need a damn cigarette every hour, does that make me a criminal?  Maybe if you weren’t so cheap and could hire a receptionist you wouldn’t have to worry about it, would you!”

I laugh, and she’s shocked.  Anybody else, including the serious business man she met at her interview, would have fired her for that.  But this is different.  This is for Braeden, and so, I’ll let it go.  She has a point too.  I’ve been too harsh with her, and I need to tone it down.  Business has been taking over my mind when I’m at the office, money too, and I know...I need to treat her with some respect since she’s been handling so much shit on my behalf. “I can accept that.  I guess I just wish I could understand what happened to you, but I know that’s not my place.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”  Her lips tremble and a sharp sob escapes her.  “You don’t even know what it’s like to lose somebody.”

I lick my lips and let out a long sigh.  “Actually, I do.”

She stares at me.

“Remember how I told you my kid brothers live with me?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, my parents were killed in a car wreck a few years ago. Drunk driver.  Before that, I hadn’t spoken to them in about seven years, and my brothers were just little kids when I left for the city.  I had to uproot them...and raise them.  If it hadn’t been for Abbey, I don’t know what I would have done.  Then...Braeden came home alive, and I lost her for a while too.  Things are better now...my life is better and so is hers.   Having money makes people think I don’t have any problems but...I would give up all my money if it meant I could have my parents back.  There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss them.”

“I...I...didn’t...”

“I don’t expect you to know my life story,” I say softly.  “I don’t shout it off the rooftops or anything.  I’m happy now.  My life is good, I have great kids and the best wife in the world, but there’s always going to be a part of me that regrets not being able to spend time with my parents before they passed.”

She nods slightly, and slowly sits down in one of the chairs across from my desk.  “He never saw it coming.  I tripped a wire while we were patrolling an area.  I got out of the way in time but...he was gone.  My best friend.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

She sobs into her hands for a few moments.  “Then who’s fault was it?”

“It’s a war.  Things happen.  Bad things.”

She shakes her head.  “I should have been paying attention.  I was trained better than that.”

I sigh.  “I doubt I’m the right person to be talking to about it, Jess.  I just...want you to realize that you have an opportunity to be with somebody that can understand you.”

“Braeden has enough of his own problems, without taking mine on too.”

“He cares about you,” I say, giving her a small smile.  “I know he does.”

She shakes her head.  “It’s not...that simple.”

“Maybe it can be,” I persist, and get up from the desk, making sure to pick up the envelope she placed there so I can give it back to her again.  “You just have to accept it, and give him a chance.  I’m trying to help you out.”  I reach the door and open it.  “Whatever you do with the things I’m giving you...that’s up to you.  I’m not forcing you to do anything.”

“Why are you doing all of this? Why...why should you care?”

“Because I owe him, and I like you.  Now come on, I have to get back to work.  It’s Friday and I promised my wife I’d be home early.  Our twins are teething.  Enough said.”

“Justin I...” She trails off and looks down at the floor.

I smile slightly.  “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

She leaves me after that, starts answering the phone and getting back to business again.  I think I’ve done the right thing by her.  In fact, I don’t think, I know that I have.  It gives me peace of mind, and I’m able to work diligently until lunch time hits.  Then I stop what I’m doing, and venture out into the hallway, stopping in my tracks when I see what’s going on outside my office.

Braeden has arrived, and Jessica is wrapped in his arms, crying into his chest.  He doesn’t notice me for a while, but when he does he smiles at me a little bit, and I nod in approval.

This is the way things are supposed to be.

“Take the rest of the day,” I tell them.

Jessica snaps to attention and looks back over at me.  “Oh...I...I couldn’t.”

“I’m telling you to do it.”  I smile, and walk over to the front door so I can open it for them.  “I don’t want to see you back here, until Tuesday.”

“The man’s giving you an order,” Braeden says with a small laugh.  “Guess you better do what he says.  Come on.”  He pulls away from her and takes her by the hand.  “Let’s go.”

She obeys, lets him lead her out of the office.  Braeden doesn’t hesitate to send me a grateful smile at me over his shoulder, before he disappears with her.  My heart melts a little bit.  I know things are going to work out with them eventually, and I know they’l be able to have a normal life one day.

I’m feeling so sappy in fact, that I decide to close up shop for the day, not caring about how much money I’ll lose or how many clients I might piss off.  I think I owe it to myself to have a romantic evening with my wife for once.  We haven’t really been able to do it since we moved here, and I know with the babies and the boys, we’re both too stressed at times to appreciate our marriage as much as we should.

“Hey.” Abbey smiles happily when I walk through the door, and gets up to greet me.  “What’re you doing home so early?”r32;
I kiss her long and hard before handing her the bouquet of flowers I’ve brought for her.  She smells them for a moment, before smiling back at me again.  “Just thought I’d take an early Friday.”

“And the occasion?”  She walks into the kitchen, and I follow behind as she puts the flowers into some water and puts them in the center of the kitchen island.

“Because I love you.”

She pauses and stares at me for a long moment.  “I love you too.”r32;
“What’s up with the kids?”

She saunters up to me once again, and puts her arms around my neck.  “I just put the babies down for a nap.  Davey is sleeping at Brian’s tonight, and Austin is still at school for the next four hours.”

“Oh really?” I raise an eyebrow.  “You got any plans until then?”

“I was going to fold some laundry.  I’m starting with the whites.  Very exciting, as always...”

I sweep her up in a kiss before she can ramble on, and soon enough, she gives up and kisses me back equally as hard.  I manage to pull her up the stairs as we kiss, and into the bedroom.  She’s loosening my tie and I’m unbuttoning her blouse as I kick the door closed behind us.  We collapse onto the bed together, and I strip her down, seducing her body with my lips and tongue before we make love.  

“That was definitely a nooner,” she laughs, exasperated, once we finish.  “We gotta do that more often.”

I kiss her neck.  “I can shoot for random days in the week to make it more exciting.”

“Like espionage?”

“Sort of.  Can you dress up like Cat Woman or something?  That shiny patent leather turns me on.”

“That would be...pushing it,” she laughs and slaps my shoulder.  “Keep it to the point, Timberlake.”

I kiss her again and smile back at her, marveling in her for a few minutes, thinking about how lucky I am that she’s here with me, and that she wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for Braeden.  “So I...sent Braeden and Jessica away for a long weekend.”

She stares at me for a moment.  “What’d you mean?”

“I got them a reservation at this little bed and breakfast.  I think they’ll finally be able to talk about a lot of things.”

She licks her lips.  “It’s really nice, Justin.  I’m just concerned that she’ll hurt him, that’s all.”

“Life is about risk,” I remind her as I smooth some hair behind her ear.  “Nobody knows that better than us, baby.  I think what they have is special, you know? I really believe that they can be happy together.  I hope you can too.”

“I guess I just worry about him still.  Maybe too much.”

“I wouldn’t expect you not to.  Your hearts too big.  That’s one of my favorite things about you.”

She sighs.  “Is it weird that we’re talking about this in bed?”

“Probably,” I laugh.  “But we’re weirdo’s anyway.”

“You might be.”  

I pull her closer to me and smile.  “C’mon, it takes one to know one.  We’ve had this discussion before.  You married me, that automatically makes you a weirdo.”

“As long as it’s just weirdo by marriage, I guess I can live with that.”

“Did you and Austin decide what you’re doing during my weekend of torture,” I say as I start to let my lips wander from her neck to her shoulder, and down from there.  

“We might just...do the...aquarium...”

My lips land on her inner thigh and I hear her start to breath harder.  “You’re gonna do the aquarium? Sounds interesting, we’ll have to try that sometime.  Going for it solo can’t be all that fun.”

“Freak.  You know...what...I...oh god Justin...”
 
I have to laugh, because she’s lost herself in my touch. I know just the spots to lick and finger her, that drive her completely crazy.  “You like that?”

“Stop playing around, and get back up here right now.  I want you in me.”

I obey, and she pushes me down onto my back, so she can climb on top of me.  Then she rides me, long and hard.  It’s been forever since we’ve done it like this, and she knows it.  That’s why she’s putting more effort in, even though she’s probably tired.  She’ll give herself to me though, because I’ve been so patient with her.

"Wahhh Wahhhhhhh"

Baby monitor.

“Why me?” I groan as our headboard hits the wall.

“Shit.”

We manage to finish before the cries become too horrendous, and she slides off of me while I continue to catch my breath.  “I’ll be back in soon,” she tells me as she pulls her clothes back on.  “It might just be a bottle.”

“Yeah...no...no rush.”

I hear her shuffle out of the room, and then the door clicks closed.  It takes me a good ten minutes more to completely catch my breath and then I slowly sit up in the bed, leaning against the headboard for support.  Damn, no matter how much money I lost today, what we just did it made it all worth it.  

I feel like our lives are getting more perfect by the day.  We couldn’t be happier, and I’m so thankful for that.

The phone begins to ring, the landline, and since I can still hear Abbey inside the nursery through the baby monitor, I decide to pick it up.  “Hello?”

“Justin?”

It’s Andrea, and I almost smile, before I realize her voice sounds more than distraught.  “Hey...Andrea.  How are you?”

“Is Abbey near you?”

“She’s just inside with the babies.  Is...is everything all right?”

“It’s Jim...” She trails off and I hear her sob. “He’s...he’s had a stroke.”

My world stops.  Everything stops.  My heart even feels frozen in my chest for a long moment, knowing that something horrible has happened to Abbey’s father.

No.

Not now.

“How bad is it?”

“They don’t know yet,” she whimpers.  “Right now he’s in a coma.  Do you think you can make the trip out here?”

“Absolutely,” I say, without hesitation.  “We’ll be there tomorrow if we can.”

“I...is it all right if I have you tell Abbey the news? I’m trying to hold things together here at the hospital.”

“Yeah...I...I can do that.”

“See you soon.”

The line goes dead and I just stare back at the phone.  How...how can this be happening? Everything was fine, going great.  And now...now this.

Abbey is going to try hard not to fall apart, but I know how close she is with her father, what a special relationship they’ve always had.  Enough has happened in their lives and right now, they’ve been at a great place in their relationship.  This is going to tear into her, she’s going to feel helpless and I...I can’t do much to fix the situation, besides stay by her side.

“It was just Vicki,” Abbey smiles as she makes her way back into our bedroom, shutting the door behind her.  “She needed a change, but then she went right back to sleep.” She crawls back beside me on the bed and starts to kiss me again, but when I gently push her away, the light in her eyes fades away to nothing at all.  “What is it? Who was on the phone.  I heard it ringing.”

“It was your mom.”  I run my fingers through her hair as I say it.  

“What’d she say?” She half smiles, as if she won’t believe anything is wrong at all.

“It’s about your dad.”

“W-what...what about my dad?”

I look down at the mattress for a moment, before looking back up at her again and taking her hands in mine.  “He had a stroke.”

“Oh...Oh god...” She whimpers.  “But...but he’s okay right? It wasn’t a big one was it?”

“He’s...he’s in a coma.  They aren’t sure how bad it is yet.”

She says nothing.  Her eyes just go wide and she covers her mouth with one of her hands.

“Baby.”  I pull her down to my chest as she starts to cry hysterically.  “He’ll pull through this, okay? I’ll get the best doctors to see him.  I’ll make sure of it.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” She cries.  “What if the doctors can’t help him?  What happens then?”

I can’t answer her.

I don’t know what the right answer is.