The key fit in the lock easily and I turned it. I had about three hours before Gael was due home. During that time, I planned on taking a nap.
The door creaked open and delicious smells assaulted me. “Hello?”
“In here, sweetheart.” Gael’s deep voice reverberated through me. He was to the left, in the living room.
Walking in, I smiled at the scene before me. A fire crackled in the fireplace with blankets and pillows arranged on the floor as Gael had done periodically throughout the years.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Stowe.”
“It’s good to be home, Mr. Stowe. You’re here early.”
A lazy smile appeared on his face. “I thought we’d enjoy this time together.”
Warmth spread through me. After all this time, we never tired of each other. Simultaneously, we walked to each other and his lips found mine. Against them he said, while he held my face, “I’ll never tire of having you in my arms.”
Goosebumps formed on my flesh. “I love you, Gael. Thank you for saying yes to my proposal all those years ago.”
A hearty chortle left him as he nipped my lip. “I believe it was you who said yes to me when I asked you.”
Since our marriage, we gave each other a hard time about who really proposed first. Like our relationship, we were responsible for equal parts and I loved that about us … we truly were partners.
“What are you plans for us this afternoon, Mr. Stowe?”
“I thought we’d lay by the fire.”
I raised my eyebrow as I peeked around him. “Is that all? If memory serves me right, normally we do more than laying when you set up the living room like this.”
His hand brushed against my stomach where there was only the faintest baby bump so far. For only a moment, he felt our child before his hand roamed up to the swell of my breast. “I think you’re right. I do have more planned.”
“You think?” My bra cup was moved down as my nipples were rolled between his fingers. A moan escaped. Being pregnant caused them to be so sensitive. The feeling was an exquisite torture. “Please, Gael. I want you. I hope you know, and still aren’t thinking about what you’re going to do.”
“Oh, I know.”
We laid in each other’s arms in the glow of our love making. Not once, but twice Gael had brought us both to the brink of no return.
The outside sky grew darker outside the windows. It was the calm before the storm as I watched the branches sway a little farther.
Thunder crashed outside the house and Gael grabbed his phone from beside him where his khaki pants had been discarded. “I’ll check on Sophia and then I’ll look at the weather.”
After less than the minute, Gael’s phone vibrated. “Mom and Dad say all is good. They have some rain, but it looks like the worse of the storm is going to hit us.”
Whew, I was glad but then snuggled closer to Gael. “Do we need to go to the storm shelter?”
His eyes scanned the weather page as he watched the maps and read the notices. “I don’t think so. It’s just strong thunderstorms.”
Another clash of lightening rumbled the walls. I snuggled closer to Gael as rain pelted the house. It was comforting as we laid there. “Are you still okay from the visit with Harris?”
“Yes, I think he was genuine. I’m happy for him.”
“Me too.”
Another crash of lightening and we lost the lights. During that time, another succession of bolts lit up the side of the room where Sophia and Daniel’s journals were in the shadow box beneath the picture we had found of them. Memories from the time we initially found them came to the forefront. Oh, how I missed them. Gael commented, “It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since that journey.”
“I know. I miss reading about them and discovering about them. The first time was simply magical.”
“It was.”
The lights came back on and I glanced at their picture. It was cockeye on the wall. Gael saw it at the same time and popped up to adjust it. His toned body had me ogling my husband from behind. “You like what you see, sweetheart?”