She tilts her head, lips pouted, eyes sparkling in that alluring way.
“I was going to wait until after dinner.”
I slip my hand around her waist and press her body to mine. My manhood is hard right away, my cock feeling like it’s going to explode out of my pants in a hungry primal quest to get as close to her as quickly as possible.
She initiates the kiss and we lose ourselves in it, moaning like it’s the first time backstage and the crowd is waiting, but I don’t care.
She was – is – all that exists when we kiss.
Everything else drifts away.
Except for Angela, except for our family, and my promise to always protect us.
When she breaks away, she looks again around the arena. We’re standing just beneath the stage. Its empty and soft mood lighting glows from the edges. On the stage, I’ve had a table and chairs set up so that we can dine in the place where this first started.
I take her hand and lead her around the edge of the stage, toward the stairs.
“You’ll be performing here one day,” I tell her.
She looks up at me, smiling softly. “You think so?”
“Definitely. You could be playing here already…”
She nods, knowing what I’m hinting at. My woman decided to release her album under a stage name, not wanting the world to know she was married to me.
“Not at first, anyway,” she explained. “I want to see what people think before they know about us. It’s not pride. I’m not saying I’ll never tell anybody. But it will be interesting to see the reception, don’t you think?”
The reception has been that my wife is one of the most talented women alive, with an angel’s voice and a knack for touching people’s most sensitive emotions.
I slide my hand to the small of her back, guide her over to the table, and pull out her seat. I take mine and we smile across at each other.
“Do you mind if I check in with Dad?” she asks.
I grin wider. “I was about to ask the same thing.”
She takes out her phone and calls her dad, her face showing clear relief when he tells her that Angela is okay. “He said she’s sleeping and we should enjoy ourselves instead of worrying.”
I reach over and take her hand, smoothing my thumb over her rings. “Maybe he’s right.”
“I can’t believe he ever stood in our way. It all seems so silly now.”
“It does. Remember how we were sneaking around in the beginning, terrified it would never work? And hell, Billie, those first days and weeks after our kiss… I thought I was going insane. I thought you’d never feel the same.”
“And now it’s our first wedding anniversary.”
She bites her lip, letting it go a moment later.
“What?” I say.
She tilts her head. “What?”
I chuckle. “Don’t get all coy with me. You’re acting like I can’t read you.”
“It’s just, I think maybe you should check your inside pocket. On the left side.”
“My pocket…”
I reach inside, finding a small plastic bag. Taking it out, I stare at the object inside.
A pregnancy test.
It’s positive.
I look up as my lips spread wide across my cheeks, as the future gets somehow brighter, somehow more magnificent.
“Happy anniversary,” she says, her lips mirroring mine, her eyes alive with emotion.
“Happy anniversary,” I growl, standing and walking around the table.
I pull her to her feet, into my arms, sliding my hand through her hair as I bring my lips to hers.
“I can’t believe it.” I’m cheering, yelling, my voice bouncing around the stage. “Angela’s going to have a little brother or sister.”
“So you’re saying this is the best gift ever, and I’m the best wife ever for waiting a couple of days to tell you, to make it extra special?”
My body stirs at her sassy tone. Our noses tickle each other as I lean in close, our breath painting over each other.
“Yes,” I snarl. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary gift.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
TEN YEARS LATER
Billie
“Mommy, look.”
Natalie runs over to me, our four year old toddling from side to side with the biggest, most beautiful smile on her face. I’m standing in the corner of the garden, under the giant umbrella, my swollen pregnant belly making the summer day feel even warmer.
But I wouldn’t change anything.
Aaron’s in the pool, leaping up as water glistens over his muscled torso, his iron hair twinkling and glittering. Angela giggles as she swims away from him, and Joey and Tommy chase after their father, the older of the boys – Joey – breaking my heart but in the best way when he stops to make sure Joey is keeping up.
My mom and dad sit next to me, sipping on their ice teas. Penny’s manning the barbecue, even though we told her she didn’t have to. My best friend left the restaurant a couple of years ago and decided to pursue a career as a chef.