Dare To Love Again

CalenI wasn’t aware of falling asleep, but some time later, I came awake with her weight still on my chest and the memory of the night we shared came rushing back. I laid there for a few minutes more, enjoying the feel of her against me until I heard the change in her breathing. “Are you awake, love?” I kissed the top of her head before she could answer and eased her off of me onto her side on the bed next to me. I needed to piss in the worst way. “Be right back.”

I walked into her bathroom and took care of business, and a look in the mirror while washing my hands showed me some of the damage her nails had done. I don’t even remember her attacking my chest, but as soon as my eyes landed on those marks, the scratches she’d left on my back started to burn a little. I didn’t mind, not even a little bit; they were like a badge of honor.

Back in the bedroom, her eyes followed me as I made my way to the bed. I should probably head back to my own room before the questions start, but I find that I’m not ready to leave her just yet. For me, this was like a renewal of everything we’d once shared. For her, it can be nothing less than confusing, I’m sure. It was still an hour or so before our son will be waking up, and my mind was already going to how much loving I could give her in that amount of time as I climbed back into bed, and then a strange sound filled the air, stopping me in my tracks.

The sound was so foreign; it took me a second to recognize it for what it was, and just as I did, her phone dinged across the room again, and she jumped like someone had goosed her. From her reaction, I had a pretty good idea who was on the other end of that shit, so I got up from the bed and crossed the room to the chair she’d dropped her bag on. “Calen, no…”

“It’s okay, baby.” I fished the phone out and read the message after taking a wild guess at the passcode; it was our wedding date. I smiled to myself and ignored the fact that my heart warmed, and I wanted to do handsprings like a bitch. I read the message as I walked back to the bed where she was now sitting up, clutching the sheet to her chest, still the same sweet shy girl I knew from before even after all we’d shared last night and every night since she’s been back come to think of it.

She looked over to read the message as well, and I could feel the tension in her. “Where are you? You’d better be home tomorrow, or I’ll come find you, and when I do, you know what will happen. We need to talk.” My first reaction to the words on the screen was anger, but I’m not that green to think that that would solve anything here. In fact, within seconds, my devious mind saw this as to my benefit.

I answered for her without thinking of how it would look to her. “I’ll come home tomorrow; what time should I be there?” I felt her tense up even more and wrapped my arm around her. “Stay calm.” Her reaction was taking everything in me not to tell this bitch to kick rocks in more colorful ways, of course, but I kept my cool and reminded myself that there was more at stake here than my ego.

Though I blame this hag and my ex-friend for taking my family away from me and doing who knows what to my wife, I can’t forget that I need more information before making my move. I have no intention of going back and forth with this shit. I see a one-two knock out punch, and game over. I’m guessing Dana didn’t get the memo and had called this bitch and told her where my wife is. If that’s the case, she’d just added a little more hell to her comeuppance.

“Be there at eight, not a minute later, or I’ll make you sorry.” I could all but feel the venom coming through the text.

“Hmm!” I started typing again. “I can’t be there any sooner than nine…thirty.” Giselle started to panic and tried to grab the phone.

“No, Calen, you can’t do that; if you don’t do as she says, there’ll be trouble.”

I hated the fear in her voice. She could have no idea how she’d just doomed her incubator by her reaction. Just what the fuck did this bitch do to my woman that would make her react like this? When I met Giselle, it’s true she was shy and reserved and barely spoke above a whisper. Like Dana had implied earlier, I had been the one to draw her out of her shell. The one who’d coaxed the new self-assured woman out in the open.