Drake Forever (Unrestrained 7)

Then, I carried Sophie up to her bed and turned off the light. Her bedside light came on, which projected a thousand tiny stars on the ceiling. I laid her down in her crib, stroking her back as I usually did, and sang her a song, which I also usually did.

"Hush, little baby don't say a word, momma's going to buy you a mocking bird..."

She listened for a while and then closed her eyes, snuggling down into her bed, her cheek pressed against the blanket, her stuffed bunny under her arm. I tiptoed out of the room and slowly closed the door and didn't hear a peep out of her. She was tired after her afternoon in the park and staying up late listening to her dad read her books.

I made my way down the stairs to the living room, where Drake was busy putting a mix-cd into the music system. Something soft and clearly from the sixties came on. I didn't recognize it but it sounded Brit Invasion.

"Is that the Animals?"

I went to his side and he shook his head, holding up a CD. "Zombies. Time of the Season."

I slipped my arms around him and watched as he flipped through his CD collection. "I like this."

"Who's your daddy?" he said and turned to me, pulling me into his arms.

"Who's my daddy?" I said with a laugh. "Is that what they called boyfriends back in the 60s?"

"It was," he said.

"Kind of creepy when you think about it," I said, adjusting his robe collar. "But I understand the sentiment. Someone strong and caring to look after you."

"We're going to play this in our upcoming practice, so I wanted to listen."

"Saturday night?"

He nodded. "We'll practice on Saturday afternoon, and then we have a gig at the O'Riley's on Saturday night. Maybe you could get Karen to come by for the late set and I could pick you up. We could play out a little scenario..." He raised his eyebrows.

"Mmm," I said and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. "I like the idea of picking you up."

"Hmm," he said and cocked one eyebrow. "I thought I'd pick you up."

"We could pick each other up. Go to an expensive hotel for a couple of hours. Maybe Karen would spend the night?"

"Oh, now that sounds good. It'll be just the right timing for me to have sex again. Two weeks without has been hell."

I nodded, having felt rather deprived over the past two weeks. "It'll be good for you to practice with the boys and then go out with your loving and very needy wife. Get your mind off things."

"I won't be able to sleep now, imagining it."

He smiled and we kissed again.

"You sure you have to wait the whole two weeks before you can have sex?"

"Technically, I should wait until Monday, but I think I could get away with Saturday night, considering my concussion was pretty mild."

"You're the acclaimed neurosurgeon."

We kissed again and stood in an embrace, enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies.

For the next two hours, we lay on the sofa together and listened to music. When ten o'clock rolled around, we went to bed and lay in each other's arms for a while in the darkness, the only light coming from a crack between the curtains at the window.

I waited for Drake to say something about Michael's job offer, but he didn't. Perhaps he'd decided not to accept it and so I didn't feel like revealing it in case I pushed him to say no. It hurt me a bit that he didn't tell me, but I tried to understand his point of view.

The offer of a job as the head of the robotic neurosurgery unit would be plum and right up Drake's alley. The fact he'd be working with Michael would be a plus, since the two of them got along so well. But at the same time, we'd just moved back to Manhattan...

"Good night, my love," Drake said, murmuring against my temple as I lay in his arms, my head on his shoulder.

"Good night," I said, fighting with myself to ask about Michael. "I'm so glad this horrible experience will soon be over and we can forget all about her."