Chapter 13 - Rainy Days & Remembrances

I had spent all this time, worrying about the reasons on why I shouldn’t be with Christian when I realized that the happiest I’ve ever been had been this week.  I knew I was falling for Christian and Aiden had me from the day I met him.  For once, I had chosen to actually see what living in the moment felt like and went with the flow instead of psychoanalyzing everything that was going on around me; I’m not going to lie, it felt great!

So here I was, lying in my bed, wrapped around this gorgeous specimen of a man that was willing to give me everything and share his entire world with me.  This man had a son that desperately wanted a mother, more specifically; Aiden wanted me as his mother.  I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that but I promised myself that I would definitely consider it.  How could I not?  That child was damn well near perfect!

“What are you thinking about?”  I hear mumbled and then feel Christian’s lips on my forehead.  “I can hear those wheels turning.”  I had to laugh.

“Thinking about you, us, and what we just did.”  I tell him, nuzzling the side of my face into the crook of his neck and shoulder.

“Is there anything I can help you sort through?”  He says as he rolls me onto my back and towers his upper body over mine and I wrapped my knees onto either side of his hips.  I shake my head, looking at him.  I knew this man loved me with all he had.  I only wished I was ready to tell him I felt the same way which I did, but I simply couldn’t verbalize it just yet.

“You look like you’re the one with something on your mind.”  I tell him, eyeing him suspiciously.  He began nipping my neck and nodded.  “Well?”  I start.  “Come out with it then.”  And he pulls back slightly with that devilish look in his eye.  I had to smirk at his look.

“I wonder how many times I can make you moan my name.”  He says as he nips my jaw and a hiss escapes my lips.  “But we can’t.”  And I look at him, confusion in my eyes.  “I only had the one condom.”  He explains.  I had to laugh.

“Babe, we’re not in high school anymore.  I’m on birth control.”  I giggle into his chest and nip his collarbone.  As he groaned, I knew I was in a heap of trouble.  It felt amazing to be this close to him, to know how he felt but also, to know how he loved.  I knew him on a friendly level, I’ve seen the kind of father he is, and now, I’ve experienced firsthand how fantastic of a lover he is.  As the tension rose within me, merely at my breaking point, I felt Christian pull his face away to look at me.  He held my gaze as we simultaneously melted into heated bliss, our passionate heights achieved.  As our bodies calmed, I steal a kiss from his lips, only for him to profess his love to me again.

“I’m beginning to think you really do.”  I joked.

“I’ll say it as often as I have to for you to believe me.”  He whispers in my ear as he spooned me from behind.  “Goodnight beautiful.”

“Will you still be here in the morning?”  I asked him.

“I wouldn’t dream of ever leaving you.”  I hear him say as his hold on me tightened briefly and my eyes closed as I started to drift off.

It was always the same.  I’d be sitting on this bench for who knows how long, starring at the keys; I’d manage to lift the cover up and feel the coolness of the ivories.  Last night had been magical to say the least.  When I woke up this morning, I figured I’d let Christian sleep in.  I came down and made us some coffee.  As I walked into the den, the Steinway begged for my attention.  I walked around it, my fingers gliding over its sleek and shiny surface.  I sat down and lifted the key cover.  Running my fingers on a few keys, my heart was filled with such an abundance of emotion.  My fingers ached to play again and my heart was breaking.  I remembered my father and how he once sat beside me on this very bench as Mom sat across the way, admiring us having our father-daughter time.  My fingers reach up and touch a few cold keys.  I pressed a few of them lightly to hear their sound.  The beautiful noise reverberated throughout my entire body, reaching the depths of my soul; reminding me of how much I had missed it.  I struck a few more keys and found myself feeling at home, loving this new part of me that had begun to suddenly open up again, rediscovering a part that I thought no longer existed, a part suppressed since the age of sixteen years.  I began playing from memory; one of my favorite classics, Beethoven’s Tear’s Melody.  I always loved the way it felt.  As I neared the end, I merged into his The Daydreamer and finished off with a merge into Fur Elise, one of my mother’s favorites.  When I had finished, I pulled the key cover back down and sat there, looking out the window, my hands clasped on my lap.

“That was beautiful.”  I jumped at Christian’s voice.  I felt myself blush and momentarily forgot that I wasn’t alone in the house this morning.

“Did I wake you?”  I asked him.  He nodded as he stood there leaning against the arch to the den’s entrance.  “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”  He walked toward me, in nothing but his jeans.  “It’s like you haven’t missed a step, watching you play.”  And he sat down on the bench beside me, hugging me to him.  “How does it feel?”

“I’m not sure yet.  Somewhat like I just betrayed a promise I had made to myself to never touch it again.”  I explained.  “Then again, I also feel free.”  I felt him nod.  I pull away from his embrace and look at him and then to the clock on the mantle.  “Don’t you have to leave soon and get Aiden?”  He nodded.  “What time?”

“I should have been there half an hour ago.”  He said and a hand flew up to my mouth, covering it.  “Don’t worry about it.  I told Mom that if I wasn’t there when he woke up, to let him know that I was gone to get his best friend.”

“What do you mean?”  I asked him.

“Exactly what I just said.”  He explained.  “At Aiden’s request, he, you and I are going to have a full day of fun!”  I began to laugh.  This day has just gotten even more interesting.

Half an hour later, I had managed to convince Christian to head over to his parents’ house without me.  There were a few things that I had wanted to tackle before he came back with Aiden, to pick me up and spend the day at their place.  I jumped in the shower and got myself dressed.  It was a rainy day so I figured that comfy casual was best so I slid on my black cotton shorts and a light blue off the shoulder, loose fitting t-shirt.  I checked my phone to see if I had received any messages while I was in the shower.  I had one.  I went in and found myself sitting on the edge of my bed in shock.  It was a message from Sarah.  Yeah, the Sarah you’re thinking of.  My ex’s assistant – slash – girlfriend or whoever she was to him.

“Amelia.  It’s Sarah.  I know I’m the last person you want to hear from right now but something’s happened.  Adam’s been in a horrible accident.  We thought he wouldn’t pull through but he’s awake now and he’s asking for you.  Amelia, something’s wrong.  He doesn’t remember the last year.  He still thinks you two are still dating.  I don’t know what to say to him.  The doctors think that telling him the truth might be more harmful than beneficial at this point.  Call back ASAP, please.”

I deleted the message and my phone vibrated in my hand.  It was from Christian.

Be there in ten.  C.

I put my phone down and tried to process what Sarah’s message said.  What was I to do?  From my point of view, things were completely over with Adam.  I honestly couldn’t see a future with him, especially now, with the way I felt about Christian and Aiden.  I figured that I’d use this day to ponder about it and then, depending on what I had decided, I hoped that Christian would support me in my decision.

Ten minutes later, my hair was pulled in a loose bun at the back of my neck and I had managed to add a little mascara and blush to color my face.  I sat on the front porch when I saw Christian’s car back out of his parents’ driveway and then drive into mine.  I ran to his car as fast as I could with my umbrella at hand, keeping me dry from the current torrential downpour.

“Amelia!”  Aiden cried out with glee when I shut the car door.  “Daddy tells me that we’re having a lazy day today.  Is it true?”  I looked over at Christian and smiled.

“Daddy might be right but I’m sure we can find a few other things that we can have fun doing that might liven up our day.”  I tell him.  He clapped from the backseat as Christian and I laughed.  I looked out the passenger window and felt his hand grab hold of mine.  Fifteen minutes later, we drove up the driveway to a newly built home.  I smiled.  It seemed so perfect for two bachelors.  Upon walking into their house, I was impressed at how homely it felt.  From framed pictures of Aiden and his father, to artwork plastered all over the fridge, toys neatly stowed away in their storage bins to the ransacked playroom in the basement TV room.

“Come see my room!”  Aiden pulled at my hand.  I laughed and followed, making myself at home.  I knew that’s what Christian wanted so I went with it.  Clearly, Mr. Aiden had an obsessive love for fire trucks and firemen.  His room was filled with books, stuffed toys, firefighting paraphernalia, you name it and I could bet you that Aiden had it.  Everything was scattered together.

“Looks like you could use an overhaul in here.”  I say.  “Little buddy, you have lots of stuff in your room.”

“Daddy says that too.”  He says and I feel Christian put his hands on my hips, leaning his body into the back of mine.

“Daddy says what?”  Chris asks.

“That I have too much stuff and none of it has a home.”  Aiden tells him.

“Well, maybe Amelia can help us out with that some time.”  Christian kissed me on the cheek and I find myself melting further into him.

“Really?”  Aiden said  with his little face brightening.

“Sure!”  I cheer and I could feel Christian’s smile as he nuzzled the side of my face with his.

“Alright!  So who’s up for a movie?”  Christian asked overenthusiastically.  Aiden jumped up right away.  “Okay buddy, lead the way!”  He says.  And as quickly as Aiden left the room, rushing down the stairs, Chris grabbed my hand to stop and pull me into him as he backed me against the wall out in the hallway.  The fingertips of his free hand found my cheek and played a pattern rubbing down my jaw to my chin as he brought his lips slowly to mine.  My knees felt weak.  There was definitely something to be said about watching him interact with his son that made him sexier.

“I realized that I hadn’t kissed you yet today.”  He tells me.

“Mmm.”  I said and smiled as I tried to close the gap between us a second time.

“Daddy loves Amelia!”  We hear from the bottom of the stairs.

“Come back here you little monster!”  Christian says chasing him down as I follow slowly.  The sounds of squeals and laughter made me smile.  I found them both in the hallway, rolling on the floor, being silly.  I could have all of this some day.  Who wouldn’t want this?