SNOWED IN AT THE AIRPORT Ch. 5 pt. 5

SNOWED IN AT THE AIRPORT Ch. 5 pt. 5
 
 
Because your kids need you to be near them, he replied. Look there's no reason for us to live in Jacksonville with your parents, is there? and you don't want to move to Richmond with me Emily and Toby's dad lives here so why not bring them home?
 
But what about you and your foundation?
 
It goes where I go, he waved me off. It's just me and I can run it from here as well as from Richmond.
 
There were so many things I wanted to say, but the words failed me. I pulled Kevin close and vowed to never let him go.
 
Come here, I want to show you something, he said, a twinkle in his eye.
 
He led me to the front door, where I began to cry.
 
A mat was on the floor, and despite the fact that there was no other furniture, it made this house feel like a home. Our home.
 
Welcome to the Casa de Mel
 
I practically threw Devin on the floor and raped him right there. To his credit, he took it like a man.
 
The next seven months passed in a blur.
 
When he found out that Devin and I had moved to Raleigh, Kenzo was more than happy to go to an every-other-week schedule for the kids. I don't think he or his girlfriend realized how much work having the kids for three months was going to be.
 
We moved his things from Richmond and got some of my stuff out of storage. Devin revealed that he had bought this house almost three months before as a reconstruction project and had been slowly restoring it to its former glory. I was amazed at his confidence that there was some future for the two of us. He gave me a healthy budget for new home furnishings I came under; yea, me! and we nested. All our parents came up and we celebrated our first Christmas as a family.
 
Devin sold his house and I started working as a loan officer for a local credit union. It was a steep pay cut from my previous job as a banker, but the hours were good, and I didn't miss the extra stress or the travel. The kids returned to the schools they left when I moved home, and it was as if they had not missed a beat.
 
The four of us had some growing pains as a family, but Emily and Toby readily accepted Devin as their stepfather and he treated them as if they were his own children. Of course, we had to break ourselves of some old habits as we learned to live with one another, but that was to be expected. Besides, when Devin and I fought, we got to have make-up sex.
 
Valentine's Day rolled around, and Devin was waiting for me when I got home. Some days I felt like he was a worthless bum because he never had to leave the house to go to work but I did not begrudge him the fact that he had earned the lifestyle he now led.
 
I was carrying a bouquet of flowers that had shown up at work. They were beautiful and garnered much jealousy from my co-workers. The kids were at their dads for the week.
 
Setting the flowers down on the counter, I drew out a small box from my purse.
 
Handing it to Devin, I greeted him with a kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day."
 
As the wrapping paper fell away, I saw his jaw drop.
 
"What . . . Mel? . . . I . . ."
 
Smiling to myself, I pressed my body against him. Devin, this is my wedding present to you. I know it's a little late and that there's nothing I can buy you that you don't already have but I want this for us.
 
Are you sure? he asked once he found his voice.
 
Yes, Dev, I am sure, I replied. I am thirty-seven years old now. If we wait any longer, we will be taking a chance with my health and our baby's.
 
He flung my birth control pills down on the counter, the scooped me up in his arms.
 
I let out a rapturous laugh as he carried me back to our bedroom. I nuzzled up against his neck.
 
"I stopped taking them last week," I whispered. He promptly tossed me down on the bed. A shiver ran through my body at the look he gave me.
 
Devin pounced on top of me and tore at my clothes. I eagerly gave in to the primal force that was my husband.
 
The two of us fucked like rabbits for the next three days. We didn't even leave the house. We made love everywhere.
 
Kitchen table. Living room sofa. Stand-up shower.
 
Check. Check. Check.
 
I rode him as he sat on the toilet. He bent me over the side of the loveseat and banged me. We sixty-nine on the dining room floor. I sucked his cock as he surfed for porn on his computer. He ate me out as I sat on the edge of our whirlpool tub. One night, we went outside and had sex in the hot tub on the back deck even as the snow was falling and more than a few times, we made love in our bed.
 
It wasn't until my March cycle that I caught. Neither of us wanted to know what the sex of the baby is going to be. We turned the spare bedroom into a nursery. Both Emily and Toby were excited to have a new sibling. His parents were ecstatic that they were going to be grandparents.
 
A month after that, I came home from work one day and Devin told me to pack a suitcase.
 
Where are we going? I asked.
 
On the honeymoon we never took, he said.
 
What about the kids?
 
They are going to their dad's next week. Devin still will not call Kenzo by name. How would you like to spend a week in the Caribbean?"
 
Who am I to turn down a vacation with the man I love?
 
As with just about everything Devin does for us, the plans were already made. All I had to do was show up. It was a great relief to me that Kevin did so much for us. Not that I do not like to plan, but because it allowed me to let other people do the little minutia that I often get caught up in.
 
Giving up control was extremely hard for me. That is one of the downfalls of being a Type A personality. I am lucky to have a husband who is patient with me and does not put up with all my crap.
 
We got on a plane in RDU and flew to our connecting flight to Ft. Lauderdale.
 
Devin went off to get us something to drink. I headed for the gate for our next flight.
 
I was walking by one of the airport restaurants, when I felt someone tugging at my arm. I turned, instantly defensive.
 
Marlene Nakamura a man asked.
 
His voice sounded familiar, but I could not place it. The man sitting at the table was short, round and balding. I knew I should recognize him, but
 
I did not.
 
Marlene? You haven't changed a bit!" he continued. "It's me, Darren Copeland."
 
My eyes got wide. Darren graduated with Devin and me. He was almost as smart as Devin and almost as motivated as me. As I remembered, he was also kind of arrogant and liked rubbing the fact that he smarter than most everyone else in their faces.
 
He hadn't aged well. At least not as well as my husband.
 
Hey, Darren, what have you been up to?
 
"Oh, not a lot," he slurred. It was evident that he had been drinking for some time. Have a seat and join me for a drink.
 
I cannot I started but he waved a waitress over.
 
What will you have, Marlene?

I blushed. "Just water, please."
 
You had better hurry your ass up, Kevin! I thought.
 
Where are you off to? Darren asked. As revolting as they appeared, the cold potato skins on his plate seemed oddly appealing to me.
 
Pregnancy cravings, I guess.
 
"Ft. Lauderdale," I replied absently. "Got a date with a jewelry store on St. Thomas."
 
"That sounds like fun. I'm on my way out to San Francisco for a software conference," he said even though I hadn't asked.
 
Listen, I have got.
 
Hey, Devin! Devin Westcott! he looked past me and started to wave excitedly.
 
I turned and saw my husband passing us by on the moving sidewalk. He glanced up in surprise, then his face broke into a wide smile. My husband came back and held out his arms to embrace our mutual friend.
 
Well, I'll be damned! Darren Copeland! How the hell are you?
 
I sat there as the two old friends exchanged pleasantries. Devin and Darren hadn't been close, in high school, but they ran in the same circles, and both spoke the same language: computer geek. And I mean that in the most loving way possible.
 
Can I buy you a beer? Darren asked.
 
Devin, if you do anything other than get me away from him, I will kill you, I thought.
 
Have you ever been around someone who just gives you the creeps? That was the vibe I always got from Darren. Not that he was dangerous or anything like that, but I always felt that when he looked at me, he was picturing me naked. Of course, I think sixteen-year-old boys look at all girls like that.
 
No thanks, Devin replied. He set a cup of coffee down on the table in front of me.
 
What are you doing here our mutual friend asked?
 
I am on the way to Ft. Lauderdale, my husband said. Got a big Caribbean cruise coming up.
 
Say, Marlene, aren't you going to Ft. Lauderdale, too?" Darren slurred.
 
I nodded and resisted the urge to slap him upside the head. Maybe he was really drunk and not just tipsy. He raised his half-empty glass of beer.
 
Well, here is to you, Devin, the luckiest game designer on the east coast; that contract was mine you know! And to the prettiest girl in the Class of 1991: Marlene Nakamura!
 
"Westcott." Smiling to myself, I corrected our drunken companion. It is Marlene Westcott now.