An Unexpected Reunion, Part Nine

Christmas morning was spent with my family, enjoying the kids’ reactions to their gifts.  The only drawback was that the kids got everyone up at five in the morning.  I’d have been happy to wait until eight!  Still, their parents had done a good job of finding just the right gifts and the crows of glee and dancing around in excitement were fun to watch.  My parents sat quietly, for the most part, smiling at the whole family together that way.  I could tell that having us all together for the holiday was the best gift any of us could have given them.

In the aftermath of the gift opening, we had brunch and examined favorite gifts together.  It was a quiet time. Some people drifted off for naps, others took walks.  I found myself curled up on the window seat in my mom’s favorite room.  She called it her Sun Room, because it was lined with South facing windows and was usually warm with sunlight.  She used it for craft projects, reading, doing puzzles, or whatever it was that she felt like doing.  It was the one part of the house, except perhaps the kitchen, which she claimed as her own.  When we were kids, it had been our playroom, but it hadn’t had nearly so many windows then.  My dad had remodeled it as a twenty fifth wedding anniversary gift to her, because he knew how much she loved the sun and wanted a room that was just hers.  He’d always had the garage to retreat to when he wanted time alone.  She did not have any such room when us kids were growing up.

I closed my eyes against the brilliance of the snow and sunlight, soaking up the warmth.  I sighed.  Pleasant as all of the family togetherness had been that morning, I was uncomfortably aware that I was the only unattached sibling, the only one without a smaller family unit to lavish love upon.  Even my parents had each other. Yesterday had felt different.  Yesterday, I’d had Simon and his daughters here, and his parents too. I had been able to attach myself to their family with relative ease and hadn’t felt so left out of my own family as a result. Simon and I had not been blatant in our attentions towards one another.  Only once had we even touched once we’d gone back to the house, and that had been when we’d said goodbye with a hug.  Perhaps it had lasted a moment too long, or perhaps it had felt so much like coming home that that had communicated itself to others.  Whatever it was that had alerted my sisters, they had converged on me in the kitchen once the youngsters were asleep.  The chattering trio had tried to interrogate me about my intentions and his intentions, and all sorts of other nonsense.  They’d even tried to dig into why he and I had broken up in the first place.  When I was finally sick of fielding their quizzing questions, my mother came into the room and put a stop to it with quiet words.  She’d said, “Girls, whatever Simon and Dana have between them now or had between them in the past, it is theirs.  Leave her be.  You have your own loves to worry about.” And with the obedience of our youth, they’d backed off, and gone to find their husbands.  I’d given my mom a hug and headed for my own bed. I was in no mood that night for idle chit chat or playing board games with those still awake.

I must have dozed off in the warmth of the sun because a little while later, one of my five year old nephews was standing beside me tapping my arm over and over again.  He didn’t say anything, but he tapped and tapped until my eyes opened.  Then he thrust a phone into my face and chirped, “It’s for you, Aunt Dana!”  Then he ran out of the room, cackling and calling to his cousins.

Groggily I stared at the phone. I heard a tinny voice saying, “Dana?  Are you there?  Hello?”  I put the phone to my ear and I realized it was Simon’s voice. I smiled.

“Hello, Simon.  Merry Christmas!” My voice was husky from sleep.

“Dana! Merry Christmas to you too. How was your morning?” He asked.

“Oh, you know…the kids woke us up too early, they thoroughly enjoyed their gifts and I got a big kick out of watching their excitement.  We’ve hit the afternoon lull, now.  How was your morning?”

Simon laughed and said, “Effie woke me up much too early, as well, but it was worth it to see her excitement. She was still vibrating with it after we ate lunch.  It was all I could do to convince her that she should take a nap.”

“But you were able to convince her?”

“Yes, amazingly, both she and Bridget are napping at the same time now.  My mom and dad have also wandered off to have a rest. And I’m stretched out on my bed, actually.  I was laying here thinking to nap myself, but my brain had other ideas.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  I started to wonder what it’d be like to have you here with me, in my bed.  Is that a dangerous way to think?”

I felt myself getting warm and tingly and smiled. “I don’t think it’s dangerous, no, but I think it could lead us down a very interesting path.  Are you ready to go there again?”

I heard him exhale slowly and inhale again. He very softly said, “I think I’ve been ready for a long time, but I didn’t realize it until I held you in my arms again yesterday.  I realized I have missed you very much.”

“Ah, you’ve missed my body.” I said drily.

“No! That’s not what I meant. Well, it’s part of it.” He sighed.

“I was just teasing, Simon,” I said.

“I know, but it did come out of my mouth that way.  I didn’t mean it to.  I meant that…so much of the past ten years just blew away like so much dust on the wind when I held you yesterday.  It felt right.  Now I’m not with you and things feel off again.  Do you know what I mean?” For Simon to sound so tentative, I knew that the words he was speaking meant a lot to him, but that he hadn’t fully processed and accepted the feelings yet. I didn’t think he knew what the feelings meant in the long run.  I’m not sure I knew, except in an abstract way which related to my goal of marrying him.

“I think I understand.  I was just sitting here thinking that something was missing from the day.  I think it’s because you, Bridget and Effie aren’t here.” I sighed.

“Well, I know your family has traditions at dinnertime, but would you be able to sneak away for a little while?  You could come over here.  Then at least part of our day would feel,” he paused, “right.”

I considered his suggestion for a minute and then eagerly agreed.  We hung up as soon as I’d gotten directions to his house and then I went to change, put on my snow boots and let my mom know where I was going.  She reminded me about dinner being at five that evening and then added, “Simon and his family are more than welcome to join us again, Dana, if you feel like inviting them. Just let me know if they are coming so that the table can be properly set before they get here.” I nodded and thanked her, then rushed to my car.  I was eager to get to Simon, far more eager than I thought I should be.  I felt like a teenager again, sneaking off to be with my boyfriend, knowing that we would do things our parents would probably disapprove of.

The drive across town seemed to take forever.  The traffic was lighter than I’d expected but the roads were still icy and slick.  I had to drive far slower than the posted speed limits in order to feel safe.  Finally I pulled into his driveway.  I saw him in the picture window at the front of the house, holding the drapes back to watch the road.  I could see his lips curve in a smile as I put my car in park.

I grabbed my purse as I swung out. I almost slipped on some ice on my way up the walk, but found his arms catching me before I’d done more than skid. I smiled ruefully up at him and said, “Thanks.  I guess I’m not used to ice skating any more.” A laugh rumbled from his chest but he shook his head. “I’m sorry there was any ice to slip on. I should have salted better.” He kissed me swiftly, a hard peck on the lips, and then pulled me in to the warmth of his house.

As soon as the door was closed behind me, he turned towards me and wrapped me in his arms.  His mouth swooped down to mine.  Our kiss left me breathless with its urgency, and I could feel him breathing quickly as well.  He stared down at me, panting, our bodies aligned from shoulder to knee, and all I could think was “I love you.”  I could not bring myself to say it though because it felt like rushing things. I sighed. He frowned.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.  I shook my head and laid my head on his shoulder, burying my face against his neck.  He stroked up and down my back. Softly he said, “Would you like a tour of the house now?”

I nodded and said, “As long as it won’t disturb anyone.”

“I’ll skip those rooms, ok?” He gave me another squeeze and then released me.  He caught hold of my hand before stepping away.  He used it to tug me along after him thorugh the house.  Basement family room, kitchen, dining room, living room: he led me through all of these rooms and in a daze I admired the masculine decorations in each which were scattered with the paraphernalia of two little girls.  My attention was held far more by the warmth of his hand against mine, by the way our fingers were laced together as if we were lovers again.  I was riveted by the vibrations of his deep voice as he described each room, and by the way he rushed through each description as if he had a destination in mind.

Upstairs, in a quiet hallway he stopped in front of a closed door.  I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  He shook his head and gently opened the door.  He released my hand and nudged me into the room ahead of him.  As I walked in, I was captivated by the large window across the room. The drapes were drawn open and the view was breathtaking.  I felt myself pulled to the view of the snow covered hills in the far distance and the lacey looking tree branches which framed the view.  I inhaled sharply, feeling as if I’d forgotten to breathe.  I smiled with delight and turned to look at Simon.  He was standing against the closed door with a small smile on his face, just watching my reaction.  This, then, was what he’d been so eager to show me throughout the house.

“It’s breathtaking, Simon! How lucky are you to have found such a place with a such a view.”

“It became far more enthralling when you walked over to stand in front of the view.”  I rolled my eyes and grinned at him.  He chuckled and strolled over to join me.  He reached past me and a door slid open where I had thought there was only a window.  He gestured me through the door but I hesitated.

“I left my coat downstairs, Simon.”

“I’ll keep you warm. Don’t worry.” He smiled and put a hand in the small of my back to push me gently through the door.

Outside, around a corner, was a private balcony which had been cleared of snow.  In the corner, what looked like a hammock was swinging in the breeze, but it was piled with blankets and pillows.  I shivered as a gust of wind whipped past us.  Simon shut the sliding glass door behind us and wrapped a warm hand around my arm and pulled me to the hammock. 

“That looks like it could be a cozy nest,” I said.

“I hope so.  Want to try it out?” He grinned at me.

“I thought you wanted me in your bed?  You didn’t tell me you slept outside!”

“We could go back in there,” he gestured back the way we had come.  I shivered again and he wrapped his arms around me, sharing his body warmth.  He whispered in my ear, “Or we could cuddle under those blankets on the hammock and ignore the world around us for awhile.”

I pulled back and looked at him.  The idea was appealing, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t get any talking done if we burrowed into that warm cocoon of blankets. I thought we needed to do some talking though, before we went too far down the path of nostalgia.

“Could we just go back in the house and have some coffee or cocoa or something and talk?  Would that be ok?” I hugged him around the waist, asking him wordlessly to take things slow for me.  He sighed in disappointment and nodded.  He kept an arm wrapped around me as we walked back to the glass door.  Before we rounded the corner, I stopped to look back at the scene he’d prepared.  It was reminiscent of our cuddles on my parents’ porch swing and I loved that he’d thought of it.  I looked up at him and he raised an eyebrow in response.

“Can I take a rain check on this?” I nodded towards the hammock. He leaned down and nuzzled my neck, sliding soft kisses behind my ear.

“Absolutely,” he breathed softly.  Then he slid open the door and I walked through ahead of him.  I realized that we’d walked through his bedroom before and I hadn’t even noticed because I was too busy looking at the view.  He wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my neck again.  I leaned back against him, closed my eyes and savored the feel of him against me.  I was about to turn around and ask for a real kiss when I heard a tiny voice wailing, “Daaaaaddddddyyyyy!”  He rested his chin on my shoulder and sighed. 

“Guess I’m on duty already. Why don’t you head down to the kitchen and I’ll meet you there.  I need to get Effie before she wakes up Bridget.”  He released me and hurried out the bedroom door.  I heard him quietly greet Effie and calm her.  I wandered down the stairs to the kitchen, quietly considering all that had just happened.

Read the whole story here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, and El Fin