Epilogue
Gwendolyn
School had only just let out for the year, but it already felt like it was the middle of summer, and when I pulled my car up in front of the house, I spent a few more seconds enjoying the chill of the air conditioner pumping through the vents in front of me before I turned the car off and reluctantly stepped out into the blistering temperature beyond. I opened the back door and reached in to pull the bags out of the back seat, musing that it wouldn't be long before that particular movement became a far more touch and go situation. I could only imagine trying to pull bags out of the car in September and getting stuck halfway through the bend, gravity trying to decide whether it was going to let me stand back up, or if it was going to choose my belly's side and pull me down into the car. Maybe that was going to be the determining factor of when I wasn't allowed to do the shopping anymore.
I juggled for a few seconds to strike a balance between the bags in each hand and bumped the door with my hip to close it. I tried to reach for the doorknob, but wasn't able to negotiate it and instead poked at the doorbell. I heard shuffling on the other side of the door and then it opened. It briefly seemed as though no one had opened the door, and then I realized that it had been Jason, and he had already made his way back into the living room to flop down onto the couch. He was wearing the teenage boy's summer uniform of gym shorts and socks and was gripping a video game controller as he stared at the screen. It looked as though he was having absolutely no trouble adjusting to the last summer break before his senior year.
He looked up at me and I noticed his eyes widened slightly as if he hadn't even thought about who might be on the other side of the door. That was only a little bit disheartening. I'm sure that if he had let an intruder in, in his video game induced stupor, The Reverend and The Bishop would have put up enough of a fuss to at least get his attention.
"Do you need some help?" he asked.
"That would be nice," I said.
He got up and took the bags from my hands.
"Where do they go?" he asked.
"Some go to the kitchen, some go to the nursery."
He looked at me blankly and I pointed toward the kitchen.
"We'll go there first," I said.
Jason ambled into the kitchen and stood patiently while I sifted through the bags and chose the ones that remained there, putting them on the counter so that I could put the groceries away in a few minutes. He then followed me back through the house and into the nursery. It wasn't too much of a nursery yet, but it was gradually filling with the tiny clothes, toys, books, and other things that Garrett and I picked up nearly every time we left the house. I ran my hand over my belly lovingly as I looked over the growing collection. It was only in the last few weeks that I really started to show, and I cherished even the little swell. There were still moments when I was struck with amazement that there was a baby, Garrett's baby, growing inside me. It wouldn't be long before I held her in my arms and dressed her in the sweet little outfits that were hanging in her closet or read her the books that were gradually filling the white shelf already sitting against the wall.
In the few moments that I had been standing there daydreaming about the new little one coming into the world in only a matter of months, Jason had managed to put the bags down and disappear back into the living room. I walked out to him and watched him play for a few seconds.
"Thank you for your help," I said.
"You're welcome," he said. "Is there anything else that I can do?"
I smiled. Even though he hadn't taken his eyes off the TV screen since I had walked in the room, the offer sounded completely genuine. We had melded easily into a family and I looked at him with a tremendous amount of pride. I knew that he deserved to relax in these first few days of summer. He had worked incredibly hard during his junior year, both on the baseball field and in the classroom, and his accomplishments were earning him attention from several schools. I didn't want to think about the fact that it would only be a year before he was leaving home and heading off to college. It was hard to think about him not being there with us if he chose to go to one of the schools that was too far away for him to live at home. I resisted the urge to ruffle his hair, reminding myself that even though I had been his teacher the year before, and was now his stepmother, I really wasn't that much older than him. When I looked at him, though, I felt like our existences were lifetimes apart. For the first time, though, that seemed like a good thing.
Blinking away the tears that had filled my eyes, I looked around.
"Do you know where your father is?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"Have the two of you been working on your project out in the garage today?"
"Yeah," he said. "I just came in here about half an hour before you got home."
"Did he come in with you?"
"Yes."
"Where did he go after he came in?"
He shrugged.
And there's the teenager.
"Do you think that he went back out to the garage?"
He shrugged.
I sighed.
"You know, your shoulders are for more than just shrugging."
Without taking his eyes off the screen he gave a few dramatic shimmies.
I laughed.
"Yes. Exactly what I was thinking."
The back door opened, and Garrett walked in. His face lit up when he saw me. He crossed the room to me and kissed me, then leaned down to kiss my belly. I knew that eventually, the priorities would shift, and I would come second in the line to receive kisses, but I was alright with that.
"What have you been up to?" I asked. "Been out in the garage again working on your mysterious project?"
He smiled.
"As a matter of fact, I just finished it up. Even though my loyal assistant did abandon me."
Jason waved over his head at his father.
We laughed, and Garrett took my hands in his.
"Do you want to come out and see?" he asked.
"I'd love to."
He led me out of the house and into the garage that he had converted into a workspace. There was something in the middle of the floor covered with a tarp and Garrett stood beside it.
"Do you remember when I was working on the gazebo and I noticed that a lot of the wood was damaged?"
"Yes," I said. "You said that you didn't know if you would be able to save the whole structure."
I knew that that had been hard for him. He had told me about the days that he had spent in that gazebo when he was a little boy and how much it meant to him. Knowing that he might have to tear it down had hurt him, and he had gone to great lengths to take it apart extremely carefully so that he could preserve as much of it as possible.
"The more that I worked with it," he said, "the more I realized that I didn't need to save the structure. At least, not as it was. The parts of the wood that were damaged made it so it couldn't be what it was anymore, but there was still enough of it left that it could be turned into something else. Something that I think might be even better."
He reached down and pulled the tarp away. I gasped, my hands coming up to cover my mouth when I saw the beautiful cradle he had revealed.
"Garrett," I said. "It's gorgeous. You made that?"
"Me and Jason," he said. "I took the wood from the gazebo and we built it together. I figured that the gazebo was where I was happiest and felt the safest when I was little. It protected me. Now it can protect my little princess, too."
"It's incredible," I told him. I loved it. I stepped up to him and kissed him. "And I love you."
"I love you," he said. "And there's enough wood so I can build her a little playhouse when she gets a little bit older. We'll put it in the backyard."
I drew in a breath, shaking slightly with the rush of emotion that had filled me.
"Let's bring it inside," I said. "I want to put it in her nursery."
Garrett picked up the cradle that he had painted a soft pink and followed me back into the house. We went into the nursery and he set the cradle down in the corner. The sunlight coming through the window framed it perfectly and streamed through a carving he had added to the foot, creating an illuminated heart on the floor.
"We should probably get going," he said. "I want to make sure that we get this done today."
I nodded and gave him a tight squeeze around the waist with both arms, turning to kiss his chest right over his heart. We started out of the room, but he paused and reached into his pocket. I saw him pull something out.
"What's that?" I asked.
I looked closer and saw that it was a little green army man.
"Just something that I found in the Gazebo when I was dismantling it," he said. "I thought that it could watch over her."
We pulled up in front of the house and Garrett let out a long breath.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
We got out of the car and I walked through the newly repainted gate as Garrett walked around to the trunk of the car. He had chosen this date very specifically. When he had felt ready, we went through the archived newspapers at the library to find the exact date when his mother died. He wanted that date, as close to the very moment that he could, to the memory that he was about to create. He came and stood beside me and we looked up at the house. So much of our time, energy, and effort had gone into that house over the last year. We spent the majority of our engagement working to bring the house and its grounds back from the decades of neglect. It had been hard, but it had also been wonderful. The time that we spent together had drawn us closer and given us each the opportunity to release what we had held inside of us for too long, and finally, safe in each other's arms and consumed only by each other's love, to heal. This was exactly what Garrett needed, and the smile on his face as he looked at the fresh paint, the newly planted flowers, and the smooth green grass filled my heart with happiness.
"Did you put the key back?" I asked.
"I did. I put it back where it was, and I sealed it over."
"Then I guess we're ready," I said.
I stepped back and watched, my hands rested protectively on my belly, as he dug the end of the spike into the ground then swung the rubber mallet up over his head and down onto the wood, driving the 'For Sale' sign into place.
Garrett
That next morning, I stepped into the shower behind Gwendolyn and molded my body to her back, pressing my hand to her belly to draw her back against me so that I could feel as much of her as possible. She rested her head back against my shoulder and I touched a kiss to the side of her neck. She fit so perfectly in my arms and in the curves of my body as if she was crafted specifically to fill those spaces. I already knew that she had been crafted to fill the space in my heart. She stepped away from me and turned around so that her back was in the water.
"Good morning," she said.
Water streamed across her skin, creating rivulets down her fuller, more lush breasts and the soft curve of her lower belly. Her hand reached for the sponge that she kept hanging from the faucet and she squeezed her favorite shower gel into it. The steam immediately brought the fresh, sweet smell of her into my lungs and my body responded. Gwendolyn pressed the sponge to the center of her chest and a stream of white suds slid over her navel and into the dip between her thighs.
I groaned as the image conjured erotic thoughts.
"Good morning," I murmured, leaning forward to flick my tongue across one nipple and then the other before straightening again to watch her.
"And a good morning to you, too," she said.
I noticed her eyes had trailed down and were focused on my surging erection. The tip of her tongue touched her upper lip and she brought her gaze back to my eyes. Even after all of the time that we had spent together and all that we had been through, there was still passion there, still hunger, and it made me love her even more.
"Touch me," I said.
I heard Gwendolyn's breath quicken, and I stepped closer to her again, cradling her face in my hands as I gave her a deep, encouraging kiss. Before my mouth parted from hers I felt her fingers wrap around my cock. Her hand started moving in slow strokes, rising up over the head and twisting subtly as it pushed back down. I let my head fall back and I gripped her upper arms for support. She knew exactly how to touch me, exactly how to create the most incredible sensations that rolled through my body like thunder and made it hard to catch my breath.
I didn't think I could take much more and then Gwendolyn sank to her knees, urging me to step forward into the water as she took me eagerly into her mouth pulling my shaft in, sucking me with confidence. Her tongue swirled around the tip, flicking at the sensitive bundle of nerves right beneath it, and I felt my knees shaking. I groaned her name and took hold of her head with one hand, guiding it as I surrendered myself to the pleasure that she was giving me. My hips moved to meet the glide of her head and I felt myself slip down into her throat. She moaned, and I felt her throat trembling around me, only increasing the dizzying sensation. I brought my hips forward, pushing deeper so she held the full length of me in her hot, sweet mouth. I could feel my orgasm building rapidly and I wrapped one hand tightly around the base of my erection, squeezing to slow the feeling and carefully withdrawing from her mouth.
Gwendolyn stood and placed her hands on my chest. Her wet hair clung to her neck and shoulders and water from the shower head slicked across her lips. She looked down at her hands and I heard her take in a shuddering breath as she leaned close, nipping at my earlobe and then whispering to me.
"Cum for me, baby." My stomach clenched so hard I bent over slightly in response. "I want to watch you."
The unhidden eroticism and desire behind the words still made her feel vulnerable and I touched her gently to reassure her, then grabbed her hand and squeezed it more tightly against my cock. I guided her hands along me, applying pressure as I helped her bring me to the brink. As I got closer I turned us around so that her back was pressed against the wall and I leaned over her, my free hand braced against the wall beside her head.
I released her hand to allow her to stroke me on her own, putting my other hand on the wall on the other side of her head so that I could give myself completely into the worship that she was offering. She smiled as I groaned in response to her touch, not holding back the sounds that she then milked from me. She increased her speed slightly, gathering some of the bubbles from her skin and using them to make her hand slide even more easily over me. In seconds, my body contracted.
Not caring who might hear me, I tossed my head back and roared, bending my elbow slightly to lower closer to her, as the hot stream poured from my body. Gwendolyn gasped and when I opened my eyes again I saw that I had coated her breasts and belly, replicating the suds that had slid down her from the sponge. I couldn't catch my breath to speak, but she didn't need instructions. Doing nothing to clean herself, Gwendolyn dropped back to her knees and I felt her tongue lapping up the drops that clung to my still hard erection. She drew a long lick up my length and wrapped her mouth around me, cleaning me with her lips and tongue, and swallowing luxuriously. Only when she was finished did she stand again and look into my eyes.
"You taste wonderful," she said.
The selflessness of the attention she gave me made me tremble, sending a stronger wave of emotions flowing through my veins. I lowered myself to the floor of the shower, catching her hands in mine and easing her down with me. She came down onto my lap, tucking her legs closed on either side of my hips. Her body nestled against me and I reached behind me to get the sponge she had dropped when I asked her to touch me. I stroked the sponge down her body, washing her skin gently. I let the sponge travel over her breasts and across her sensitive nipples, then down her belly, brushing the tip against her most sensitive peak. She kept her hands on my shoulders, offering herself to me as I had offered myself to her. When I felt enough of my control had returned, I carefully lifted her off my lap and sat her in front of me. Her legs closed, and I positioned myself on my knees, leaning over to whisper to her.
"Now, let me watch you."
I felt Gwendolyn wiggle slightly below me and I placed a hand on her chest, running it down her body and using it to ease her thighs apart. She was hot and slick against my fingers as they drew down her center. I touched her more firmly and she leaned back against the tile wall behind her, a shuddering breath escaping her lips and her eyes closed. I watched her face as I explored her with my fingers, sweeping the tips against her and discovering again the intricacy of her body. No matter how often I touched her, Gwendolyn never became less beautiful, less desirable, less incredible.
Her sounds filled the space around us, pulsing through me. The water from the shower head streamed down on her, creating rivulets from her eyelashes that dripped down into her open mouth. I dipped my head to lick the drops that pooled between her breasts and felt her arch against me. The invitation was too much to resist. Slipping my finger inside her, I brought my mouth down her body and flicked my tongue across the tender bud that my patient touch had coaxed from beneath its hood.
A cry of pleasure rang in the shower and Gwendolyn's fingers dug into my hair. Her knees pulled up higher, her feet arching so that her pointed toes just touched the floor on either side of me. I delved further, coaxing her closer with my finger deep inside her body and watching as my own tongue traveled across her. Seconds later, she pulled back on my head and squeezed her thighs to stop me.
"Wait," she gasped.
"What's wrong," I asked, lifting my head to look into her face.
Her eyes were soft and slumbering.
"Hold me," she whispered.
I tangled my hands around her waist and lifted her back up and into my lap. I didn't even realize I was hard again until she lifted her hips and guided me inside her. The silky walls of her surrounded me and almost instantly she dug her nails into my back and contracted wildly around me. I gathered her into my arms, holding her as close as I could. I closed my eyes and focused in on every sense, every experience of her. I breathed in the smell of the shower gel mixing with the warmth of her body as it cradled me. I listened to the sound of her breaths gasping out of her and the tiny whimpers as she rode the waves of her orgasm. I felt her body wrapped around me and the beating of her heart through her chest and against mine. I tasted her kiss and the sweetness of her skin. I was surrounded by her, enveloped by her, and I never wanted to be anywhere else.
"I love you," she murmured against my shoulder.
I drew her thighs apart to bury myself deeper and rocked into her, meeting her tremors gently as she came down from the climax that drew me further within her.
"I love you," I whispered back.
And as I said it I knew that I felt it with every bit of me, every element of myself. There was nothing left anymore. Nothing hidden or held back from her. She had released a part of me that had been locked away so tightly that I had doubted that it even existed anymore, forcing me to face and destroy demons I had harbored so long I had begun to feel that they were a part of me. My life had started again with her and it was through each other that we had learned to let go, to be brave enough to be willing to be afraid and to live.
THE END