Still Rocking

by A. D. Herrick

  They accident had been so severe that at first, they didn't think she was going to make it. Her car had been T-boned sending her through the guardrail and careening down the embankment as her car flipped end over end before wrapping around a large tree trunk at the bottom of the embankment. The rescue workers worked tediously trying to free her. The cab of her car was tightly wound into the bark of the tree, pinning her in.

  Once they were able to get her free, she was rushed to UAB Hospital in critical condition. She had multiple broken ribs, a shattered femur, multiple puncture wounds and a broken neck from the air bags. When the airbag had deployed Heather's head had been tossed back, the airbag hooking her right under her chin hyperextending her neck. The force of the blow caused irreparable damage to her larynx as the bag crushed the rigid cartilage.

  She had some of the country’s best doctors working on her, struggling to save her life. After several days in intensive care, she was finally on the mend. The doctors were unsure of how much damage had taken place until Heather had woken up.

  They had worked diligently to repair her larynx but had been unsuccessful in reconstructing her vocal cords. The damage that had been done was irreparable. According to Emily, Heather was able to make sounds, she could laugh, cry, and even shout for help but she was unable to speak full words. Emily had explained that though Heather could make out some sounds she was afraid to speak around others. Her voice wasn't what it was and she was embarrassed by the sounds that came out of her mouth, opting instead to sign. It crushed my heart to hear that the most amazing woman I had ever met was insecure of herself. I found her to be one of the strongest people I had ever met and vowed to show her every day how strong and resilient she really was. She didn’t let her condition deter her one iota. She continued to push through and live her life.

  I couldn't imagine the hardship she experienced having to relearn how to communicate with others, the people around her, and the struggle to make her dreams a reality. Because Heather was now mute she had trouble finding someone that would hire her as a triage nurse. A dream she had spent numerous hours studying for.

  Through networking channels she had been able to find part time work as a school nurse at one of the special needs schools here in Knoxville. My heart broke for her at having lost a large portion of her life due to the impulses and irresponsibility of others. Though she was not able to work in the field that she had dreamed about and worked so hard for, she was still able to help others and through her adversities she was able to help others that she would have not had the opportunity to reach. She was able to show the young children that despite their handicap, they too could grow up to be anything they wanted to be.

  The guy that had hit Heather had walked away without as much as a scratch. He had been fined and thrown in jail for a brief three month stint only to be released before Heather had even made it out of the hospital. It was disgusting to know that someone could ruin another's life through careless actions and walk away Scott free. Though Emily reminded me, the man did three months in the county jail. To me that didn't constitute an adequate punishment for ending the hopes and dreams of an innocent individual.

  Learning all of this about Heather had given me a whole new respect and appreciation for the woman she had become. She didn't shy away from difficulties or hard work of redefining her life. She met it head on with profound determination. I could only imagine the type of mother she would be and couldn’t wait to see her with our own child in her arms.

  It was true, with the addition of another family member; the estrogen factor had skyrocketed in the house. It was like baby fever around here. Everyone had their own baby aside from us.

  It was good though, seeing everyone happy, huddled around one another. I loved watching Heather interact with the women, telling them jokes and sharing girly secrets. The guys seemed to take to her like over protective brothers, daring anyone to look at her in any capacity that they deemed unworthy or comment on her lack of speech. Already Heather had endeared herself to everyone in the room, carving her place in their hearts as well as my own.

  I continued to work on my sign language ignoring the snickers and comments from the peanut gallery I called family. I wanted to get it right. I wanted to wow my woman and show her that I did care and that I was willing to learn. Fuck what anyone else thought. I knew they weren't teasing me to be cruel but fuck them anyways. I was a man on a mission. I was determined to get this down before she arrived tonight for dinner.

  A gentle hand wrapped around my wrist from behind halting me in my tracks as I again tried to make the sign for the face. I knew there were shortcuts to signing that Heather was beautiful but I had wanted to go all out.

  I turned to see who had grabbed me, my eyes falling on the liquid honey brown eyes of my wife. With rapid succession, she signed to me. Her hands moved in a blur of speed. I wasn't able to catch a single sign. I watched as laughter danced in her eyes as she watched me struggle to follow the movements of her hand. Heather finished signing and stuck her tongue out at me. I had no idea what she had said but I had a sinking suspicion she may have been mocking me.

  With gentle ease Heather formed my hand pressing my index finger to my face palm turned out, my remaining fingers resting gently against the meat of my palm. She moved my hand again extending my fingers out and placing my thumb toward my face, with her hand wrapped around mine, she formed the word Beautiful. Her eyes bore into mine as she manipulates my hands to work so easily into the graceful movements she so easily performed.

  Once the act was complete Heather smiled her eyes glistening with unshed tears, she winked. "I mean it," I told her in a soft whisper, afraid to break the spell that had been cast around us.

  Heather brought my hand to her lips, placing a gentle kiss to the tops of each of my knuckles. It was the most intimate moment we had ever shared. Other than the brief hug or a gentle kiss to the temple I had given her after our nights together, this went beyond that, this was new, real, and raw. It was the walls between us crumbling down around us. I could feel the heat of the moment coursing through my veins like liquid fire. The blood shooting directly to my cock as my heart pounded in my chest.

  Perspiration began to gather at my temples, my palms began to sweat. I had never felt so vulnerable, so exposed. It was as if with one simple movement Heather was able to strip away all pretenses bearing me to her for all to see. I watched the heat rise in her eyes, the soft pink hue that rose to her cheeks. She was as affected as I was.

  My eyes honed in on her thin pink lips, her tongue darting out to wet them, sucking me in. I was jealous of her tongue, I could feel the saliva pooling in my mouth as I stared at her with hunger in my eyes. As if drawn by an invisible magnet, my body was pulled into hers. The space between us melted away, our lips millimeters apart. I could feel the anticipation and excitement humming through my body, tight with electricity, as her lips turned up toward mine.

  Someone in the room cleared their voice causing us to jerk apart as if we had been caught with our hand in the cookie jar. Nervously I tugged at the collar of my shirt allowing the building heat to escape. A shy embarrassed smile played along Heather's lips making her that much more enticing. She felt it too, the instant attraction, the draw to one another. It was there dancing in her eyes, painting its glow across her flushed skin.

  "Dude, are you guy's coming or what?" Kiev asked, his voice finally penetrating through the bubble that had encased Heather and I.

  "Yeah, man. We're on our way" I mumbled, saying anything to be rid of him.

  Heather shyly ducked her head, turning to leave the room. I couldn't let her do that, not yet. Grabbing her by the wrist I halted her movement. Shocked her head shot up, jerking in my direction, her eyes questioning as they bore into mine. I didn't give her a chance to escape, question, or protest before my lips locked onto hers.

  The kiss was chaste, my lips pressed against hers. The moment her lips pressed against mine the world melted away beneath the feel of her
soft lips against mine like velvet. I could feel the energy between us skyrocketing. I released Heather’s hand keeping my lips firmly against her. I had expected her to pull away, smack me, anything. What I did not expect was for her hands to wind around my neck, pulling me in closer.

  Taking advantage I wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her in closer. Her firm breast pressed against my chest, her hips aligned against mine. The softness of her curves pressed against me, pulling a groan of ecstasy from my lips. Heather’s lips curved up into a smile against mine. Taking advantage I nipped her lower lip gently. “You won’t think it’s funny when I have you bound in my bed.” Heather’s eyes widened in shock at my bold statement. Before releasing her I kissed her again, my hand cupping her lush ass. “Let’s go eat beautiful.” I winked before releasing her from my embrace. Already I missed the feel of her in my arms. I watched her ass as she sashayed in front of me. With each step my cock grew, demanding to be buried between her legs. I couldn’t wait to have my way with her, wrap her thick thighs around my head like earmuffs. I wanted to bite her ass, marking her as mine. Needless to say, I hated to see her go but my god how I loved to watch her walk away. I don’t give a fuck how cliché it was, it’s the god’s honest truth.

  Chapter Ten

  I was stuck. Or was I fucked. No I definitely wasn’t fucked. The blue balls I had been carrying around for the past few weeks were a testament to that. Though Heather and I had been growing closer and the chemistry between the two of us was off the chart. We still had not gone beyond kissing. Let me tell you, I took every opportunity I could to have her lips pressed against mine. I couldn’t get enough of the woman. Every caress of her silky alabaster skin, every warm embrace I held her in, and every time her sweet lips pressed against mine, felt like my cock was going to explode.

  It wasn’t all about the sex, I wanted it, don’t get me wrong. But there was more to it. I wanted all of her, all the time. I wanted her by my side as often as she would let me. The only problem was my sign language was still a slow process. I was getting better. Heather only gave me questioning looks or giggled on occasion when I used it.

  I was no closer to understanding what she was talking about when she signed. I tried to pay attention, I promise you I did. But I was mesmerized by the expressions on her face, the way her lip quirked up at the corner as she was getting into a story. She was excitingly animated as she signed, her long slender fingers moving at rapid speed. The fluid grace of her movements had me transfixed.

  Despite all of my lessons with Emily, I still didn’t know how to ask Heather the question that had been on my mind, the one that was burning at the forefront of my brain, dying to be asked. I knew I could use my words. I knew that all it would take was the simple movement of my lips. But I wanted to do it right. Or perhaps, I was looking for an excuse to avoid rejection. I continued to hammer away at my lessons trying to pick up on the words and movements I would be using most often or the ones I had seen Heather use the most.

  In order to learn the motions for the question I had been dying to ask I would have to tell Emily and I was embarrassed. There I admitted it. I was fucking embarrassed.

  I wanted to ask Heather to stay the night with me. Not for sex, but because I didn’t want to spend any more time away from her than necessary. I tried looking it up online, hoping to find a video but no such videos existed. In fact there was hardly anything online about learning sign language other than a few videos here and there. There was a ton of literature all describing the use and function as well as the history of sign language, but there wasn’t anything for a guy like me who is trying to learn how to ask his wife to stay the night. Apparently instructional videos for that sort of thing weren’t high in demand.

  “Can you watch Little D tonight? I have a date.” Damon asked smiling proudly as he bounced his son in his arms.

  “Yeah man, you know I will. Who’s the lucky girl?” I asked excited for the distraction from my own worries. Damon quickly shuffled Dominik into my arms, freeing himself of the infant.

  Damon tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt looking away, his tongue poking out at the juncture of his lips. “It’s uh. It’s this chick I’ve been talking to for a while now.” He stammered.

  I watched amused as his cheeks flushed. “Does this girl have a name?” I hedged, enjoying him squirm like a child caught in a lie.

  Damon rocked back on his heels, hands shoved in his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, she has a name.” His eyes refused to meet mine. I chuckled beneath my breath as Damon pretended to inspect his jeans for lint and the shine of the soles of his shoes.

  “Come on D, out with it. You know secrets are lies.” I baited him, eager to know who the lucky lady was. I turned to the smiling baby in my arms. “Come on little D, you can tell me. Who does daddy have a date with?” The infant giggled, squirming excitedly in my arms. “Tell your Uncle Ike all about daddy’s secret girlfriend.” I cooed to Dominik causing him to squeal in laughter, excited by all the attention.

  “That’s right Little D, you hold all of daddy’s secrets in. Don’t let mean ‘ol Uncle Ike force them out of you.” Damon ruffled his son's’ hair beaming down at him. The love between the two was clear. Damon loved his son more than anything on this earth and Dominik loved him just as fierce.

  “So do I know this girl?” I asked hoping to get some sort of hint from Damon.

  Damon’s jaw tightened as he craned his neck to the side clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.” I studied him further.

  He was wearing a black tea with a clip art rooster outlined in white on it with the words ‘Touch My’ above it along with a pair of dark wash jeans and black chucks. It was something the old Damon would wear, the pre daddy Damon. Post Daddy Damon wore whatever looked clean or smelled the least. Not because he was a slob, but because he spent so much time catering to his son that his appearance was the farthest thing from his mind. I only hoped that he wasn’t going back to his old ways.

  “It’s a girl I have been dating for a while now. Yes, you know her. Yes, it’s getting serious. I just want to keep it hush hush until I know for sure. I don’t want to bring women in and out of Dom’s life. I don’t want him to think it's normal and I don’t want him to feel abandoned if they don’t decide to stick.” I could accept his explanation, to a point. I know how exhilarating it was to have a secret romance, the thrill of keeping that person all to yourself. I also knew how badly a relationship like that could turn sour.

  “Okay, well I’m not Dom, so I promise you I won’t get attached. How have you been dating someone for a while when Alexa hasn’t been gone that long?” I asked quickly trying to do the math in my head. Alexa had been gone almost two months now.

  Damon scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I told you I knew Alexa was on her way out. Don’t get me wrong. I knew it wasn’t right. But I had started to talk to someone else. Nothing went on. Nothing still has gone on. But we have gotten close and decided to give us a go. Try something serious.” He admitted. I knew Damon wasn’t a cheater. He was as loyal as they came. If he said nothing has happened then I believed him. I ran through the list of single women that we knew trying to piece together who this girl might be.

  “So do I get a name?”

  Damon hedged around, glancing down at his watch. “Soon, man, Soon, I promise. After this date, if all goes well I’ll give you a name. Hell, I’ll even bring her by.” He promised.

  “Get out of here and enjoy your date. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” I called out to him as he jogged down the steps.

  “Alright little guy, let’s go see what sort of trouble we can get into. You down for some applesauce or cage matches?” I asked the smiling Dominik in my arms.

  Excited the little guy rocked and kicked in my arms. I chuckled down at him as I carried him down the stairs. All the babies loved their Uncle Ike time. I rolled my eyes as my own concession of the nick name. I was a marri
ed man now. I guess that made calling me Uncle Ike aright.

  I loaded Dominik up on applesauce and peaches before taking him outside for a walk. His little eyes were wide with wonder as they took in the emerald green grass, towering trees, and the dark blue waters of the lake behind us. He was a curious little guy who I suspected would be the king of mischief when he got older. I could see him leading the girls into loads of trouble in the near future.

  “So what do you think little guy? Do you think if I ask your Aunt Heather to stay the night she will?” I had spent the better part of an hour outside with Dominik, confiding in him all of my fears and regrets. I made sure to keep it PG and only told him about all of the good stuff. I wasn’t sure how well babies remembered and I didn’t want to be the one that damaged him at an early age. I would leave that to Damon.

  Dominik cooed and gurgled around the tiny fist in his mouth. Karina had already cut two teeth and it looked like Dominik was right behind her. Always trying to stay caught up with his older cousin.

  “How do you think we should ask her?” I ran through the list of outrageous ways to ask Heather to stay the night with me, each one being more outlandish than the last.

  “We could rent a hot air balloon and throw out tons of tiny notes asking her. Or perhaps borrow a bear from the zoo and teach it to tap dance while wearing a tiny hat, while playing the accordion with the words printed on the bellows. What do you think about that? Or should we just keep it simple and hire jets to write it into the sky?” Dominik giggled even louder as I spoke, his eyes fixated on something behind me. I ignored it figuring a bird must have flown by exciting him.