We broke apart, laughing at Jonah’s mortified expression. Our parents were looking on fondly. Without further ado, I sat down and looked to Oliver. He asked us to join hands, and bow our hands. I reached for Jonah’s hand and squeezed as my husband began to thank God for all our blessings. My heart warmed at the sound of his voice, as much as his words. I knew he was as thankful as I was to be rediscovering each other all over again.
After everyone had eaten their first plate—and some had gone back for seconds—Oliver suggested that we go around and tell everyone what we were most thankful for. He nodded for my mom to go first, who was thankful for family. My dad followed that with “turkey”, and earned a few chuckles. When it came to Jonah, he turned me to me, smirking.
“I’m thankful for getting off restriction early,” he said.
My husband guffawed loudly. “Nice try, Buddy.”
Jonah rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem as put out as I would have expected. Even he seemed changed by the cheeriness that enveloped the house. He was thriving under his dad’s attention, because despite not being able to play video games, they were working on model airplanes together. We were all thriving under my husband’s dependable, considerate discipline.
“I’m thankful for good men,” I said, when Oliver looked to me. His eyes gleamed at me, saying more than any words he might have used.
“Ugh,” Jonah groaned, making all the adults laugh again.
“What about you, son?” my father-in-law prompted.
I locked eyes with my husband, who smiled slyly. Please don’t say spankings! I thought anxiously. Please. Anything but spankings.
“Wooden spoons,” he said at last. “What a wonderful invention.” There were a few puzzled glances across the table, and I could have died. “That, and my lovely wife.”
I was so stuffed with dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie that I almost slept through my alarm. What ended up waking me was my husband, shaking my shoulder.
“Honey, go ahead and get up.”
I opened an eye to peek at him. “Hey. Thanks for waking me.” I yawned hugely, sitting up in bed. It was still dark outside, and my cell read 5:04. I had better get going if I was going to grab the new video game system we were giving Jonah for Christmas. He’d been talking about getting a PS3 for the longest time.
“Are you going to take a shower first?”
“Um… I don’t know.” I swung my legs around the bed, putting my toes on the carpet gingerly, testing the cold. Only when I stood up and turned to Oliver for my morning kiss did I realize that he was dressed in jeans and a Christmas t-shirt. “Hey, what’s this?”
“It’s Snoopy.”
“Not the shirt!” I exclaimed, smacking his arm. “Why are you awake?”
“Does my naughty girl need a spanking this early?” he asked, swatting my behind without waiting for a response. “Do not hit me,” he scolded gently.
“Sorry.” Contritely, I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Are you wearing that to work? Don’t you have a few more hours? Get some sleep.”
“I thought I’d go with you this morning.”
I frowned at him, sure he was joking. Oliver hated shopping, and he thought that Black Friday shopping was an invention of the devil. That, or crazed wives all fighting to spend the most money. Both petrified him. “What’s up?”
“Remember when I told you that I would make it up to you? For embarrassing you in front of Jonah?” I nodded, still uncertain. “Well, I’m making it up to you.”
Once his words registered in my foggy brain I squealed and jumped at him. He caught me in his arms easily and responded to my kisses. He pulled away long before I was ready.
“OK, now. Are we going or not?”
“Is this OK?” I asked, wringing my hands. “Are you sure.”
“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, someone needs to be there to keep you on budget.”
I swatted him again, and ran giggling from the room as he followed in hot pursuit.
We made it to the store just before 5:40 and I was shocked at the huge lines. The store would open in twenty minutes and the line of customers waiting to get in wrapped around the building two times over.
“Wow,” Oliver said succinctly.
“Wow,” I echoed, nodding. Like the troopers we were, we piled out of the car. When we’d stood in line, Oliver suggested he run across the street to Starbucks, which was open in honor of Black Friday, and the hundreds of patrons they could expect.
“I’ll get you a hot chocolate and be right back,” he suggested.
“Mmm, sounds wonderful,” I agreed, leaning in for a kiss. My husband took me in his arms and kissed me. After a moment, I broke the kiss and leaned toward his ear. “And after this I have big plans for that pretty lingerie I never got to wear.”
He grunted, but I could see the longing in the depths of his eyes. He kissed me again, hard, before saying, “Be right back.”
I waved him off, and jammed my hands in my pockets to protect them from the cold. Just as I was thinking about the piles of dishes there were to wash, and wondering if there was any leftover pumpkin pie, I saw a couple come trudging behind me. I wouldn’t have paid them any attention, except for the fact the guy’s face was so mutinous. Clearly, he’d been dragged here against his will. His wife looked absolutely miserable. I tried to go back to my thoughts, but I couldn’t help but overhear them arguing.
“I wish you could have a better attitude about this,” she was saying, her voice low and pleading. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“Easy for you to say,” he snapped.
“Dean, please, can’t we just try to have fun?”
“What kind of fun is it, having to get up at dawn just because we can’t afford to go to the store during the normal hours?”
“Honey…”
My heart ached from the sadness I could hear in her voice. I moved forward, trying to stay out of earshot. It felt wrong somehow, to eavesdrop on someone else’s misery. That used to be us, I couldn’t help but think. That used to be us. I’d always thought that we had a good marriage, but now—now! I saw how very much we’d been missing, even if we hadn’t known it at the time. This closeness that we enjoyed, this renewed intimacy… there was nothing in the world that could equal it. And I’d thought that turning forty would be so bad! Now, each day I woke up looking forward to another new day, age be damned.
And to think, I thought, a smile playing on the corners of my lips, if I’d never found that gray hair, none of this would have happened. It had been the best thing that had ever happened to me.
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Answering to Him (Old-Fashioned Husband) Page 9