healing-hearts

by Yvette Hines

  “I don’t know...” She gave an exaggerated pause and then smiled at Jason. “I think I can manage, but I won’t promise that one of them won’t walk out the door with their pants on backwards,” she threw in, tongue in cheek.

  “Hey.” He slid under the blankets. “That only happened once and it was a skirt. It looked the same on both sides.”

  Sarcastic humor laced her words. “You know, I ought to call the fashion houses and tell them we have a genius of an idea. Turn all your skirts around—little girls want to wear rows of pretty bows in the back.”

  They both began to laugh.

  “Have you seen some of those fashion shows, they would probably think it was a marvel of an idea,” he posed.

  “They probably would.” She inhaled and then exhaled slowly, calming herself after the laughter.

  “You know, you have such a free sounding laugh.”

  “Is that a good or bad?”

  Jason was on his side facing Yasmine, with his head propped on his hand above his pillow. “It’s neither. It’s just you, Yasmine. You give yourself totally over to whatever you’re doing, whether you’re briefing or laughing or raising twins. It’s an awesome sight to see.”

  “You laugh.” She felt a little inept with the intimacy of the moment.

  “Yeah, but in my line of work, we smile and chuckle, because time is of the essence. Always another promotional assignment needing work, time is a commodity.”

  “Do you like what you do?” Yasmine asked. She really didn’t know much about Jason, except for brief snatches of his life she got around the house.

  “I love it. I couldn’t see myself having another profession.”

  “What I saw at the Neptune Festival and the fact that your boss is looking at you for the vice-president position, I’d say you’re exceptionally good at it.”

  “Thank you, Yasmine.”

  “Você mais que merece-o.” Her soft words letting him know he more than deserved it.

  Jason leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Boa noite,” in Portuguese.

  “So you’ve been practicing.” The corner of her lips rose as she turned over onto her side away from Jason, her usual direction of sleep being away from the door.

  “Not really, I just picked it up from what you tell the kids at night.”

  “Hmm...sometimes, I don’t realize I’ve switched languages.” She stifled a yawn.

  “I guess blending them has become so customary to you, it just happens.” The bed shifted as Jason got comfortable.

  “Pretty...much...” She began drifting off to sleep.

  Somewhere in the lethargic fog, she could sense Jason moving in closer to her and slipping his arm around her waist. Without awaking to process what was going on, Yasmine snuggled deep into the warm cocoon of his arms and gave herself completely over to dreamland.

  Seventeen

  The next morning when Yasmine awoke to the buzz of her alarm, she was in bed alone. Stretching, she took a moment to remember being wrapped in Jason’s arms all night and how much she had enjoyed it. She got up from the bed, deciding not to analyze what it all meant to the relationship. She was going to take it day by day and leave the worrying for later. The intact family setting was something she and the children would never have again after Jason left; she was going to enjoy it fully.

  “Who knows?” she thought to herself as she got her things together for a shower. She had forty minutes before she would awaken the kids.

  After everything was over, she would just have faith that Jason would still be an active part of the children’s lives.

  And in your life? her heart questioned, but she pushed it away. She was a big girl she could handle whatever came her way. Besides, she was a pro at turning her heart off. She’d had plenty of practice with Blake, she thought to herself as she got into the steady stream of warm water.

  ~ML~

  “Well, aren’t you just radiant these days?” Leigh suggested across the table from Yasmine at one of their favorite lunchtime spots, an Italian restaurant.

  Their food had just arrived when Leigh had made her statement. Yasmine had chosen fettuccini, with mushrooms in a garlic cream sauce; it was always something different for her and Leigh had ordered her usually tortellini with ham and a white cream sauce.

  “I wouldn’t go as far as that, but I am comfortable and happy.” Yasmine said as she picked up her lemon tea and sipped, hoping to hide the smile.

  “Don’t try and hide, I can see that smile from here as you’re about to pack in all those carbs and fat,” Leigh winked at her, “…and I’m glad.” Then Leigh took her first bite of food. “Hmm, it never ceases to amaze me how good the food is here.”

  “A healthy dose of all things bad can be good for the soul every now and then.” Raising her glass she said, “I dedicate this national food cheat day.”

  Leigh clinked glasses with Yasmine’s.

  “You know a good, old fashioned regular supply of sex makes a woman hungry.

  “Well none of that is happening here. This is strictly a mutual business arrangement.”

  “Umm…hmm.”

  She chose to ignore her friend, but admitted to herself that the last few weeks had been going well, but she chalked it up to finally having the twins under her roof. She took a bite of food. It was good, as she expected. She once accidentally described the wrong thing to the waiter and gotten a plate with noodles swimming in a lot of garlic butter, instead of adding extra fresh garlic to the original menu choice. But she had eaten it and not sent it back like Leigh had suggested and had given herself a stomachache for a week.

  “You deserve to be happy, Yassi. So, tell me about my soon to be godchildren.”

  “The only word that comes to mind when I think of Joshua is firecracker.” Yasmine laughed, thinking of the little boy’s energy.

  “How so?” Leigh threw out the question in between bites.

  Yasmine answered them the same way. “He’s just so full of energy. Everything is done with an explosion or speed and there are sound effects that accompany everything.”

  Yasmine told Leigh a few stories about the entertainment of raising a three year-old boy and they both laughed.

  “So, how is Jessica?”

  Yasmine paused for a moment. “She’s the epitome of what would be called ‘daddy’s little girl’. She’s sweet and likes dresses and dolls and lip gloss.”

  “You’re already letting that girl put color on her lips?” Leigh feigned a look of shock.

  “No, girl, it’s those flavored chapsticks. Jason bought them for her one day, when he heard her inquire about mine.”

  “Do the kids fight a lot?”

  “They have their moments where they argue or one is touching the other one, but for the most part, Jessica sits quietly playing with her dolls while Joshua is the tornado around her.”

  That description brought another round of laughter.

  “So, I take it Jason is relating well with them?”

  Yasmine paused for a moment. “He’s gentle with Jessica and even has tea-parties with her, then ten minutes later he’s in the back yard playing some sports game with Joshua.”

  “Business man becomes father.” Leigh commented.

  “Amazingly, he’s at home every night before their bedtime and never goes to the office on the weekends unless he has to and he’s back within hours.”

  “It sounds like you all are getting the hang of this,” Leigh commented.

  Yasmine gave her friend a broad smile. “We are.”

  Leigh asked the question Yasmine was dreading.

  “A great father, but how is he as a husband?”

  Yasmine, like Leigh, pushed the other half of the food remaining on her plate aside for the waiter to place in to-go containers—they would eat it at work the next day. “Considerate…and attentive.”

  “You’ve been married for months, to a hottie, and all I get it is considerate and attentive? Well, hell, I saw that much at your re
ception,” Leigh’s Virginian drawl came out thick.

  Laughing, Yasmine threw her hands up feigned impatience. “Well if you already knew then why did you ask?”

  “Because I was hopin’ that in respect of our friendship, I would have at least been privileged to a little more juicy details than that.” Crossing her long legs, she turned to the side in her chair and gave off a perfect imitation of being insulted, Leigh finished with, “But I just want you to know, that I am not feeling the love from your direction.”

  Yasmine waited for the waiter to take their plates away to put in carry out packaging and then teased her friend. “Well, if you’re mad at me then I won’t tell you the countertop story.”

  “Well, it’s about time. I’ve waited long enough, so come out with it.” Leigh accused as she rapidly swung herself back to face the table and Yasmine.

  The waiter returned, Yasmine gave him the money for the tip and bill and then rose from the table. “Nooo,” Yasmine let the O’s drag out before she continued, “You wanted to be all sassy, so you’re just going to have to wait until we get to the car.”

  Rushing past her, Leigh spoke over her shoulder, “You better be glad I can’t speak another language, because I’d be telling you off about now.”

  Yasmine trailed behind her best friend laughing and saying, “Aposto-o ria,” then rephrased it in English, “I bet you would.”

  ~ML~

  “Can we go to Juicy Burger’s?” Jessica asked from the back seat of Jason’s Lexus.

  The entire family had been out since ten o’clock that morning at the Marine Science Museum. They’d had a great time and it was now almost five.

  “Well, you have to ask Yasmine, because she’s in charge of food intake.” Jason smiled at Yasmine.

  She returned the expression. “That was cute, I’m going to have to use that for my clients one day.”

  “Pleeease, can we go?” Joshua echoed.

  “We’ve been eating junk all day, we might as well add to it,” Yasmine agreed.

  “Yeah!” Joshua shouted.

  “Yippee!” Jessica exclaimed.

  “Just so you know we are willing to compromising here, Yasmine, we’ll wait until we get home for dessert and have sherbet.”

  “Oh...I can see how painful that’s going to be for you. It’s your favorite.” Yasmine laughed at Jason’s antics. Through the months they’d been living together she had come to realize that Jason was not a big sweet eater. In the family, she and the kids were the ones battling their sweet teeth.

  Jason held a look of innocence as he pondered for a moment. “Why you’re right, it is my favorite.”

  Yasmine gave him a playful slap on the thigh as he pulled into the fast food restaurant and found a parking space.

  They all filed inside, gave their order to Jason as he went to the counter, and the kids and Yasmine sat at a table in the playroom.

  There were kids already in there playing and the twins slipped off their shoes quickly, on their way to play when Yasmine’s voice stopped them.

  “Joshua. Jessica. You guys need to eat first and then you can play.” Yasmine knew that if she allowed them to get in and play, they would never want to come out and eat, then the food would be cold and they wouldn’t want it. Then she would still have to cook when they got home.

  “Can’t we just do the slide one time?” Joshua asked with a sad look on his face.

  “No, we’re going to eat first.” Yasmine declared firmly.

  “Okay.” Jessica’s small voice chimed in as she and her brother walked slowly to the table with their heads down.

  When Jason arrived minutes later with the food, they began to cheer. The twins tore into their chicken nuggets and fries, drank half of the orange drink, then asked, “Can we play now?”

  Jason and Yasmine looked over at the scraps of food they had left in amazement.

  “Yes,” Yasmine told them.

  Quickly the twins took off and joined the rest of the children, screaming down the slide, colored balls, and tubes.

  “Wow, you would think they would’ve been tired after all the walking we did today.” Jason commented, as he ate his grilled chicken sandwich.

  “Kids always keep a reserve pack of energy. Sometimes I wish I had one.” She nibbled and picked through her Caesar salad. “By the way, I noticed you didn’t get kids meal packs.”

  “Oh, no. I hate those little toys. When I’m around my sister’s kids, the pieces get thrown all over the house and I always end up stepping on them.”

  “With that toy room you did for them, it’s not like they will miss them.” She observed the twins’ interaction with the other children in the room.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  ~ML~

  “How about we top the night off with sherbet and a movie?” Jason asked the family an hour later when they had arrived home and the twins were on their way to the bath.

  “Can we watch the one with the birds?” Jessica asked.

  “The big, yellow bird,” Joshua added.

  “We sure can, right after you all finish your bath and get your PJs on.”

  That was like the magic word. The twins didn’t try to play at all in the water, nor did they beg to stay longer as Yasmine and Jason washed them up in record time.

  Yasmine followed Jessica to her room and Jason followed Joshua, both adults lugged dirty clothes of the day as they trailed behind the little toweled bundles.

  Ten minutes later they were all sitting on the couch with bowls and spoons in laps and Sesame Street playing from the DVD.

  The twins had barely finished their dessert when Yasmine noticed both of them had fallen asleep.

  She and Jason turned off the program and carried them up the stairs. Yasmine took Jessica into her room and tucked her into bed, when she stood up to leave Jessica opened her eyes for a brief moment. “I love you, Mommy.”

  Yasmine’s heart and feet stopped simultaneously.

  “I bet its torture not to run over and wake her up and tell her to say it again,” Jason whispered from the door.

  He had read her mind. Yasmine turned around to him and asked, “You heard her?”

  “I heard her, sweetheart.” He walked over to her, brushed the fallen tear away with his thumb, and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Jason, how did I ever live without them?” she asked rhetorically as she took one last look at the sleeping girl and allowed Jason to lead her from the room.

  “When I find an answer for myself, I’ll get back to you.” Jason told her with light laughter in his voice as they entered their room.

  “My life feels so complete right now.” Yasmine looked up into Jason eyes.

  “Mine, too.” Brushing her bangs back from her forehead he asked, “Do you want to know what I have been thinking about all day?”

  “Only if it’s kissing me,” her words honest and bold.

  She noticed the look of shock flash through his eyes.

  “I guess that makes two of us shocked tonight?” She smiled up at him and linking her arms around his neck.

  “Yeah, it does. Yasmine, you need to be sure about what you’re asking me.”

  “I’m very sure.” She used her short, neat nails to graze the nape of his neck.

  Jason’s eyes closed as if he were praying, then he opened them and his gaze locked on hers. “If I kiss you, Yasmine, I won’t be able to stop there. You see I haven’t only being thinking about how much I want to kiss you, but other things that I want to do to your luscious mouth and body.”

  “I’m yours for tonight, Jason.”

  Yasmine could see the sincere look in his green eyes.

  He continued, “You need to understand I’m not just talking about for one night and you wake up with regrets in the morning.”

  Yasmine stepped back out of his arms and turned away from him. “Jason, I’m very attracted to you and I thoroughly enjoy our times together, but I can’t give more than that, this can’t be permanent.”


  Jason walked to her and aligned his body to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist, and placed his lips next to her ear. “I don’t want forever. I’m satisfied with just until this is over. Yasmine, I long to know that every night I lie beside you and feel your body next to mine I can reach out and touch you; without fear of you stopping me. I desire the authority to be able to make love to you until the sun rises.”

  Yasmine answered his request by turning around and pulling his head down until she could place her lips against his. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting, feeling, and Jason joined her in the oral play.

  Just like the other times they instantly went up in flames of passion, but they took their time disrobing and kissing each other in newly revealed places. By the time they reached the bed, heated bare skin rubbing along each other, Yasmine was on fire. Sliding her hand down Jason’s chest, abs and groin, she grasped his hot steel length.

  She loved the sound of his breath hitching as she stroked him. His deep groan was music to her ears as she guided him to her wet opening and arched her hips, taking him deep inside.

  Bodies quivering on the edge of release, Jason rolled them over to their sides, bodies and gazes intense on each other as they began a rhythm to ecstasy.

  Their lovemaking was slow and passionate, with soft whispers of each other’s name. This time it wasn’t a quickie on a countertop, nor was it done in the disguise of darkness, but in full light, revealing the honesty of the depths of the mutual need for each other.

  ~ML~

  The next morning Jason awakened before Yasmine. He began brushing his lips across her bare shoulder above the blanket. He couldn’t believe how he felt when he was with her. She seemed to complete him in so many ways. He knew he had told her last night that he wasn’t looking for a lifetime commitment, but he knew in his heart how easy it would be to wake up every morning like this, with Yasmine wrapped in his arms.

  His kisses began to trail up the side of her neck, when he heard Yasmine say, “I would tell you not to stop, but I’m afraid that the kids will walk in and have some interesting stories to tell Julinda at her next visit.”