by Claire Adams
Chapter Forty-Eight
Two Years Later
Jace
“Aw, look, Jace has a little heart-shaped note in his lunch box…isn’t that sweet.” I felt myself blush. Daphne insists on packing my lunch every day, which I love. But I usually check it for the notes before I open it in front of the other guys.
I’m not ashamed of her…completely to the contrary. But, working in construction, you have to have a little bit of a hard edge. Pink, heart-shaped sticky notes kind of blow that out of the water.
“You’re just jealous, Craig. I’m sorry that nobody loves you enough to send you a heart-shaped note in your lunch.”
“I’ll give you one for that ham sandwich,” Mike said to Craig.
“It would take a lot more than a sticky note for you to get your hands on my ham.” Mike and I were laughing before Craig realized how that sounded. “Aw, screw you guys!” He turned his back to us and started eating his lunch. Mike looked up at me again and said,
“Did you get that raise?”
“I got it. It’s my two-year increase. It’ll help a lot with the new house and everything.”
Mike nodded. “My raises would help if I could get the wife to stop having kids. That Catholic stuff is okay, but I really wish the Pope would approve birth control. She told me yesterday she’s pregnant again.”
Craig still had his back to us, but I saw his shoulders shake. “What’s up with you?” Mike asked him.
“How many is that, nine?”
“Shut up,” Mike said. “It’s six.”
“And, you haven’t made a boy yet?”
“This one’s gonna be a boy, I can feel it.”
“That’s what you said about the last two.”
Mike shrugged. “Oh well, if this one ain’t, she’ll probably try for 10 more.”
“You could stop having sex, you know. That would stop the production of children.”
“Fuck that,” Mike said. We laughed.
I thought about how different my life was now from two years ago. The only men I had in my life then were my brothers and other priests. I didn’t realize how much fun it was to stand around like this and just talk and laugh like one of the guys. That’s all I am here.
Max had got me the job. I used to work construction when I was in high school and he had a client with a construction firm starting a new project in the city. It was perfect for me, and I took it as another sign that I was making the right move.
Ryan had only rolled his eyes at me when he heard I’d gone through with leaving the church. I think he was just worried about me, but now, two years later, even he has to admit that I did the right thing.
“When are you gonna have some, Jace?”
“I think we’re going to wait for a bit. We just got married a month ago, you know.”
“Yeah, we were there,” Craig said. “That little wife of yours is…”
“Don’t say it,” I told him with a warning look.
“What?” he said, trying to look innocent. “I was just going to say she’s a nice gal.”
“Yeah, right.” He laughed his lecherous laugh. I wasn’t really offended. Craig talked about his wife all the time. He was crazy about her. He just liked to give me a hard time.
After lunch, we went back to work for another four hours. I was operating the crane today. The building was an old church, and we were refurbishing it.
None of the guys here know about my past as a priest, but the first day we were on the job, Craig caught me staring up at the cross at the top of the old brick building. There must have been reverence in my eyes because after that he called me Father Jace. I had to laugh at that.
When the day was over, I gathered my things, climbed in my pick-up and went home…to the woman and the life I loved.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Daphne
“I think I like this one the best,” Carla said, holding up one of my and Jace’s wedding photos. I took it from her hand and looked at it. It was one with her in the background, making a face. I laughed and tossed it back at her.
“I’m looking for one to have framed and hung over my new mantle.”
“I know, I think that one is perfect,” she said with a wink.
“I think we’ll keep looking,” I told her with a smile.
I looked around my and Jace’s new house and sighed contentedly. I love him so much. I love our house. I love our life.
We got married down at Columbus Park under the lit arbor just as the sun was going down. The photos all have the harbor and the glorious sunset in the background. It’s like the day was designed just for us. I knew that’s an entirely narcissistic view, but on this point, I didn’t care.
I was brought back to the present by my oh-so-direct friend. “So, when are you going to start popping out kids?”
I laughed. “We’ve only been married for a month. Slow down there, skippy.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been doing the nasty for two years. Come on, you’re behind. I’ll be a fabulous auntie.”
“I’m sure you will be, as long as you don’t say things like ‘doing the nasty’ in front of my child.”
She was crazy, but I loved her. She went on to say, “Maybe you two aren’t doing it right. Is Jace ramming that hard…”
“Carla!” I stopped her there. I love her, but I didn’t want to discuss my husband’s hard anything with her. My face was bright red, I could feel it.
She laughed. “You still blush like a school girl every time I mention sex. You need to read some trashy novels, get some ideas. You two are probably still doing it missionary, aren’t you?”
With a giggle, I said, “Trust me, we have plenty of our own ideas.”
“Oh, really? Tell me more. Have you done it all over the new house yet? Does Jace like doing it doggy style?”
“Carla! Stop,” I was laughing. Jace and I had no problems in the bedroom. As a matter of fact, it was quite the opposite. Some days we did it like rabbits all over the house and, yes, in different positions.
I was still not comfortable talking about it, though, and Carla knew that. She loves to tease me. She likes to call us “The virgin duo.” Little did she know, there was nothing virginal left about either of us.
“Here it is,” she said, suddenly. She was holding another photo from the pile of wedding pictures. When she handed it to me, I saw that this time, she wasn’t kidding.
Jace and I were facing each other holding hands. The water from the river could be seen in the background and the sun was glinting off of it as it lowered, casting a golden glow around us both. That was beautiful, but even more so was the look in our eyes as we stared at each other. It was going to look perfect above the mantle.
“I love it!”
“Yeah, me, too,” she said. It was the first serious thing she’d said in 20 minutes. “You know after you have kids you’ll have to take it down, though, right?”
“Why?”
“Please, you’ll have so many pictures of the kid, you won’t have room to hang your own. Just think about how gorgeous that kid will be with the two of you as parents.”
I smiled and tried to picture our baby. I hoped he looks just like Jace.
“Yeah, I bet he will be a looker,” I said.
“He?”
“I just think since Jace has two brothers, maybe the boy thing runs in his family.”
“Maybe, but I’d like to order a niece, too.”
Before I could respond to that, I heard Jace come in the front door. He came in and found us still sitting on the couch looking at our wedding pictures. He said hello to Carla and kissed me.
He was all dirty from work in his jeans and t-shirt with his big arms showing underneath the short sleeves and his hard chest outlined by the cotton material. I would take him down and eat him up right there if Carla wasn’t here. Even after two years, just looking at him excites me.
“What are you ladies doing?”
“We’re picking one out for above the man
tle. What do you think of this one?” I held up the one Carla picked out and as I looked at it again I realized that part of why it was so beautiful was that it was a day that neither of us thought we’d ever see. You could see the love in our eyes in it.
“I love it.” The look in his eyes described the way I felt about it without words. He leaned over and kissing me again.
“Hey, Jace, I was just asking Daphne when the two of you were going to start making babies,” Carla said.
He laughed. “Whenever she’s ready. I’m going to leave that up to her.”
He wasn’t just saying that. It’s what he’s told me from the beginning. We both want kids, but he said it was important to him that we wait until I feel ready to do it, without being stressed or anxious. It should be a beautiful time in our lives, not a worrisome one.
He’s so sweet that he even questioned if I thought we should take some parenting classes, since neither of us had an example to go on. I honestly thought we’ll be okay. I’m definitely not my father and he is the most incredible, generous, big-hearted, nurturing person I’ve ever met. Our baby will be so lucky to have him.
“I volunteered to show you guys some new positions, but wifey is getting all embarrassed about it. You wouldn’t mind if I tagged along one of these days and just made sure you two virgins were doing it right, would you?” Carla asked him.
“Shh! Carla!” I laughed again. Thank God Jace was used to Carla. He was laughing, too. She has no filters, but she has a good heart and she loves me and Jace knows that. It’s all that matters to him, and I love him that much more for putting up with her.
He winked at me and said, “I’ll leave that up to her, too, Carla. Appreciate the offer, though.”
I looked at Jace. “I told her we were completely fine in that department.”
“She’s is right about that. We may have started out virgins, but I think we’ve got it mastered,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Are you sure? You know you don’t always have to be on top. Sometimes it’s fun and more productive to have her sit right down on your lap and you can kind of like…” She flexed her hips up and screwed up her face. Jace laughed and shook his head as he went into the kitchen to get a drink. I scolded her again, jokingly.
“I want to wait a year or two. I just got this nursing job, and I’d like to work for a while first.”
“Yeah,” Carla said, “I guess that way you can build up some leave. Don’t take too long, though. I want a baby to play with.”
“Why not have your own?” Jace asked her.
She looked at him like he had two heads. “Bite your tongue. I don’t even have a regular man yet. I’m not cut out to be a single mother.”
“You take your time, honey,” I told her. “You’re still young and beautiful. Have fun.”
“Hey,” Jace said, pretending to be insulted. “Are you saying being married to me isn’t any fun?”
I got up and went over to where he was sitting. I sat down on his lap and kissed him. We forgot Carla was there as we kissed passionately. I could feel him growing hard underneath me.
Carla cleared her throat and said, “Um… I think I’ll just be going.”
We laughed and apologized. “Sorry, we just get carried away,” I told her.
She snorted and said, “Newlyweds,” but she was grinning. “I really have to go. See ya, Jace.”
“See ya, Carla.”
I got up and walked her out. I gave her a hug before she left and promised I’d call to let her know how the new job goes. I’d just finished two years of nursing school and I got a job at the University Hospital. I was really excited about starting.
Jace had been so helpful and supportive while I was in school. I couldn’t wait to start making money and contributing to our lives. He said that part doesn’t matter, and I believe he means it. But it will make me feel better. He works so hard. I want to be an equal partner.
After she left, Jace showered while I put away the wedding pictures. We went out to dinner. Now that we’re living in Boston, we eat out once a week on Fridays. The rest of the week, we take turns cooking and on Sundays after church, we have dinner with his brothers.
We started going to a new church. It’s still Catholic, but no one there knows our history and it’s more comfortable for us there. We’re both still very devout, practicing Catholics. What has happened in the past is between us and God, but we both still feel strongly that we did the right thing and God is on our side.
Tonight, we went to a place near the Harbor called Legal Sea Foods. It’s one of our favorite places to eat when we’re in the mood for shellfish. The manager knows Jace from a job his company did for him last year, so he always starts us out with a huge shrimp cocktail.
We sit upstairs when we’re in the mood for quiet elegance, but tonight I wanted the two-pound lobster, so we had to sit downstairs for that. It’s a lot louder downstairs because that’s where the bar is at and a lot of college kids hang out there.
While we were eating, Jace looked over at the bar crowd and said, “Do you ever feel like you’re missing out?”
Confused, I said, “On what?”
“You’re about the same age as those kids at the bar. They’re just having a great time without a care in the world. You just finished school and you have a house and a husband to take care of. Do you ever wish you could go back and do it the way they’re doing it?”
I glanced over at the kids. I thought about high school and even if you factored out my horrible father, you couldn’t pay me to go back. It was fraught with constant anxiety over what to wear and who was talking about who and what boys were going to want if I went out with them.
Being a child of sexual abuse could have sent me over to the promiscuous edge, but instead, it sent me in the other direction. I never accepted dates because of my fear that the guy would want sex. I was a senior before I had my first real relationship. He was the one who ran when he tried to get me in bed and I told him about my dad.
I looked back at Jace and thought about how when you change one thing in your life, it often alters the course of it, and I said,
“No, not even a little bit. Mostly because had I done things differently, I would not have met you. Look at me now!” I giggled.
He smiled. “Yeah, look at you now. Happy looks so good on you. It’s hard to imagine the different courses our lives would have taken if we’d never met.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Do you think you would still be a priest if we’d never met?”
He nodded and popped a piece of lobster in his mouth. “Yeah, I think so,” he said, after he swallowed. “It wasn’t terrible. I was never really content with it, but until I met you, I really thought it was where I was supposed to be.”
“Are you ever sorry you gave it up?”
“Not even a little bit,” he said, copying my words with a grin. “I love you, Daphne. I love our life, and I think God and I are okay these days.”
“Good. Me, too.”
“You too what?”
“I’m good with God.”
“What about me?”
I knew what he was fishing for, but I liked messing with him sometimes. “You just said you’re good with Him too.”
“But what about how you feel about me?”
“Oh! I’m good with you, too.” He made a sad face and I smiled. “I love you more than life itself.”
He grinned and said, “I knew that, I just wanted to hear it out loud.”
******
When we got home that night, Jace looked at the couch and with a grin he said, “You know something?”
“What’s that?”
“We made love on my old couch and on your old couch, but we haven’t done it on our new one yet.”
I went over and slid my arms around him. He kissed me deeply, and I said, “Do you think we should christen it?”
“I absolutely do,” he agreed with a grin. H
e flexed his hips into me, and I felt him already growing hard. He kissed me again and as he did, he pulled my dress up to around my waist. I broke the kiss and raised my arms so he could finish pulling it off. I walked over to the couch, saying,
“Let’s do this.”
He laughed. “I think I want you on this side,” he said. He was standing near the back of it.
I raised an eyebrow, but went around next to him. He grabbed my face in his hands and gave me another hard kiss as he released my bra. He flipped me around so I was facing the couch and pulled my panties down. I stepped out of them and felt his hands roam down across my backside, over the curves of my butt and dip between my legs.
“Mm, my baby is always so responsive.” I turned back around to face him and we kissed again. God, I love kissing him. I could do it all day. He had other ideas as he growled and buried his face in my breasts. While he was doing that, and doing it very well, I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. I slid my hand down inside and found his now rock hard cock. I gave it a squeeze and felt him shudder into me.
“Take them off,” I told him. He reached down and put his fingers against my outer lips again and said, “Mm, so wet baby…”
“That’s because you’re so sexy, you make me that way.”
He reluctantly let go of my breasts and pulled his hand away from my pussy. I watched as my gorgeous husband stripped off his clothes. I could also just look at him all day. He grinned again and said, “I think I changed my mind. I think I want to sit on the couch, with my beautiful wife in my lap.”
“I like that idea,” I told him. He finished getting naked. God, he’s gorgeous, I’m so lucky. He sat down on the couch and I straddled him.
We kissed for a long time with his hands rubbing my back and shoulders. I loved it when he touches me like that. I loved everything he does.
I reached down and took him back into my hand. I lifted up on my knees and while his hands found my breasts and began to massage and caress them, I lined him up with me and sat down on his cock. God…there is no better feeling in the world than being filled up with my husband.