Finding Carrie

by C. E. Snyder

  “You were amazing. I had no idea. And your voice is beautiful,” she said.

  “Mmm, thank you, my love,” Isaac said.

  “Isaac,” she said as she leaned back to look in his eyes. She waited till he opened them. “I love you.” His mouth hung open, and he looked shocked. He didn’t have a chance to reply; she was kissing him again. The kiss went on for a long time. Isaac’s hands were all over Carrie’s body. It had been a long time for them, and he was losing control. He wanted her, and he felt that she wanted him too, but they had a party to go to, and if they didn’t show up, people would come looking. He didn’t want to stop kissing her. She didn’t either. He pulled her over to the couch and pulled her down beside him. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and pulled him closer, so close that she had to lie down. He went with her. She wrapped one leg around his waist. She didn’t have the slightest clue what she was doing with him, but she liked it and didn’t want to stop. She turned her head to the right just to get some air in her lungs. He kissed her neck from her earlobe to her collarbone. She had just turned her head so she could find his mouth when there was a knock at the door. They both stilled and looked at one another, eyes wide and mouths open, breathing heavy.

  “Yes?” Isaac managed to get out, his eyes stilled locked with Carrie’s blue ones. They were glossy and bright, shiny with love.

  “Mr. Walsch, they are waiting for you,” the man on the other side of the door said.

  “Alright, we will be right there,” Isaac said. They both giggled.

  “All right,” the man said after clearing his throat. Isaac bent down to kiss Carrie before he sat up. She sat up a few seconds after he did. She was still dazed. Isaac ran his hand through his hair, let out his breath, and looked at her.

  “Do you remember anything?” he asked. She shook her head.

  “No, I’m sorry. But when I saw a picture of you in the program, I realized that I love you,” she said, turning to face him. She put her hands on his shoulders. “I do really. Not just because everyone says it. I really do, here”—she gestured to her heart—“right here.” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. “It belongs to you. I belong to you.” She looked up into his eyes. “I love you more than anything.” And that was the truth. She was admitting it to herself as well to him. He leaned over to kiss her again.

  “You just made me the happiest person in the whole world. I love you so much, and I would do anything for you,” he said.

  “I know, as I would for you,” Carrie said. Isaac took a deep breath. He wanted to make love to her right there and felt that she wanted to too, but he let out his breath and sighed. He put his hand on her face.

  “Carrie, I want nothing else in the world but to be with you right now, making love to you, but I fear if we don’t get to the party soon, they are going to come looking for us again.”

  “What party?” she asked.

  “The after-premiere party,” he answered. She didn’t know what that was, but as long as she was with him, she would go.

  “All right, as long as you promise to make love to me later, then we will go,” she said.

  “Oh, I promise. I will,” he said, eyes wide with excitement. She bent down to rest her head on his shoulder and buried her face in his neck. They sat for a few more minutes then went to the party.

  Carrie and Isaac walked into the entryway of the theater. Carrie was clinging to Isaac’s arm with both hands, one hand laced in his and the other holding his upper arm. She buried her face in the back of his shoulder as they walked in. The sea of people cheered and yelled Isaac’s name as they spotted them coming. Isaac lifted his arms at them with Carrie’s hand still in his hand. Her hand slipped away as she stepped behind him.

  “Thank you. Thank you,” he said as he tried to calm them down. The crowd grew silent as they waited for him to give them a speech. Carrie smiled as she watched the respect that everyone gave him. Now, more than ever, she wished she could remember. “Thank you,” Isaac said again. “I had fun tonight, as I’m sure you all did.” As he paused, the crowd said “yeah” at the same time. “And you know, this isn’t a one-man show. I had help from all of you. I would be standing in the dark singing if it wasn’t for you all.” The crowd laughed at his joke. Carrie was laughing too. “Okay, let’s get this party started.” As he finished saying that, the music started and Carrie saw a DJ in the corner by the front door. Isaac turned around and pinned Carrie against the wall with his hands entwining into hers. Resting his forehead against hers, he asked, “Do you want to dance with me?” He leaned back to look at her. She had her head tilted back to look up at him. She had the biggest smile on her face and love in her eyes.

  “Yes, I would,” she said. She could barely hear her own voice over the music, but he pulled her away from the wall, and with his hand still in hers, spun her around to hold her in front of him with her back pressed against him and with her arms crossed around her. He led her to the center of the floor and spun her around again so she was facing him. He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, turned her head, and laid it on his shoulder. They swung to the music; despite that the song was a fast song and everyone else was jumping and singing. It was as though they were the only two people in the room. He pressed kisses onto the back of her neck. They sent tingles down her spine. She lifted her head and her gaze locked on his dark eyes. She smiled, letting her lashes sweep down. He bent his head to press a kiss on her cheek and to whisper in her ear.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” he whispered. She nodded. He took her hand and swung her toward the door. They waded through the crowd until they reached the door. He pushed the door open and stepped aside to let her step out. The cool breeze hit Carrie’s face. It was soothing. Isaac came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Are you cold?” He felt her shiver in his arms. For a late-June night, it was a little chilly.

  “No, I was just really warm in there. It was actually soothing,” she replied, then remembered that the driver was going to come back for them. “Nick, the driver, said he would be back at one to get us.”

  “Yeah, I know. I just thought we could take a walk,” he said. He looked down at his watch. It was the watch she gave him on their anniversary. “It is eleven thirty. We have an hour and a half to be together.”

  She smiled. “I think we have our whole life to be together,” she reminded him.

  “Awe. Yes, that we do,” he said, reaching for her hand. Without hesitation, she took it, still smiling. They strolled down the stairs and walked slowly down the block.

  They walked, talked, kissed the whole hour and a half. When they reached the stairs to the theater, the car was parked out front. Isaac led Carrie to the car and opened the door. She slid in the back and said hello to the diver. Isaac sat next to her, and Carrie leaned into him as the driver took them home.

  Isaac unlocked the apartment and stepped aside so Carrie could walk in. Amy was sitting on the couch, half asleep. She sat up and stretched. Looking at the clock, she turned off the TV. “I didn’t expect you would be home so soon,” she said as she stood up.

  “It is after one, Amy,” Isaac told her. She looked around again at the clock.

  “Oh, so it is. I thought it was only eleven. Those girls wore me out,” she said yawning. “Dave was coming by to keep me company.” As she said that, there was a knock at the door. “Speaking of Dave.” She went over to the door and opened it. Of course, it was Dave.

  “Hi, guys,” Dave said as he stepped in and kissed Amy on the cheek.

  “They just got here. I’m ready to go,” Amy said.

  “How was the play tonight?” Dave asked Isaac. Isaac yawned and sat on the arm of the couch.

  “It went off without a hitch,” Isaac said, wiping his face with his hand.

  “Good to hear. Amy and I have tickets for tomorrow with Chris and Missy and the girls, I think,” Dave replied.

  “Yes, the girls will be
there tomorrow. If I had known before, I would have had Sierra in the play. She would have made a wonderful kitten,” he said, standing up. Amy and Dave stepped out in the hall and waved.

  “Okay, see you guys tomorrow. Get some rest; Sabrina’s big day is tomorrow,” Amy said as she closed the door behind her. Isaac walked over to Carrie and put his arms around her.

  “I think I have a promise to keep,” he mused. Carrie smiled with one eye half closed.

  “I think you do,” she said as he reached up and pulled all of the pins out of Carrie’s hair. It was stiff at the edges. “Did she use enough hairspray?”

  “Oh, I thought I was going to die from the fumes. She had to have used the whole can,” Carrie said. “You’re going to have to help me out of this dress.” She turned around to reveal all the buttons. “My side is starting to hurt.” It really wasn’t, but she didn’t want to try to unbutton them.

  “Did you get enough?” Isaac asked.

  “I don’t even remember ordering the dress,” she said, turning back around. She went down the hall with Isaac in tow. She stopped at the girls’ room. The TV was on, and Sabrina had a lamp on. Carrie and Isaac walked in, turned the TV off, and tucked the girls in. Carrie went to turn off the lamp when she noticed a picture of a boy of about eighteen hanging on the wall between the girls’ bed. She stood there for a minute. Then Isaac came up behind her and reached past her to turn off the lamp. He took her hand and led her to the hall. He closed the door gently behind him. “Who is the boy in the picture?” she asked.

  “That is Jacob O’Dell. He is the girls’ father,” he explained. She blinked several times but didn’t say anything. She walked in the bathroom. He followed her, of course. She stood by the bathroom sink and leaned against it, looking at herself in the mirror. “Do you remember?” he asked as he pushed her hair over her shoulder to start working on her buttons. She looked up and shook her head.

  “No, but when I looked at that picture a feeling came over me like it did when I heard about your mother,” she said as he finished the last button and unzipped the zipper. He pushed the top of the dress down over her arms and exposed the strapless bra that she had been wearing. He pressed kisses from her neck down to the small of her back. There were tingles going down her, she forgot what she was talking about. She turned around and pulled her arms out all the way from the sleeves and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then his mouth found hers. He moved his hands up her sides and went back to unhook that bra. He let it fall to the floor. He pressed kisses from her neck down to her left breast, lower to her nipple. He teased it with his tongue. She let her head fall back and a moan escape. He went back to found her mouth. He reached down and pushed her dress all the way off. It fell down around her ankles. All that was left was her black, lacy panties that Amy had insisted she wear.

  Very carefully, he picked her up and set her down on the sink. He took to two steps back and went to unbutton his own shirt. She raised her arms toward him. “Let me,” she said, and he stepped toward her. He pushed her legs apart and stepped in between them. She unbuttoned his shirt slowly without taking her eyes off him. They kissed several times as she slipped each button through its hole. She pushed his shirt off his arms, and it fell to the ground next to her dress. She went to the button on his pants. She pushed it through the loop and pushed down the zipper. He moaned as she slipped her hand inside to feel the hardness of his erection. She looked up with eyes wide. “Is that how much you love me?” He pushed down his pants with his underwear and he stood there naked, pressed his forehead against hers.

  “Yes,” he said. “Can you lift up?” he said as he reached for her panties. She lifted, and she winced a little, and she had to put all her weight on her left arm because her side was starting to hurt now, but she put that aside because she really want to be with this man, the love of her life, her husband, her Isaac. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, kiss me,” she replied pulling him closer to her. While kissing her, he tilted her hips up so he could slide gently inside her. She was wet for him and hot. When he pushed his way in, she stiffened with the intensity of the pressure. “Isaac,” she breathed. Her head went back. He began to use a slow rhythm with deep strokes. She let herself go. He kissed her neck down to her collarbone.

  “I love you,” he breathed. She lifted her head, but before she could say anything, he took her mouth with his and he began to move faster. He was losing control fast. It had been too long for them. The pleasure was building fast.

  “Isaac.” She said it as a plea, a plea for release, and when she did, it went from her toes to the top of her head. It rocked through them both, it was hard and strong. Their moans and screams blended together. They fell into each other. She clung on to him for an anchor as he did her. They struggled to catch their breath. “I had no idea it would be like that,” she said as she lifted her head.

  “It’s been awhile,” Isaac said, pulling gently out of her. She jumped down off the sink. Her legs almost went out from under her, but Isaac was there to catch her. “Are you all right?” he asked. She put her hand to her head and leaned into him. Her head was spinning, and it suddenly was throbbing. The pain was piecing.

  “Yeah, I just got a headache all of a sudden. Do you always do that to me?” she asked, trying to make a joke.

  “No, I don’t. I think you need to lie down,” he said, picking up her naked body and taking her to the bedroom, looking toward the girls’ door to make sure they didn’t come out. The door was still closed. He set her on the end of the bed then went to the dresser and got out a nightgown for her and pulled it over her head, then helped her lay down. He walked over to the other side of the bed. He pulled out some cotton shorts, put them on, then stretched out beside her. She moved over closer to him and put her head on his arm. They didn’t say anything to one another for the rest of the night. They just drifted to sleep.

  Chapter 17

  Carrie woke up to a terrible, throbbing pain in her side. She realized that she was lying on the side with the bruise. She had to get off that side. She used everything she had to turn over. It hurt like hell, and her ribs shifted and twisted. She yelled in pain. She heard pounding footsteps coming down the hall. Isaac halted in the doorway. She was bent over, crying out loud. He jumped on the bed and bent over her, his cheek resting against hers, and he wrapped one arm around her. “Oh God, are you okay?” he asked as the twins came in the bedroom.

  “Is Mom okay?” they asked at the same time.

  “Yes, just go back to practicing,” he said, still holding Carrie as she cried. “Sierra, can you get me the BENGAY?” She nodded and ran for the bathroom. She came back, running, with the tube in her hand and handed it to Isaac. “Thanks now go to your room, and I will take care of her.” She ran out. He squeezed some of the contents out in his hand, gently lifted her hand away, and then lifted up her nightgown. He gently massaged the cream on her side, and she stopped crying. “Is that better?”

  “Yes. Oh God, I don’t think that I have ever been in so much pain in my life. I think that I would remember something like that,” she said, calming down.

  “I’m sure you might have. You gave birth to twins,” Isaac teased now that he could calm down.

  “Oh, I guess,” Carrie said, pushing herself up to a sitting position. “I don’t remember. I’m not even sure they’re mine.” Isaac laughed softly to himself.

  “I can assure you that they are yours. They look like your mini-me’s,” he said. She tilted her head to the side and regarded him with the side of her eyes.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “Well, when they are the same height as you are, you could be triplets insisted of mother and twin daughters,” he explained. She nodded and looked around the room. She found a collage of pictures hanging in a huge picture fame. She slid out of the bed and walked over to the pictures. Isaac watched her as she was mesmerized by the pictures.

  “What is this?” she asked, pointing to the pictures.


  “That was the trip we took with Amy and Dave last year. It was also the trip where I proposed,” he said as he got off the bed to stand by her side. He wrapped his arm around her. “You need to take your medicine,” he said then went to the bathroom to get it.

  He came back, and she was still staring at the pictures. There was one picture with Carrie and Amy holding on to scarves as they flapped them in the wind. She pointed to the picture. “It looks like we’re flying,” she commented.

  “Yes, I took that as Dave drove the car. Amy was so proud. She wanted to make me her assistant, but I told her it was just beginner’s luck. We drove up the coast of California. We had such a great time. See this one?” He pointed to a picture of the two of them. The light shone through them, and she could see the black of their silhouettes. “This is when I knew I had to ask you to marry me.” He smiled as he turned his head to look at her.

  “Is that when you asked me?” she asked.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I waited till we got back to St. Monica. We had a hotel there. I snuck out with Dave and bought you that ring.” He reached for her hand and pointed to the blue stones and the two diamonds on both sides. “When I saw it, it reminded me of you and your daughters. At that point, I hadn’t met them yet. I had only seen pictures, but I thought it was perfect.”

  “When did you propose, then?” she asked as he kissed her finger. The gesture made her smile, and tingles went down her spine.

  “It was our last night there, and I had written you a song,” he began to say.

  “You wrote a song?” she asked. He nodded.

  “Yes, it was a beautiful song too. I had asked Amy and Dave to take pictures. In fact, there is a picture in the living room. I asked one of the band members if I could borrow a guitar. I asked you if you wanted to take a walk along the beach—well, insisted. I held back for a minute and took the guitar, and when you looked back, I started to sing the song. You were so surprised when I walked over to you and got down on one knee. And you said yes, of course,” he said. She looked at him and her lashes drifted down.