Rita Loud sat back and blew a ragged puff of air. The kitchen chair creaked beneath her weight and she was painfully reminded of just how big she'd gotten. When she first met Lynn twenty some years before, she was as slim and petite as Lori. Now, at thirty-eight, she was pushing 175: Her clothes fit tight, her thighs rubbed uncomfortably together when she walked, and a little band of blubber spilled over the waistband of her pants. She was also starting to go gray and every time she looked in the mirror, she found a new crease somewhere on her face. Life hadn't been particularly kind to her (nor had it been cruel) and she was beginning to show its wear and tear.

Next to her, Lynn bent over the table and scanned a letter from the bank. The mortgage payment was behind and they were so kind as to send along a "friendly reminder." That, Rita suspected, was only because they hadn't been late on a payment in nearly ten years. If they weren't so punctual, the reminder probably wouldn't be very friendly.

It was Sunday, April 29th - less than a week before hers and Lynn's twentieth wedding anniversary - and they had spent most of the morning poring over documents, bills, notices, and tax work. Since Lynn opened his restaurant, things had been tight. It made a respectable profit and one day soon, they'd notice, but it was still brand new and the expenses outweighed what it brought in. There were so many things that needed to be paid and so little money to do it with; sometimes Rita wondered how they managed. Luck, she thought, or by the grace of God. One of the two. Hers and Lynn's budgeting surely didn't do it alone. Feeding and clothing eleven kids takes a lot of money no matter how many corners you cut. Lynn insisted on handling dinner not because he loved to cook, but so that he could control ingredients and portion sizes - everything he made was carefully calculated to give everyone just enough to fill them up. He kept Vanzilla, as old and tired as it was, not out of nostalgia alone, but also economy. She clipped coupons obsessively and used every spare penny she had to buy scratch offs behind Lynn's back. He complained that it was "wasteful" but he didn't have anything to say the time she won 2,500 dollars.

Setting aside the letter from the mortgage company, Lynn ran his fingers through what was left of his hair and worried his bottom lip with his teeth. It was a nervous tick he'd developed over the past fifteen years. "It's gonna be close," he said.

Rita knew. Over the next couple days, they would have to pay roughly 3,500 dollars of their 4,500 dollar monthly gross, leaving them with a thousand dollars to cover this month's groceries, gas, cell phone bills, internet, cable, and miscellania. That wasn't very much for two people, but for thirteen it was nothing.

She was hoping there'd be enough left over for her and Lynn to do something special for their big day, but it didn't look like there would be. The sting was only minor; she was used to treating her anniversary like just another day. She tried to remember if they had ever properly marked the occasion or not and was perturbed to find that she couldn't.

Oh well.

Spending time with the kids would be good enough for her.

Though it would be nice to do something next year. May 5th was the day she joined in holy matrimony to the only man she had ever loved and it seemed wrong to let it pass by like a normal Saturday. It wasn't. It marked the true beginning of her life; everything she loved and held dearly today, from Lori right on down to Lily, stemmed from that day. It deserved a whole lot more than she and Lynn had ever given it, and the thought of it slipping through her fingers was enough to darken her mood.

In life, however, there are more important things, and she had to remind herself of that fact.

"We'll be fine," she said. It came out quick and off-hand, but she genuinely believed it. She and Lynn had made it through a lot in their two decades together. Long ago, when they were first married, there were times they couldn't pay the electric company and got their power shut off. One time, a burly repo man hooked Rita's car to the back of a tow truck and hauled it away. Oh, and three years ago, the pipes burst and flooded the entire house.

Sometimes they made it by on the skin of their teeth, but they always did make it by, and she was sure they always would.

Lynn shifted his weight and flashed the stack of bills a lipless grimace, one part contempt and ninety-nine parts sadness. "I feel bad," he stated. He didn't need to say what he felt bad about, Rita already knew.

"Maybe next year," she said and flashed a wan smile.

Lynn took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "We say that every time."

Yes, they did, but what else could they do? Let the kids go without so that they could spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast or take a cruise? Both of those sounded very nice to Rita, but providing for her family sounded even better. "One day we'll mean it."

Lynn uttered a sardonic chuckle. "By then we'll be too old to do anything."

In twenty years, all of the kids would be grown and out of the house, and hers and Lynn's expenses would be far, far less than they were now. That sounded like a long time but it really wasn't. They would both be fifty-eight. Not young by any stretch, but still young enough to do almost anything they wanted. She pointed that out, and Lynn shrugged one shoulder. "We can't hang glide."

She cocked a challenging brow. "Do you really want to do that, Lynn?"

"No," he admitted.

"Then hush."

Lynn laughed in that hitching, understated way of his and Rita's heart warmed. Their life together might not always be easy, but it was perfect and she was thankful to have it.

Movement flickered in the corner of her eye, and she looked up. Lola and Luna stood side by side in the archway leading into the living room, their hands behind their backs and big, sheepish smiles on their faces. The former was small and blonde and the latter tall and brunette; they looked nothing alike, but with their matching expressions - strained and not entirely earnest - they were almost identical.

They looked like they broke something.

Lynn, as trained in the ways of their daughters as she, picked up on it too. "What did you break this time?" he asked with a hint of anxiety.

The girls exchanged a knowing glance. "Nothing," Luna said, "we just wanted to check in on you guys."

"And make sure you're okay," Lola added. "Do you need me to get you anything? Water? A sandwich? A signed headshot of me?"

Now it was Rita and Lynn's turn to look at each other. The girls - and Lincoln - were typical children. They were loud, slovenly, lazy, and sometimes selfish. They could also be giving, industrious, and chairable.

But not this charitable.

Rita knew her kids with the intimacy and fullness of a loving deity. When they randomly appeared and started offering to do things around the house - extra chores, cooking, fanning you with palms leaves on a particularly hot day - it could only mean one thing.

"What do you want?" Rita asked.

Lola and Luna both laughed nervously through their teeth. Little details, Rita had learned, give away the most information. When Lynn raked his fingers through his hair, he was stressed; when Lincoln talked to himself like he was addressing an imaginary audience, something big was on his mind; and when one of the girls laughed through their teeth, they were about to lie their butts off.

"Nothing," Luna said.

"Just to be helpful," Lola said.

Rita crossed her arms over her ample bosom and arched her brow. Likely story.

"Well," Luna said, drawing it out (weeeeelllll), "I was kind of hoping for some new guitar strings. I kinda broke mine trying to play Whole Lotta Rosie." She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

"And there's this beautiful dress," Lola said and waved her hand, "it's not very expensive either. It's on clearance for 152.52."

Lola was six but she understood money well enough to know that 152 dollars was not inexpensive.

They both beamed in the hopes that the wider they smiled, the more their parents would be charmed and want to spend money on them.

When Lynn spoke, they both sagged in disappointment. "No, we can't afford it right now."

Those words came hard, like kidney stones, and under the table, Rita laid her hand on his knee. It bothered him to no end that he couldn't spoil the kids. If he could, he'd give them everything they wanted and then some. That just wasn't possible, though, and there were times he felt like a failure of a man because of it. The kids are fine, Rita told him when he got down in the dumps, they have everything they need and they get the things they want more often than we did growing up.

I guess, he'd mumble.

"Aw, c'mon," Luna moaned, "my thing's cheap, though. Not like hers." She hooked her thumb at Lola.

The little blonde put her hands on her hips and shot daggers at her sister. "My thing's more important. I'm going to wear it to win a beauty show. You're just going to break yours by trying to play Ring Around the Rosie again."

Luna's face darkened. "It's Whole Lotta Rosie and I woulda had it if you didn't come in and mess me up. It's your fault, dude, you should pay for those strings, not Mom and Dad."

"Excuse me for thinking a cat was being murdered and needed my help." Lola crossed her arms and whipped her head away with a tiny humph.

Luna started to fire back, but Lynn held up his hand and stopped her. "We're very tight on money right now and we have next to no wiggle room. We can't even afford to change Vanzilla's oil...which means I have to do it." Here he hung his head. Lynn hated changing the van's oil and usually paid a boy down the street named Chad five or ten bucks to do it for him.

That seemed to snap Luna and Lola out of it. If he couldn't afford to shove a couple crumpled one dollars bills into someone's hand to avoid having to get underneath the van and covered in oil, things must be rough. "Dude, really?" Luna asked.

Lynn nodded sadily. "Yeah," he said. It came as a shameful confession and Rita squeezed his knee.

Revelation flickered in Luna's eyes as though something had just occurred to her. "What about your anniversary? Are you guys doing anything?"

"We'd love to," Rita said, "but these bills aren't going to pay themselves."

Luna and Lola looked at each other. "Is there anything we can do?" Luna asked.

"A nice dinner would be fine," RIta said, then added, "but not too nice. Maybe taco chili pasta pizza. That's what he had on our first date, you know."

After Luna and Lola were gone, Rita got to her feet and stretched her back. She had lost track of time and didn't realize she'd been sitting at the table for nearly two hours Drowning in bills and worrying how you're going to cover all of your expenses will do that to you, she supposed. Lynn organized the bills into sloppy stacks, then carried them into the office off the living room. Rita brewed a pot of coffee, poured some into a mug, and added cream and sugar. They were almost out of the latter. Come to think of it, they were out of almost everything. She had to go to the store.

Lynn came in and poured his own cup. He took a sip and stared contemplatively out the window over the sink. "I have to go grocery shopping," Rita said.

"How much do you need?"

Rita thought for a moment. "A hundred."

Lynn took out his wallet, opened it, and slipped out a hundred dollar bill. "Get stuff for beans and franks."

She took the bill and pocketed it. "Alright."

Grabbing the list from the fridge, she went out the back door and sneaked around the side of the house to avoid letting the kids know where she was going; if they did, they'd ask for special things that they couldn't afford.

Rita Loud loved her life and her family, but sometimes both could be really stressful...especially when she was trying to steal away, Lynn Jr. saw her, and suddenly she was surrounded by eleven kids all clamoring for this and that.

It was those moments that made her gray.

Of that she was certain.

That night, the Loud children gathered in Lori and Leni's room like a coven of witches. Leni sat at her vanity, Lynn, Lana, and Lisa sat on the floor with their backs against the wall, Lucy and Lincoln sat on Lori's bed, Luan sat on Leni's bed, Lori leaned against the dresser with her arms crossed, and Luna and Lola stood at the head of the room. They recounted that afternoon's discussion with their parents, both taking turns until the story was out.

"So yet again, they can't do anything for their anniversary," Luna concluded. "Which is bogus, they never get to do anything."

"I feel really bad," Lola said and cast her eyes to the floor. "I don't get my dress and they don't get to do anything."

Everyone looked sad for their parents, except for Lucy; she looked like she always did.

For a while, Lori deliberated liked a family court judge, her lips bunching from side to side in concentration. "Well," she finally said, "we should do something for them."

"But what?" Luan asked. "They deserve something really special."

"Something none of us can afford," Lynn pointed out.

Lori opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I think I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a shot."

"What is it?" Lincoln asked.

"Well," Lori started.

All the kids leaned in to hear, and when Lori was done, they were quiet for a long time. Lincoln was the first one to speak. "I think it might just work."

The others agreed.

And together...they plotted.

On Saturday, May 5, the day of her twentieth wedding anniversary, Rita Loud woke to the sound of rain hissing in the street. She rolled onto her side and blinked the sleep from her bleary eyes, the bloody red numerals on the bedside clock swimming into focus.

6:05.

Murky light filtered through the gap between the curtains and filled the room like dirty water, and the standing fan in the corner blew chilly air in the general direction of the bed, its head slightly down like a shy little boy in the presence of its crush. Beside her, Lynn lay flat on his back, one arm jutting over the side and the other resting on his chest. He snorted, smacked his lips, and shifted his weight.

They had been keeping the same schedule for so long that neither one needed the alarm, the drifted into the shoals of consciousness on their own like two abandoned ships at the mercy of the tide. That made sleeping in on the weekends impossible, though if they were tired enough they would stay comatose until sometimes as late as noon.

Throwing the covers aside, Rita swung her legs out, sat up, and took a moment to clear her head before standing. Pulling on her robe, she went into the bathroom, snapped the light on, and stood before the mirror. A few new grays streaked her hair and dark bags underpinned her bloodshot eyes. She'd either have to take the time to put on makeup before going to work or just deal with looking like a raccoon.

Eh, probably the second one.

She stripped naked, laid her robe and nightie on the closed toilet lid, and got into the shower. She adjusted the temperature to her liking and let the water relax her aching muscles. She ducked her head under the spray, wetted her hair, and massaged in shampoo. She rinsed, turned her back to the pounding deluge, and rested her forehead against the slick wall. It was going to be a long, long day. She had a thousand and one things to do at work and Dr. Fienstien, already at the office by now, had probably added a thousand more. After work, she had to...wait, no, that was Thursday she was thinking of. Or was it Wednesday? She cocked her head and thought but couldn't remember. It would come to her...eventually. It absolutely wasn't today, and that's all that mattered. One step at a time.

Cutting the water, she pulled the curtain open, grabbed the towel from its ring over the toilet, and dried off. Replacing it, she put her robe over her naked body, tied the sash, and brushed her teeth.

As she worked, it occurred to her that exactly two decades ago, she married the man she loved. Warm emotion filled her chest and she drew a dreamy sigh. She was madly in love with Lynn that day and she was madly in love with him now. The character of that love may have changed over the years - from burning passion to a low, comfortable glow - but its totality had not. She loved him just as much now as then.

She should get him something.

They agreed to no presents this year because they couldn't afford anything, but surely she could spare a couple dollars on something for her partner in crime. She had ten dollars in her purse and she needed five of that for gas. What could she get Lynn for five dollars? A nice card? A rose? Something off the dollar menu at Burpin' Burger?

Done, she went out into the bedroom, where Lynn struggled to pull a pair of pants on. His eyes were groggy slits and his head swayed drunkenly from side to side. Sat, grabbed his socks, and yanked them on, then stood again. Rita's eyes went to his crotch and a sly smile crossed her lips. "Your fly is down."

He mumbled something that may have been I know but made no move to fix it. He shuffled to the dressed, donned a white T-shirt, and pulled a green sweater on over it. "Have you seen my shoes?" he asked. His voice was thick with sleep.

"By the door," Rita said, "where they always are."

"Oh. Right."

He stepped into them, then opened the door and went into the hall. Rita waited a moment, and he rushed back in. "Happy Anniversary," he said and kissed her cheek.

She smiled and pecked his lips. "Happy Anniversary."

While Lynn went downstairs, Rita dressed in a pair of tan slacks and an orange blouse. She was still trying to think of something to get Lynn when she joined him at the kitchen counter a few minutes later. He handed her a cup of coffee and she took it. "We better get going," he said.

"We can be a little late," Rita teased, "it's our anniversary, we're allowed to spoil ourselves."

He looked like he wanted to argue, then shrugged in resignation. He poured another cup of coffee and they drank in silence. The kids were all still asleep and for the moment, the Loud house was quiet.

When they were finished, they put their mugs in the sink and went outside, Rita pausing her to grab her purse from the end table by the door. Thin drops of rain fell from the churning gray sky and the budding trees up and down Franklin Avenue danced in the chilly breeze. Rita climbed in behind the wheel and Lynn slid into the passenger seat, buckling his safety belt over his chest. Rita sat her purse in the console, started the engine, and backed out into the street.

Lynn's restaurant was downtown on the corner of Main and Birch, a long, low building with a glass facade and a red awning that rippled in the wind. Rita pulled to the curb and Lynn opened the door. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

They kissed, and Lynn cupped her cheek in his hand. "I'm sorry we can't do anything for our anniversary."

Rita's chest twinged at the look of hurt in his eyes, and she kissed his wrist. "Don't worry about it," she said, "having you is enough."

He kissed her lips and a tremble went through her just as it had when he kissed her at the altar all those years ago. "I'll make it up to you next year," he promised.

"Why not make it up to me tonight?" she asked with a wicked grin.

"Oh, I plan to," he said and licked his lips.

RIta laughed uproariously at his attempt to be sexy and Lynn kissed her cheek. "Love you," he said again and got out.

"Have a good day."

"You too."

He slammed the door and dashed through the rain. When he was under the awning, he turned and waved, and Rita waved back.

On her way to work, Rita continued wracking her brain for an under five dollar present but came up empty handed. She'd likely pick up a card at the drugstore after work. It wasn't much but it was something.

Ten minutes after leaving the restaurant, she pulled into the parking lot fronting uber modern office building housing Dr. Frienstne's offices. When Rita first started working for him five years ago, his office was across town in a converted Victorian house on River Road. The owner sold it last year and he was forced to move into a suite on the third floor of 165 Office Plaza. Other buildings faced narrow service streets, many of them rented by medical firms.

Rita pulled into a parking space overlooking the highway, cut then engine, and got out. It was just past seven and despite what she said earlier, she really couldn't be late. There was so much to do and just thinking about it all made her want to crawl into bed and hide. In the tiled lobby, she pushed the button, waited for the elevator, and boarded when the doors thunked open. She rode it to the third floor and got off.

A little waiting room opened up before her, and a hall led to the break room. Rita turned the corner and went in.

"SURPRISE!"

She jumped back in alarm and fluttered her hand to her chest. Dr. Finestien, a small man with a gray walrus mustache, and the girls who worked in the office stood in the middle of the room. Behind them, a banner hanging from the cabinets over the counter screamed HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.

Rita's mouth dropped open in a shocked O, and when she realized she was gaping, she snapped it close again. "Oh," she said because she didn't know what else to say. In all of her time working here, Dr. Fienstien had never once wished her a happy anniversary much less done something like this.

"Happy Anniversary, Rita," he said and stepped forward hands clasped behind his back. "I made Jani and Jenny hang a banner to mark the occasion. I also sent Macy to get a cake but she dropped it in the parking lot."

Macy, a black girl with her hair in a ponytail, flashed a penitent smile. "Sorry."

Rita honestly didn't know what to say. "I...thank you. This is so unexpected."

"I just happened to remember this year," he said and rocked back on his heels. She knew him almost as well as she knew her own family. He wasn't telling the truth. He was too scatterbrained to remember important dates; he once forgot it was Christmas morning and called Rita at home to ask why she wasn't at work. When she told him, he responded without missing a beat. Right, then. Carry on.

He reached into his pocket and took something out.

A prescription.

"Here," he said.

Rita took it. In his sloppy doctor's handwriting was: 1 WEEK OFF.

"Oh," Rita said. "Well, that's very generous of you, but I can't afford -"

"Keep reading."

At the bottom.

PAID OF COURSE.

One week off paid? Rita's head spun. "That's...that's nice but I can't take advantage of you that way."

"Nonsense," Dr. Fienstien said. "You've been a stand out employee for over five years. You haven't had a vacation or taken any personal days. You've earned this."

Rita really didn't know what to say.

"Since there's no cake," he said and shot Macy a withering look over his shoulder, "I suggest you leave at once and spend the day with your husband."

And that's exactly what she did.

Lynn Loud Sr. sat at an empty booth in the equally empty dining room of his restaurant. A few of the waitresses stood by the register and talked to Grant. One of them, a little blonde with a mole on her upper lip that Lynn always had to make a conscious effort to not look at, had a crush on Grant. She had never said so outright, but the way she looked at him and laughed at all of his dumb jokes (most learned from Lynn himself) betrayed her. Grant, of course, was clueless. Boys that age always are.

The door opened and an old couple came in. The man wore one of those navy veteran baseball caps with the name of the ship he served on stitched across the front. Lynn craned his neck to see what it said but one of the waitresses sprinted them off to a table before he could get a good look. Lynn's grandfather served on the USS RICHMOND during the Second World War and had a hat just like that. In fact, they buried him in it when he died in 1994.

Sighing, Lynn drummed his fingers on the table. When he came in forty-five minutes ago, he threw his apron on and went into the kitchen only to be halted by Kotaro. "Today's your anniversary, Lynn," the Asian said, "take a load off."

Lynn protested but Kotaro insisted, so here he was, parked at a table and going out of his mind with boredom. Every time he tried to get up and do something, either Kotaro or Grant would chase him away. The next time it inevitably happened, he'd pull rank and threaten to fire them. Not that he would actually go through with it, of course, but a man's gotta flex from time to time lest his underlings start thinking they run the show. If worse came to worst, he'd just pull out his Johnson to establish dominance. He was soft, balding, and middle aged, but he was sure he had a few inches on Grant and Kotaro. This thing has produced eleven kids, fellas. Now it's telling you to get the hell out of my way.

He glanced at the door when it opened, and blinked in surprise. Rita stood in the threshold with her thumb thrust through the strap of her purse and looked around like she was lost. What was she doing here?

She spotted him and came over, and Lynn stood. "Hey," he said, "what's up?"

"Dr. Feinstien gave me the week off," she said, "with pay."

Lynn did a double take. "A week off? With pay?"

Rita nodded.

It took Lynn far longer to wrap his head around that than it should have. Dr. Fienstien was a nice man from what Lynn could tell, but no employer was nice enough to give someone a whole week off for their wedding anniversary, unpaid...much less paid. "Did he have a stroke?"

Rita chuckled. "I don't know but I got out of there before he could change his mind."

They sat opposite one another and held hands across the table. "Kotaro won't let me do any work," he explained. "He says I should relax and take a load off."

"Well it is -"

"SURPRISE!"

For the second time that morning, Rita jumped out of her skin and almost suffered a massive heart attack. From his womanish squeal, Lynn wasn't far behind.

The kids stood in a big group around the table, Leni holding Lily, and beamed with a mixture of pride and joy that instantly told Rita all of this - Dr. Fienstien giving her the week off, Kotaro taking over for Lynn - had been their doing.

"Happy Anniversary," Lori said. Everyone else talked over each other, Lola shoving Lana, Luan laughing, Luna rolling her eyes, Lucy reading from a sheet of paper.

Lynn held his hand up to silence them, and when they were quiet, Lori spoke up. "We decided to put something together since you guys couldn't do anything special for your anniversary."

"This was all you?" Lynn asked, mildly surprised.

Lori nodded. "Yep. All of us."

Lynn raised his eyebrows, impressed.

"We also pitched in and made you a special anniversary dinner."

They kids parted and Kotaro came to the table with a big meal dish in his hands. He sat it on the table and Lynn's eyes widened. "Taco chili pasta pizza!"

"Just like you had on yours and Mom's first date," Lori said. "It's even the same recipe. Except we had to use canned corn instead of fresh." Lori took a deep breath, as though that fact irked her. "Otherwise, it's the same thing. Enjoy."

Enjoy they did. Lynn ate three helpings and Rita two. The taco chili pasta pizza tasted just like it had on his and Rita's first date. When they were finished, Lori brought out an ice cream cake with twenty lit candles and everyone clapped and cheered, even a few diners on the other side of the room who had no idea what exactly they were cheering about.

At the end of it all, Lynn sat back and patted his stomach. He was full of food, love, and good cheer. He had his loving family, his beautiful wife, and a big dish of leftover taco chili pasta pizza to take home. The day that started bleak and drab had turned into the best anniversary ever. How could things possibly get any better?

That's when Lori did it.

She pulled something out and laid it on the table. "What's this?" Rita asked.

"Two tickets to the most luxurious spa/hotel in Royal Woods," Lori said smugly. "Che Villa."

Che Vila was, as Lori said, the most sumptuous retreat not just in Royal Woods but in all of central Michigan. Perched on a hillside overlooking a crystal blue lake that reflected the sky like a pane of polished glass, it commanded a majestic view of the countryside surrounding it, its massive marble columns and pitched roofs lending it a decidedly Grecian air.

It was not only nice but expensive as well.

Very expensive.

"How did you get these?" RIta asked in astonishment.

Lori shrugged as though it were as easy and snapping her fingers. "Carol's mom works there and after I explained the situation, she was able to pull a few strings. You're going for four days and three nights and leaving literally now. Don't worry about the homefront, I have that under control."

Lynn and Rita looked at each other. "I...guess we're going to Che Villa," Lynn said.

Rita smiled. "I guess so."

And they did.

Rita Loud stood on a fifth floor balcony above Che Villa's manicured garden and sipped champagne from a glass. It was after dark and the moon shone from its spot high in the heavens, its silvery light bathing the sky in palid luminescence. A cool night breeze washed over her face and with it came the smell of spring: Flowers, honeysuckle, and new life. She stared up at the face of the moon and reflected on the past twenty years of her life. It seemed like longer when she thought about it. They say time flies when you're having fun but Lynn and the kids were her spring, her new life and rebirth, and remembering a time before them got harder and harder as the years went on.

She finished off the champagne and turned to go inside. She was tipsy and her knees trembled slightly from the battery of massages, mud baths, and relaxation treatments she and Lynn had taken since getting here. The curtains framing the sliding glass door fluttered in the wind like restless phantoms and soft lamplight suffused the spacious room. A single four poster canopy bed stood against one wall a wide step led into the living room, replete with a glass coffee table, a leather sofa, and a plasma screen TV. A vase full of flowers on an end table brightened the room and a watercolor depicting a still wood in autumn drew Rita's attention. It was fall when she first met the man who would become her husband and the father of her children. They were both sixteen and everything in the world was brighter, sweeter. She dreamed about that first meeting sometimes. On waking, she was filled with the most curious mixture of longing and nostalgia.

The bathroom door opened and Lynn came out in a puff of steam, his scrawny chest bared and a towel wrapped around his waist. He walked over, sat next to Rita on the bed, and blew a puff of air. "That water's hot," he said with an arch smile.

At home, the hot water heater was barely alive. Even if you got the first shower of the day, the water was tepid.

"I figured," RIta said, "you were in there forever."

"I was washing mud out of my ass."

She threw her head back and laughed. She felt good and loose from the alcohol and from having the most amazing anniversary ever, and the laughter came naturally in a way that it rarely did anymore. With all the debt and bills, it was easy to forget what laughing even felt like.

Lynn took her hand and she brushed her thumb over his knuckles. "You look beautiful," he said soberly.

A girlish blush spread across Rita's cheeks and she couldn't suppress a happy little smile. "I'm in a bathrobe, my hair's a mess, and I have lines on my face."

"You're still beautiful," Lynn said. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Being called beautiful by the man you love is such a small thing, but important too. It sent pleasant little tingles down her spine and made her heartbeat speed up; the years seemed to melt away, and in that moment, she was sixteen again, young, falling in love...and horny.

Lynn saw the fire in her eyes and a devilish grin skipped across his lips. They leaned into each other's lips and kissed, lightly at first, their tongues swirling around one another in a dance of coy diffidence just as they had twenty plus years ago, then deeper. Lynn cupped her cheek in his hand and an electric tingle raced through her body, making her hitch. Lynn's hand went to her knee and stroked a loving circle in her flesh. He moved it up her leg, beneath the robe, and to her fuming middle. She parted her thighs to give him easier access, and moaned into his mouth when his fingers deftly found the nub of her arousal. Bursts and whorls of sensation crackled like electricity in her brain and her heart slammed an unsteady tattoo against her aching breast. Lynn held her sex gently in his hand and laid her carefully back on the bed, the kiss never breaking. He traced his index finger around her opening, and she kissed him harder to stifle the moans.

Pulling away from her lips, he propped himself up on one elbow and lazily untied the sash keeping her robe closed. He favored her with a hungry leer as he pulled it open to reveal her naked body, and she bit her bottom lip in an exaggeratedly seductive way. "This is all the present I need," Lynn said.

He leaned over, pressed his lips to her stomach, and blew a raspberry. Rita jumped in surprise and laughed. "Stop," she said.

"Sorry," he said against her skin. He trailed kisses down her stomach and over her pubic mound, and she took a deep, shivery breath in anticipation of what came next. She smoldered from head to toe and her heart throbbed in her throat; she licked her dry lips and sucked them into her mouth when Lynn kissed the top of her slit. He situated himself between her legs, slipped his hands under her butt, and curled his tongue around her clit. She sucked a sharp inhalation and laid her hands on the back of his head to regulate his movements.

He did it again, slower this time, and Rita purred in the back of her throat. She threaded her fingers through his hair and rocked her hips. He ran his tongue down to her opening, then back up, sucking her clit into his mouth and making her gasp.

As he made love to her with his tongue, he slid his fingers into her and caressed her walls. Rita gasped and tugged at his hair, the sensations battering her from every side. He brushed a secret bundle of nerves that only he had ever touched and a jolt tore through her. She threw her legs around his shoulders, buried her heels between his shoulder blades, and arched her back off the bed. Lynn stroked her G-Spot and sucked her clit into his mouth, establishing a mind-blowing rhythm that Rita was convinced only he was capable of. Rita bore down on her lower lip and blew ragged exhalations through flaring nostrils.

When her orgasm began to form in the pit of her stomach, she clamped his head in place with her thighs and grinded her wet core against his face, moans and grunts falling her her quivering lips. She thrust faster, humping him, then seized up when her climax came over her. She let out a long, broken oooohhh and rode it to the end, sticky fluid gushing out of her and spilling onto the bed.

She panted for air and opened her legs to free Lynn. He looked up at her with a boyish simper that made him look far younger than his almost forty years; his eyes sparkled and his lips and chin glistened with a thin layer of her passion.

Planting her heels into the bed, she gave him a smile that said I'm ready. He half stood, stripped the towel off, and mounted her, his hands on either side of her head and his member knocking at her entrance. She wrapped her legs around his hips, braced her feet against his butt, and slowly drew him in, the feeling of his rod sinking into her just as strange, beautiful, stinging, and exciting as it was the night he claimed her virginity. Lynn lowered his head and took shallow sips of air, the moment of union clearly as good for him as it was for her.

He bottomed out, and the familiar feeling of him pressing against the opening of her womb kicked embers of passion into her belly. She pressed her palms flat against his chest and gazed up into his eyes as he began to rut. His crowned head raked her rippling walls and his balls lightly slapped her ass. A giggle of happiness bubbled up from her throat and turned into a low sigh when he grazed her G-Spot.

"I love you, Rita," he whispered. It came not as a statement but as an oath, a promise, and a vow.

"I love you too, Lynn," she said, and she meant it with every fiber of her being and every wisp of her soul. She had loved Lynn from the moment she laid eyes on him all those years ago and she would love him until death did them part...longer, if the afterlife were real.

He leaned in and they kissed, the salty taste of Rita's own excitement coating her lips. She circled her arms around his shoulders and held him close, taking every thrust right to the pearly gates of her limit and kissing his shoulder. He increased his speed by degrees until he slammed roughly in. The mattress creaked, the canopy swayed, and the frame shook, each one bearing stoic witness to a man's love of his wife, and a wife's love for her husband.

Rita bit down on Lynn's shoulder when she felt herself beginning to cum again. Her walls closed around him and he swelled in response, their bodies at the perfect summit of push and pull, give and take. With a grunt, he released long, scalding ribbons of seed into her fertile garden, and Rita's mind scrambled in the flash fire of nirvana that followed.

For a long time, they held each other, hearts pounding and bodies tacky with sweat. In her husband's arms, Rita was whole and complete, and warm drowsiness lay over her like a blanket. Lynn kissed the back of her neck and hugged her tight. "Thank you for marrying me," he said sleepily.

"Thank you for asking," she said thickly.

"I look forward to our next twenty years."

"And the twenty years after that," Rita added.

He kissed her again, and she snuggled as close to him as she could get.

Like that, they fell asleep...and thus began their next twenty years together.