Don't Dwell in the Past

Shortly after Kara left, I went and took a shower. Or, rather, Rob and I took a shower.

Well, what did you expect? I mean, I guess I finally got my happily ever after.

Little did I know that my happily ever after would be postponed for a while.

After Kara left, I went in the other room to go tell Rob I was going to take a shower. I told him and he got up.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to . . . help you," he said with a smirk.

And, me being the stupid me, I didn't notice the meaning behind the smirk. "I don't need your help. Just because I have an injured arm and leg, doesn't mean I'm not capable of taking a shower by myself—" That was when I stopped and grinned. "Oh, I see," was all I said and walked toward the bathroom.

He followed me, after making sure the kids were situated in the living room watching television. When he got in the bathroom behind me - the master bathroom, of course - I said, "I think I need help taking my robe off too."

He smirked and helped me out of it. Then he took his flannel pants off, folding them up and putting them on the toilet cover. He hung my robe up on the hook on the door. Then he helped me put a plastic bag over my cast. Ugh, I hate doing that.

I got in the shower as gracefully as I could - which wasn't much, really - and was satisfied when I felt his arms slide around my waist from behind me.

I grinned and turned around, pressing my front side to his. Then I was very satisfied when I felt his other member harden.

Excellent.

So I did what any other girl would do in that situation.

I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him full on the lips. He kissed back with just as much - if not, more - passion. I moaned into his mouth from his mere touch. It's actually amazing how much he affects me. It really is.

His hands slid down to my butt and he held me close.

When I pulled away from the kiss, I said, "What makes you think you can grope me?"

He just grinned and kissed me again. Then he gently pushed me up against the wall and started kissing my neck gingerly.

Aaaah . . . this is the life.

His moved from my butt to my breasts and lay there sweetly. But his mere hands there made me a bit perky, if you know what I mean.

When he felt that happen, he looked me in the eyes and smiled. A true, genuine smile. Then he traced his fingers over my breasts, massaging them - only, this was the best damn massage I've ever had.

Then he bent his head down and kissed each one twice. After he saw the delight that this caused me, he began sucking on them. The sensation he was causing on my skin was so unbelievably . . . indescribable. I just - it was awesome.

When he was done with that, he spoke. "You're . . . different than I remember," he said, his voice sounding odd.

I wanted to scream, "HELLO! I had two kids, courtesy of YOU. Of COURSE my body is different!" But I was too worried about what he really meant by that. Was I not good enough for him now . . . ?

Oh, god. I groaned inwardly.

"What do you mean 'different'?" I asked, cocking my head. I may have sounded confident, but I sure as hell wasn't inside.

"What I mean is . . . you're better. Sexier," he said.

I slapped his chest, saying, "Don't you ever do that again."

"What?" he asked cluelessly.

"Scare me like that. Make me think that I'm not good enough for you," I replied.

I looked up and noticed how sexy he looked with his curly hair all wet, the water dripping down his face.

That was when his face turned all serious. "Jess," he said, holding my face in his hands, "don't ever think that you're not good enough for me. If anything, I am not good enough for you. Okay?"

I nodded dumbly.

Then he grinned. "I have a sexy naked woman in the shower with me. What to do, what to do . . ."

I giggled. "You could always do this," I said, pulling him closer and fingering his engorged manhood, and slightly moving it toward my lower organ.

He grinned. "Yes, we could do that," he said.

When he was about to . . . you know, I turned around and said, "After we get cleaned off."

He smirked. "Fine." He grabbed the soap bottle off the ledge and put some on the loofa that was hanging from the showerhead. He took it and started gently scrubbing my body with it.

Oh . . . that felt good.

Except the stupid bag over my cast kept getting in the way.

And then I did the liberty of getting him cleaned off, which was quite a difficult task considering my bad arm and all.

And we washed each others' hair, too.

Then he . . . you know.

- § -

When we came back in the living room to go check up on the twins, we found them still sitting there, entranced by another episode of Spongebob Squarepants.

"Hey, sweetie," I said, sitting next to Autumn. She didn't even acknowledge that we were there. And neither did Aaron.

So, I did what any parent would do in this situation. I found the remote and clicked off the television.

"HEY!" yelled Autumn. God, she had quite some lungs on her.

"Autumn, Aaron; Mommy and Da - Rob need to talk to you about something," I said, ignoring their incessant cries about the television.

After Rob and I had gotten out of the shower, we talked about him being the twins' father. And we came to the conclusion that it was time to tell them.

They ignored me though.

I sighed. "Please listen to me. This is really important. And," I said, looking at Rob, giving him a smile, "I think you might like the news."

Then they turned their attention to me. I smiled and started, "You know how a lot of kids in day care have a daddy?" They nodded. "Well, you do too." After seeing the confused look on their faces, I elaborated. "I've been trying to ignore it for some years, but I just couldn't anymore. Autumn, Aaron," I said, getting up and sitting next to Rob, "this is your daddy."

Aaron's face immediately lit up. "Really?" he asked, shocked.

I grinned. "Yes, sweetie," I said happily and gave him a hug. Then I waved my hand and said, "Go and bond," because I noticed Autumn looked a little put out.

While Aaron and Rob bonded and turned on the television, I took Autumn to a different room to talk to her. "Honey," I said, after we got in her bedroom. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at me from her bed. "Mommy," she said, "is this gonna change anything?"

I smiled at how cute she sounded. Then her words registered. I was slightly confused. "What do you mean, baby?"

She looked at me all sad and everything. "Are you still going to play with us?"

I laughed. "Is that all?" I asked. I gave her a big bear hug. "Of course, honey. Rob being here will be a good change, not a bad one." After I released her from the hug, I said, "How would you like to wake up to pancakes and waffles and eggs and bacon in the morning, instead of having to make your own cereal?"

Her face brightened. "Really? He can cook like that?"

I grinned and chuckled. "Yes, he can. He's a very good cook."

She jumped up off the bed. She was about to run out the door, but came back and gave me a hug. "I'm glad he's my daddy, Mommy."

Surprised, I replied, "I am too, sweetie. I am too."

Then she released me and ran out the door. I followed her out into the living room, where she gave Rob a big hug. I was surprised by this too, but grinned nonetheless. It was a very happy sight.

Rob seemed shocked by this too, but quickly recovered and hugged her back.

We were really an average, normal family for once.

To quote a line from American Wedding: We were a perfectly natural, normal thing.

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Disclaimer: All of the characters you recognize belong to Meg Cabot, the ultimate writer of our time. All of the other characters you don't recognize, and the plot, belong to me.