Chapter 1

A/N: This is the final chapter of the Glad I Didn’t Die Before I Met You series. For those first-time readers that hate spoilers, please click on my Bio and feel free to start at Sexy Magnum Opus.

I was wearing a pastel-blue baby doll dress, stirring something on the stove. My hair was done up, and my heels clacked on the floor.

Suzie came through the door just when the oven dinged.

“Hi honey!” I smiled her way.

“Hi sweetheart!” She gave me a quick peck on her way to the table. She took off her suit jacket then hung it behind her chair. As she undid her cuff links, she sat down, then tucked her tie in her shirt so it wouldn’t get dirty.

“How was the day at the office?” I asked her.

“Busy. The bosses are riding me pretty hard.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You work so hard, darling. Dinner is ready.”

“Great! What’re we having?”

She grunted as she opened the paper. I served her, then bustled about, cleaning and putting things away.

I was suddenly in the bedroom in that natural way, pulling back the covers to go to sleep. I got in my bed as Suzie got in her twin bed across the way.

“Goodnight darling.”

“Goodnight sweetheart.”

As I laid there, the ceiling fan got louder and louder until it was buzzing in my ears; it seemed to blur into a solid disc with the speed it was going.

My body felt heavy, then I jolted as I started to fall, blackness covering my eyes. My arms were too heavy to fight against the oppressive force pushing down heavily upon my chest.

I jolted awake. “Huh?”

“You were having a bad dream.” Her hand was at my shoulder.

“Oh, thank god!” I put my arm around her, then held her to me tightly, breathing slower as I came to my senses.

“What was it about?”

“I don’t know. It was scary though. Thank god we only have one bed.”

“Huh?” she asked in confusion.

“Never mind. Go back to sleep.”

She hummed, and settled in.

I turned the images over in my mind, then dismissed the dream, blaming the late night nachos for the weird vision.

It felt as if I’d just fallen back to sleep that she was shaking me awake again.

“I can’t go back to sleep.”

“Whas wrong?” I slurred in my half-awake state.

“Oh!” My eyes were fully open then, and the cobwebs of sleep disappeared. My baby wanted me. I grinned at her, then jumped on top of her in a flash, making her giggle. “At your service!”

I kissed her cheek, then her neck. She led my head to her mouth, then moaned at my eagerness.

My hand trailed around her breasts, caressing the soft skin. I moved it quickly down her front because she’d already been aching.

Slipping my fingers through her slit, I found her wet and wanting.

She opened her legs further for me. When I slipped two fingers in, she gasped her mouth open. I nipped at her jaw while I stroked inside her, then worked my mouth down, stopping to suck on her sensitive nipples for a while.

It was still dark in the room so the contours of her body were drawn with sharp black lines cast by the shadows.

I tongued at her clit to lead it into my mouth even as I fucked her with my fingers. Her hips bucked into my face while her whimpers grew more high-pitched and needier.

I moaned my enjoyment out, relishing the dead night — it was a jarring contrast between a silent world and her screams.

I sucked as her hips rolled faster, both of us anticipating her orgasm. The fuse shortened more and more until — she exploded with a keening cry. I mouthed softly at her center as I felt her juices run around my hand. I met the pulse of her contracting walls, adding just one more finger to feel her squish me.

She pulled at my shoulder, asking for her customary wet kiss after her orgasm.

The sticky wetness coated our lips, and helped draw her tongue out to meet my mouth. One last flick up my lips made me shudder. I leaned back to look in her eyes.

I suddenly remembered my nightmare, simply because her eyes were so much more alive than the emotionless Suzie from the vision.

“Do you want to know what my nightmare was about earlier?”

She nodded, so I laid down next to her, then took her hand.

“We were married, and you were the ‘breadwinner.’ You came home at the end of the day in a pinstripe suit, and barely kissed me. I just served you dinner, and we went to sleep.”

“I was wearing a dress and heels.”

“Oh! How horrifying!” She giggled.

“And we slept in separate twin beds.”

She stopped laughing at that, turning to look at me sharply.

“I know…” I squished her hand harder, thankful for our intimacy.

“Okay,” she agreed. “That is pretty scary.”

“I much prefer our current reality.” I leaned over her to lick the side of her mouth.

She smiled. I followed her lower lip with my tongue.

“You haven’t gotten much rest tonight. I’m sorry.” She spoke cheekily.

I rested my head in the crook of her neck, smelling her scent. “I’m happy to take care of you whenever you need me, darling. You take care of me, too, when I need you.”

“Speaking of…” She ran a palm down my back, and grabbed my bare ass.

“I’m okay, baby.” I said sleepily. My eyes were starting to drift close again.

“Okay. I’ll rock your world tomorrow.” She hugged me tight, then placed a kiss on the top of my head.

I smiled dopily as I fell asleep again.

The next morning I went to my usual table at Starbucks to get some writing done.

I walked in the front door at the end of the day. It was past her work hours, so she would be home already. Though my brain was fried from working, I was raring to go — to get Suzie naked. The familiar buzz of the lock’s mechanism sounded, and I smelled our home’s particular smell. “Marco!” I shouted out.

“Baby, what are you wearing? Very little, I hope. I’m–“

“Mor!” she shouted, scandalized. “Stop!“

“What?” I set my bag down, then took my shoes off. “Not in the mood right now?”

“Mor! My mom’s visiting!“

“Oh.” My face flushed the deepest red I’ve ever felt. Damn.

Rounding the corner, I found them having tea on the island. I came up to greet them. “Hi, Doris.” I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry about that.”

“Hi Moriah. It’s all right. I’m not under any misapprehension that you don’t sleep together.”

I grimaced at her in embarrassment. I hugged Suzie, then gave her a kiss, feeling the brush of her warm lips for a moment. I had to force myself to do so, still feeling wholly out of place. We widened our eyes at each other, nonverbally saying we’d talk later — and hopefully do other things later too.

“In fact,” Doris said while I made myself a tea to join them, “it’s very healthy to continue taking care of your sexual relationship after years of being together. Just look at your father and I.”

My ears burned, and I stared at the tea kettle harder before turning around.

“Mom! I don’t want to hear that!” Suzie shouted, her face in her hands.

“It’s perfectly natural, darling. No need to be coy.”

I sat to sip quietly at my black tea with cream and sugar while I got my bearings.

“Barry and I have always enjoyed ourselves immensely,” she continued. “Sex is very important to the intimacy in a relationship. Not as important as taking care of each other emotionally, of course, but it’s a facet that shouldn’t be ignored. Yes, nowadays we need a little help in that department. But I’ve always told you: if you don’t speak frankly about your needs, misunderstandings and resentments start to form.”

“Oh god.” Suzie was almost speechless.

I refused to picture Doris and Barry getting it on. They felt like my own parents at that point. While I’d always admired the affection they’d displayed without embarrassment, thinking of them in bed was much too explicit.

“How have you been, Doris?” I asked politely.

“Very well, thank you! The new water aerobics class is doing wonders for my knees. My physical therapist says just a few more weeks will help to increase mobility.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“Thank you so much for your gift, by the way. Barry talks to the Roomba all day like if it was a little puppy. We named him Fido. He’s a great little helper.”

“Moriah, since I have you, my phone keeps zooming in all of a sudden, and I get stuck all the time. Will you take a look?”

She handed me her phone. We spent the next hour updating her phone, and going over how to use her email again while Suzie whipped up a quick dinner.

“How come Barry couldn’t make it today?” I asked as I helped set the table.

“Oh, he tired himself out after playing golf with his friends. He’s probably napping in the La-Z-Boy right now.”

I smiled at that, picturing his bushy eyebrows and double chin when he napped.

“This pasta is surprisingly good, Suzanna,” her mom said halfway through dinner. “It only took you a few decades to make something edible.” She probably couldn’t even hear her own disparaging tone.

I squeezed Suzie’s knee under the table. I felt the need to defend her. “You should try her Shepard’s pie! It’s to die for.”

Her mom hummed and kept eating.

After dinner, we made further plans for a trip to Mexico we would all be taking later that year along with her brother and his family. At the end of her visit, we drove her home and popped in to say goodnight to her father as well. It was nine p.m. by the time we got home.

“I need wine,” she said as she hung up her coat.

I chuckled while I locked the front door. “Sorry about earlier. I didn’t know we had company.”

“Omigawd! ‘Sometimes we need help.’ Ugh!” She repeated her mom’s words and shuddered.

“So great to know your eighty-year old parents are still sexually active. Gives me hope for the future.”

She shrieked, then tried to drown out my voice by singing loudly. “No! Stop! I can’t have that in my head.”

I pressed myself to her back while she poured two glasses, kissing her neck softly. “I’ve been thinking of you all day, babe. I was writing, then suddenly you popped in my head, and I froze for minutes on end. It happened so many times today. You’re very distracting.”

She smiled, but said nothing, instead handing me my glass. We set up on the couch — me first, and then she opted to sit on my lap. We chatted, unwinding slowly with little kisses here and there. I basked in the easy way we spoke and moved, remembering faintly the bubbling feeling I’d had for her before we started dating. I had ached once upon a time to grip her soft hips, kiss her, and make her truly smile. After being with her for years, whenever the feeling of wanting her overpowered me, I could grab her, and take her. We’d built a trust and fire so when we wanted each other, the mix of respect and craving allowed us to act on our desires. Or if I simply had an urge to express how she was beautiful to me, I could kiss her then tell her so.

“Do you think we’ll live here forever?” she asked after a companionable silence.

“In this condo? Or, like, in the state?”

“Hmm.” She looked into my eyes. Hers had her usual sparkle that typed words across the gloss faster than I could read them. “Would you be willing to move somewhere crazy?”

“I’d be willing. Anywhere you are, I’d be happy.”

She smiled brightly then kissed me, holding her lips still over mine. “Sweet-talker…”

“Where would you like to live?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. We really liked Austria. It was beautiful. Imagine having a cute little home there?”

“A little garden, and some goats.” I painted it in my head. In my mind’s eye, we were gray-haired and gardening together. Whoa.

“What about you?” she asked, breaking my train of thought.

“Hmm. Somewhere crazy would be awesome. Argentina, Australia, Tokyo, Russia, Germany. You’re right, though. Austria was absolutely gorgeous. Ooh! Or maybe have some rooms in the middle of Paris like Julia Child or in Italy.”

“Cute. You’re all over the place though. I don’t think we can live in all those places; we’d have to move every year.”

“Remember when we moved in here?” her eyes danced.

“Yeah. It was so much fun.”

“We christened every room even before the furniture got in.” Her hand moved over my chest, touching the hem of my shirt.

“I know! Which was quite a feat because we only had an hour before the movers showed up.”