“What else did ye’ think of?”
“This and that,” I answered. “Things that brought us to our now.”
Branna hummed. “We’ve had an eventful life together.”
“And the best is yet to come.”
“I know,” Branna chirped. “We’ll hopefully have grandbabies in another decade.”
“Jesus,” I laughed. “Don’t saddle me with grandkids when we still have a kid under ten.”
“Can’t help it. I love babies.”
Her occupation proved that.
“Where are the boys?”
“Their bedrooms,” Branna answered. “They’ll come running when food is ready for them.”
“Want to have some fun in the meantime?”
My wife snorted. “If we have fun, then the dinner won’t get cooked.”
“We can get takeout.”
“I already have everything in the oven cookin’. The potatoes are the last thing to be prepared before I boil them.”
“Then I’ll help you, and we can have ten minutes to ourselves,” I mused. “I know you like long, thorough sex ... but a quickie is good for the soul.”
Branna’s shoulders shook as she laughed. “Help me then.”
I sprang into action, and in just a couple of minutes, we had potatoes peeled, washed and placed in a pot of water on top of the stove to boil. When Branna turned to face me, I was already stripping out of my clothes at a rapid pace. She burst into laughter as she rushed over to the kitchen door and shut it. She flicked off the lights so our neighbours behind our house wouldn’t see my bare ass if they looked into our kitchen.
“You’re worse than a teenager!”
“It’s your fault,” I stressed. “I hurt for you, woman.”
“Aw.” She clicked her tongue. “D’ye’ want me to make it better?”
“Yes,” I almost pleaded. “Yes, please.”
Just as she reached for me, the kitchen door opened, and Branna screamed. I grabbed the first thing I could from the counter to cover my groin and did so just in time for the light to turn on.
“It’s not what it looks like!” Branna shouted, her hands on her cheeks.
Jules looked back and forth between us, and said, “Are ye’s havin’ a bleedin’ laugh?”
Branna didn’t speak, but I laughed, and it drew my son’s hostile glare my way ... until he dropped his eyes to my hands.
“Da, please don’t tell me you’ve no boxers on behind that cookbook. Please.”
“Okay.” I smiled at my son. “I won’t.”
Jules threw his hands up in the air, and to his mother, he waddled his finger, and said, “I’m so disappointed in ye’, Ma. Messin’ around with him when your children are home. Had I been one minute later walkin’ in ‘ere, I could have been scarred for life. For life, I tell ye’. Shame on ye’, woman. Shame!”
Branna stared after our son after his dramatic exit, then she looked at me and said, “Why do I feel sad at disappointin’ ‘im?”
“Because he could convince the Devil that he was God, that’s why. Now come here and give me some of that sweet loving.”
“I can hear everythin’,” Jules hollered from the hallway. “Every single word, and I’m callin’ Childline!”
Branna burst into a fit of giggles, then proceeded to pick up my clothes from the floor and hand them to me, breaking my heart entirely.
“I’m gonna whoop your ass, Jules!” I shouted. “You ruined Mommy and Daddy’s alone time.”
“I’m diallin’ Childline as we speak!”
Branna’s laughter brought a smile to my face as I dressed. When I was fully clothed, I leaned my hip against the counter and watched her busy around the room as she checked on the dinner as it cooked. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life, and she was mine. She vowed to spend her life with me, to love me and stand by me through thick and thin, and she had done just that. She stuck by me when she probably should have run for the hills, and she gave me my children and took care of all of us even though she worked a trying job.
She was the light of my life.
“Do you have any idea how perfect you are, Branna?” I asked, walking over to her and pushing stray hairs away from her face. “I’m not sweet-talking or trying to get you naked. I’m being serious. Do you have any clue how incredibly amazing you are? I can’t believe you’re my wife, sweetness.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Ryder, what’s brought this on?”
“Nothing,” I answered. “I was just watching you, and it struck me just how in love with you I am. I’m in awe of you, sweetness. I always have been, and I always will be.”
Branna’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, and before she could say a word, I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. She turned her body towards mine, slid her arms around my waist, and relaxed against me as we kissed. I loved how she felt against me, how she tasted, how she smelled. I loved everything single thing about her.