The Baby Shower

by Tasha Blue et al.

  He sunk into the sofa in their sitting room and she stalked around him like a lioness about to attack her prey. “How stupid do you think I am? You must think that just because we’re married that you can get away with anything you want.” She stopped in front of him and leaned over, pointing her sharp red nail directly into his tired face.

  “Well let me tell you something, you lying jerk, you’re going to send that piece of junk back and get me the one I asked you for to begin with! How dare you try to pass that crap off on me!” she hollered at him.

  He blinked and looked up at her. “What?” he asked stupidly.

  She began to pace again. “There I was, so happy that you said you would buy me the Lamborghini that I asked you for; a vehicle that I have earned merely from the duress of being your loving and devoted wife for so damn long! And you led me down the primrose path, lying to me, making me believe for all of these months that you were providing me with what I asked you for, what I needed, and then what do I find in the driveway today? Is it my Reventon? Is it what I asked you for? No! No, it’s not.

  “All these months, you filthy liar, all these months I’ve waited and what’s sitting out there for me today? An Aventador. That’s right, an Aventador. Is it too much to hope that I could get a little appreciation from you? Some honesty? That you could give your loving wife what she asks for instead of what you think she ought to have? What kind of cold, heartless, selfish bastard are you?” She twirled as her pace hit its stride and she stomped back to him and pulled open the red robe, revealing her fully nude body.

  “You’re going to be a lonely one, Kevin, because you aren’t touching this body again for a very long time. In fact, you won’t even be seeing it again until my car, the right car, is sitting in the driveway, just like you promised me it would be.” She snapped her arms closed around her, drawing her robe tightly about her body. “Bastard!” she snapped at him and then turned and stalked back up the stairs.

  Kevin sat there on the sofa in absolute shock. He hadn’t realized his mistake in buying the wrong car for his wife. He was certain that she had found out about Marina and Maddie and was ready to kill him for having a child out of wedlock with another woman.

  He was stunned that she was so infuriated about a vehicle. He looked up at the empty stairs where she had disappeared and shook his head in wonder at her. What had she become? When did something like a car become so important to her? Her threat of withholding herself from him seemed irrelevant to him, as firstly, she regularly stayed away from him anyway; in fact, he couldn’t recall the last time he had made love to her, and secondly, he no longer wanted to.

  What he wanted was the beautiful dark woman lying in her bed beside their newborn daughter.

  He picked up his phone and called Mac.

  “Yes, sir! Congratulations again on your beautiful little girl, sir, she’s just perfect!” Mac could not hide his utter delight and joy.

  “Thank you, Mac.” Kevin said with the first smile he’d had since he left Marina’s house. “I want you to find a really stunning wood bedroom set, the nicest that you can, and have it delivered… uh… already assembled or have the delivery guys assemble it, to Marina’s place. Also, send her a dining room table and a new living room set. Something beautiful and comfortable. She likes natural looking wood. Send it right away, but make sure to arrange a good delivery time; she needs her rest.”

  Mac was only too glad to do it. “Yes, of course, sir. Right away. Is there anything else?”

  “I guess so, Mac. Ellen is a bit put out that her Lamborghini is an Aventador, rather than the Reventon she’d had her heart set on. Would you please see to exchanging those for her? It’s a little more than I am able to deal with today. Thank you, Mac. You’re a godsend.”

  “Immediately, sir. No problem. If I may, sir, get some rest. You sound exhausted.” Mac’s tone was filled with sympathy and concern.

  “That I am, Mac, that I am.” He sighed and hung up, then headed for his bedroom and passed out almost at the moment he placed his head on the pillow. He was so tired that he did not even dream, but when he woke, it was the next day, and when he was awake enough to remember and realize that he was a father, his only thoughts were of Marina and Maddie, and after a quick shower and a change of clothes, he was out the door to see them again. Nothing could have kept him away.

  He had been given a key to Marina’s house during her last months of pregnancy, and he used it when he came in to see them. Marina heard the door and her heart leaped as she called out to him, happiness filling her and overwhelming her.

  “We’re in here!” her voice floated down the long hall to him.

  He grinned when he heard her, and everything in him came to life. He hurried down the hall and stepped through her bedroom door. The room seemed much smaller to him, but that was because it was filled with a truly incredible new bedroom set, and there on the new carved wooden canopy bed, was his daughter and her mother.

  Kevin stepped up to the side of the bed opposite Marina, and climbed onto it next to her. “Hello there,” he said with a grin he could not hold back. He leaned over and kissed her cheek and she closed her eyes as he lingered near her for the briefest of moments.

  “Hello, Kevin,” she said and smiled. She looked down at the tiny girl in her arms, the one nursing at her bared breast and said softly, “Look who’s here to see you! Your daddy is right here, honey! As soon as your tummy is full, we’ll let him burp you, okay?” she cooed with happiness.

  Kevin laughed. “This is going to be interesting! I’m glad to do it, though. I’ll burp her and you can eat the Chinese food I brought. It’s organic; I had it made especially for you. You need to keep up your healthy diet. You’re still eating for two people.” He grinned, touching Maddie lightly on the forehead as she suckled away at her mother.

  “I’m so glad to be here.” He sighed and leaned against the pile of pillows behind them, looking up at Marina. “There is no one in the world that makes me feel as relaxed and happy as you do. I’m grateful for it. You should know that.” He said it softly, his gaze holding hers.

  She smiled gently at him. “I know that, Kevin. You do me just as much good, too. Never doubt that.” There was an unspoken understanding shared in their look, and then she broke the visual connection and her eyes went back to the girl in her arms. “So what kind of Chinese did you bring?” she asked. “I’m so hungry!”

  “I’m not sure… something with cashews, vegetables and chicken,” he said with a sly smile.

  “I love that!” she said happily.

  “I know,” he replied quietly to her. He pulled plates out of the bag he had carried in and made a dish for her. She finished feeding Maddie and as she handed her to Kevin, he had to pull his eyes away from their magnetic gaze at Marina’s bare breast. There was something strange and beautiful to him about the two different emotions he felt; one of tenderness and adoration at seeing her nurse their child, and in which there was absolutely no sexual attraction.

  But when his daughter wasn’t at her mother’s bare breast, there was unquestionably a sensual desire that swelled in him. He closed his eyes and turned his head, marveling at the wonder of womanhood, and wishing desperately that he could look at Marina as a friend again, trying to remember if he ever really had looked at her in a completely platonic light.

  Marina covered herself and took a dish of Chinese food, diving into it while laughing and instructing Kevin to place the burp cloth over his chest and lay the baby on it while he patted her back. He was delighted to be so close to them both, and to be involved in the care of his daughter on such an intimate level.

  He hadn’t expected it. He had assumed that he would be there regularly, but he never realized how much love he could feel for his child, or how much he would need to be around her. It was an insatiable need for him, as imperative as breathing, and he neither could, nor wanted, to deny himself the pleasure of it.

  “Thank you for the furniture.” Marina said quietly, wavi
ng her hand at the mass of wood around them and the fine light linen canopy stretched out above them. “I love it. It’s exactly what I would have chosen if I had been shopping for it. All of it. The living room, the dining room, and in here… Kevin, you really didn’t have to do that for me. I was fine with what I had, but I want you to know how much it means to me that you sent me all of this. It’s a tremendous gift and I really appreciate it. You’ve done so much for me. Thank you,” she said, ending with a quiet thanks as she tried to keep her emotions in check.

  He shook his head. The stark contrast between Ellen’s fury and violence over having gotten the wrong model Lamborghini and Marina’s humble gratitude at having received furniture from him was nothing short of polar opposite.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t let you choose what you wanted, but, when we came home… uh… when you came home yesterday, I didn’t realize that you didn’t already have something like this, and I wanted to get you a gift for Maddie’s birth. Just a little thank you gift, and I wanted you to have it right away, so there wasn’t really time to shop for options,” he said almost awkwardly. “I’m really glad you like it. I tried to pay attention to what you liked when we were shopping for Maddie, and I’m just lucky I listened.”

  “You got it exactly right.” She leaned her head back against the pillows and smiled at him. “If I had all the furniture in the world to choose from, this is what I would have chosen. Thank you so much,” she said, turning to kiss his cheek. Then she lingered there, the scent and feel of his skin on her lips holding her like a strong tether. She drew in a breath and pulled herself back to where she was resting.

  “Well,” she said, making her voice lighter. “Has she burped yet?”

  Kevin dragged himself back to reality and left the sweet moment which gave him pause when her lips touched his cheek, and he imagined kissing her lips; tasting her and breathing her in.

  “Burped? Um… no. She fell asleep.” He took a long, slow deep breath and focused on the way his life would continue to be. He rubbed Maddie’s back and kissed the top of her head. She smelled sweet and clean, and he inhaled her scent and locked the perfection of it away in his heart forever, so that he could close his eyes at any time and bring himself back to this moment with her.

  Marina finished her Chinese food and looked at Kevin. “Do you want me to hold her while you eat?”

  He shook his head slightly. “No, I’m just going to hold her here next to my heart for a while. My heart is hungrier than my body at the moment.”

  She stood up from the bed and picked up the bag of food. “Then I'll put this in the kitchen for you and you can enjoy it when you are ready.”

  As Marina left, he watched her disappear, her long curls pulled up into a pile at the back of her head, her white cotton nightgown flowing out behind her. Kevin whispered to his daughter, “Maddie, I love you so much, my girl, and I love your mother, too, much more than either one of you will ever know.” He kissed her soft head again and then watched her sleeping, mesmerized by her loveliness.

  When Marina entered the room again, she had two cups of hot tea in her hands, and she set them on the new bedside tables, one beside Kevin, and her cup on her side of the bed, then she climbed in next to Kevin and snuggled up to him. He looked down at her and she smiled up at him. He lifted his arm and she moved closer to him, laying against him, her head on his shoulder, her hand on Maddie’s back, as his arm closed around her and drew her near to him.

  Marina closed her eyes and wished with all of her heart that it could be that way between them every day, that Kevin didn’t need to leave, that he had no wife to go home to, and more than all of that, she wished she hadn’t fallen in love with a married man, for indeed she had, mantras be damned, fallen head over heels in love with this beautiful, kind, dedicated, honest, loving, genuine, incredible man, who held her and their daughter in his embrace.

  All she could console herself with were the beautiful moments that they shared, and the knowledge that he would always be there for her in this close friendly capacity as a partner and father, and she told herself that it would have to be enough. She couldn’t ask for more than this. It was just going to have to be enough.

  They fell asleep together, the little family, and later in the evening, Maddie woke them with her soft newborn cries. They changed her diaper and talked to her, soothing her, and Kevin watched in adoration as Marina fed her daughter and rocked her back to sleep. They placed her in her bassinet and stood side by side looking down at the best blessing of their lives.

  “It’s time for me to go,” Kevin said quietly, hating to say it and wishing desperately that he could stay in this cocoon of bliss he had made with the woman beside him.

  “I know.”

  .

  He turned to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her closely to him, and he didn’t let her go for a long, long while, so as her rule applied, it was him that eventually let go of her, and she looked away from him as he leaned down and kissed her cheek lightly, then turned and walked to the door. She climbed back into bed and pressed her head into the pillow, her back to the place where he had laid, her face toward the bassinet holding her baby. She did not look at Kevin.

  He looked at her, lying there, and wished with everything in him that he could go to her and hold her, that he could kiss her lips and touch her, making love with her in that bed. Then he let the wish go, like a balloon on a sunny day, and it drifted away from him as he turned and closed the door behind him.

  It was a long drive home, and it seemed to him that all of his drives home had become longer and longer, each time he drove them, but none so long as the two days since his daughter had been home.

  He could not stop the myriad of thoughts and memories running through his mind. He felt as though he was being ripped apart; clinging steadfast to his ideals and morals on one hand, and wishing with everything in his soul that he could be with his baby and her mother for the rest of his life on the other hand.

  He thought about what Jacob had said about finding the mutual value of his marriage and he pushed the thoughts from his mind. It didn’t matter what value his marriage was, what mattered was that he had made a commitment and he must stick to it, or else what was his word worth?

  He pulled into the drive and turned off his car. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and after a deep sigh, stepped from the vehicle and walked into the house. It was just past dinner time, and he expected that Ellen would probably be in the dining room. He had no wish to see her just then, so he walked up the winding staircase and was just passing her room to get to his when he heard her, and he recognized the sounds she was making. What he didn’t recognize was the male voice in the room with her.

  He reached for her bedroom door handle and twisted it, amazed that it was unlocked, and he pushed it open. Shock and horror hit him like a solid wall, knocking the wind out of him as his eyes fell upon the scene in Ellen’s bedroom.

  There upon her bed was one of their temporary gardeners, Enrique, tanned and toned, young and rippled with muscles. He was laying nude on Ellen’s bed, and Ellen, fully nude, sat astride him, her hands planted in the satin sheets at his shoulders, as his hands were clasped firmly over her breasts, one of which was partially covered by his wide open mouth. Her knees were spread far apart and she was moving wildly over his hips, grinding away passionately, moaning loudly in pleasure as she flipped her long sable hair over her back and cried out his name.

  They hadn’t even noticed that Kevin had come in the room. They just continued on in their impassioned coupling, as he stood there almost in a trance, watching his wife screw the young man who had been around lately to fertilize the great lawn. Kevin could not move from the spot he was standing in, and he could not look away. He was completely dumbfounded.

  “Oh!” she cried out loudly, “Enrique! Yes!” She bent down over his face and he released her breast from his mouth, so that she could kiss him. She planted her red lips on his and kissed him ardently as his hands mov
ed to her hips and he grasped her buttocks tightly in his hands and rammed himself solidly into her, over and over as she cried out in delight.

  Somehow, Kevin found the will to move himself, and he stepped toward them.

  “Ellen,” he tried to say, but no sound came from him. He felt as though he was in some horrible, wicked dream; some nightmare in which he was present but no one could detect him. He lifted his hand slightly toward her as she rode Enrique harder and faster, her cries building in volume and intensity.

  “Ellen!” he called out again, and some rasp of a sound emitted from his throat. She cried out as her orgasm came over her fully, and she arched her back as Enrique clamped her hips down onto his own and growled at her and shoved himself completely into her, reaching his own orgasm and gasping as he climaxed inside her, and as her moans began to subside softly.

  “ELLEN!” Kevin managed to yell out. They both heard him then, and they both jerked their heads up to look at him in shock as he took a few more steps toward them. He felt with each step as though he was impaling himself upon a poisoned blade.

  Tears were running down his cheeks as he watched his wife’s face change from shock to absolute fury. Enrique had the decency to look horrified and slightly ashamed, but Ellen, who slid herself slowly off of the erection that was stuck deeply inside her, rolled off of the bed with an angry scowl that burned Kevin right to his soul.