by Melody Anne
“He’s definitely stubborn. His sons and grandsons have inherited that trait,” Jessica said with a fond smile.
“I’m going to steal that new grandson of mine before Joseph gets his hands on him,” Katherine said. She kissed Jessica’s cheek and then headed over to Amy, who had just walked around the corner.
Amy walked over to Jessica, now that her arms were empty. “I barely get to see my kids when we are around this group,” Amy complained but the twinkle in her eyes took away any bite in the words.
“I know how you feel,” Jessica agreed with her sister-in-law.
“I really couldn’t imagine being a part of one of those families who never speak to one another. It breaks my heart now to think about that,” Amy said with true knowledge.
Jessica knew Amy had grown up with an addicted mother until the day she went into the foster care system. She’d worked her way through college and then met Lucas while working for the Anderson Corporation.
Having a close family was something Jessica had always taken for granted, whereas Amy had never known such a loving group of people. Jessica reached over and gave Amy a big hug. “I’m so glad you are my sister Amy. I’m glad you were able to find the family you were meant to have,” Jessica said.
Amy had to wipe away a few tears, “now look what you made me do,” she said with a sniffle. “I’m so glad to have you, too,” she added.
“What’s wrong Amy,” Lucas came running up, as if he had radar built in. He was gathering Amy in his arms while scoping the yard to make sure his children and the rest of the family were all okay. He couldn’t seem to find any danger and that led to his brow furrowing even more.
“Everything is just perfect, that’s why I’m crying,” she said with a sniffle.
Lucas looked at her like she’d lost her mind for a moment and that set both women off in a round of giggles. “Lucas, you have to understand we cry when we are happy and sad. It’s just one of those mysterious things about women,” Jessica finally managed to get out between giggles.
“Is everything okay,” Alex asked as he looked from his brother to the two laughing women. Lucas gave him a look that seemed to say, you figure them out, which sent the girls off on another round of laughter. They were both holding their stomachs and tears were streaming down their faces they were laughing so hard.
“You’ve got to stop talking or I’m going to get a major cramp,” Amy finally managed to get out between bits of laughter.
“Agreed,” Jessica said.
Both guys threw up their hands and by mutual consent edged away from the girls. “We better go finish the grilling,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, I’ll help you,” Alex eagerly took the cue and they fled.
After a few minutes Jessica and Amy were able to quit laughing. “I love doing that to him,” Amy said mischievously.
“That was quite fun,” Jessica agreed.
“Let’s go get something to drink. All this laughter is great but man my stomach hurts now,” Amy said. “Plus I have got to get off these feet; I swear they are still swollen and acting like I’m pregnant.”
“I could use a drink myself. I’ve been fighting the flu and having a hard time keeping things down, so don’t bring the baby to close to me. I would never forgive myself if I got my nephew sick,” Jessica said.
The girls joined the rest of the party, stealing two very comfortable chairs for themselves. The food was excellent and Jessica was relaxed and calm.
“It’s time to sing happy birthday,” Alex shouted above the voices as he came walking out of the house with a large chocolate cake and a single candle burning in the center.
Jacob blew out his candle with the help of his father and then clapped his hands with everyone else. Everybody roared with laughter when Jacob stuck his little hand into the cake and smeared it all over himself, saying yummy over and over again.
Jessica’s eyes filled with tears as she watched Alex stick his face into the cake with their son. She loved how much they were bonded. “Daddy likes cake too,” Jacob squealed and then giggled.
“So does grandpa,” Joseph said and took a big handful for himself.
“I think I’ll pass on the cake,” Jessica said with affection, while staring at her chocolate covered men.
“I will second that,” Amy added.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Alex said. Before she could stop him, Alex took a chocolate smeared finger and rubbed it down her nose. She stood there in shock for a moment and then fast as lightening scooped up a small piece of the cake and chucked it at her husband.
She saw the light of mischief come into his eyes and decided it was a great time to retreat. She took off running but Alex caught her in no time. He gently tackled her to the ground and rubbed his chocolate covered face against hers.
Jessica was laughing so hard she could barely speak. “Okay, okay I call truce,” she finally managed to get out.
“There are no truces in a food war,” he said and rubbed against her some more. Suddenly he seemed to realize he was stretched out on top of her. He had her hands pinned above her head and she was completely at his mercy.
Alex forgot their yard was filled with people. No one else seemed visible to him except his beautiful, chocolate covered wife. He bent his head down and instead of rubbing more chocolate on her, his lips met hers and he kissed her with an intenseness that wiped away all laughter.
Alex released her hands and they immediately wrapped around his neck so she could pull him tighter to her body.
“Um guys, I hate to interrupt you twice in one evening but this is a G-rated party,” came the laughing voice of Mark once again.
Alex pulled apart from her reluctantly and growled at his brother. Jessica looked at her husband in shock. She then looked around her in embarrassment and was extremely grateful no one was paying the least bit of attention to them.
Alex finally got up and pulled Jessica to her feet. “This party can end anytime now,” he said, with promise of completion to come. “As a matter of fact, no one would probably even notice if we disappeared for a little while,” he offered her.
She was getting ready to agree with him and sneak off upstairs when Joseph walked up to them.
“Now that Jacob is a year old, when are you planning on giving him a sibling?” Joseph asked Alex. “You know a boy needs to have some younger sibling to harass,” he added and looked pointedly at Mark.
Jessica was the only one who noticed the shutters lock into place on her husband’s face. Her heart broke a little bit more. He’d gone from passionate lover, to closed off in about two seconds.
“Dad, you already have three grandkids, quit being so greedy,” Alex finally managed to say in a stilted voice.
“Now son, you’re not getting any younger. You better get working on things,” Joseph continued, not noticing the sudden tension in his son. He winked at Alex and Jessica both, which made her blush again.
“Yeah, yeah, just enjoy the cake,” Alex said and then quickly changed the subject. Jessica had her answer she hadn’t wanted to face. Her husband definitely didn’t plan on having more children with her. How could a night so full of promise just a moment ago have suddenly gone so dark?
The party went on even after Jacob finally succumbed to his exhaustion and went to bed. Jessica loved to watch the brothers laugh together and act like they were teenagers. She was putting on a fake mask the rest of the night though, because all she really wanted to do was crawl in bed and have herself a really good cry. She and Amy sat back and visited while the rest of the guests slowly started to depart.
She managed to maintain her composure the rest of the night. She could go curl up in bed and think about what she was going to do about her future really soon. She knew she couldn’t stay in the marriage if Alex didn’t want to be a real family but she didn’t want to think about it.
“We need to have another girl day, how about Friday?” Amy asked.
“That sounds great,” Jess
ica said before hugging her goodbye. She was almost sad to see the rest of the guests go but at the same time she really needed to be alone for a while.
“I have some work to finish up. I’ll be up later,” Alex said before quickly turning and heading to his office.
Jessica climbed the stairs to their room and curled up in bed, where she cried herself to sleep. Alex must’ve stayed in the office far later than normal because he wasn’t there when she finally managed to fall into an exhausted sleep.
The next month passed by with more and more heartache for Jessica. Alex was home more often than not but if Jacob wasn’t there as a buffer between them he would lock himself up in his office.
They did a lot of family activities together but he seemed to make sure they were never alone otherwise. They still made love in the night but even that had changed. It was still amazing and he was still a fantastic lover but he no longer held her tightly afterwards.
She knew she was going to have to confront him but she also knew how the conversation would go.
“I thought we could go out on the lake this weekend, if you’d like,” Alex asked her at dinner one night.
“That sounds great,” Jessica said with enthusiasm.
“I think Jacob will like the boat. There’s nothing like the wind blowing through your hair as you navigate the water.”
“Well, your son doesn’t have much hair,” she smiled at him.
“That’s very true. The sun will be good for all of us. It’s supposed to be a really nice weekend and those are few and far between,” he said with a genuine smile.
She hated she responded to him so quickly when he gave her the least bit of himself.
The weekend came and Jacob had a cold so they went out on the boat alone. She was afraid he would cancel but he was in a good mood so they left the house early in the morning.
“I thought we’d do some crabbing while we’re out,” he said.
“That sounds great. Amy said she and Lucas did that a couple weeks ago and had a good time.”
“Yeah, I got the idea from Lucas. He enjoyed himself,” he told her.
The drive to the coast was gorgeous and they talked more than they had in months. For the first time in too long to remember Jessica was feeling some hope.
They arrived at the marina and boarded the boat and she was having a great time. Once the temperature warmed up, she stripped down to her bikini and lay out on the deck. The hot sun and cool breeze felt phenomenal against her skin. Her worries seemed to float away on the gentle breeze.
It was taking every bit of Alex’s will power not to find a secluded cove to park the boat and ravish his wife. She had no idea the power she held over him.
As he steered the boat further into the water, his eyes were continually drawn back to Jessica, lying out there on the deck, just a few short feet away from him.
Since the night she’d told him she loved him he’d backed off dramatically. He knew he was hurting her but he also knew she would be better off in the long run if he gave her some space. She needed to realize she wasn’t in love with him. He knew she was more in love with the idea of love and marriage than the actual reality of it.
His dad had freaked him out when he’d brought up having more children. What scared him the most was how much he wanted her to become pregnant again. He could visualize a bunch of miniature Jessica’s running through the house. He couldn’t figure out what he was doing anymore.
“It’s so warm out here,” Jessica said, while turning towards him suddenly. “Can we stop somewhere so I can take a swim?” she asked.
“I can see a cove over here,” he said and steered the boat towards the secluded beach. He was clenching his teeth because everything in him told him he needed to head back towards the docks.
“Oh, it’s so perfect,” she gasped at the little piece of heaven of a beach. As soon as he got the anchor down on the boat she dove into the water. He was impressed with her form. He was feeling way to hot himself so he stripped down and jumped in after her.
They both swam around in a comfortable silence for a while, when suddenly she cried out. Alex immediately swam towards her and sucked in his breath as he noticed blood coming to the surface of the water.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” he fired off at her, while at the same time he was pulling her close and leading her back to the boat.
“I don’t know,” she cried out. “It’s my leg. I think I cut it on something,” she whimpered.
Alex couldn’t see anything, so he towed her back to the boat, praying it was nothing to bad. He lifted her up into his arms and climbed aboard.
He laid her gently down and then went and got the first aid kit. When he returned, he was shocked by the amount of blood.
“It looks worse than it is,” she finally said. “I was looking at it and it looks like I scratched it on a rock or something. It just seems to be bleeding a lot. If you clean it out and wrap it I’ll be fine.”
“First take this Advil, then I’ll start cleaning and assess for myself how bad it is,” he said in his commanding voice.
Even though Jessica was hurting, she had to smile at the command in his voice. She loved it when he got all determined and acted like the world should bow to his feet.
She flinched when he cleaned the wound with the alcohol but she was right, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was. He was surprised by the amount of blood that had escaped the small wound.
The Advil kicked in and the pain subsided greatly once the wound was cleaned up. “I’m fine now,” she reassured him.
“We can head on home,” he offered.
“I’m fine. As a matter of fact I’m feeling very hungry,” she said. She really didn’t want to head back to the house right away, knowing he would disappear into his office.
He couldn’t handle being all alone with her any longer, so he headed the boat back towards the shore and placed a call to his brother. If they had company for dinner, he wouldn’t have to try and answer the questions he saw coming from her eyes.
“Jessica wake up, we are back at the docks. I called Lucas and he and Amy are going to meet us in a half hour at this great seafood place,” Alex said while gently shaking Jessica awake.
“What?” she stuttered, struggling to wake up. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t even realize I was so tired. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you,” she said when she finally woke up fully.
“Hey, no problem. I really enjoy the water and having the soothing silence,” he responded before securing the boat.
Jessica felt a little bit like she’d been slapped. She felt he was basically telling her he’d enjoyed his day much more because she wasn’t there to talk in his ear. Well fine, she thought, if he wanted silence, then silence would be what he got.
She quickly got dressed and limped up the dock with him toward their car. She kept silent the entire ride to the restaurant and he said nothing as well. Jessica was wishing to get home so the awkward afternoon could end.
“Jessica, I’m so glad you guys called,” Amy came walking up and put her arm through Jessica’s, while chattering away. “It’s so nice to get out of the house for some adult conversation. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my kids but they do lack certain communication skills,” she finished with a laugh.
“I don’t know. I think Jasmine communicates very well and for that matter, Isaiah has no trouble at all letting everyone around him know when something isn’t going his way,” Jessica joked right back.
“You have that right,” Lucas added.
“I guess I’m the only one with a perfect child,” Alex said.
“Ha,” everyone else said in unison, which brought on more good natured laughter.
“Okay, kids can be quite demanding when they want something but even though I didn’t know I would love fatherhood so much I seriously couldn’t imagine my life without Jacob in it. He’s just so amazing,” Alex said in awe.
“Agreed little bro,” Lucas said.
“This i
s a grown up night. No more talk of our kids. I get one glass of wine and anything at all I want to eat. If it causes problems with Isaiah’s tummy later, well that’s okay because it’s daddy’s turn to get up with him,” Amy said with a wicked smile.
“You deserve whatever you want Babe,” Lucas said.
The evening progressed and Jessica relaxed. She absolutely loved Lucas and Amy and it helped to mask the tension between her and Alex. She knew at some point they were going to have to face things but she got so tired of being stressed all the time. It was nice to have a worry free evening.
When it came time to say goodnight, she was sad to watch the other couple leave. She hugged Amy tightly and promised to have a girl day later that week. She then rode home in complete silence with her husband.
When they walked inside they both went to Jacob’s room to check on him. It was well past midnight and Julia had long ago retired. Jessica wished she was still up so she could tell her how Jacob’s day had been.
“I think he’s back to normal,” Jessica whispered.
“He was pretty much better by the time we left. I just didn’t want to expose him to the water so soon after his cold,” Alex said.
“I agree,” she said.
“You’re a great mother, never doubt that,” Alex said tenderly. “Don’t feel guilty about taking a day out without him. It’s good for you and him. My parents had many vacations with just the two of them and my brothers and I are fine. They were with us more than away and we always knew how much they loved us,” he finished.
“It was the same at my home. I knew my parents always loved me. I would have traded a little bit of that to have a sibling though. I got really lonely sometimes,” she admitted.
He knew she was implying she would like to have another child. As much as he would love to have another one they didn’t have that kind of marriage.
