Chapter Fourteen
I woke with a start, twitching away from whatever was tickling my cheek. As I moved I groaned, aware of the pain in my ass and the various aches in other places. I worked up my courage and opened my eyes.
Aaron was there. He bent, kissed me, and said, "I love you."
"Oh God," I sort of moaned as I remembered.
"Come on sleepy butt," he said taking my hand and pulling me up.
"I have to pee," I managed, taking a step toward my bathroom.
"Okay," he said, "but just that and I'll be watching."
And he DID as I peed and wiped and then started for the sink.
"No," he said grabbing my hand, "this is a come as you are party."
"Aaarrron," I kind of wailed, looking in the mirror.
"Yes," he said, "come with me."
God, I was a mess. My hair was a rat's nest, my eyes were baggy, I smelled like sweat and sex and pussy and when I looked my ass was a big bruise.
"Aaaaarrrrrroonnnnnnnnn," I said again but he was relentless. He took my hand and started pulling me.
So I gave up and followed, my head hanging, feeling like I hadn't for a few months.
When I got downstairs they were all there, waiting for me, showered and brushed, and looking like bright and chipper college students.
Mark, ever the actor, came to me and took me in his arms. "Becky," he said, just holding me, "I love you. I am proud to call you my wife."
And, of course, I was crying.
In turn, all nine of them came to me and made the same profession of love.
I was bawling by the time they were done and we were involved in a big group hug.
Davey left the room and came back in a minute with a big breakfast which he sat at my spot.
"Eat, my love," he said, "and then, if you feel like it, we'd all like to know what that was all about last night."
I smiled through my tears and sat, wincing and letting out a loud, "owwwww" when my bruised ass hit the chair which brought general laughter and kind of broke the mood.
So I ate breakfast, looking like a wreck but feeling loved.
Finally, full, I pushed the plate away, sipped my coffee, gathered my thoughts, and started.
"Okay," I said, "Aaron knows some of this and I suppose he might have shared it with you guys..."
He interrupted by saying, "no Becky, I've told no one what I know or what I suspect."
"Okay," I said, starting over, "here's my story."
"I was a virgin bride, well, I had been a virgin when I got knocked up at 19 the first time I ever had sex, and was a bride a few weeks later. My son came along in due course and my husband and I did all of those things young parents do. We struggled while I juggled being a mom and working to help support us while he finished med school and internship and residency and all of that."
I stopped to drink some more of my coffee.
"By the time he was ready to open his practice David, my son," and here I smiled at Davey," was in school. So I worked at the office, pulled those 60 hour weeks getting things set up, made soccer games and baseball games and football games and karate classes and all the things a boy gets into. In other words, I was being an adult while others my age were still being, well, not quite adult."
Another drink and another deep breath.
"I was only 38 when David went off to college. The practice was successful and we had money and we started, well, you know," and here I wound down a bit, taking a drink of my coffee while I got my thoughts together.
"We started acting like we were in our 20s and having fun. We ran around with a younger group, did the clubs, offered a place to crash when the party was at our house and it often was, it's a big house and we always had booze and pot."