I thought this might be a fitting Easter story.
*****
I won't say that there was trouble in paradise; that's taking it too far. However, there was something amiss between my wife and I. Could it be the seven-year itch?
I do as best as I can. I send flowers on Valentine's Day. I give her a thoughtful present on her birthday. I have not forgotten an anniversary yet! I tell her every day that I love her. Still, I have a distinct feeling not all is well between us.
I have talked to her about it, but she seems to be ignoring any signals of us drifting apart. She claims all is well. She is happy, so I had better be too.
One day, I told her that I would like to have children and complete our family. I thought, maybe everything will fall into place and we will be happy. I really wanted this.
"Of course we will have children, at least two, but not yet," she said.
No, we did not argue, we didn't even have a serious discussion about it; she just shut it down with a charming smile and a kiss.
She is a good cook, and she usually does the cooking. I can handle a frying pan fairly well myself. One Saturday I tried my best to get in good graces with her and told her I would make a good evening meal for us. She was very pleased, of course, and I can truly say it was a very pleasant evening. I bought a bouquet of red tulips for the table, found a superb bottle of Bordeaux, and served a juicy tender entrecote (done rare, as she preferred), along with baked potatoes doused in garlic butter.
Later, we retired to the bedroom and made love for hours. Figuratively, of course, try as I might I could not get it up more than twice. Nevertheless, it was truly a perfect evening and I thought we were back on track.