The Doctor Is In
Chapter 2
Ethan was asleep in bed before they were done, I showered and was in bed reading when Kim darted from the boys room to the bathroom, still naked. Must have been the shadows, or maybe what Kim had been sitting on but it looked like her ass was red...
Kim came to bed, crawled between the sheets, leaned against me and kissed me, holding me. Then smiled at me. "I am really glad your home Jeff."
When she felt my cock stir against her thigh, she pulled back. "The boys... they're right here in the room...we shouldn't... I can't... maybe tomorrow I can make arrangements to have some alone together time?"
"Sure honey. That will work."
I laid back, breathed deep and let it out slowly. Kim acted like "everything was awesome", cheery and smiling as she pulled a set of ear pods out of the drawer.
"Something new?"
"Yeah... I'm sorry honey, these are part of Chris' suggestions to help me sort things a bit. It helps me get a good night's sleep... nice calm music."
"Can you hear Caleb if he wakes up?"
"Absolutely... I would not do anything that might hinder that, it's just background, she calls it white noise. It helps me go deep when I sleep, but allows me to keep my "mom" antenna tuned to the boys."
"Alright... I don't know anything about it, but if it has been helping you then I am for it."
Kim settled in, pulling the blankets up and around her, and was asleep, breathing deep and steady in minutes. It took me longer, but I was tired and so I followed her to dreamland.
While at work the next day I had a lot to think about... hard to do most days, I have to have my attention focused on everything going on around me if I wanted to go home healthy and whole at the end of the day.
Working hard, sweating, giving my all in a physical way, helps clear the mind, at least for a time, but it does not solve problems or create solutions... I was no more near the answers to my questions now than when I went to bed last night.
No one was home but a note explained. Kim had gone to meet with one of the ladies from the baby milk group, and Chris had gone along for moral support and curiosity. Jeni had the boys at my mother's house and the girls would swing by and get them on the way home... not to worry. So, being free from any other responsibility or munchkin distractions, I got to work and made some real progress on the bay window, buttoning up the outside siding and trim.
Kim pulled up with both boys but no Chris as I was cleaning up my mess. Ethan ran to me as soon as he was out of the car, and Kim called for me to help by getting Caleb. She stood up from the trunk with an armload of tubes with odd looking cups attached and a big boxy looking electronic affair. She was all smiles until I leaned over to kiss her. Her eyes got big, she pulled back, then got embarrassed but not a blushing sweet kind. The fear factor was back behind her eyes. She looked down and kind of collapsed in without really collapsing at all. I pulled back, tried to smile a nice, friendly smile, and said, "I'll get the boys in.. no worries."
Kim nodded meekly, scooted around me and went into the house with her new "laboratory".
Caleb, usually wanting a tit right after a ride in the car, seemed to be sated... so the three of us played outside while we could still see. Problems would always be a part of life, but little kids never ever stay little. Moments pass too quickly to burden their hearts with problems meant for adult shoulders.
Kim was elbow deep in dinner prep, but Caleb smelled food and wanted his now. I got him a spoon and some strained peaches along with mixed veggies quick as a whistle and Kim just kept on cooking, unaffected by his cries. One more thing to ask about later.
By the time he was done, dinner was ready and Chris was home. Since I was already taking care of Caleb, I let them sit to table and gave Caleb his bath and pajamas. I walked him and sang little lullabies, patting his back until he was snoring hard then put him down and tucked him in. My dinner was left out, the rest already put away, and Ethan was sitting, thumbing through his favorite picture book.
Kim and Chris were already in her room, I can only assume, talking. My food was already cold, so Ethan's bedtime story was run up to first priority. Cold food was nothing new to this infantry Marine...
Ethan was bathed, changed and asleep on the couch, I was spooning a second helping of a very good Shepard pie when I heard the second bedroom door open and Kim's feet hurry into the bathroom. I kept eating... remembering her reaction to me wanting a kiss when she got home, it did not seem likely that I was going to be welcomed in the shower for a repeat performance.
The water was running and half a plate gone when Chris came out of her room heading to, I assume, the kitchen. I guess she had not expected me to be at the table still because she was wearing her robe, and just her robe, and it was open. Our eyes met, our eyes both went to her open robe, her nakedness, and then both met again as she gasped, blushed and threw the robe closed, clutching the two sides together. She had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She was very nicely proportioned and preserved for her age.
I went back to my plate and, after a pause, she went onto the kitchen and came back to take a seat at the table with a glass of ice water. She looked like she had worked up a sweat... especially considering how quickly she downed the water.
"I'm sorry Jeff..."
"Don't be... I'm not."
She blushed and then we both chuckled.
"I, obviously, did not think you would be out here still eating dinner."
"No reason you should. Don't worry about it... it's a "roommate" hazard. Nothing to be worried about."
"No... I suppose not, still..."
"We should probably not make a habit of it though..."
Chris smiled, blushed again and said, "Probably not..."
I took another bite, chewed and looked at her while she drank another few gulps of water.
After swallowing I asked, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"
"Its too late if I did, as you just asked one without knowing the answer..."
"Touché"
"Ask away? What can I tell you?"
"Are you "clinically treating my wife?"
"Kindasorta... yeah... it did not start out that way... we started talking while I was giving her a massage. She had bruised her hip and I was trying to make her feel better... she was so tight... her whole body, and a good massage can be pretty cathartic... when she loosened up she opened up and an emotional block was washed away by tears..."
"Yeah, I saw something like that with you in the car that first night..."
"Kind of, yep, but imagine that times 10, and you would just be scratching the surface with your wife. I called your mom to watch the boys, Kim's idea, but your sister was the only one available. She came and got them, and that started the conversation about their issues. It started as a side issue, but I soon realized that nothing was really a side issue. Kim and I are working on those and Jeni and I are working on her issues. They did some really good work together and are getting along much better now. Understanding things makes such a difference."
"So your treating my sister too?"
"Truthfully?"
"Of course truthfully... I don't want it to be any other way between us."
"Truthfully I can not, ethically confirm or deny any ongoing treatment to anyone... client confidentiality concerns you understand... having said that, I am "Talking" with your sister, and your mom, together and separately. Jan saw the quick progress that Jeni and Kim made together and saw the differences in both of them individually, she said she had some things to get off her chest and things that had been bothering her, so yeah... she is joining our exercise group and we get together a couple of times a week alone and with Jeni to 'Talk'. You have an amazingly open and receptive family."
"You could not prove that by me..."
"You have been gone for a week and, you are right, they were all pretty closed and bound up, but they were open to helping themselves, and even more, helping each other, that once they got their first breakthrough...they are amazingly kind and caring individuals, you especially and in particular."
She reached across the table to take my hand in hers, and as she did, the robe opened enough to expose, to my view, both breasts, out past each nipple. I would have ignored it, enjoyed it, but ignored it, but when I saw what could only be scars from cigarettes or a burning sharp object, I had to say something.
I took a deep breath, Chris was still holding my hand, but let go quickly to cover up when I asked her, "Was it Brad or Charlie that gave you those scars?"
She started to pull away to stand up...
"No running away..."
"Its nothing, really, not what you think..."
I did not let go, she jerked twice and was building up to a panic, when I remaining calm and quiet, said, "Bull shit Chris, I know what scars from cigarette burns look like... I've seen plenty of them... heavy drinking Marines play stupid drunken "dare" games and "chicken" with burning cigarettes.
"I don't... I can't talk about it with you."
"I am guessing it was the street and not your husband... they look less than a year old. Nothing to be embarrassed about, nothing to be afraid of anymore... no one will ever do that to you again... not while I am breathing."
Chris was breathing again, instead of gulping, and calming down. She stayed quiet until she was under control. I had released her so she could rabbit if she still wanted to, or needed to, but she was strong, and stayed.
