John awoke, but struggled to stay in that drowsy cosy feeling. Warm gentle sunlight was just beginning to glow through the blinds and the bed felt so nice and comfortable. His wife lay in bed next to him facing him, her slumbering face so peaceful and she was doing that cute breathing thing again. He just wanted to lay here soaking her in.
He knew he was a lucky man. Libby was so beautiful. A petite woman with elfin features, when they had first met John had been swept by a desire to protect her and keep her safe. By the time they'd had their second date he'd learnt Libby possessed a strength belied by her fragile appearance and a fiery side that matched her red hair. She hated it if she felt John was being needlessly concerned about her but that didn't stop him.
He slipped his arm over her. Even after seven years the need to touch her remained strong. She responded by rolling over, half conscious but eager to feel her husband's strong body close to her.
He kissed her shoulder lightly and inhaled the scent of her hair. He slipped his hand up under the oversized t-shirt she wore and stroked the soft skin of her belly. It was almost a year since she'd given birth to their son, Aiden, a little brother for their five year old daughter Hayley. John sighed imperceptibly. He missed cradling his pregnant wife but that loss was more than made up for when he held his baby son and there might be another baby in their future.
Libby wriggled next to him, clearly awake despite her eyes being closed. She could feel her husband's erection pressed up against her.
"Mmm, that feels good." She murmured, wriggling some more.
They lay like that for several minutes, completely relaxed in the silence of this intimate moment. They'd made love last night after a slight quarrel beforehand but the physical act had cleared the air and both were still basking in the afterglow. Libby thought back to the way his hands had caressed her, knowing all the spots she liked to be touched. He was a considerate lover, taking his time with her, careful, when he was on top, not to let the weight of him or the size of his...ahem..cause her any discomfort.
Libby had not felt such sexual compatibility with a man until she had met John. Able to trust him completely she had completely opened up. His adoring eyes had eroded away the slight shame she'd always felt upon getting naked. She'd initiated the sex last night and was tempted to do so again this morning...John's hand had moved up to her right breast and was squeezing it lightly...clearly he would not be opposed to the idea.
It was a nice thought but impractical, one of the kids, or both, would wake up soon and husband and wife would become mommy and daddy again.
Eventually John spoke.
"I wish you weren't going tomorrow. I'm going to miss this whilst you're gone."
"It's only for a little while."
"I know but I thought we were trying for another baby..."
"I should be with Stacey at a time like this. There'll be plenty of time for the ...other thing... when I get back." She explained patiently. She was amazed how boyish her husband, at 6ft 1 and 170 pounds, could sound sometimes. Still, this quiet vulnerability, an awkwardness he let only her see, was part of why she loved him. "I'll phone you every night."
"You're right." John said, acquiescing. He understood. His sister-in-law was going through a tough time right now and he completely understood why his wife thought she should be with family. "I can't believe that Chris is leaving her. He always seemed like one of the good guys."
The couple were silent with their thoughts. John had always gotten on well with Chris and he'd always given every indication that he was happily married, definitely not the type to leave his wife for his secretary. God, he couldn't even contemplate doing anything like that to Libby. He loved her too much for that.
"Did Stacey say how the kids are taking it?" He eventually enquired, thinking about how a father could do that to his offspring.
"I think Jasper's pretty upset about it all but Heather's gone down the sullen teenager route."
"You should go. You're right. I can manage here alright and it will be nice to spend some special dad time with Aiden and Hayley."
"Just don't spoil them rotten." Libby scolded him playfully, shifting so she could lay her head against his torso and caress his downy stomach. "Do you think it will be cold up there this time of year?"
"I dunno. I can check the forecast for you before you go." He offered. "Are you going to pack that red lacy thing?" He said a moment later, with a growl of amusement and a glint in his eye.
"John! Not with my sister right next door!"
"Guess I'll just have to think about you in it and ...keep myself company..." He grinned roguishly.
Libby was just about to retort when Aiden's cries were heard through the baby monitor.
"I'll go." Said John, without a trace of hesitation or complaint.
Libby smiled contentedly. He'd been just the same with when Hayley had been born. John was the type of man that loved fatherhood, not the type that saw parenting as the mother's job. "Mr Bunny's probably fallen out of the crib again." He said as he pulled on his pants.
Libby gazed at his lean, muscular torso, with its nice matt of dark hair . God, her husband was a very attractive man. She let the thought go; Hayley must have heard her brother's cries so she may as well start fixing up breakfast.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John, Libby and their two children were sat at the kitchen table. There was plenty of time to enjoy breakfast before Libby had to head to the airport.
"Daddy, will you make pancakes for breakfast the way mommy does while she's at Auntie Stacey's?" Hayley inquired. John could tell from her tone that his little girl was a little scared at the prospect of mommy going away but trying to act like a big girl.
"I'll make whatever you want me to, Pumpkin." He said to reassure her and rustled her hair. Leaning close he whispered into her ear, " I might even get you some of that cereal, with the sugary pieces as long as you don't tell Mommy...."
John was rewarded with a big grin and a giggle. Hayley, just five, already knew Daddy was the good one and liked it when they kept things secret from Mommy. Like when they'd gone to the play park instead of going to the store to pick up milk. Suddenly Mommy going away for, just a little while, didn't seem so bad.
She picked up her blue crayon and turned her attention to her drawing.
Satisfied he'd dealt with the situation John picked up the morning paper and began to read. He'd got no further than a couple of pages when Hayley climbed onto the table and stuck her head over the sheets.
"Is Paragon really from another planet, Daddy?" She asked, referring to the man whose picture sat under the newspaper's headline.
"Yep, came all the way to Earth when he was just a baby..." John started to reply.
"Like baby Aiden." She interrupted. John and Libby had worried how she would take to this new addition to their family but they needn't have worried. She loved being a big sister.
"Yeah, like Aiden, but your brother is not an alien. And now he helps keep us safe from the bad people." Her father continued.
"He can fly, Daddy! Can I be an alien and learn how to fly when I get big?"
"You want to be a superhero? I thought you were going to be a ballerina..." John growled and grabbed his daughter around the middle and proceeded, to her delight, to fly her around the room whilst humming a suitably heroic sounding tune.
Hayley thought she might throw up a little bit in a minute but was willing to take that risk rather than telling Daddy about it.
"Oh no," She cried, as her mother, Aiden in her arms, walked into the room. "A monster!"
"Don't be silly," He laughed. "That's Mommy."
"I'm the Mommy monster! And this my baby monster and we're here to get you." Libby threatened, quick to pick up the game. "Rawr rawr rawr."
"Oh no, save me Hayley." John pleaded, sending his daughter into a fit of giggles now. Grownups were so weird sometimes. Mommy wasn't scary, not like Grandma Judy.
Daddy was so strong, he wasn't scared of even Grandma Judy. Aiden the baby monster, wasn't scary either, just stinky sometimes.
"You'd better be heading off soon, if you want to catch your flight." John said, addressing his wife. "Sure you don't want me to drive you?"
Libby shook her head. "You have to take the kids over to Mrs Anderson's before you go to work."
She leaned in to kiss her husband; she was just so full of affection for him when he was like this. God, being away from her family was going to be harder than she'd realised.
"Come on, you two, you can come see me to the car." She said, pulling herself away from her husband's embrace and his soft lips.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next day, in another part of town.
She was seated on a bench in the mall, a powerful glamour wrapped around her. None of the passersby could see through the woven magic and recognise her as Gethsemane Leigh, the evil witch who belonged to Lady Goodnight's Harem of Evil Sluts.
She wasn't invisible exactly; the spell she was using just directed the eyes to ignore the sight of her. Without the spell there was no doubt she'd be getting attention. Gethsemane was tall, her body strong and curvaceous, the spandex outfit she wore covering so little of it. She was buxom, though that word is hardly sufficient, beyond belief. The sight of her big natural breasts had made grown men weep.
Right now, she was on vacation, a reward for delivering a US battleship and its now thoroughly corrupted crew into the Lady's villainous hands.
She could have gone anywhere in the world, her pay check from the Organisation and her powers pretty much ensured all her desires were easily achievable. Instead she had chosen Generic Small Town, USA. Seducing bald, fat Naval Captains was part of her day job but for her personal kicks she liked to indulge her Jezebel fetish.
Gethsemane was just watching the people go past, relaxing and taking her time.
The people of this town, its name unknown to her, were, for the large part, good Christian people. There were churches everywhere, and those churches blessed with good attendance. One of these men would be her next target.
She casually tossed her long peroxide blonde locks and surveyed her surroundings.
A guy caught her eye. He was a very good looking man, with a woman, his wife, on his arm.
Was he the one to succumb to her evil influence?
The candidate was a natural blond, with blue eyes and something of a Mid-Western charm. The t-shirt he wore showed off his powerfully built body.
Gethsemane frowned and glanced at his aura. The male was vain, took too much pride in his physique. He liked to have people admire him. His aura told her all of this. He liked to have women admire him. His wife was a stunning woman but he was not faithful to her. The shifting patterns of light around him showed that he felt no guilt in this regard.
