Chapter 9

The next morning I once again awoke before my wife and was preparing her breakfast when she came into the kitchen. I smiled at seeing her until I saw her crying.

I then ran to her and asked, “What’s wrong Honey?”

“You ... you left me. I had a bad ... dream that ... you ... left me. And ... when I woke up and you were g ... gone. Then I didn’t see any note like you usually leave out for me when you wake up ... before ... me. So I worried that...” She took a deep breath then spoke more clearly. “I worried that my dream had come true.”

When she started to cry I held her in my arms and told her, “I’m so sorry I forgot to set out a note for you. I’ll never forget again. I love you too much to ever leave you. I’d do anything for you.”

I held Elena in my arms for about ten minutes before she was calm enough to be apart. Soon after that we were sitting at the table eating our breakfast.

At the table Maxine cleared her throat and then quietly spoke out, “Thank you for the meal you made Erik. It was very delicious.”

I smiled and said, “Your mom helped a great deal. There was a few minutes where I couldn’t attend to the meal prep.”

“Nonsense. I only made sure the food didn’t burn. I didn’t add anything to it other than that.” Zoe then turned to me and asked, “Where did you learn this recipe? And can I have it?”

“I actually got this recipe from my cousin Constance. She gave it to me shortly after I hired her at the theater. She was grateful to have a job after her dad fired her from the restaurant.” I thought for a second, “ I’ll have to ask her if I can share the recipe with you. She seemed really protective of it.”

I was surprised when Maxine spoke up, “Why was she fired? I mean I’ve heard Elena mention her a couple times and she seemed really nice.”

After picking my jaw off the ground I said, “She was fired because she was rebelling against her dad and she got a mohawk. She even got it colored a couple different colors.”

“Cool.” was all Maxine said.

I looked to Elena and I noticed she was just toying with her meal with a fork. I thought that was strange because I had made this meal for her before and she loved it.

I placed a hand on the one she had on the table and asked, “Listen, if you’re available today there is a place I’d like to show you. It’s my favorite place in this town. I go there whenever I feel a need to escape. It’s a place my mom showed me and I want you to be the first person I take there.”

Elena looked happy for a moment then her frown returned, “I can’t go today. I have a doctor’s appointment and after that I have some plans with mom.” Then her smile returned. My heart warms whenever I see that smile. “But if you’re free tomorrow I’d love to go then.”

“Then I have a date set with the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world tomorrow.” After I said that Elena’s face started to blush. “So what are your plans for today?”

Zoe placed her hand on my shoulder as she got up from her spot with her dishes, ‘That my dear Erik is a secret. It’s a tradition in my family that when a woman is expecting her mother takes her out on a quest that only the two of them are to know about.” She then turned to Maxine. “Why don’t you spend the day with your big brother Erik today. Maybe you can go down to the trak and run. I hear that Erik was quite good in high school.”

I would have said no to running but then Maxine had a smile that almost rivaled Elena’s.

She looked to me and said, “That would be awesome. I’ve seen some of the trophies and pictures of yours in the school.”

“Then I’ll get my stuff ready. I’ll be ready whenever you are.” I said.

Maxine let out an identical giggle as she did when I talked to her on the phone.

Elena was squeezing my hand in her loving way and placed her head on my shoulder.

“You have no idea what this means to her. When she first joined the track team here she just seemed to withdraw into herself. She was becoming depressed. She almost quit the team. Then she discovered your trophies and heard some of the stories behind some of them. You became somewhat of a hero to her after that.” Zoe told me lovingly.

“So that explains the reaction I got when she talked to me on the phone that one time. Now that makes sense.” I said to myself.

Elena looked to me and gave me the look. The look that said that she was in the mood for sex.

Elena got up and said, “You’re going to have to tell Maxine that I needed to borrow my husband for a while. I won’t delay her trip to the track field for long.”

No sooner did Elena grab my hand than Zoe said in a stern voice, “No you don’t young lady. Your sister is too excited about this already. I’m not going to be the one to tell her that the trip has been delayed just because you wanted some alone time with your husband. Besides we need to get to your appointment. So you better eat your breakfast.”

“Well if you’d rather I have Erik rub my feet here that’ll be fine with me.” Elena said. Elena then took her chair and turned it around, sat in it, then took her slippers off, and placed her feet on my lap. “Okay babe. Husband of mine will you rub my feet right here in the Dining room? They are feeling rather sore. And my left foot also has an itch that I can not reach because of my big and very pregnant belly. Now scratch my foot.”

I nearly laughed at her impersonation of a rich snob giving orders that you see in those old shows on tv.

“As you wish my lady.” I said as I grabbed hold of her left foot.

“Not in my dining room. If you need to leave and do that just go to the living room. Just don’t go anywhere that would cause Maxine to go looking for you and especially don’t do anything that would scar her for life. Now go.” Zoe shouted that last part.

Elena grabbed her plate and we headed out the door. As soon as we were by ourselves we both laughed.

I then looked around and whispered, “Okay let’s go to our room and get busy doing something that we wouldn’t want Maxine to see us doing.”

Elena kissed me passionately, pulled away and smiled. Then she said, “I wasn’t kidding about needing my feet rubbed and I also do have a really itchy foot. I was only kidding with the tone I used.”

Elena laughed and kissed me again. But this time it was a more family friendly kiss. I just knew that this was going to be a really long day. When I rubbed Elena’s feet she would moan from time to time. At one point she made a noise that made me think she had just reached a small orgasm. Maybe she was making these noises to tease her mom. Elena did always enjoy my foot rubs but loving them that much. After a few minutes I was finally able to sit down next to my wife and wrap my arms around her. I gave her a kiss on the cheek. I was about to go in for a better kiss when Maxine showed back up.

“Aren’t you going to get ready for running big bro?” Maxine asked.

“What?” I asked momentarily confused.

Maxine shied away a bit then said, “Sorry do you not like it? Being called Big Bro? I can call you by your name instead.”

I waved my hand a little and said, “No. Big Bro is just fine. You can call me that if you’d like. I was just thrown of thought for a moment.”

“That’s good. I’ll wait with Elena while you get ready. And you might want to bring a change of clothes. After I go running I like to relax in the pool for a little bit. That is if you don’t mind.”

As soon as we got to the track field I froze in place. There at the starting line was my best friend Courtney and her fiancée kissing. The woman with Courtney was a different one from the last time I had seen my best friend. They had known each other from school and this new one had been there for Courtney when she broke up with her previous girlfriend. Seeing her happy with her fiancée it brought out feelings in me that I hadn’t expected to feel. Yes I was happy for her but I also felt sad that we had missed out on so much of each other’s lives. We had been best friends for so long.

As soon as Courtney and her fiancée separated Maxine yelled out, “Oh my God Courtney! What are you doing here?”