Three

MELODY’S PHONE RANG at 1:01 a.m., just after we’d walked into the house. We were headed to the boys’ room to see if everyone was there. No one was, but Lissa greeted Melody on the phone and asked her to put it on speaker so she could talk to both of us.

“We’re still at the hospital, but will probably be leaving soon,” Lissa started. She sounded drained.

“How are they? What’s wrong?” Melody asked.

“We’ve been worried all night,” I added.

“It turns out there’s a nasty bug that’s hit in past couple of days and is spreading like crazy through the pre-school and elementary schools. We must have seen a dozen people we knew in the emergency room. It’s crazy here. Their temperatures peaked at 104 degrees and the doctors pumped them full of antibiotics, but it will be at least a couple of days before they are fully healthy,” Lissa said.

“When will you be home? Should we come and get you?” I asked.

“I’m not coming back tonight,” Lissa said. Melody and I looked at each other and I could see worry creasing her brow.

“Lissa?”

“We’re taking the boys to Jack’s house. I can’t bring them home with all of you there. The doctors say it’s really contagious. You can’t risk being sick the last week of school and at National Singles. We’ll be lucky if you haven’t already caught it,” Lissa explained. It was logical but we weren’t happy.

“But Jack’s there. You could come home,” Melody pled.

“Sweetheart, I can’t leave my boys tonight. They won’t let go of me and I wouldn’t leave them when they’re sick anyway. I’ll stay there.”

“With Jack?” I blurted out before I could stop my mouth. I was worried sick about the boys, and I understood that Lissa needed to be with them, but she’d be there with the boys and with Jack. It was like they were still married.

“It’s not about Jack, Tony,” Lissa said sharply. “I can’t expect you two to understand, but please just accept that I need to be here. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Melody recovered first and managed to stop Lissa before she hung up.

“We love you, Lissa. And we love Damon and Drew. Give them a hug for us and tell them we love them. Please?”

“We love you, too, Little One. I’m sorry I snapped at you, Tony. It’s been a hard night. I love you both.”

After a little peck on the lips, Allison had gone straight to the guest room and Melody and I retired to our bed. Our bed—but Lissa’s bed. It felt so strange to get ready and crawl into Lissa’s bed without Lissa in it. Even when Melody came into my arms, she seemed hesitant and unsure.

It wasn’t like we hadn’t made love without Lissa, nor that Lissa hadn’t made love with each of us without the other. But it was strange being in this bed without her. Even with two of us sharing it, it felt big and empty.

“Tony?” Melody said in a very small voice.

“What is it, Meddy?”

“I’m afraid.” I didn’t need an explanation but we both needed to give it voice. I could feel the fear gnawing at me.

“So am I, dear.”

“Are you afraid Lissa won’t come back to us?”

“Yes. Afraid that she is sharing this crisis with Jack instead of us and that anytime Damon and Drew are involved, she’ll be with Jack. Afraid that we aren’t as important to her as we want to believe.” Afraid that she was with him right now. No, I didn’t imagine that they were having sex while Damon and Drew ran a fever in the next room. Just that he was the one holding her and comforting her while she watched over her babies. I was afraid we could never compete.

“I keep thinking of how she tried to break up with us and we wouldn’t let her. Are we clinging to a fantasy?”

“No, sweetheart. That can’t be. What we have is real for all three of us. We just need to be patient and show her how much we love her.”

“Tony, would we ... would we ... still be together without Lissa?” Tears were flooding down Melody’s cheeks and I held and rocked her trying to ward off the dark clouds that threatened to engulf me. I couldn’t answer. I held her fiercely and kissed the tears escaping from her eyes. I found her lips and we devoured each other—not hungrily, but desperately—hanging on to what was real in the face of what was imagined.

I wasn’t quite hard and she wasn’t quite wet, but we forced ourselves together, needing to be joined. As we rocked back and forth, our bodies took control and we slid more freely, my hardness penetrating deeply. I rolled her on top of me so I wouldn’t crush her and held her to me tightly. Our climax came, as the poet said, “not with a bang, but a whimper.”

“You guys are sure a lot quieter when there’s only two of you,” Allison said when we appeared in the kitchen Saturday morning. She’d already made coffee and was staring at a bowl of cereal when we finally pushed ourselves out of bed. Neither of us wanted to get up, but we couldn’t bear to stay in the bed any longer. Allison looked at us long and hard as I poured two cups of coffee and got out the milk and sugar for Melody.

“Oh, you poor kids,” she said after a minute. She came around the table and pulled both of us to her and squeezed. We no longer had tears to shed. We were too exhausted. We both just rested our heads against Allison’s ample bosom. “You are really in love with her, aren’t you! And the boys. I saw it the last couple of days, but now it’s written all over your faces. Don’t worry; it will be okay. You’ll see.”

It was funny, being comforted like little kids by a woman who was only a couple years older than we were. This was going to be a long hard day if we didn’t snap out of it. Hey, the boys would start getting well and then Lissa would come home and we’d all be fine again, right? I smooched Melody while Allison kept hold of our shoulders. She smiled a little and her eyes shifted up toward our comforter. I grinned and, as if on cue, we both turned our heads toward Allison and nipped at her nipples, prominently standing out in unfettered glory under her t-shirt. She yelped.

“You guys! I almost wet my pants! You scared me.”

“Oh,” I said. “Sorry about that. Next time we suck on your nipples we’ll try not to startle you.”

“Next time? Oh, shit!”

“Sorry we’re so sour this morning,” Melody said. “Thanks for helping us and giving us a hug.”

“You’re welcome,” Allison said, starting to breathe again.

“But, yeah. Next time,” Melody finished. Allison rolled her eyes.

“My god, what did I get myself into? Just come out to play some racquetball for a week. We’ll have a couple of parties. So sure, I thought to myself. Sounds like fun. I wonder why they didn’t tell me I’d be running around in a house full of naked women, listening to the most incredible sex I’ve ever imagined, and getting my boobs bitten by not just a boy, but a girl, too! Why didn’t they mention these little details before I got here?”

“Oh, Allison,” Melody complained. “If we’d told you all that it would have spoiled the surprise and you might not have come.”