Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Lainie..." 

Her lips continued to move against his. 

"Lainie...stop..." 

She murmured something unintelligible and feasted on him with abandon. Aaron fought the good fight, but Lainie played dirty. She had a death grip on the collar of his shirt and the lower half of her body sashayed back and forth, creating soft friction against a growing anatomy part.  

So, he had a choice - go with it, or end it before he found himself making love to her in the middle of the day with her kids just on the other side of the bedroom wall. Knowing Lainie like he did, the choice came effortlessly. 

"Lainie...please, stop." Aaron pried her fingers off his shirt and gently pushed her away. She blinked up at him, hurt feelings loading down her expression. "I love kissing you - I do - but not like this. I want more from you, Lainie, than just something casual. I want what we used to have." 

Instantly, she gave him a small grateful smile. 

"We'll never have what we used to have," she said, inhaling briskly and combing her fingers through her hair as she put some distance between them. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you like that. Friends - yes, we can be friends." 

That's only the start. Aaron stepped closer to her. "Lainie..." 

She held up a silencing hand. "No, don't say it. I must be reeling from too many..." She sighed, sat down on the arm of her couch and shook her head. "I don't know. I'm so confused lately, Aaron...with the kids and my job and selling the old house...and now you. I never expected to bury my husband and meet up with my high school boyfriend at practically the same time." 

Aaron joined her on the couch, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I can't imagine how you do it, Lainie. Your children are wonderful, and I know that stems from the goodness inside you. But it must be exhausting all the time, trying to be a mother and a father at the same time. I'd love to help you out, Lainie." 

Her eyes stared at him warily. "Aaron, I appreciate your offer...but being a father is..." 

"What?" he reared back, astounded. "No...no, I didn't mean it that way. Friendship, Lainie, that's what I'm offering. I can help you just by being your friend again." 

She studied him forever and a day. Finally, she nodded, rested her head on his shoulder and said, "I'd like that, Aaron. I'd like that a lot." 

What he didn't say was, then maybe one day, we can go a step further. As much as he truly believed she was meant to be in his life, he was determined to not screw up this time...and that took time. Time to win over Lainie's heart, and time to win over Chris' and Chloe's.  

One day, he will. Because he loved all three of them too much to let them go.

*****

"'Once upon a time...'" Lainie read from Chloe's favorite storybook. After telling the same story to her daughter every night for the last month, she knew this version of The Frog Prince by heart. She could recite the words with her eyes closed while juggling a stack of encyclopedias and balancing a basketball on her head. Lainie tried to interest Chloe in other stories every night, but every bedtime, Chloe asked for this one. After the fourth night, Chris - who must share a room with his sister - grumbled about listening to it, so Lainie allowed him to play with his blocks in the living room while she read this story to Chloe, and then she read a different story to Chris. 

"'...there was a beautiful princess...'" 

"What's her name, Mama?" Chloe asked, snuggled up in her pink fuzzy blanket, Luvy.