A Silent Lover

16. TaekWoon

I sit down on the bed gently, choosing on the furthest edge from Imani. I grab my phone from off of the side table, pretending to look through Twitter comments. But even as I scroll through the posts, I'm not really noticing any of them because I'm so nervous. The bad thing about pretending to be on my phone is that it makes it difficult for me to get a good look at Imani. I keep glancing at her, hoping to see any signs that she may have been giving me, any indications that what I was doing was a good or a bad thing.

After a few minutes, I'm feeling a little more comfortable since she hasn't paid me any attention. With care, I lay back on the pillows behind me, trying my best not to disturb her reading but also not to draw too much attention to myself. My hands are sweating slightly and I rub my palms against my pajama pants. Taking a deep breath, I just start to relax when Imani's voice shocks me, making me sit up straight again.

"Do boys always take that long in the bathroom?" Imani comments as she finally looks up from the book she was reading. A smirk lingers on her lips, one of her eyebrows raising cheekily.

I feel my face redden at her words and gave a quick shake of my head, my heart beating as if I've just run a mile.

"Your bathroom was really nice," I blurt without thinking. I bite my lip in frustration, telling myself again that no matter how nervous I am, I shouldn't let Imani see it.

"I'm glad you liked it," she answers with a full smile this time.

"Are you ready for bed?" Imani asks while turning out the light on her nightstand.

"Yeah, uh, ok," I fumble, moving my body to quickly get underneath the covers.

I turn myself to face the wall, belatedly realizing my own light is still on.

"Do you usually sleep with the lights on?" she questions me. I shake my head no and she reaches above me to turn it off. I flinch away when I see her move though, and she looks down at me, shock at my violent reaction turning into a mischievous smile.

"I'm not going to attack you TaekWoon, you can come closer," Imani said as I curled myself around the blankets, effectively cocooning myself from her.

"No, I know you won't. I always sleep on the edge of the bed," I say while wincing at the bad lie and then I wince again when I hear her laugh.

"You know, I asked you to sleep here, but would you rather I slept on the couch? It'd be too big for you, but I could fit fine."

"No! Stay here. You'll really hurt yourself if you sleep on that couch. Besides, this is your bed. I don't want to kick you out of it."

"Then come here, pabo. I won't bite."

As I scooted closer to her, she reached out to take my hand in hers.

"You don't mind, do you?" Imani asked, referring to our clasped hands.

"No, this is great... I mean it's cool," I reply, feeling my blush creep back into my face.

"Great. Well then, goodnight."

Finally, Imani turned out the light and snuggled in close to me. Not only were our hands touching, but she had turned her body towards mine. The scent of her hair wafted over to me, the intoxicating smell of coconut making me take deeper breaths. I could hear Imani's breathing slow until I knew she had fallen asleep. But I stayed up much later, unable to sleep with something so precious next to me.

I had been pushing lightly on Imani's shoulder for the past ten minutes but she had yet to wake up. Feeling a little contrite because of what I was about to do, I quickly whipped off the bed covers and snapped them loudly. The sound of it made a loud crack echo in the room and I realized why my mom had always found it so effective. Imani shot up into a sitting position instantly, her curls messily arranged all over her face.

"What! What is it? What happened?"

"Nothing, it's just time for you to wake up," I told her calmly, folding the covers in my hand.

"No michyeosseo? Do you know what day it is?!"

"It's Saturday... right?"

"Right"! She said while getting up from the bed and snatching the covers back from me with a vengeance.

"On my days off I do not wake up until 12. That's a rule," Imani grumbled while pressing her face forcefully back into a pillow.

"Hey, get up. The morning is almost over."

"Exactly my point. Just wait a few hours and we can start off right in the afternoon. By then it'll be perfect-. "

"We pick up JaeHyun today, I whispered near her ear. Almost instantly a sharp gasp left Imani's mouth as she jumped out of the bed, moving faster than I'd ever seen her go before.

"Give me fifteen minutes," she called from the bathroom. With a smile, I began setting the bed to rights once again.

Imani was practically running to the elevator, the small heels of her flats slapping against the concrete floors of the underground garage. Like a seagull out looking for food, Imani's head swiveled back and forth, her gaze moving across the cars parked in straight rows.

"TaekWoon-ah, we'll be late; where's your car?"

"Right here," I said while clicking the remote-control key. As the lights blinked on a mid-sized SUV, Imani turned to face me, her eyes wide.

"Why are you driving this? What happened to your car?"

"This is my car; at least it is now anyway. I traded the old one in." I led her over to the passenger side of the vehicle, opening the door and escorting her in.

"Jesus TaekWoon, you traded a brand-new Mercedes in for a soccer-mom van?" She breathed out. "Why?"

She continued to mutter protestations but I ignored her until I was in my own seat.

"TaekWoon listen to me. Why would you sell your car for this one?"

"First, this is a good car; it's not brand new but it's still a Mercedes."

She let out a loud snort of disbelief so I tried again.

"We needed the space Imani. My car wouldn't be able to handle having a kid with a car seat inside. And when JaeHyun starts going to school we'll need the extra room for friends and projects. It was a good idea to prepare for it now."

"You didn't have to do this you know," she said reaching out to touch my arm. I turned her way, making sure I looked her in the eyes.

"I'm the kind of man who takes care of what belongs to me, Imani. You are my wife, and JaeHyun is ours, so to me that's all there is to it. I know you're used to doing everything on your own, but you're not by yourself anymore. Let me take care of you, the both of you."

I looked at her until with a small nod, Imani sat back in her seat. Somehow her eyes looked slightly wet as I turned on the ignition and left for the orphanage. I hoped Imani realized that I was serious; once I fell, I was all in. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her now. To be a good husband and a good father to JaeHyun, those were my goals and I planned on fulfilling them to the best of my ability.