Layne's POV
"Baby wake up!" I attempt to shake my wife awake and she groans, rolling away from me, "Kaylie Jaaaaaaane~~~~"
"What time is it, baby?" she questions, her sleepy voice even lower than usual.
"It's ten o'clock," I tell her, "Baby you promised we'd go shopping together."
Sayings this sentence made me feel old. I hadn't considered twenty three young until I stood in front of our friends and family and vowed to spend my life with some one for forever.
In the short time we'd been together, so much had already changed. So many adjustments. So many compromises. A few months into our marriage Kaylie Jane had returned to school for her master's and a few months after that I'd enrolled in a program for kitchen management. It was going great for us, but little time was left for us to just be... us. One of the things we'd worked out was that there needed to be a non-sexual activity shared between us every week. And shopping was it. If only she'd actually get up for it.
"Can we do this next week?" She mumbles, rolling away from me, "I'm tired."
"You said that last week," I shake her again, "KJJJJJJJJJJ."
She groans again, but doesn't move. I lean in, whispering in her ear, "If you get up now, I'll let you take a shower with me..."
She snorts in response.
"Don't you want to take a shower with me?"
"Did we really shower though if we're in there being dirty?" she smirks, telling me that she's not really sleep.
I hit her, "KJ! You have ten minutes to get up before I get angry."
"Fine," she sits up, "Can I have a kiss to get me started?"
"Come and get it," I slide off the bed and she whines like a child before getting up too.
I head out to the living room and wait for her to appear. As I wait, I twirl my ring around my finger. It's been a year and I'm still not totally accustomed to it being there. I slide it off, revealing the tan lines solidifying it's presence.
"I'm ready, my eager wife," Kaylie Jane heads to the door, pulling on her coat, "Let's go."
I stand and as I reach for my coat. "Wait," she grabs me, pulling me in by the small of my back. I brace myself against her and she steals a kiss.
I pull away and smile, "You ready now?"
"Yes ma'am," she kisses me one more time and then we head to the store.
Inside the store I wander the aisles, KJ behind me with the shopping basket.
"Babe---" I turn to tell her something and see she's not there. I hear her familiar laugh an aisle over and follow it to where she's talking to an unfamiliar woman. I observe them for a few seconds, only moving in when she brushes her hand on my wife's shoulder.
"There you are," I instinctively wrap my arms around her waist, "Who's this?"
"I'm Jamie," the woman offers me her hand and I don't take it.
"This is my wife, Layne," she attempts to remove my arms, but I only hold her tighter, "Layne, Jamie is an old friend from college."
"Next to meet you," I force a smile, still holding onto Kaylie Jane.
"Likewise," she snipes warmly, before turning back to KJ, "Maybe we can grab coffee sometime?"
"I'd love that," she nods, "I'll see you around."
"You better," they awkwardly hug, me still attached to KJ, and then she leaves.
"Are you done yet?" Kaylie Jane says as soon as she's out of earshot.
I let her go, "No way in hell are you having coffee with her."
"Are you jealous?" She teases. I turn red and she laughs, "Jamie is an old friend. You don't have to worry."
"I was just an old friend once," I remind her, "So yeah, I do have to worry."
"She's straight," she argues.
"So is spaghetti until it gets wet," I move to the front of the cart, "I don't like other women making my wife laugh."
"You're ridiculous," she chuckles, "Where to my love?"
I step onto the front of the cart so she can push me, "The dairy aisle."
KJ's POV
Shopping with my wife consisted of me pushing the cart while she tossed God knows what into it. Occasionally, I'd add in something reasonable, but I still knew that I'd be running to the store later in the week because we were out of something. Only I know it's important to her, so every Saturday I oblige.
"Are you done, baby?" I ask after our third trip down the snack aisle.
"I need one more thing," she begs me.
"Seriously?"
"Yes," Layne grabs my arm balancing on my shoulder, "I'm planning a dessert for us and I need something to go with this whipped cream."
"Are you really trying to talk dirty to me in Wal-Mart?" I ask.
"Depends. Is it working?"
I roll my eyes, "I'm going to get in line."
"Babeeeee---" I walk away from her and get in line, waiting for her to join me.
"Who's your daddy?" Layne hops on my back, causing me to stumble lightly into the man in front of me.
"Layne!" I apologize to him, "I'm married to a child." I turn back to her, but she's gone.
I turn back to the man. He's old enough to be my father, with a face thinned with age and a white goatee accenting his dark face.
"I had a daughter your age," he says, bemused, "Beautiful. Like you."
"Thank you sir," I offer a warm smile and he half way returns it. He notices my hand and the ring on it, "How long have you two been married?"
I laugh a little, running a hand through my hair, "About a year."
It sounds weird for me to say this aloud. Everyday with her was so easy. It felt like yesterday.
"Still in the honeymoon stage, huh?" He chuckles as well, "Y'all make a beautiful couple." The cashier announces his total and he pays, before turning back to me, "I hope you're happy."
"Nice talking to you, sir." he nods and heads for the door. I watch him, until he disappears through the double doors, and into the sea of the parking lot.
"Babe," Layne is suddenly back at my side, "Look--"
She realizes I'm not paying attention and follows my gaze. "That man looks a lot like your dad."
"Because he is."
"Seriously?"
"83.57," the cashier announces our total, "Cash or card."
"Card," I pay her, turning back to Layne, "Lunch?"
"Baby---"
I cut her off, "We can do that little cafe bistro you like?"
"K---"
I give her one look, telling her I don't want to talk about it, and she exhales, "That sounds good, Baby."
I push the cart back to the car while she rides on the front like a child. I stare at in her beauty, her hair fluttering in the wind.
"Stop giving me that gay ass look," she says, snapping me out of it.
"I wasn't even looking at you," I tease, "I was looking at that cute brunette over there. Ooo she thicc."
She turns to see, whipping her head so hard it cracks her neck. When she she's nobody matching my description she turns back to me, "You almost got a bitch cut."
I laugh as we arrive at our car and she storms to the passenger side, "Aren't you gonna help me?"
"Ask one of your little imaginary friends," she snipes.
I continue laughing as I load the car myself, returning the cart. By the time I get back into the car, Layne's cooled down a little.
"Hey," I brush a loose strand of hair from her face, "I'm leaving with you right?"
She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she's not upset with me anymore.
"You're very cute when you're jealous," I grab her hand, kissing it, "But you know you're the only one for me."
"I hate when you sweet talk like that," She smiles, "I'm gonna kiss you, but you aren't allowed to like it."
"Yes ma'am," I lean in, and we meet in the middle.
***
After our day together I'm exhausted and retreat to the bedroom. I grab one of my textbooks, trying to get in some reading before bed. With both of us in school again, days like today were few and far between. And I enjoyed every moment, but now it was time to handle business again.
Or so I tbink.
"Hey," Layne steps into the room, dressed in lingerie. She approaches the bed and finds her favorite position on my lap, putting my textbook to the side.
"Hey," I force a smile and she kisses me softly, then moves to my jawline, then my neck. She moves back to my lips, deepening the kisses. I drink her in, but still find myself distracted. After a minute of kissing she pulls away.
"What?"
She searches my gaze, "You're not feeling it?"
"No, I'm feeling it," I try to convince her. I attempt to kiss her again but she pulls away. Even when I try to play it off, she catches me still. "What's wrong?"
I automatically lie, "Nothing. Why?"
"Because I'm married to you, which means we're one person, which I know when my wife is fucked up, which means you're gonna stop lying to me about your feelings all the damn time. So let's try that again," she smiles, "What are you thinking about?"
When I remain silents she brushes her finger tips against my chin, guiding my face so that we're making eye contact. I used to think that brown eyes were just brown eyes until I looked into hers. Hers were so much more. They have the ability to scour my soul. There's not a lie I could tell her, that she wouldn't see right through. I'm completely bare to this woman. And it's terrifying, but I'm getting used to it.
"Kaylie Jane?" she asks me again, "Don't lie to me."
I succumb to her gaze and sigh, "My dad."
"And just like that my pussy has turned into the Saharan desert," she sighs, running her hand through her hair, "What's bothering you about it?"
"He said he hoped 'I was happy'," I pause, "It's been bothering me."
"Wow... Did he wish you good tidings too?" she teases me.
"This is why I didn't want to tell you---"
"Okay, okay," she apologizes, "I'm sorry."
I continue, "I wanted to tell him everything. About you. About Colorado. I missed him."
My dad and I weren't particularly close when I came out, but for a moment after my mom's death, it had been me and him against the world. Even when I started growing apart from him in high school, we still had our moments.
"What ever happened between you two?" she asks, "You never talk about about him."
"You already know I was fucked up after your attempt right? So when I heard you woke up, I was ecstatic. Then I got in that fight with Dil and it's like everything was coming down around me. I crashed my truck. My grades were dropping. When I got home I just came out to my dad and his wife," my eyes start to burn, even now, with years having passed, "They put me out on sight. I slept in the yard that night."
"That's how you ended up in California?"
"Yeah," I nod, "I was in and out of rehab up there a few months. Then Karry made me go to college. Got my shit together and changed my last name. Then I met Vin and the rest is history. But I still think about how fucked that was. I woke up and some of my stuff is on fire in the backyard. God it was awful the stuff they said to me."
"That's in the past," she reassures me, wrapping her arms around me, "You hadn't thought of him in years until today."
"I know," I say, "I have nightmares about it some times though. I still have to take sleeping pills sometimes to help me get to sleep. There's no way to remember my father without the trauma too. So I don't. But the pain is still there. It still hurts."
"I'm sorry baby," she runs her hands through my hair, kissing my forehead, "I don't think I can say anything."
"You don't have to," I exhale, "You already do so much for me. You've always worked better than any drug I've been given."
She smiles and kisses my cheek, "You're sweet when you aren't being satan, you know?"
"Mmhm," I steal a kiss from her lips, and she deepens it. She pulls away, "I love you, Kaylie Jane."
"I love you, Alayna Grace."
She kisses me again, this time much more hungrier.
"Layne," I moan, and she smirks.
"It's really sexy when you say my name," she whispers in my ear, "And I hope you don't think I put on all this lingerie to just talk to you."