Five years later...
"Pip me up, Dada!" Daisy launches her tiny body onto my legs, squealing with delight. I swoop down and grab her, hoisting her above my head amid a rash of giggles, the sun lighting up her bouncy curls.
"Ah my little Daisy-Maisy, time to go..." I deftly flip her upside down, my hands firmly wrapped around her pudgy thighs.
"Eee! No Dada!" Her laughter is as golden as the sun above.
"...upside down!" I swing her back and forth like a pendulum a few times, then scoop her back upright and plant her on my shoulders. This two-year-old loves to be tossed around, a regular tomboy if there ever was one. I guess she takes after her brother. Glancing to the house, I spot Delilah as she walks toward me, a juice box in one hand and a beer in the other, a round belly housing the next addition to the Coury family. Zann tugs on Daisy's leg, eliciting a new round of giggles.
"Hey, princess." He blows a raspberry on her leg.
"What are the boys up to?" I turn to look across the yard at JJ and Zann's boy Ian.
He shrugs, taking my beer from Delilah and quaffing a huge sip. "Wrestling on the grass as always. Last I saw, your mini MMA man had mine in a headlock. A damned good one, too." Sure enough, JJ is ordering Ian to declare "uncle." Both of their faces are beet red and their once clean shorts and T-shirts will put our laundry detergent to the test. They pop up like jack-in-the-boxes laughing like fools, betting who can be the first to get to the treasure trove of juice boxes stashed in the cooler on the patio. Jonathan James Coury is a whirlwind for a four-year-old. He landed a pair of genes that make him the walking, talking image of both his namesake, John, and me as boys. God help us as he gets older.
"Babe?" Delilah plants a kiss on my cheek. Lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear a word she said. I remove my daughter from my shoulders, planting her on my hip.
"What was that, D-doll?" Her face is flushed from the warm summer day. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, just hot. I said we should feed these little terrors. With any luck Little Miss here will take a nap."
Daisy frowns, her lips curling into a perfect pout. "No nap. Play. Wanna play wiff JJ." If there's anything Daisy loves, it's her big brother. It's surprisingly reciprocal, and I have to wonder how long that will last before he considers her nothing more than a pint-size pest. Grinning, she points at JJ, who hands her a tortilla chip.
In a display of surprising maturity for a four-year-old, JJ lays down the law with a fake frown I suspect he learned from me. "Daisy-Poo, I can't play with you if you don't take a good nap. You'll get too tired and we won't have any fun a-cuz you'll be grumpy."
"M'kay. Widdle nap. Like two minutes." She emphasizes that by holding up all ten fingers. I hope her math skills improve with age. To Daisy, each hand represents a minute. Then again, maybe she's onto something.
"Right. Two minutes." JJ agrees because we all know once Daisy konks out we have at least an hour's reprieve, no matter what. Usually longer. "If you go right to sleep, I'll read you a book when you get up." Used car salesman in the making, that one.
"Frecka and the Poody Fackry?" She lights up at the possibility of her brother "reading" "Freckles and the Pudding Factory" for the zillionth time. JJ, who cannot read more than a few words, has most of the story memorized, but ad libs where necessary.
A half-hour later, Daisy is indeed dead to the world, while JJ and Ian cool off in the living room watching a movie. That leaves D-doll, me, Zann, and Lisa to relax on the patio as the sun lowers in the sky. The gate to the back yard creaks open, then slams shut, and Ryan strides around the corner, taking in the disaster sprawled on the grass thanks to the kids. Based on the array of toys strewn about you'd think we were running a preschool.
"Whoa. Tornado swipe through here? It looks like a toy store threw up. Where are my favorite monsters?" He snags a beer from the cooler and plops down in a chair next to Delilah, pasting a sloppy kiss on her cheek with a loud "mwah," making her wince.
"Tranquilizer darts," I say. "A must-have for every parent of toddlers."
"Ah. Princess Daisy is napping and the boys from hell are watching a movie." He places a hand on my wife's tummy. "How's number three coming along?" I swat it off her.
"Get your hands off my wife, sleaze-o. Who knows where they've been? I can't risk you giving her cooties." Yeah, I'm a little over-protective. So what?
He chortles. "The way you're popping 'em out you don't need my help giving anything to your wife." Ryan's teasing has no boundaries. "How many more little brats are you going to make her push out?"
I pick up a squirt gun and shoot him in the face. "Asshole."
After the laughter dies down, Delilah says what we're all wondering. "Where is she?" No one can stand Ryan's on-again, off-again girlfriend. Well, girlfriend is being generous. More like a five-year-long hookup. At least he has the good sense not to bring her around much.
"Roxanne and I are done."
I snort. "For how long this time?" Delilah and I have a hard time in her company after what went down years ago at that Caribbean sex resort. After Zann's engagement party, where it all blew up in my face, Roxanne made a few feeble attempts to regain my interest until she settled on Ryan.
He clears his throat and shuffles awkwardly in his seat. "Uh, she's moving to New York with her new guy. I haven't seen her in a few months." Huh, that's news. He glances up sheepishly. "I...I'm kinda seeing someone else. I wanted to bring her today, but I figured I'd better talk to you guys first."
Zann and I exchange looks. "You need to prep us before we meet one of your hookups?" Zann says what we're all thinking. Between rounds with Roxanne, Ryan has a stable of girls he messes around with. None of them are "bring home to the family and friends" girls either.
Ryan runs a hand down his face, swigs his beer and glares at the four of us. "That's the thing. Sherry isn't a hookup. She's the reason I ditched Roxie." You could hear a pin drop out here. Finally Delilah manages to find her words.
"Are you saying that Ryan Melendez is in a real relationship with a decent girl?"
"Uh, yeah. Sherry's the real thing."
"And...?" All four of us prod him simultaneously, leaning in as if that'll make him supply the details faster.
"Geez, put me on the hot seat, why don't ya. This is why I wanted to tell you first."
"Smart move. Now spill it," Lisa demands, waving her index finger at Ryan. "All of it. I don't want to have to ask follow up questions, you hear?"
"Fine. Damned tough crowd...We met at the movie theater. I had a date with Rox..."
"Oh, this ought to be good." I snort and roll my eyes.
"Shut the fuck up, JD." I hold out my hands. "I was waiting for Rox. She calls and says she's hung up and can't meet me. The movie was about to start and I was pissed. It wasn't the first time she canceled last minute. I was about to walk out when I saw this gorgeous brunette talking on her phone. Apparently her boyfriend was ditching her, too. She was in tears trying not to yell, but giving him the what-for. Guess he was a repeat offender too. Once she hung up, I approached her and we chatted. Then we decided to see the movie together, which led to dinner, which led to dates every night for the next two weeks. She's an ER nurse at Cedars."
We all stare at him.
"Sherry is...uh, might be...the one."
We all start talking at once until Lisa lets out an ear-splitting whistle. "Dude, go get that girl and bring here back here. This we gotta see."
****
"C'mere, Mama." I hold up the covers and gesture for Delilah to climb in next to me. She looks tired. "Busy day, huh babe?" It's coming up on eleven o'clock. Once we got the kids bathed and tucked in, then cleaned up the kitchen, we were both ready to hit the sack. She scoots in close to me and I wrap my arms around her.
"It was fun, but exhausting. I'm happy for Ryan." She snuggles closer and I run my fingers through her hair.
"About time he gets serious and puts the playboy on a shelf. Sherry is great for him, I think. Did you see how he watched her every move?"
"Oh yeah. He doted on that woman. I half expected him to feed grapes to her." That makes us laugh. "He's gonna put a ring on that one."
"Yeah. He is."
"Babe?"
"Yeah D-doll?" Her hand wanders down my chest, cupping my erection. Every damned night for five years. I can't get enough of her.
"Quickie? Cuz I'm wiped."
Fortunately neither one of us wore anything to bed. I pull D on top of me and slide between her wet lips with a groan. As she starts rocking, I press my thumb against her clit and work my magic. Before long, we're both stifling the shouts that could wake up one of the kids.
"Quick enough for you, D?" I lift her off, smacking her ripe ass, and go in search of a cloth.
"Yeah, quick but as amazing as always." She yawns, fully relaxed now, and settles back into my arms.
"I love you, D-doll. Always."
"Hmm," she mutters against my chest. "Me too. Love you crazy." Her words make me smile, a warmth glowing in my chest.
Within a few minutes, she's asleep. I'm tired too, but my mind is swirling with thoughts. I'm so grateful to the universe for Delilah, JJ and Daisy. I think back to the last year I sat in an Afghanistan sand pit pining for John's woman and blowing shit up. Seems like a lifetime ago.
To this day, five years later, I can't believe Delilah is my wife. I also can't believe my brother is gone. Most days I take a moment to thank him for his permission to marry his wife. I can't imagine how it felt to write those words, but I'm damned glad he did. On occasion, I have a dream in which he tells me he's been watching us and is proud of me and our family. I sure as hell hope so. Tomorrow's the anniversary of his death. D and I go every year to place flowers and talk to him.
He won't ever be forgotten.
THE END
****
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***I'd like to thank James from www.goonwrite.com for the cover to "Delilah's Tears."