Epilogue
Jess
“He’s almost here.” I was pacing my living room. Grace and Anders cuddled on my couch and were watching something on the TV. I was very surprised to come back from our time in the snow to find out my cousin had a new man and seemed quite devoted to him.
We spent ten days trapped in the cabin while we waited for the roads to be clear enough to drive down. Charles and I had to shovel our own small road so we could reach the main road. I didn’t want to leave, but we were running out of food and life still went on.
By the end of our trip, we had a plan. He would serve out his time in the military, just six months, and I would fly out to him every weekend until it was done. I hated it. I hated saying goodbye to him every Sunday. After ten years apart, anything that kept us away from each other seemed like torture.
“I can’t believe he’s almost here,” I said again. Grace had insisted they come over and keep me company today. I had wanted to fly out to meet Charles and then drive with him here, but he called yesterday to say that he was leaving a week early.
The moving truck pulled up just as the sun was setting and I flew out the door of my small house and down the walk as Charles got out of the truck. I ran towards him and jumped into his arms. Our lips met in a soul searing kiss, one that spoke of the time apart and promised a future together.
He was here.
He was finally home.
“Ahem,” a deep voice sounded from behind us.
“Anders, leave them alone. They’ve been separated for a long time,” Grace said. She was right, but I had forgotten all about them in my excitement to see Charles.
Seemingly reluctantly, Charles put me down. He didn’t let me go, though.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi, angel.” He didn’t lift his eyes from me.
“I’m Grace,” she said from behind me. “And this is my boyfriend, Anders.”
“Oh, shit, yes. Grace is my cousin. They came to meet you and help unload the truck. I cleared out the garage and we can just put everything in there for now.” I said when I remembered they were there. Seeing him here, home, had erased everything from my head and I’d completely forgotten that we still needed to unload his moving truck before the night was through.
“Sounds good to me,” Charles said. He tucked a hair behind my ear and then let me go so he could open the truck. I felt the loss, but reminded myself that I would get as much of him as I could stand and then some for the rest of our lives.
“Anders and you have a lot in common,” Grace said. “He also served in the Marines.”
The boys started talking about their time in service, comparing notes, and learned that they had been in boot camp together.
“Wait,” Charles said as he lifted a large box. “Williams was in your squad? That kid that blew up the mess?”
“Tink didn’t blow up the mess,” Anders said with a laugh as he grabbed another large box. There was definitely something to be said about big burly men moving things. Especially when one of those men could, and frequently did, lift me up for all kinds of naughty fun.
“Whatever you say, man,” Charles said as he and Anders made their way to the garage.
Grace and I helped direct their efforts and organized the garage as they brought the stuff in.
“I like Charles,” Grace said to me when the men were out of earshot. “More importantly, I like the way you are with him. Like you remembered you matter, too.”
I looked sideways at Grace when she said that. “Something you seem to experience yourself.” She blushed at my words, but they were true. She was different with Anders, confident and happy. It shamed me to think that I couldn’t do anything to help her before, but I was glad that she learned to help herself. I was also glad that her new life included me.
We finished quickly, and soon enough, it was just the two of us, Charles and I, in our new home.
“So, what do you think?” I asked when we were alone. We were standing outside the house and the sun was setting, lighting our home in golden tones. The flowers were in their last blooms, but they stayed around long enough to greet the newest resident of their home. I was proud of this place and the only thing that made it better was Charles finally being here.
“I think it’s time for bed.” He bent down, lifted me up, and carried me into the house and straight for the bedroom.
“Now, I think I owe you a fucking against the wall,” he said once I had shed my clothing. He lifted me up and, true to his word, he fucked me like I deserved.