Chapter 13 #2
“Well, after sleeping through the night last night, she’s taken two naps already today and it’s barely one in the afternoon. I think she’s making up for lost sleep all these months.”
I watch as Duck’s face grows dark for a moment, but then she returns to being happy. “She finally slept through the night?”
“Yeah. I think both of you’ve turned the corner. That’s good, right?”
Duck nods. “It is. Let’s go stare at her while she sleeps like we used to when she was first home.”
We hold hands and walk together to Lily’s nursery to watch her sleep like newbie parents. She’s the most beautiful miracle, and even now, I can’t believe Duck and I created a whole person.
“Do you know I’ve been jealous of you for months?” Duck whispers.
Confused, I turn to look at her and see she’s actually serious. “About what?”
She points at our daughter. “At how great you’ve been at being a father. I felt like I was failing at being her mother, and seeing you do so well bothered me so much. I know now that was because of what I was dealing with. I just want you to know that I love that you’re such a good dad, Marius.”
When she puts her head on my shoulder and we return to watching Lily sleep, all is right with my world. I’m so happy, I say, “Hey, if your parents want to add people to the guest list, I’m fine with that.”
And just like her old self, Duck says, “Absolutely not. I don’t want my wedding to be a circus. We’re capping it at one hundred and fifty. If she doesn’t like that, she can complain to my father. It’s his job to listen to her anyway.”
Is anyone amazed why I love my wife so much?
We watch Lily for a few minutes more before I lean over and whisper to Duck, “Hey, what do you think about us celebrating tonight?”
She turns to face me and shrugs. “I’m not really in the mood for going out. I’d rather just stay home since I missed you so much.”
I smile and shake my head before taking her by the hand. Pulling her toward the hallway, I say, “I was thinking more of celebrating right here in our own bedroom.”
Behind me, she says, “Oh, well, if that’s the case, I’m in!”
Duck runs past me into the bedroom and throws herself onto the bed. She seems so different tonight. Like the woman I fell in love with and not the person who seemed so miserable for far too long.
Lying on her back, she smiles up at me as I hover over her. “I like feeling like myself again.”
I dip my head to kiss her on the lips, loving the feel of her mouth against mine. “I like you feeling happy again. I hated seeing you unhappy and not knowing what to do to fix it.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down onto her. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know what was wrong. I never thought it could be postpartum depression.”
“Well, if you ever get to feeling bad again, promise me we’ll talk about things. I don’t want you to be unhappy ever, Eden.”
Her eyes get big, even as she grins. “Uh oh, it must be serious. You called me by my given name.”
“It is serious. I don’t want my wife to go through life feeling bad. You know, it reflects badly on me. People probably thought it was because you had a terrible husband. I can’t have that, now can I?”
She slides her hand inside my pants and gently palms my cock. “No, we can’t have that. Imagine what people would say.”
I don’t actually give a single fuck what people think of me. Well, except Duck and my family, but especially her. The rest of the world doesn’t matter as long as my wife is happy. Now that I know what’s been going on, we can get back to me making sure she stays that way for the rest of her life.
“Whatever they think, all that I care about is you never regretting marrying me, Duck.”
She stops stroking my cock and stares up at me in what looks like a mixture of surprise and horror.
“Marius, I’ve never regretted marrying you.
I love you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
What we have means the world to me. I would never want you to think I could regret what we are. ”
This is the woman I fell head over heels in love with in Vegas.
My Duck, so full of life and opinions, a soul to be reckoned with who I’ve never once wished would be anything but who she naturally is.
Other men may prefer a wife who doesn’t fight them on a single thing. They can have those shrinking violets.
Give me a woman who knows her mind and isn’t afraid to say what she’s thinking any day.
I kiss her hard, my tongue playfully teasing hers as I fumble around to strip her naked. Having her happy again has made me want to show her how much I missed her, so I hurriedly make sure the two of us are nude as fast as I can.
“We have all night,” she says with a giggle. “No need to rush.”
Stopping when I toss my pants onto the floor, I shake my head. “That may be a little to optimistic, you know. Lily may have slept through the night last night, but I’m not sure it’s going to be an every night thing. A man has to strike while the iron’s hot.”
I’m rock hard, and she’s soaking wet, so we’re clearly both eager to get back to the way we used to be before Lily came on the scene. Duck opens her long legs wide, and I slide into her, loving how her body feels around me.
“God, I’ve missed this,” I moan in her ear.
“We’ve had sex since Lily, Marius.”
I lift my head and sigh. “Not when you were happy. You’re a different person when you’re happy, Duck.”
She twists her face into a grimace that makes me instantly regret saying that. Thankfully, she says, “I’m sorry I didn’t know what was going on. That wasn’t fair to you.”
Slowly, I slide in and out of her as I whisper, “It’s not about being fair to me. I just want you to be happy. That’s all that’s ever mattered to me.”
That makes her smile, and she cradles my face in her hands before kissing me. “I am happy, baby. Actually, this feels better than it has in a while. You might be onto something with that happy Eden being a different person.”
“I love that person most,” I say before pressing my lips to hers in a kiss that threatens to consume us.
This is the kind of couple we are. Passionate. Intense. But most of all, we’re two people who’re crazy about each other.
We make love like we haven’t in months, and the whole time we talk and laugh, just like it’s meant to be between two people who can’t imagine being with anyone else.
She rakes her long nails down my back and comes harder than she has in far too long.
Watching her get off is all it takes, and a few moments later, I come until I’m exhausted.
We lie there in each other’s arms and talk about how great it is to be happy again. For me, I’m not just happy but relieved. I’m sad to admit I thought more than once that because of all Duck went through being pregnant with Lily that maybe she might never be the same person she was again.
Now I know she was fighting against something I didn’t know could be attacking her. We can get back to being Marius and Duck once more, and I couldn’t be happier.
As the two of us drift off to sleep, she whispers, “I’m going to talk to my mother tomorrow. I have to get a few things straight with her.”
I smile and let out a sigh of relief. My Duck is back.
And she’s better than she’s ever been.