A Little Faith

Feeling his wife's pelvis rock up invitingly, Larry positioned himself and slid inside her in a single slick movement. She was so wet he was fully sheathed in a second. The heat of her body wrapped around his cock like a glove was intensely pleasurable. For a few long moments he hardly dared to move for fear of coming too soon.

But she reached up and pulled him down for a deep kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist as she did so. Slowly they began to move together, their rhythm one of sweet familiarity borne of love.

When Larry felt her begin to climax, he thrust harder, wanting, needing to join her in her moment of bliss. As he came, he stared into Tina's eyes and felt the bonds that held them together strengthen immeasurably. It was as if they had renewed their marriage vows with this act of love.

Finally it was over, the aftershocks fading like ripples on a pond. They lay together on the crumpled sheets, entwined tightly. As Larry closed his eyes sleepily the picture of a rose bud entered his head, its dewy petals beginning to unfurl. He fell into blackness as a sense of deep calm enveloped him.

* * *

Larry dropped the plane tickets on the table and grinned. "Pack your bags honey—we're flying out tomorrow morning for two weeks in the sun."

Tina looked up from her newspaper in surprise. "What about the factory?"

"I've given the staff four extra day's holiday after New Year."

Marcia had nearly had a heart attack when he explained that yes, the extra time off was going to be paid.

"But...but...are you okay?"

Larry had scowled momentarily. For god's sake, couldn't the stupid woman just accept the extra holiday and be pleased like everybody else? Valiantly fighting his impulse to scream at her, he took a deep breath and forced a smile.

"Yes, Marcia, I'm fine. I just want to treat my lovely wife to a holiday she richly deserves."

Marcia relaxed and twisted the cheap ring around on the fourth finger of her left hand. "Aw that's sweet, Mr Evans." Then she sighed heavily and stared into space. "I wish Kevin would do something nice for me, like."

Having met Kevin once when he had turned up, drunk, to meet Marcia after work, Larry felt that Marcia had more chance of being abducted by aliens, but he decided not to voice his suspicions. "Have a lovely Christmas, Marcia, and I'll see you when I get back from my holiday."

"Thanks, Mr Evans." Marcia left his office and Larry saw the rest of the girls descend on her immediately, but for once he didn't yell at them for slacking in their work. Instead, he sat down and thought about how wonderful the holiday was going to be and how much better things were between him and Tina lately.

"Where are we going?" While he had been daydreaming, Tina had picked the tickets up and was just about to open the envelope. Larry realised just in time and snatched them off her.

"It's a surprise!" he laughed. "Just pack a few bikinis. You won't need much else..." He winked lewdly and she burst out laughing.

"Sounds good to me," she grinned. Still chuckling, she stood, and then grimaced slightly before rubbing her belly.

"What's up?" Larry asked with sudden alarm.

"Not sure," she said with a puzzled expression. "I've been feeling odd all week."

"Do you need to go to the doctors?"

"No, I'm not ill, I just feel...strange." She shrugged dismissively and wandered across the kitchen towards the kettle. "I'm sure it's nothing that two weeks lying in the sun won't cure."

Larry frowned as she pottered around emptying the dishwasher. He hoped she was right.

* * *

Soft music played while beyond the terrace the lanterns strung in the gently swaying palm trees twinkled like stars. Larry sipped his colourful cocktail and watched Tina's face as she sampled her dessert.

"Nice?"

"Mmm," she agreed eventually. She carefully dabbed a spot of chocolate from the edge of her lips and Larry grinned.

"Just as well I booked an all-inclusive resort," he commented. "You've eaten like a horse all week!"

"I know..." She laughed ruefully. "Must be the sea air giving me an appetite. I've certainly put on weight."

Larry touched her hand. "You look beautiful, darling." And he meant it. She was positively glowing this evening: her skin was a golden bronze colour and her hair had turned white blonde in the sun. She had never looked as sexy as she did now. He had to drag his eyes away from her quickly when he realised he was getting hard. It was like being a teenager all over again. She only had to touch him and he wanted her.

They had spent many long, languorous hours making love since their arrival last week. During the hottest part of the day, their unspoken routine was to retreat into the relative coolness of their air conditioned bungalow and make love before sleeping for an lazy hour. It was like being in paradise. Larry just wished they could stay forever.

"You okay?" When he finally dragged his thoughts away from images of Tina naked on the bed, Larry saw that she had turned pale beneath her tan.

"I'm just going to the ladies," she muttered with a frown. Dropping her napkin on the table she stood shakily.

Larry was about to say something when Tina began to fall towards him. He reacted without conscious thought and he managed to catch her limp body in his arms before she hit the edge of the table. Total panic assailed him as he dropped down on to the floor with Tina in his arms. Other guests had noticed and he was vaguely aware of murmurs and activity before two members of staff appeared at his side.

"My wife is sick," he heard himself say in a calm voice while inside every single possibility raced through his head. What was wrong with her? Tina had to be okay. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her now. He loved her too damned much.

* * *

"Mr Evans?"

Larry looked up from the magazine he had been pretending to read for the last hour. The smell of antiseptic was making him feel nauseous, but he ignored the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Is my wife going to be okay?" His voice wavered and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the hard plastic chair, hoping against hope that the news wasn't bad.

"You're wife is going to be fine, Mr Evans. She just fainted—nothing to worry about at all." The doctor smiled cheerfully. "In fact," he continued, "it's fairly common in the early stages of pregnancy."

Larry heard the words and thought for a moment he was dreaming. "She's pregnant?"

"Oh yes, Mr Evans, you're wife is about eight weeks pregnant."

"But she took a test and it was negative?" Larry was struggling to comprehend how this was possible.

The doctor shrugged. "Sometimes these things happen. Tests can give false negatives in the early stages, but I can assure you your wife is most definitely pregnant. Congratulations, Mr Evans!"

Larry felt like he had won the lottery as the tall man beamed at him.

"Oh yes," he added, "And Happy New Year!"

The doctor strode off down the corridor and Larry was left grinning like an idiot. The sound of fireworks outside signalled the beginning of another year and for the first time in a long time, Larry felt giddy hope lift him up as high as the trails of fire that blazed across the night sky.