A Chance and a Change

Andrew's brother proposed to his girlfriend and she said, yes, of course. Happiness can become its own self-feeding loop and I was happy.

We went next door and I was put firmly in the background as Susan and Kelsey decided to decorate Kelsey's home and they did it with fervor. It was fun. My Susan was all smiles and delight was in her eyes the whole time.

Love is a wonderful thing. Susan's delight while decorating fed my own happiness. I had forgotten how much being in love could simply make me happy being around the one I love. Susan and Kelsey were 'kid in the candy store' excited decorating for Christmas.

We spent the night together. I was almost out of bullets so I went down on Susan before managing one erection and one session of missionary sex before I spooned Susan.

My Susan.

It hit me. MY Susan.

She simply demanded to be spooned then put my hand firmly on her breast and drifted off, "I love you, Brian."

I kissed the back of her neck and then said, "I love you."

Holding MY Susan. Warm. Tender. Primal. Wonderful. Perfect.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Christmas was going to be hectic, my mom's sister, my aunt that I loved dearly was in town and was spending the night then heading out early to her other sister's place in the city. That meant it would be mid-morning by the time I got to see Susan.

I had early word from Susan's family that they were working on getting her her own home in Lake Chantrain and I was invited to participate. Life is odd and sometimes lucky. I'd had a job several weeks previous where I came into possession of some high-end cabinets. Some people with too much money were throwing away a five-year-old kitchen in favor of the flavor of the month. I put in my price that I got possession of the old cabinets and countertops and they had no objection. The cabinets were sitting in my warehouse under a tarp with the thought I was going to recondition them and resell them.

New plan: A gift for Susan for her new place. You say used and I say those cabinets cost eight times what ordinary kitchens do with unmatched quality not available to the masses. I was giving them to Susan for her new place.

My parents and I arrived at Kelsey's place along with Max at half past nine. Susan greeted me with her usual tonsil tickle. My mom smirked but said nothing. Susan gave me her gifts. Susan got me batteries for my tools and a detailing for my work van then I was ready for my big reveal.

She was a bit perplexed when I handed her a box and the only thing in the box was a picture of the pile of cabinets. I explained that they were extremely high-end cabinets I had taken out of a mansion and had even managed to save most of the granite. As I explained how special those cabinets were, Susan's smile grew until she simply came in for another intimate kiss and a sincere 'Thank You'.

Her bird buddy Carlos came by and gave her a complete DSLR camera setup then a neighbor lady came over and gave her a computer. It was more evidence of just how special Susan was. People all loved her and SHE WAS MINE!

Kelsey made this dish I had never heard of called Beef Wellington that she had learned from the neighbor lady. I damn near lost my mind when I learned it was two full filets and over twenty pounds of it at twenty-four dollars a pound on sale!

The night ended with Susan leaning up against me under the blanket again. She seemed to simply love zoning out daydreaming looking out the windows into the night and the lake.

We headed toward her room and made love once. We were exhausted but she wanted to be spooned as usual and it was a great way to end a perfect Christmas. The first good Christmas in over two years.

She was drifting off as she said, "I could lay here in your arms forever..."

I smiled. Forever was my plan.

Friday, December 28 2018

Susan and I had worked ceaselessly making plans for her home. Since I was good at both Autocad and Sketchup, I helped her in making layouts of how she wanted things. She had already selected another two office trailers to total three. We planned the layout and where to make the cuts in the side to minimize loss of structure. There was going to be A LOT of bracing needed. Eventually, I just told her She was going to need to run a beam lengthwise between two of the trailers to keep everything supported. She shrugged and asked, "You can do that right?"

The answer was 'Kind of', but I had friends who owed me favors and I knew one who did know what to do.

When it was all over, Susan received hugs and kisses and I realized I was now going to be a nudist too. There was no way Susan was ever leaving Lake Chantrain and inside my place was a very special ring I hoped she would accept.

Once back, I showed everyone my mockups of what Susan's place would look like and they all loved it. The night... Yeah, I spent it with Susan.

Monday, December 31, 2018

I had quietly contacted... well everyone with my plan. I was going big on the proposal and doing it right at the New Year. I thought it appropriate: New year, new life with Susan.

She was working that evening until nine and she loved that I was always willing to pick her up. I loved her practical side. I used my van for everything and did not even have a car. She had no problem with being picked up in my van and even told me my van represented who I am and she loved who I was. Yeah, that felt damn good. As per usual, she wanted me to spend the night with her.

I have to admit I was nervous about asking her to marry me even though she was dropping pretty much nonstop hints.

When we arrived, everyone was there including my parents, Carlos, Hans, and the entire Abrams clan. It was a quarter until ten when we got there. The party was mostly social and light years from wild. Hans, my father, and David talked Giants. The women gathered in a group then split up and wandered. Susan split her time between me and Carlos who was the social center as a DJ during the summer, but was very different when he was not the DJ and Hans was obsessing about the Giants. Yes, they really did talk about the mundane and mostly about birds. Carlos was no threat.

The countdown was actually a YouTube feed from Bar Harbor, Maine. It looked like a great place to visit. IN JULY!

Well, here goes nothing. I had crafted a wooden ring box from Zebra Wood and then had inlaid it with silver letters that said, 'LOVE' on the top and 'BRIAN AND SUSAN' on the front of the top. At five minutes until midnight I checked my pocket for the final time for the ring box: Check!

The countdown began

10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5!

I fetched the box.

4! 3! 2!

I held my breath then...

1!

Presented the box, "Susan..."

I did not finish the sentence. She tackled me and I fell on my ass then she smothered me with kisses and YES!

*******

From hopeless to hope.

All I can say is.

Believe!

*******

Five years on, I ran into my ex-father-in-law William at the Sparta Township town hall where I was helping my client file for a building permit. We talked briefly. No reason to be rude. He had kept his bargain as had I.

Our eyes met and I smiled then excused myself as my client filled out some forms, "Hello William."

William smiled only slightly but was polite, "Hello Brian, Good to see you... You look well."

I nodded, "It took a while."

He nodded, "I apologize on behalf of my family. For what it is worth, my foolish daughter has a taste of what being a single mom is like with a rambunctious five-year-old."

I shrugged, "I'm good now. Not my monkeys, not my circus."

He chuckled, "Brittany tried to get us to do babysitting every weekend so she could go out. I believe in consequences so she gets a free night once a month. I wanted grandkids and I love my grandson, but I did not want him like this. She seems shocked that being a parent to a small child is a full-time job. My wife watches him Monday through Friday during work, but she gets one weekend night a month."

He rolled his eyes and said with dripping sarcasm, "So sad she has no time to herself because she has no help from one of those things... What do they call them? Right... a husband, one who has a half interest in your kid so you might occasionally be able to hand the kid over to him and escape being a mom 24/7."

He sighed heavily, "Trading in a husband for platitudes from a womanizer. Foolish. I had to get my lawyers on his worthless ass four times a year for the child support for the first four years. I had to haul him into court sixteen times for him to stop the bullshit. The odd thing is that we are aware kids need their fathers and we would not stop him from seeing him, but he won't. Worthless bastard. Being a grandfather and a substitute father is exhausting."

I nodded and even felt the tiniest twinge of sympathy for Brittany. I knew I had truly healed when I realized I no longer took happiness from unhappiness for her. Susan was mine, and she let me know it every and I mean *EVERY!* day. She loved me and told me a dozen times a day and all she wanted in return was the same thing she was giving me. I was blessed beyond anything I could imagine. I gave her every bit of myself and she returned it with every bit of herself to me. Our businesses did well. We had a woodworking YouTube channel with seven hundred thousand subs, the places we have seen, our positions in our community... The word 'blessed' barely covered it.

Life was awesome!

Wow. Seven years ago, I saw the world through hopeless eyes.

We shook hands.

He chuckled and looked at me oddly, "I hope you did okay when the police came questioning you about the attack on Ty. That is quite a limp he has on his right leg. I read that his attackers smashed his ankle and knee...

"*SIXTEEN*"

"times until they were pulp."

He nodded and looked me in the eyes. If eyes could smirk, his eyes were smirking. He had the world's most false tone of innocence as he said, "A lot of people don't like him including several other husbands."

He gave a very deliberate and very long pause then met my eyes with startling intensity, "...and he really should pay his child support on time."

He held my gaze and smirked. I said nothing, but I noted he had said 'sixteen' with emphasis; the number of times William had to haul Ty into court.

He shrugged, "I didn't do it. I was at a sports bar at the time watching the Yankees and I had witnesses."

He smirked again and I said nothing... again.

I said, "I was at a bar with my wife listening to music when the attack happened and had twenty witnesses so I was quickly cleared."

He nodded and said, "Yes, Raguso's is a nice place... isn't it? Say hello to Susan for me. She did very well marrying you. You are a class act."

WHAT!? HOW!!!? How did he know!!!?

Then I realized William really did have eyes everywhere.

I was standing there like a dumbass. He smirked, "I heard that the project for Max Morrison's home was very profitable for you. I wonder who recommended you... Oh, don't worry about Mr. Model returning. He has other things to worry about now. Goodbye, *SON*"

He muttered barely audible, "He really should pay his child support on time. Funny coincidence... Maybe someone has a cousin who works at the docks in New Jersey."

He paused, smiled a huge faux innocent smile then walked away.

*******

Author's notes:

If you missed it or are one of the readers from another country. Rumor has it the Italian Mafia still run the docks in New Jersey. I have no idea if it is true and I don't go around looking for possible members of the Mafia. In my fictional world, they do.

I actually know Richard Head (He isn't a cabinetmaker and yes, he has heard the joke 90908908234 times and goes by Richard, not Dick.) I also know Jack Frost and Jimmy Hendricks. (Not spelled with an X at the end like the famous guy.)

When Brian was young in 2001-2002, AOL was still a big thing and newspapers were still very popular. The world was very different in 2001-2002 so keep that in mind.

Who is Mr. Model...? Heh. It will be quite a while. These three stories took me almost six MONTHS and the future snippet is five years on... I sincerely hope you enjoy these characters and they have become special to me.

Cheers!

Tomh1966