A Family Torn

"I thought of just asking you and Lana to move in but I'm not going to have my daughter's parents living in sin," he responded with a smile. "Yes, Angela Hayden, will you marry me?"

She was so overwhelmed she almost forgot to answer. "Tom, I am so sorry for everything I put us through. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you and Lana. I..."

He couldn't wait any longer. "So is that a yes?"

"Oh—yes, of course it's a yes! Oh my God, yes, yes, yes!" Angela jumped from her chair and almost tackled her new fiancé.

He stood, took her in his arms, and for the first time in over two years, they shared a passionate kiss.

Angela wanted to consummate things before he changed his mind. She looked into his eyes and saw the love she thought she had lost forever. "You know that big bed of yours really needs to be broken in," she said in a seductive voice.

Tom glanced at his watch. "You have to pick up Lana at nine o'clock, hon. That barely gives us time to get our clothes off."

"Don't move," she told him, placing a peck on his lips. Angela hurried to her purse in the living room and took out her phone. "Hey mom, can you pick Lana up at the school in forty-five minutes? Yeah, she'll be coming out by the gym door. Yeah—hey, would I be pushing it by asking if she could stay the night? I'll tell you later but it's good news and it involves Tom...yeah," she said with a chuckle. "Thanks, mom. I'll talk to you later...yeah, bye...love you too, mom."

Angela threw her phone back into her purse and looked at her fiancé with a big grin. "Now, as you were saying..."

They both took off upstairs. She was in front of him as they neared the doorway to the master bedroom. "Hold it," Tom demanded.

Angela stopped and turned around to look at him warily. Tom approached, put his right arm around her back, his left arm behind her knees, and scooped her up. Without a word, he carried her over the threshold and set her down on the bed. His gallantry brought her back to their wedding night. She remembered how her heart pounded and swelled with love...just like it was at that moment.

Her eyes glistened with tears of joy. Tom reached down with a finger and gently wiped them away.

"I've never stopped loving you, Tom; not from the moment I first saw you stick up for Mary Ellen Hunter when they called her fat in high school. That's when you became my knight in shining armor."

"Mmmm, Lady Guinevere," he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.

"Yes, my Lord," she answered with a breathy voice.

"Shut up."

"Yes, my Lord."

Tom hadn't been a monk over the last couple of years. He'd had several dates that ended with erotic pleasures of the flesh but he'd never found anyone that was more than simply companionship or a good roll in the hey.

Angela gasped as she felt his touch. She closed her eyes and let the erogenous sensations carry her away to her own personal euphoria. Until that moment she hadn't realized how much she longed for the passion of this man's soul. Every touch, every little kiss, every sensual contact was charged with devotion.

The anger and pain that had plagued their relationship simply melted away with every stroke of his love. With her eyes closed tight, her head thrown back, and her body arched to meet each penetration, Angela gripped the surrounding sheets with all her might and screamed with rapture.

Still hard and not having come himself yet, Tom pulled out and waited before using his tongue to tease and manipulate her engorged clit.

"Oh my God," rung out again and again, until he slipped his love tool into her again. This time they came together.

It was several minutes before either could speak. Angela broke the erratic respiratory tempo of her breathing long enough to ask a question between gasps for air. "Tom, obviously we're going to live here. What'll we do with the other house?"

"Sell it. There's too many bad memories in that place for everyone. I want to start fresh...all of us. Lana will still go to the same school but she won't have to go home and be reminded of being molested every day and you won't have to be reminded of living with the man who did it—besides, my bed would never fit in the bedroom over there and I'll never sleep in that other bed again."

Angela realized that he didn't buy the house for himself, he bought it for them, all of them—his family. "I love you, my knight in shining armor."

Tom's grin was so wide it hurt his cheeks. "I love you too, Lady Guinevere."

The next morning they drove over in the same car to pick up Lana. Angela's mom waited all night to hear the news. Something good pertaining to Tom was all she got from her daughter the night before. Angela's parents and Lana were all sitting down for breakfast when she and Tom walked in wearing two very big smiles.

They were a little surprised to see Tom. "Hi, kids," Eileen greeted them. "Are you guys hungry? There's plenty, I'll make you some," she said, starting to get up.

Tom quickly spoke up. "You sit and enjoy your breakfast, mom. Honey, have a seat," he said, pulling a chair out for Angela. "I'll make us some eggs."

Angela's parents, along with Lana sat in stunned silence. Angela smiled as she looked at everyone's astonished faces. "Oh, didn't I tell you, we're getting married again."

Pandemonium broke out with yells and screams of happiness. Lana jumped up from her seat and hugged her mom with all her might then ran to her dad and did the same to him.

Angela's father broke out in a laugh. "I knew you guys couldn't stay mad forever, I just knew it!"

"Where are we going to live?" Lana asked.

"In your dad's house," her mother responded.

Lana replied with an enthusiastic, "Good."

*

It was a small wedding. Angela's father walked her down the aisle. Lana was her maid of honor.

Lana continued with therapy until she graduated high school. The new environment of college acted as continued therapy as she met new friends and found a guy she would eventually fall in love with and marry.

Although she never talked about it again, Angela would never fully forgive herself for not recognizing Dayton for what he really was, but thank God, Tom did. Their love only grew deeper.

The End.