Ann: The Married Years Ch. 10

© 2015, All rights reserved - mimaster

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Neil stood next to the bed, admiring his incredible wife as she lay sleeping. It was already close to nine on a picture-perfect Saturday morning in late July, but he'd let her sleep in, wanting to get things ready for their day ahead. It was hard not to be captured by her beauty, and it took all of his willpower not to peel down the silk sheet covering her, knowing her sexy naked body was underneath.

Ann roused as she sensed her husband staring at her. Blinking as she woke up more fully, she took a moment to focus. She was drawn to his face, his brilliant blue eyes smiling at her. Her own eyes gazed at him, the definition of his muscled bare chest and hard abdomen practically popping out. She stole a glance at his crotch, her heart fluttering from the thought of the package that was hidden behind his sexy black boxers.

"Happy birthday, babe," he said with a bright grin, a different present in his hand.

How quickly her demeanor changed. The sight of what he was holding made her recoil; his greeting creating a reaction even she couldn't have anticipated just seconds before.

"AGGGHHHH!" she yelled out, her fists clenched underneath the sheets as she shook her head back and forth like an angry little girl. She'd become agitated, which oddly made him laugh. "Stop it!" she snapped.

"Come on. You can't be serious. Are you really going to let this bother you?"

"Yes," she said, her arms folding in defiance, a pout on her angelic face.

He couldn't help but smile because she looked so adorable lying there. He kept waiting for her to hold her breath in hope of getting her way. It was a childish reaction, but he'd seen it coming for weeks.

"Anna, this is silly. Open your present."

"NO!" she barked.

"You're going to like it."

"I don't care. I told you, I will NOT celebrate this!"

"Jeez you can be stubborn. Okay, I guess I'll just take it back, then."

Her eyes shifted back and forth between his face and the shiny package he was holding. She was checking his expression while thinking of what might be inside. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved when he bought her things, even though in this case she told him absolutely not to.

Caving to her inner desires, she sat up, her bare breasts coming into his view as she reached toward it. "Well... if you went to all that trouble -"

"It's no trouble to take it back," he grinned, pulling the perfectly wrapped box back from her reach.

She became exasperated, hating that he was teasing her like he was. Yes, it was silly. Yes, she was being stubborn. But she couldn't help it. It was how she honestly felt.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE THIRTY!" she screamed as she fell back onto the mattress.

He knew he'd pushed too far, and he felt bad about it. Sitting on the bed next to her, he leaned down and gave her a long, sexy kiss. Her mood instantly improved. It was too hard to be mad when she had such a wonderful husband. The fact that he was sexy and shirtless made her melt; her mouth parted slightly for his tongue to slip past her lips.

When he broke away, she almost got lost in his piercing blue eyes. Then he whispered, "What did I tell you when it happened to me last year, babe?"

She thought about how he'd reacted to his milestone birthday the previous October, and how he'd handled it so much better than she was. Her voice deepened, her speech pattern becoming rather juvenile as she repeated his words. "I have two choices. Turning thirty or not turning thirty... so I should just accept it."

"It's a lot easier to embrace life that to fight it, Anna. You're an amazing, smart, sexy woman... just like you were yesterday."

"But I don't want to be thirty!" she moaned, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Then you're not thirty. You're twenty-nine and twelve months," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you," she sighed. "Now, can I have my present?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She'd started moping a few weeks prior to her actual birthday, not long after the self-absorbed 'lesbian day' she'd set up. Neil couldn't put his finger on the reason for her bad mood at first. She wasn't sick, and it was way too soon for it to be a result of PMS. She didn't seem to be under any stress. Hell, they hadn't had an argument in months. The closest thing to a disagreement was the day she'd orchestrated her lesbian adventure. She'd professed to be Anna Renee that day, so he'd 'punished' her for it. But that was more contrived than it was real; he'd used it as motivation, spanking her and reclaiming her as his after she'd spent the day in the company of nearly a half-dozen women.

He struggled to figure out what was going on. It was obvious that something was bothering her. She was quieter; less jovial. She hadn't been eating well. It seemed like she was sleeping more, although it was hard for him to tell because he'd been on third shift. Regardless, she certainly appeared to be more tired than usual. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was something on her mind.

It hadn't affected their relationship, at least outwardly. She was still cordial to others, quick to flash her megawatt smile. She'd been outside around the house often, spending time either in the yard tending to the flowers in her beautiful landscaping, or tanning on the deck. She was also still making her phone calls to friends either on the West Coast or in Indiana while he was sleeping his odd hours. Even their sex life was normal, which for them meant that it was practically every day, and it was as inventive as ever.

But there was definitely something amiss.

His first real clue came when he innocently asked her what she'd like for her birthday the week before. He'd wanted to plan something special for her, since it was going to be what he'd thought at the time as big, fun birthday. He'd been wracking his brain trying to come up with something, but he also wanted to know if she had anything in mind. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin her day. Little did he know that she would become upset with him just for bringing up the subject.

"What do you mean you don't want anything?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"I mean... I don't want anything," she said rather gruffly, turning her head away from him and back to the magazine she was reading in hopes of ending the conversation.

"So you don't want me to buy you anything for your birthday?"

"That's what I said."

He sat there for a moment, contemplating whether to say anything else or not. He could tell she wasn't happy, and while he was sure her mood wasn't caused by anything he'd done, he couldn't help but get that impression.

"Ann, did I do something?"

"No," she said curtly, flipping the page to look like she was intently reading, even though she'd stopped the moment he asked the first question.

"Funny, it sure feels like it."

"Well you didn't, so let it drop."

"Okay, okay. I won't bother you. I'll just figure out what to get you on my own... no big deal. I should have done that to begin with. I don't know what I was thinking bothering to ask you."

"I told you, Neil... I DON'T WANT ANYTHING!"

He put up his hands, walking away. It was totally out of character for her to act like she was, but he wasn't going to sit around and take the brunt of her sudden burst of anger. Instead he went back to the bedroom and turned on a ballgame on the TV there.

Lying on the bed, his back to the door, he sulked, now in a bad mood himself. "What the fuck was that all about?" he wondered.

She said she was sorry an hour later, telling him she had a lot on her mind lately. She didn't offer any more details than that, and he was so miffed at that point he didn't care to ask for them. He accepted her apology, and turned back to the TV, much like she had returned to her book, looking for the conversation to just go away.

"Do you want to make up?" she asked.

He knew what she meant. It hadn't gotten to the point that she was Anna Renee and she was looking to be disciplined. That rarely happened anyway. But she was just feeling bad about how she'd snapped, and she wanted to make him happy. And that almost always meant some kind of sex.

But his heart wasn't in it at the moment. He was still stinging from the way she had snapped at him.

"Not really," he said honestly, surprised the words actually came out of his mouth.

"You d... don't?" came her shocked reply, her voice cracking.

Turning to look again, he gave her a nasty stare. "Really? You bite my head off for asking what you'd like for a present, and then you won't tell me why. And now you want to just fuck that away... is that it? We fuck and it never happened?"

"I said I was sorry, Neil."

"Do you mind telling why?"

"Why I'm sorry?"

"No, Ann. Why that happened. What the hell did I do that pissed you off?"

"Nothing... I told you, I've just got stuff on my mind, that's all."

"No offense, but when the stuff on your mind makes you act like an irrational bitch toward me, I find it very unattractive."

She started to cry, which he knew would happen as soon as he inferred that she was being a bitch. He hated himself the second he went over that line in his head. But just like her, he was now saying things without thinking them through, and damage was happening.

"I'm sorry Ann. You're not a bitch."

"Maybe not... but I did act like one," she sniffed. He gave her a look, and she knew at that moment what he was telling her, especially when he turned off the television. Her tears resumed as she crawled up on the bed, burying herself in his arms. He held her for the longest time, stroking her hair as she cried; her head resting on is broad shoulders.

He didn't offer her words, saying anything about how everything would be okay. He had no idea what was wrong, so finding comforting things to say was rather foolish. Instead he just held her, waiting out the storm that had been raging inside her.

She felt his heart beating, the steady rhythm calming her. He was her rock, always there, always seeming to know exactly what to say or do to make her feel better. Even though she was guilt ridden for lashing out at him, she could feel his love. She moaned, loving how she felt safe and warm in his big strong arms. It was such a paradox. She hated what she'd done, but she loved where she was at the moment; almost making it seem worth it to make him upset so she could feel that closeness.

"Why do I do this all the time?" she questioned in her mind, a deep sigh accompanying her moment of reflection.

His hand stroked down her lower back, drawing her in closer. She felt so small, sitting inside his parted legs, curled up like a frightened kitten. The way his large frame covered hers, it was hard not to feel secure. He was sheltering her from whatever it was that was troubling her; it was just like him to take on some unseen force and protect her from it, even when it was something stupid and unfounded like her angst about getting older.

It wasn't the older part that bothered her, really. It was more about the number. She was about to be thirty, and that wasn't something she was taking gracefully like he had. She just didn't know how to tell him. But she knew she had to.

Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath, summoning the courage to tell him something that she knew was absurd.

"I suppose we should talk," she finally admitted.

"I can keep holding you if you like," he offered, wanting her to know that he was open to whatever she needed from him at the moment.

Shifting back, her crooked smile let him know she was ready to get whatever it was that was bothering her out in the open. She took his hands in hers, facing him as she folded her legs underneath her. "I'm sorry, Neil."

"You've said that. And you're forgiven. Now what's bothering you?"

"Okay, I'm going to tell you. But don't judge me, and do not tell me that it's stupid, even though it is."

"Uh... okay."

"I don't want to celebrate my birthday."

"I'm sorry... what?"

"I don't want to celebrate it."

"I got that message when you said you didn't want a present. But why?"

"I don't... I don't want to be thirty," she said as she stared at the mattress between them, her voice quiet and reserved. He let out a little snicker, unable to contain his smile. She peered up at him, her eyes wanting to well up again. "Don't make fun of me, Neil."

"Aw, Ann. I'm not making fun. But you have to admit..."

"I already told you it was stupid. But that's how I feel. I'm really depressed about it."

Depressed? He never considered it being something so serious. His mind flashed back to how he'd reacted to his impending divorce, comparing what he'd been through to how Ann had been acting. A lot of the same signs were there. Excessive sleeping, irritability, the lack of appetite, irrational bursts of anger. It was all there. And while the subject may have seemed rather trivial to him, there was no arguing how she was reacting to the prospect of the first digit in her age changing from a two to a three.

Squeezing her hands, he softened his stance, worried that this was going to become something much bigger. "I'm sorry, babe. I never would have dreamed you'd be so upset. I... I'm not sure what to say."

"There's nothing to say. I just have to deal with it. But I don't want to celebrate getting older, I know that."

"What's bothering you about it?"

"Well, duh... the getting old part!"

"Okay, you don't have to get snippy."

"Sorry," she said with a pout, her eyes falling back to the mattress.

"Do you realize how incredible you are?"

"Don't try to talk me into being okay with this. I'm never going to be okay with being thirty."

"How about thirty-one?" he asked.

"What?"

"Is it the number, or is it really about getting older?"

"It's being thirty, Neil. I just feel like my life is half over already. I love being in my twenties. It sounds so much better than being in my thirties." She even cringed when she said it, her body visibly shaking like she had something awful crawling on her skin.

"Well, I don't know what to say to that, other than I'm not going to love you less because you turn thirty. I'm going to love you more."

"Why would you love me more?"

"Ann, we've been together a little over two years, and -"

"No we haven't."

"I said together, Ann. It was two years in June."

"Oh... sorry. I thought you said married."

"Please listen to me babe. I know you're upset, but I meant what I said. I'm only going to love you more."

"Why?"

"Well first of all, I need to say that you're life isn't half over. You're going to around a lot longer than that."

"Fine... whatever you say," she grumbled.

He lifted her chin, their eyes meeting, and he smiled. "Ann, these have been the best two years of my life. I look at you, and I think about who we were when we first met in high school, and then I see the woman in front of me now. We've both said we never would have made it if we hooked up in high school like a lot of our friends did, right?"

"Yeah."

"And that's because we weren't mature enough. We hadn't grown up yet. We got older and wiser, and then fate brought us together. That's our story. That's who we are together."

"I know all of that, baby. What's your point?"

"I look into those big, beautiful brown eyes of yours and I see how amazing, and sexy, and adventurous and... and how loving you are. I see how you've changed and grown. And I'm not talking about since high school. I'm talking about just in the last two years, since we've been together. You're the most incredible woman I've ever met, Ann. I'm going to love you more, because I know in my heart that you're only going to become sexier and hotter than you are now."

She actually smiled and said, "And what makes you say that?"

"When I think of how you spent your twenties becoming the woman you are today, I can't wait to spend all of our thirties with you, discovering just how much more amazing you're going to get."

"That sounds like a challenge," she said as she arched an eyebrow.

"Will that make you feel better?"

"Not really. I love what you said, but I still hate the idea of being thirty, Neil. And I don't want to celebrate it."

He was a bit taken aback. He thought he had presented a couple of smart, valid reasons. But it wasn't a debate. While she wasn't as upset as she was when he'd first brought it up, that was how she felt. He could look at it like she was still being childish about the whole thing. Yet as he watched her sigh and crawl up next to him on the bed, lying her head on her pillow, he knew there was an amazing woman behind those eyes; one that just needed to be shown that the fun wouldn't end because of an how old she was.

That became the germ of an idea, one that quickly formulated in his head. It was risky, but if he pulled it off, he thought it would work. But as with anything where risk is involved, it could also backfire, and frankly, it would end up being a huge disaster. The strange thing, at least for him, was that the plan had nothing to do with sex.

It seemed like every time either one of them planned something, that was the end game; the very reason for setting up their adventures was always so they could explore something sexual. This most certainly wasn't, because that would make it fail for sure. This plan had a specific purpose, to help Ann come to grips with turning thirty. He was determined to do that, even if he had to take her there kicking and screaming like a little girl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you ready yet?" Neil bemoaned, yelling down the hallway as he waited for Ann to finish getting dressed.

"What's the hurry?" she yelled back just before turning on the blow dryer.

"Because we're going to be late," he said to himself, knowing she couldn't hear him over the noise.

She didn't know that. She didn't know anything, other than he was taking her out for a late lunch. He had had to insist that it wasn't to celebrate her birthday. Instead, he reasoned that they had to eat anyway, and neither one of them was going to be in the mood to make anything after how they'd spent their morning.

While she wasn't exactly embracing the idea of getting older, she had been a lot more civil around the house since they'd talked the week before. It helped that he had backed off, not really mentioning her birthday since then. It still weighed on her mind, but she'd found it easier to ignore the feelings that she had about it because she'd gotten it off her chest.

That all changed when he woke her up with his birthday greeting and a present. She'd reverted to her previous behavior, acting like a spoiled brat that wasn't getting her way. She knew it was irrational and petty. And she knew it wasn't his fault, other than he'd specifically ignored her plea not to get her anything. But he was only trying to do what any man would do that loved his wife. Make her happy.

She most certainly wasn't at first. But she calmed, thanks to his patience and understanding. And as funny as it sounded, his little comment about saying she was twenty-nine and twelve months made her smile. It actually changed her mood.

So did the present he'd bought her. Well, presents. Inside the big box was a new outfit. She was excited when she pulled back the tissue paper, finding a pair of white denim short shorts that buttoned up the front; and a kelly-green colored tank top. It was cropped with lace around the bottom edge. It would show a lot of skin, but it wasn't the most risqué thing he'd ever bought her. In fact, it was rather tame by her standards.

She could remember having a very similar outfit when she was a young girl, and it was one of her favorites. This was certainly a more adult version, but it more cute than sexual. There was even a pair of low cut socks that matched the color of the top, and a new pair of white Keds with kelly-green laces. She was so stunned when she pulled everything out of the box that she threw her arms around him.