Taking a Chance

"OK Dad." Ever the compliant son I was.

"Nat, would you like anything to drink since I'm pouring?" I yelled into the family room. We were all going to decompress at our own pace. Nat was opening the Chinese food containers on the coffee table.

"Yes. Do you have any wine? If not, I'll take a Bourbon, if you have any." She yelled back to me in the kitchen. I knew my Mother drank Sherry, while my Father drank gin and bourbon. Growing up, we almost never had wine in the house. I decided not to even bother looking for wine knowing my Father always had bourbon. I poured two Jack Daniels on the rocks.

I brought my Father's drink first, since he surely needed it. I also brought three plates, forks and napkins. I returned again with two glasses handing one to Nat. My father had already had a few sips of his Gin. I missed his classic shiver after he took the first sip. I guess Nat witnessed it.

I did feel like drinking to something but wasn't sure what an appropriate toast might be. "To better times for Mom. Cheers!"

No one objected voicing their own "Cheers!" in return. We drank. We spooned Chinese food. We all finished eating quietly thinking our own thoughts.

The room was eerily silent. Natalie broke the silence. "I'm going to go take a shower before bed." She got up from the couch, then bent over and kissed me on the lips. She took the rest of her drink with her. She winked at me from the stairs. My father witnessed the exchange.

I would have liked nothing more than to join her in the shower. That just seemed inappropriate in my Father's house. Plus the shower was too small. I decided to have a few words with my Father while Nat took her shower.

"Dad, I talked to the Doctor while you were with Mom." My father's eyes immediately refocused like lasers on mine. "Look, relax. She is going to recover like the Doctor said. It's just going to take time. This isn't like having tonsils removed. Do you remember when I had the ACL surgery? It took me almost three months before I could run again. It's going to be more like that. Mom is going to be in a wheel chair for a while until the physical therapy gets her rehabilitated to the point where she doesn't need it. This isn't the end of the world. It just means some changes. She doesn't have use of her right leg at all right now. In fact her right hand is very weak too. That's going to improve with time. But it's going to take time."

My father glumly acknowledged what I was saying. He sipped his drink in silence. I heard the shower turn off. I finished my drink. "Dad, I'm going to go take a shower myself. You shouldn't be too far behind me to bed. I know it seems early, but we all need our rest. Besides we need to leave early in the morning to get to the hospital for shift change. I want to hear the nurse's overnight report to see how Mom did." I emptied the rest of my drink in the sink.

"Good night Son. Thanks for being here. You know I love you. By the way did you call your sister?"

"I'll call her tomorrow. It's three in the morning her time. Good night Dad. Love you too."

Natalie was already in her T-Shirt in bed sipping the rest of her drink when I got to the bedroom. I could smell her coconut shampoo. The sight of her, in my old bed, with just a T-shirt nothing restraining her ample breasts, smelling like the tropics caused me to twitch. "I'm going to grab a quick shower. I won't be long." Nat smiled at me. I wonder if she was thinking what I was. I doubted it. I was already uncomfortable with my Father downstairs. She was probably more uneasy since this was all strange for her. I shrugged it off.

Returning from my shower to the bedroom I saw that Nat had turned down my side of the bed. I stowed my dirty clothes in the hamper in the closet. I noticed the sheet was pulled up to her neck while she sat up in bed. I wondered again. Nat turned out the light. There was a single candle lit on the night table on my side of the bed. "Tim, why don't you slip off your clothes before you get in bed? You might be over-dressed if you don't. Besides I rarely sleep with anything on." Nat asked liked a temptress.

Who was I to argue? I quickly complied. I slipped into bed while pulling the covers up on my side. Nat slid over to my side of the bed which was cool. She was hot. Her hair fell carelessly around her shoulders painting her face in a sexy glow from the candle. I felt her body heat as her naked hip touched mine. Suspicions confirmed. She was as dressed as I was. Naked. Outstanding. I felt that same electric pulse when our knees touched and we kissed that first time in her condo. Her skin was so soft, yet it was burning hot to the touch. I was already more than half-way to full erection. If I kissed her, there would be no going back. "Nat, I want you. Let me say that better. I need you."

"I know. I need you too."

"But what about my Father?"

"I can be quiet, although it isn't my favorite. Can you?"

Blood rushed in my ears as well as other places. "I'll just have to smother you in kisses while I ravage you to keep you quiet." Natalie giggled softly.

I pulled Natalie closer to me. As I looked into her eyes, she was looking at mine. The fire and lust I had felt with our first kiss came back to me. Her eyes were almost feral looking. There was some ambient light coming from the moon, but it was only about a quarter full this evening. Still, her eyes illuminated a sparkle probably from the candle light. Nat's eyes flicked from my eyes to my lips back and forth several times. I was up on my left shoulder looking down at her. Her hair was flowing over the pillow. She looked like a Goddess. This time I did ravage her.

Our lovemaking was passionate, yet tender. We started with deeply loving kisses. We explored each other's bodies fully with mouth, lips, tongues and fingers. When we coupled, it was at first urgent, then gradually settled into a very slow, smooth intercourse that lasted well over thirty minutes. Throughout, I was constantly in touch with Natalie as she was with me. I could feel her body's reactions to mine in every ripple, or nudge while connected. It was carefree, even if slightly inhibited due to proximity of my Father. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

As promised, Nat was relatively quiet, except for a few high pitched squeals as we both reached our own personal pinnacles of ecstasy. I was counting on my Father's poor hearing along with his stubborn pride in getting a hearing aid to mask our activities. Natalie and I slept shamelessly throughout the night wrapped in each other. She must have awakened before me because when I awoke, her side of the bed was empty. I was disappointed. I moved over to smell her pillow. Her scent emanated from it. I buried my nose in it inhaling deeply that now familiar smell of my new love.

Nat came back to the room a minute or so later as I was reveling in her scent on her pillow. She was smiling broadly. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you missed me."

Rolling over to my back, I looked up at her and opened my arms. "I did. Come here."

She bent down to give me a kiss which is part of what I wanted, but I pulled her arms quickly. Clearly surprised, Nat landed on top of me which was my intention. She was straddling my legs recovering. I moved her shoulders down next to me and kissed her firmly. I had taken her by surprise. She could feel my hardness rubbing her backside. She undulated her hips several times expressing her feelings for me as we continued our kiss. She broke our kiss breathless. "You know, if we don't get you up and dressed, we'll never make shift change at the hospital like you wanted."

"Spoil Sport!" I stuck out my tongue at her, releasing her from my firm embrace. "OK. Let me check on my Father then grab a quick shower."

"Don't bother with your Dad. I heard the water running in his bathroom while I was getting ready. He's probably close to being ready now."

I hustled through my morning routine, anxious to see my Mother. After we arrived at the hospital, Dad and Nat continued to my Mother's room, while I stayed behind at the nurse's station. We had arrived just in time to catch the shift meeting finishing. I talked with Cathy the nurse from the night crew. She indicated that Mom was awake having a little breakfast. She hadn't spoken much. She further cautioned me that speech might take a while. She also said she might sound differently or speak with a lisp. Cathy hadn't had that much conversation with my Mom, who only answered in one word replies to her questions this morning. This was all normal as a result of the stroke. I thanked her.

I found Nat sitting on the chair outside my Mom's room. "Your Dad is in there with her. I thought he might want some alone time with her."

Very considerate of her I thought. Clearly she knew when to step in and offer her opinions, yet had enough smarts and maturity to stay out when the situation called for it. I sat with Nat. We just held hands waiting. My Father came out of the room about ten minutes later.

"Son, your Mom is doing pretty well, under the circumstances. She asked for you and... Natalie to visit with her for a little. She said she's still very tired, but isn't in any pain. Go sit with her for a few minutes."

Nat and I entered the room. We both stood on her left side since that was the side she seemed to be leaning, which was towards the window in her room. She did look tired, but much better. She had her "snaggle-puss" smile going when she saw us enter the room. "Tim, and you must be the Natalie that your Father has been talking about." My Mother was slurring her words, but they were intelligible enough to understand. Natalie's eyebrows shot up with a look of worry on her face, at my Mother's commentary about my Father apparently talking about Natalie to her. My father looked a little embarrassed. Natalie was standing straight up as if she were at attention preparing to be inspected. I suppose in some respects she had already passed my Father's inspection if for no other reason than her willingness to be with me to support me. My Mother, not having witnessed that, might be a different story.

"Did you set a date yet?" My Mother casually said with drunken demeanor. Nat look terrified. I smiled.

"Not yet Mom. But you did keep your promise. You came back to the family. You made that promise to me while you were sleeping yesterday. So, I suppose it's only fair that I make you a promise. I promise that you and Dad will be first to know when Natalie and I set a date. Deal?" Natalie looked shocked. Maybe things were moving too fast for her. I hadn't actually proposed, but the implication was there. I would ask her later if she thought we were on the marriage trajectory. I thought we were. I felt sure she would agree.

Now my Mother looked thoroughly confused. I explained in much greater detail about the question and answer session I had with her yesterday. She looked relieved with understanding. I thought we had probably stayed about as long as we should. "Mom, I think like the Doctor said yesterday, you just need as much rest as you can get right now."

"Let me have two minutes with Natalie, then your Father can come back in to sit with me." My Mother requested, overlapping her words uneasily. It took her a long time to get all the words out. She looked frustrated. Natalie looked absolutely terrified. I was sure she could handle anything my Mother asked her with aplomb. My Father and I left Natalie with my Mother. I had no idea what they talked about. My Mother couldn't really speak all that well due to the stroke, so it must have been important.

Natalie returned about five minutes later. My Father went back into the room to stay with my Mother. He was only there for a minute when he stuck his head outside the door. "Why don't you come back around five to pick me up? I'm going to stay here this afternoon. We said our goodbyes leaving shortly thereafter.

On the way to the car, I asked Nat what my Mother and she had discussed. She was quiet, but smiled a broad smile. "I think I'm going to like your family Tim. That's all I'm going to say for now."

"So you and my Mother have already formed your own secret pact to talk about us guys without our knowledge huh?" I joked.

"That's for us to know and you to only find out if we want you to." Nat replied mysteriously.

I was thinking, 'women', I'll never understand them as long as I live. We got home around eleven.

"You know, we do have the house to ourselves." Natalie sexily intoned as we walked in the front door. "And we don't have to pick-up your father until five or so. And since you did seem to miss me this morning while I was taking a shower, maybe we could get reacquainted again. But you're going to have to get me first." Natalie launched herself up the steps two at a time. My brain barely registered the challenge when I was racing up the steps three at a time to try and catch her. She was waiting in my old room panting, since there really wasn't anywhere else she could go. I too was a little out of breath.

"You know Nat," I said in between deep breaths, "I'm really glad we decided to take a chance."

"Shut up and kiss me."

THE END

Epilogue

Natalie and I of course got married a year later. We had to work out where we were going to live. We ended up not deciding, so we bought a house in a suburb of Pittsburgh, but held on to Nat's condo in New York. She ended up renting it to her friend Karen that took care of JJ while we were with my Mother after she had her stroke. My Father even walked my Mother with the aid of a cane on her right side, down the aisle at our wedding. My idea for a men's clothing store did in fact come to fruition and Natalie made good on her promise that her company was interested in buying it. They did.

It's a few years later now – 25 to be exact. Natalie looks even better than when we first got married. Two kids, Colleges and weddings later, we're both thinking of retiring. We're both even more in love with each other as each day passes. We often reminisce over a glass of Pinot at the end of the day – about that fateful weekend of my Mother's stroke and what it means to us, that we both took a chance.

Nat never did tell me what her conversation with my Mother in the hospital room was about. I've suspected although neither Nat or my Mother would ever confirm it, that my Mother and Nat conspired to keep my Father at the hospital that afternoon, so Nat and I could spend a leisurely afternoon getting to really know one another. I guess I chalked it up to women's intuition in knowing when to take a chance. I'm sure glad I did.