The Expat

I finally pulled my shrinking dick out of her, despite her complaints, and rolled off her, laying down next to her to cuddle through the post-orgasmic bliss while she turned around to slip into my arms and exchange soft, teasing kisses with me. After a few minutes, I got up and hurried to the bathroom from where I returned with a couple of Kleenexes which I handed to her before I laid down again to cuddle with my love.

"I find the level of unspoken communication between us at least as scary as the depth of the love I feel for you, Phillip Kohler," she said after we had cuddled up under the blanket.

"Just imagine how I feel. I've fallen hopelessly in love with two women at the same time and the best thing is they love each other even more than I love them."

+

We quickly settled into a family routine. I tried to stay home in the morning long enough for Suze to get up and be back home before she went to bed. Mostly I managed to do so but not always. For Amy's birthday on the ninth of September, I got her two gifts. The first, functioning as the basis for the second gift was a generous gift certificate to a clothing shop she had repeatedly expressed her admiration for. The second, more important, gift was an extensive photoshoot where a photographer took pictures of the three of us in any possible combination and individually. I also received an invaluable gift but from Suze rather than Amy.

"Daddy, will you read my bedtime story tonight?"

She didn't really understand why I held her so tight and why my voice sounded so different from normal and I'll never know how I made it through that story without bursting out crying.

Two days later, Amy and I had our first dispute. After I had gotten home and changed into more comfortable clothes, I had picked up a load of laundry from the walk-in closet and started a machine, just because I was used to doing so and had the time to do it. After all, I had been absolutely capable to take care of myself for years and I thought that I had not contributed enough to our common household and Amy was also working four mornings a week. She on the other side felt as if she had failed in her duties to look after me. It took some time to convince her that I really didn't want her as a maid but as a partner at home and that I was happy to contribute to the housekeeping as long as my cooking duties were kept to a minimum for safety reasons.

Another two weeks later, I met her parents. A wonderful and loving couple that were more than a little relieved that Amy had finally found a new partner. They had been worried that Suze would have to grow up without a father figure and the support of their daughter and granddaughter had also put quite a strain on their finances. For the Christmas Holiday I invited them along on a cruise, the first real holiday any one of them had been on since Suze had been born. On New Year's Eve, in front of her parents and Suze, I proposed. She acted surprised but I knew her better than that. She had known what I was up to despite all my attempts to keep it from her. The marriage was in June the following year, my father had not replied to my invitation but my grandparents and my uncle with his family attended. The adoption of Suze was finalised shortly after the wedding.

The work on the mall advanced steadily. With the promise of the modernisation and the new tenants, the craft businesses that were involved in the renovation work, the mall almost by itself transformed into a regional centre for building, construction and DIY.

Two and half years after I had arrived in Bomery, I was informed about a mall in difficulties in Innsbruck, Austria and the headquarters, confident that Bomery had achieved the turn-around, asked me to move on. Amy and I sat down and made a decision. Up until now, we had discussed back and forth what we would do when the time came, whether I would quit and look for something else or whether she and Suze would follow me. I conferred with the headquarters and made sure Amy would get all the help needed to find a job as an English teacher and both Amy and Suze started taking intensive German lessons.

Epilogue

Amy and I sat proudly in the grandstand, watching the medal ceremony. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a tear roll down the face of my wife and the mother of my three children, two of which had come after our marriage. Nathalie was born ten months after I had started the assignment in Innsbruck, Tim came another fourteen months later and about half a year before I was offered the job of my retiring superior in the headquarters and we had moved to my hometown in Switzerland. But today, we celebrated the triumph of my eldest daughter.

"Now please acclaim the 2032 Olympic gold medallist in one hundred meters freestyle. Representing Switzerland. Susanne Kohler!"

Waving, she climbed up the podium and let the president of the swimmer's section of the Olympic Committee hang the medal around her neck and accepted the flower bouquet. After the playing of the national anthem, she was handed a microphone to say a few words to the expectant crowd as it had become the habit eight years ago. She kept it short but was pestered for the story behind her words in TV interviews later.

"I dedicate this medal to my Dad. I couldn't have done it without him."

Her eyes found me in the crowd and, despite the distance between us, locked unquestionably on mine.

"Thank you, Mr Hero."

THE END