The Welder

I continued to gently move in her as she came down, drawing out whatever feelings she had left. At some point, she held my ass to get me to stop; she had become too sensitive to continue. I stayed on top of her, kissing her but not moving. Her breathing gradually slowed, as did mine.

I eventually rolled off of her and held her to my body. Both of us let the warmth of what happened slowly drift away.

"Oh, my," she said. I agreed.

We stayed like that, cuddling, until we fell asleep. When I awoke, she was breathing slowly. I held her in my arms and thought about her and us. I didn't know if there was an "us," but it felt like there should be. She felt so perfect in my arms.

She woke up a while later and turned to me, a smile on her lips. I smiled back and gave her a kiss. "That was truly incredible, Robert," she said. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"It's amazing what you can find on the Internet," I responded. "I assume you approve?"

"Yes," she said, "but don't do that too often. I'm not sure I can survive another one anytime soon."

"How about in an hour or two?" I asked.

"Okay," she said with a smile and a kiss.

She left that day, but came back on Sunday. She had a picnic basket packed and we went out to the park for a nice lunch on what would be one of the better days of the year. I couldn't stop looking at her, how perfect she was. And I couldn't stop thinking about me, how broken I was. She was fixing me, and would continue to do so, but it was going to take a lot of work. She made me realize that Harriet was right all those years ago: it had nothing to do with me. And Amy was right: people who go for a change generally bring the problem along with them. Amy continued to make art and continued to bring welding jobs to me. My business picked up and I eventually had enough money to buy a house. It took a while, but I found the courage and Amy said yes. After that, in addition to making art, we made a few babies and we made a life together. It's funny how you can never tell how something will turn out until it happens. And if you're lucky, it'll turn out very well indeed.