Two Broken Roads Ch. 05 - Finale

Helen and Laura had the same openness that Laura had developed with Hanna. She shared that the night John died, they had made love. After they made out for a while as the fire died down, they ended the evening with a hug, words of gratitude, and told each other of their love. They drifted off to sleep and he never awoke. Helen shared that she felt guilt, but Laura set her straight. Making love didn't hurt her dad. If anything, he had the most awesome sendoff into the next life anyone could ask for. He knew he was loved!

Once that was off her chest, we saw a change for the better in Helen. She's still a beautiful woman (How can she not be? Laura looks just like her) and she became friendly with a gentleman from church who was about five years younger than her. She asked Laura the other night if it was too soon to consider marriage, so I think they were getting rather serious.

Sarah and Bobby now have two children. Their little girl, Deanna, was almost five. Their son, Matthew, was born a month before Bekah. I told them, jokingly, of course, to keep him away from Bekah. In the back of my mind, I think it would be great if their children and ours fell for each other. It would be great being more closely related to that loved and loving family.

My business was doing very well. I creatively added Sarah to my staff (which is only Sarah and me) as an administrative assistant. She was a huge help on many levels. She not only worked for me, but she ran a daycare in my basement office for our children and theirs.

Recently, we added another child to the daycare mix, which brings me to where Megan was these days. She started coming to our church and met a wonderful man who was ten years her senior, Dave Pearson. They were married a year after Laura and I were, and live in my old house. When they wed, they bought out my half of the home ownership. They also had a little boy, born about two years ago, who was now in Sarah's informal daycare.

It was heartwarming to see Megan reclaim her life and build a strong foundation. Laura and I do socialize with Megan and Dave, although it was mostly with Sarah and Bobby too. I'm so glad we were comfortable with each other. I didn't know if it could ever be that way, but I thanked God it was.

Was everything perfect? No, we were all human and have our faults. But I couldn't imagine life being better. Laura and I never had a disagreement on a significant issue, much less have we ever had a heated argument. Fortunately, that scary night at the mall a week before our wedding was the worst test we've faced. Laura realized several days after that incident that she was so used to managing the girls by herself that she needed to change her thinking to make me her parent-partner. We both were comfortable with the responsibility God had assigned us, and the honor that came with that loving role.

My only habit that annoyed her was that I tended to put socks and shirts in the laundry inside out. I tried to be good, but occasionally messed up.

What was Laura's habit that tweaked me? She liked to leave lights on in rooms that are unoccupied. It was a pet peeve I think I inherited from my dad. I fixed that by putting motion-sensing light switches in rooms like the laundry, bathrooms, and closets. She pretended to be annoyed by my solution, but I secretly think she was happy to avoid my nagging.

Laura and I showed no signs of slowing down in our passion. We didn't make love every night, and some nights we make love two or three times. It was not planned. Whatever happened is spontaneous.

But without fail, we went to bed every night at least an hour before we wanted to sleep. We may not always make love in the coupling sense, but every night we loved each other with caresses, cuddles, kisses, and roving hands. Massages were frequent especially when her monthly visitor arrived. They gave us even more opportunities to explore and transmit love through our touch. We both decided we liked to sleep in the nude. The closeness we felt was so warm and comforting, and nightclothes just seemed to get in the way. And we used that big shower to its full potential, sharing the water pretty much every day.

We did plan certain evenings as play-dates. Experimentation, toys, new positions, and other fun things were all in play. Some stayed in our repertoire, others were one-and-done. Again, there was no set schedule. But once a week on average, somewhere during the day one of us would give the secret sign that tonight is playtime—a pointer finger to the tip of the nose and an impish smile. We've never turned the other down for playtime requests.

I started every day the same. I have a comfortable chair in my office where I could close the door, sit, and start the day in prayer and reflection. Starting each morning focusing on your blessings sets the tone for a wonderful day.

Occasionally I would feel a little sense of dread that things could enter our lives and challenge us. But I knew I could face them with joy because I've seen God's hand direct our lives and I trusted His plan. He's taken two people whose lives were a complete mess and brought us together to share a love neither of us thought possible.

Our two broken roads brought us together.

Have you ever tried to define infinity or how big the universe is? Words fall far short. The same is true if I tried to describe the joy that was born from those crooked paths!