Long time reader, first time submitter. Please leave any feedback you like! I have ideas for more chapters in progress.
I pull another shirt from the dryer, grasp the shoulder seams and shake it out. As I fold it and lay it on the pile, I remember the last time my wife wore it, the dark navy v-neck contrasting with the lightly freckled skin of her decolletage, the sparkly swoosh design leading down to her white shorts that left her toned legs exposed for my admiration. I smile to myself as I recall peeling it off her torso, can feel for a moment her nipple hardening against my tongue, see the skin pucker as I blew cool air on it, and hear her playful moan as I switched to warm breath before taking it back into my mouth.
"Daddy!"
Daydream over, I yell "Just a minute!" back up the steps, placing the piles into the basket and grabbing it before I head up the stairs.
"Where's Mommy?" she asks as I come into my bedroom.
"She had to work late tonight," I say, glad that I'm not euphemizing this time.
I lift her pile and beckon her into her own room, where she climbs into bed while I put her clothes in the drawers. I read her a chapter of her latest Junie B. Jones book and give her a kiss goodnight, reminding her that I love her as I leave.
Back in my room, I feel the exhaustion wash over me, but set about the task of emptying the laundry basket. I tuck the last shirt into my drawer and collapse on the bed. My mind is a blur of the last few months - conflict, anger, and fear, from which better communication, cooperation and caring have started to emerge. I don't know exactly what the future holds, but don't feel as desperate as I have in the past.
I will myself into the bathroom and brush my teeth and collapse back into the bed. I set the alarm, turn off the light, and close my eyes.
As I'm drifting off, I feel my wife slide into the bed behind me. She leans over and gives me our now-customary goodnight kiss, on my cheek. But instead of immediately turning back to her side of the bed, I feel her press her body against my back and her arm drape across my chest. She idly strokes my torso for a bit, and then, perhaps testing to see if I'm actually asleep, she starts to trace her fingers over my nipples through my shirt.