I was sitting on the front steps of my house when I saw her turn the corner three houses down and start walking towards me. She had texted me a few minutes before hand, asking if she could stop by and I told her that I would meet her outside, since my youngest daughter was napping.
Her name was Taylor and she had just returned home from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Early twenties, tall, with long brown hair, Taylor waved when she saw me and I waved back.
As she walked up the pathway going to my porch, I saw her wipe a tear from her eye and I got up to greet her. I wrapped my arms around her skinny waist while she wrapped hers around my neck and we gripped each other tight.
"I'm so sorry about Madison," Taylor said, starting to cry again.
My wife, Madison, had passed away a year ago, while Taylor was on her mission. Before she had left, Taylor and my wife were good friends, with Madison being one of Taylor's young women leaders. Taylor's dad told me that having to call his daughter and tell her that one of her mentors had died unexpectedly was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.
"Thank you," I said to Taylor as I let go of her and we set down on the steps.
"I imaged coming back over here so much while I was gone. Getting a hug from Madison. Telling her all about my mission," Taylor said.
"She talked about you a lot and how you were doing. You were in her prayers every night," I said.
"I could only imagine how hard it was here. I was so devastated when I heard about it. I didn't want to get out of bed for days. But, I feel like she was there, lifting me up, and keeping me going," Taylor said.
"She probably was. I know the last thing she would want is any of her girls to give up," I said.
"I'm sorry, Christopher. I'm sure this is the last thing you want to hear or talk about. How are your daughters doing?" Taylor asked.
"They're getting by. Christine is in second grade. Glenda is in kindergarten. And Alexis just turned two," I told her.
"Oh my gosh, that is crazy! They're growing so fast. I loved it whenever you would post a picture of them online," Taylor responded, flashing me a cute smile.
"Yes, they are. They miss their mom but they're such good girls," I said.
"I'm sure it's been hard on all of you. Did you ever think about moving away? Getting a fresh start?" Taylor asked me.
"No, not really. The ward has been such a great help, plus the girls all have friends here. I couldn't tear that away from them," I said.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't. And now that I'm back, I want to help out too. Whatever you or the girls need, I'll be here for you, Christopher," she said.
"Thank you, Taylor. I appreciate that," I said. "Now, I know that Madison is probably yelling at me because I haven't asked about your mission. So, how was it?"
Taylor got super excited as she started to tell me about the different areas she served in, the people she helped, the companions she had, and everything else. We talked for the good part of an hour until my daughter walked outside, and asked who I was talking to. She was only six months old when Taylor left eighteen months ago and had no memory of her.
I quickly introduced them and Taylor told Alexis who she was. Alexis clung to my neck, being shy and half-alseep. Taylor said, "Alright, I'll let you get back to your afternoon with your daughter."
We stood up from the porch and I gave her another hug before she said, "Seriously, Christopher, whatever you need, even if it's a night to yourself, just call me."
"I will," I told her, as I watched her walk away.
I made sure she made it down the street OK before I turned and walked back into my house. I enjoyed a quiet few hours with Alexis before the other two came home from school and the chaos of my life began. We did homework, read books, made and ate dinner, and I attempted to get them to bed at a normal time, being successful this time.
As they fell asleep, I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to a friend. Her name was Stacy and she lived up the road from me, the opposite direction from Taylor. A few minutes later, there was a light knock on my door and I went to open it, letting Stacy inside and we made our way to my basement.
Stacy was one of the ward members that helped me the most when Madison passed away. It helped that her and Madison knew each other since kindergarten, grew up in the same neighborhood and ward, and she was just about as devastated as I was when Madison passed.
Stacy had a young family as well, but came over most nights or mornings to help me take care of my daughters. Her husband, Troy, also became a major sounding board and friend to me, giving me an out to scream and yell at without judging when I needed to express my frustrations.
It was three months after my wife had passed away and I had just gone back to work for the first time that week. Exhausted after the busy week of trying to get a new routine down, I had just gotten my kids down for the night and was laying on my couch.
I had a random movie playing on the TV, but wasn't paying too much attention to it. Instead, I was looking at a picture on my phone. I knew it wasn't the best thing to be doing, but since life was finally starting to feel a little more normal since my wife passed, I was starting to get horny again, and I was looking for ways to relief myself. I had masturbated plenty of times during my marriage, so I wasn't a complete stranger to it. But, it was usually to the thought of my wife. Trying to find something else to help myself with was new to me, however.
As I was getting into it, with my hand wrapped around my shaft, and my mind making up a scenario to the picture I was looking at, I heard the front door to my house opening up. I quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it over myself since I had my pants and underwear pulled down.
"Hello?" I asked, trying to figure out who was walking into my house at eight o'clock at night with no warning.
"Christopher? Hey, sorry, it's Stacy. I was just dropping off some clothes for the girls," I heard her say as she walked up the stairs.
Stacy, whose kids were a little older then mine, was always gracious enough to share her hand-me-downs with me, to help save on some money, and had told me she would be stopping by that day. I had just completely forgotten about it.
