Page 35 of In This Together

As predicted, she received grumbles and lies for five minutes before they gave in and went quiet. She tiptoed up the staircase and checked on both boys – who were, in fact, doing their homework. A rare but beautiful moment.

Back downstairs, she prepared a dinner of pasta for four – with chili for grown-ups and without for kids – and blended sweet potato for one. TJ wasn’t feeling solids greatly, still preferring milk to anything else, and in truth, he was a tad too young. But he was a hungry little monster and now that he was at nursery, they had to get him onto solids.

One by one, Rod, Luke and Jackson came into the kitchen, took a plate of food and headed into the lounge. Hannah put TJ into his high-chair, took her own seat at the kitchen table beside him and set down a plate of pasta in front of herself but far enough away from TJ’s grabby hands.

‘Let’s see how you like sweet potato, buddy, shall we?’ She filled a plastic dinosaur spoon with the orange-coloured mush and flew it like an airplane toward TJ’s mouth. ‘Neeoum.’

He seemed to swill it around his mouth, then swallow it down and stick out his tongue like a lizard over-and-over again.

‘Yummy, right?’

Hannah filled the spoon again and repeated the process. ‘Neeoum.’

As soon as the food touched TJ’s tongue, it came flying back out of his mouth and all over Hannah. She wiped remnants from her face then picked a lump from her chest.

‘I’ll take that as a no then, shall I? Try one more for Mom, please.’

He shook his head and made disgusted noises but swallowed the next spoonful.

She took a congratulatory forkful of her pasta. And so they continued for the next fifteen minutes, until TJ’s boredom emanated in a scream.

She had managed one third of her own meal before she began pacing the kitchen floor, bouncing TJ gently on her hip.

By the time TJ had settled, the other three were lying on the sofas in the lounge, laughing at something they were watching on TV. Three plates stood dirty and empty of food in various positions around the lounge floor.

She set TJ down in his playpen and picked up the plates, rinsing then depositing them in the dishwasher. She poured herself a glass of red wine and took it with her upstairs to the main bathroom. She contemplated running a bath and decided it would be pointless. Her kids had a sixth sense for when she was bathing and generally chose that moment to need a poo.

No. She would just sit on the toilet for five minutes with her glass of wine, then go back to life.

She turned to put the lid down on the toilet and was greeted by skid marks – probably Rod’s – and a floating ball of poo – most likely Jackson’s. She flushed the toilet, brushed away the skids, put down the lid and drank her wine.

It turned out that the others had been watching the recentJumanjiin the lounge. She enjoyed a second glass of wine and made Rod an El Dorado 15 with Coke. An argument ensued which they had heard a thousand times, about Luke taking his driving test and getting a car for his eighteenth birthday, which they simply could not afford. The argument resulted in Luke slamming the front door on his way to a friend’s house nearby.

Eventually, the other two kids either walked or were carried to bed.

‘Finally,’ she said, sighing as she came to sit on the sofa next to Rod. It had been years since she had lost the ability to sit or stand without audible expressions.

‘Come on, Han. Sit down next to your man.’

She slipped under Rod’s arm and rested her head on his chest. ‘Can we not watch sports and maybe listen to some music? Smooth jazz, like your dad used to play?’

‘On this occasion, I’m going to bow to my woman.’ Rod hit one remote to turn off the television and another to turn on the music player.

Hannah wanted to finish her wine and fall asleep, right there on his firm chest. But two minutes (maybe less) into the first Louis Armstrong track and Rod’s hands were wandering. She knew every one of his strokes and touches, what they meant depending on their pace and location. The way he was using just the tips of his fingers to roll up and down her spine was asking for sexy time.

These were the moments where she had to muster. Not because she wasn’t attracted to Rod. She absolutely was. But because TJ had been a result of their slack attitude to contraception when they were just starting to get their lives back on track – no nurseries, the childminder fees almost a memory, both able to start thinking about things they wanted to do for themselves. Unfortunately, their excitement at getting their nights back to themselves had led to a forgetful incident, which ultimately led to TJ. Now, she had to dig deep and wake up her sleepy libido.

Rod took her wine glass from her and set it down on the coffee table, then rolled her onto his chest. He lifted her chin and nudged her with his nose as his hands roamed over her butt.

‘Have I told you how amazing you did to get right back into these tight little jeans?’

She giggled. ‘That’s because you always wanted me to have a bigger ass.’

He gripped her rear harder. ‘Too right. A fine ass it is.’

She laughed and kissed him, melting into his big lips. She loved his lips. They were always warm and soft. Even when they were having rough and ready sex, his lips were gentle.

Kissing him and feeling his desire grow beneath her, she found herself waking up and squirming against him with arousal. He was a dangerously sexual and beautiful man. She had three pregnancies to show for that.

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