First Class Farewell (2 page)

As he stood at the edge of the bed and glanced at the clock,
5:47, his eyes drifted to the woman still sleeping peacefully in his bed. Her
lips were slightly parted and he could hear her deep breaths. Her bare shoulder
peeked out from under the sheet and the smooth pale skin called to him like a
siren. He should get dressed and go and work out in the gym, but the knowledge
that a beautiful woman lay naked in his bed was too much for his waning resolve
and he lifted the blankets and slid in behind her, nuzzling her neck, kissing
that shoulder, and his hand caressing the ass that cradled his bulging
erection.

Matt should let her sleep. After all, he’d kept her up until
midnight making love to her before they drifted off to sleep entwined in each
other’s arms. But even after twelve years he couldn’t get enough of her. Janie
was the light and love of his life. His existence was without meaning unless
she was by his side.

“Morning,” she mumbled as she grabbed his wandering hand and
placed it on her breast.

“Good morning to you,” Matt breathed into her shoulder.

Janie rolled onto her back and Matt kissed her passionately
as he pulled himself up and hovered over her before settling in between her
legs.

“How much time do we have?” she asked sleepily.

“Enough,” he grinned and kissed her again.

Janie ran her hands through his dark hair, now with a
smattering of grey at his temples. “I love you,” she smiled.

Matt kissed her again and entered her slowly, the love he
felt for his wife pouring from every pore as he worshipped her with his body.
Janie arched her back and closed her eyes as every one of her senses drowned in
the union of their bodies…their hearts…their minds and their souls.

The sensual thrusts turned more urgent and Matt’s rhythm
built as their bodies craved a blissful release until they heard the doorknob
twist and both gasped in horror. Matt collapsed on his wife, shielding her with
his body and desperately trying to find the sheet to cover his ass before one
of their children wandered into their bedroom. Just as Janie was able to grab
the corner of the Egyptian cotton, the door flung open and a sleepy eight year
old toddled toward the bed.

“Mom? Can we have waffles for breakfast?”

Matt skillfully covered their entangled limbs with the sheet
and Janie turned her head and faced the opposite direction, knowing she could
not speak to her son with her husband still inside her, embarrassment all too
apparent.

“Hey bud,” Matt grinned. “You’re up early. Why don’t you go
and get dressed and Mom will make you waffles in just a few minutes. Is Ella
still asleep?”

“I dunno,” Christopher yawned.

“Okay, well, Mom and I will get up it just a minute, ‘k?”

“Okay. What are you guys doing? Why are you lying on Mom?”

“She was cold. I’m warming her up. Go get dressed.”

Christopher accepted his father’s answer without question
and wandered back out and shut the door behind him. Matt burst out laughing.

“That was not funny,” Janie muttered. “I knew this day would
come, but…”

“But nothing!” Matt grinned. “He suspects nothing. He’s just
as innocent as before he walked in. Now, where were we?”

*****

While there was never
any
doubt that Matt was
Christopher’s father, after eating two Belgian waffles, three strips of bacon
and two sausage patties, Janie shook her head as Christopher asked for the
waffle that she was plating for Matt. At eight years old, he could
almost
out-eat his father.

“Three?” Janie asked. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah. Well,
I’m
not, but my muscles are,” he
replied.

“Your muscles are hungry?” Matt grinned and patiently waited
for his breakfast.

“I’m growing like a weed according to Grandpa and my muscles
are always hungry. I think that’s why I’m getting so strong,” he said
matter-of-factly as he took a large bite, syrup dripping onto his chin.

Janie and Matt looked at each other and smiled. Ella rolled
her eyes.

“Waffles will make you fat,” she sighed. “I wish I could eat
them but I can’t risk it.”

“What?” Matt exclaimed. “You are not fat! Where on earth
would you get that idea?”

“I didn’t say I was fat, Dad. I said that waffles will make
me fat if I eat them. I have to avoid carbs.”

“You’re ten!” Janie was horrified. “You can eat waffles! Is
that why you don’t want any?”

“I’m almost eleven,” she glared. “And Belinda was telling us
all about the dangers of carbs yesterday at lunch. She said that I shouldn’t
eat bread or potatoes or rice, and definitely no sugar. Her mother is having
some kind of thing where the doctor is going to remove the carbs from her body,
so she told Belinda that is was much easier not to eat them in the first
place.”

Matt’s mouth dropped open in disgust. “You are
not
fat and you will not
get
fat if you eat a waffle. Your mother does not
feed you food that will make you gain weight. We eat a balanced diet that
includes carbs
and
sugar! Belinda’s mother needs to take some parenting
classes.”

“Honey,” Janie said to her daughter when she didn’t respond
to her father’s comments. “You are beautiful and healthy. You take dance
classes and karate and play soccer. In order to do those things your body must
have carbs. They are what produce the energy for you to dance and run and play.
If you stop eating them, you won’t be able to do all the things you love. Do
you not want to dance anymore?”

“I do want to dance!”

“Then you’re body demands carbs and protein. Tell you what.
After school today, I’ll show you all the stuff I have on fitness and how to
maintain your body and be healthy. And then you can tell Belinda to…”

“What a great idea!” Janie cut off Matt before he said
something about Ella’s friend. “What do you think, Ella?”

She nodded. “It sounds interesting. Maybe I could invite
Belinda over some time and you could tell her, too.”

“Sure,” Matt smiled. “Now eat a waffle!”

The sound of Ray whistling sent Christopher jumping off his
stool and running through the kitchen. “Ray!” he exclaimed and grabbed his hand
and dragged him to an empty stool at the island in the large kitchen. “Mom’s
making waffles. Want some?”

Ray grinned as Janie filled a mug with coffee and added a
dash of cream and set it in front of their good friend.

“Already had a bagel, but thanks,” he replied and ruffled
Christopher’s hair.

“Are you sure?” Janie asked. “There’s plenty.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want it to go to waste,” he grinned.

And he didn’t. With everyone having eaten, even Ella, the
kids were sent to brush their teeth and then Ray would take them to school, as
usual. As he’d said many times before, chauffeuring the children was the
favorite part of his day. His two daughters were grown and at college, and even
though he hadn’t seen much of them during their teen years after his ex-wife
had moved to Detroit, there was a feeling of melancholy of not having young
children anymore. Ella and Christopher filled that void and he loved them like
his own…and they loved him. Actually, they adored him. Ella still kissed him
goodbye when she got out of the car at school, something she didn’t even do to
her parents anymore. And while Ray would never admit it to Matt, his employer,
he’d do this job for free. The Lathems were his family and he loved them all
and took great care and pride in serving them to the best of his abilities.

He left about ten minutes before the kids were ready to go
and pull the car in front of the apartment building. After kissing their
mother, the children were escorted by their father down the elevator, through
the lobby and to the waiting car at the curb. There was nobody else that he
trusted the care of his children to more than Ray. He waved as they pulled into
traffic and headed to Ben and Sophia’s apartment to pick up Alex on the way,
and then they would drive uptown to St. Luke’s. With a grin, Matt returned to his
wife.

*****

As Matt walked back into his apartment, he smiled at the
thought of it being Thursday. How his life had changed over the past few years.
Now retired, with the exception of a few meetings here and there, his life was
his family, and surprising even himself, he couldn’t have been happier. He
acknowledged his fortunate circumstances. Not marrying Janie until he was forty
had allowed him to build his empire without ever sacrificing time with her and
the children they had brought into the world together. He had begun scaling
back his hours the day they returned from their honeymoon, knowing he would
much prefer to spend his days with his wife than behind his desk at his office.
And now he rarely went to the office as his company was being run by his
brother, Ben, and when it was time for him to begin his exit, Tyler and Derek
were in the wings waiting for their turn to helm the ship. Matt and Mark’s
step-sons were intelligent and shrewd businessmen. They had been mentored by
the best in the business and had blossomed under their tutelage.

“What are you smiling at?” Janie asked as Matt entered the
kitchen where Janie was finishing cleaning up from breakfast.

“It’s Thursday and I’m here with you,” he grinned and
whirled her around in a circle. “And the kids are at school!”

“I have to go to the animal shelter today. I promised to
help out with the fundraiser preparations. I’ll only be gone for a couple of
hours, though. Is there something that can keep you busy ‘til I get back?”

Matt frowned. “I suppose,” he pouted.

Janie laughed. “Tell you what. Why don’t you meet me for
lunch at the Thai place and then we can walk home together. Maybe you can get a
little action before the kids come home,” she winked.

“You know we don’t have to make love in order for me to want
to spend time with you,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair and
pulled her lips to his. “I will even go shopping with you if that’s what you
want to do.”

“I would never be so cruel,” she laughed. “Besides, it’s
been a while since we
enjoyed
the desk.”

“I do love that desk,” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
“And I love it when you’re naked on that desk.”

“Well, let me get to the shelter and get the stuff done
there and then we can think about the desk.”

Matt gave her a kiss on the tip on her nose and released her
from his hold. “I’m the luckiest man in the world, you know that?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied as she gathered her purse and
jacket, ready for her morning of volunteering.

After Janie had left, Matt wandered through to the gym and
used the couple of hours to work off his waffles, the conversation with his
daughter at breakfast replaying in his head. The thought of her having any
issues with her body at the ripe old age of ten made him sick. The day she’d
been born was the day he’d sworn to protect her from the world and so far he’d
been able to live up to that promise, but this was something for which he was
ill-prepared.

Ella was the mini version of Janie. She had big blue eyes
that screamed of innocence. Her hair was a medium shade of brown with little
golden highlights that glistened in the sun. She would always be his baby and
he would fight demons to protect her. He would walk on fire for her and the
idea that she was already being brainwashed into what society’s notion of what
beauty was scared him to death. Matt’s second wife had been vain and shallow
and pre-occupied with size and the BMI chart. It drove him crazy. What he loved
most about Janie was that she was who she was…there was no pretending to be
something she wasn’t. It was true she’d gained some weight over the past couple
of years. Hitting menopause had been hard on her, but if anything, Matt loved
her more. She was soft and sweet and the size of her jeans meant nothing to
him. She was his eternal love. Somehow he needed to make Ella understand that
weight was just a number…it didn’t determine who she was.

As he ran on the treadmill and worked out on the weight
machine, he wondered if it would help to have Ella see a therapist, but as
quickly as the thought came, it was replaced by a better one.

“I’ll have Mom talk to her,” he said to himself as he headed
for the shower. “Nobody tells it like it is better than Mom!”

*****

At precisely noon, Matt met Janie in front of their favorite
Thai restaurant just a few blocks from their apartment. Like newlyweds, they
sat side by side, fingers entwined as they ordered lunch and sipped their
drinks, Janie a lemonade and Matt an iced tea.

“So tell me all about your morning,” she asked.

“I just hit the gym,” Matt shrugged. “My favorite thing to
do wasn’t there,” he grinned.

“I should hit the treadmill this afternoon,” Janie sighed.

“Not on my account,” he replied as he caressed her thigh.
“You’re perfect.”

“That’s sweet,” Janie smiled, “but you lie,” she chuckled.

“I do not! You wound me with that accusation. You
are
perfect and I can’t imagine loving you more.”

Janie kissed him on the cheek.

“What exciting things did you do today?” he asked.

“Centerpieces,” she said. “Each table is going to have the
story of one of the rescued animals, so all the photos needed to be trimmed and
put into frames. It was very glamorous work,” she grinned.

The annual humane society benefit gala was very important to
Janie and Matt. Just three days after they’d first met, he’d taken her to the
lavish fundraiser that his company donated large amounts of money to every
year. Once married and living in New York City, Janie had become very involved
with the organization and she and Matt attended the function each year. Now
just three weeks away, she was spending several hours a week in preparation, as
she was on the three-woman planning committee made up of volunteers to assist
the director in his quest to outdo the past years’ donations. She was committed
to the cause and enjoyed directing her attention to it when the children were
in school.