Just To Have You Back Again

The Eye of the Storm

"Babe, dito ka ba matutulog kina Jen? Or I can drive you back to your mom's?"

"No, huwag na. Masyado ng gabi. Can I just stay with you? Di pa ko masyadong comfortable sa kanila eh."

Jake wrapped an arm around Beth's shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. He smiled at his love. So much progress! He silently thanked his lucky stars.

"Of course, my love. You can stay with me as long as you want."

Pete and Jen met them at the foyer in front of the front door, with Jen holding a paper bag and a DVD.

"What's this?"

"I figured you'd wanna stay with Jake instead of here, and here are just some leftovers in case there's no food over there. Also, our wedding DVD. Hopefully it'll help you remember something."

Beth walked up to her friend and gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you, Jenny. You really are the best friend a girl could have."

"Sisters, Beth. Sisters."

The four friends said their final goodbyes for the evening before Jake and Beth headed home.

***

Jake drove the familiar roads back to his old house. He had a cleaning lady come once a week to maintain the inside of the house and a gardener maintain the outside and the pool even though he hadn't lived there for three years. Manang Lourdes and Manong Melvin had retired when he moved to New York, now permanently living with their children, so the house had been lonely and not lived in for quite a long time.

He opened the gate and pulled the car inside the driveway. He helped Beth out of the car and watched as she stared at the house in amazement, just as she did the first time he brought her to their home. Home. His home. Her home. Their home. That sounded right. That felt right. He grabbed her things from the backseat and held her hand as they made their way inside the house. He entered the code to disarm the alarm and turned on the lights.

"Wow!"

She twirled around at everything she saw in just the living room, taking it all in. He laughed at her reaction. She really was so adorable without even trying. He quickly deposited their food into the fridge, not bothering to take it out of the paper bag, and put the DVD on the kitchen island.

"Your house is so amazing, Jake."

"Our house, Babe. This is our house."

"Our house," she repeated, testing how the words sounded out of her mouth.

He led her up the flight of stairs and stopped as they reached the top landing. He faced her and peered into her eyes.

"Love, you can sleep anywhere you want. If you ask me, I'd prefer if you slept with me on our bed in our room," he teased, "but I'll understand if you don't want to."

She pulled his arm and led her to the direction of his door, surprising the two of them for different reasons; she was surprised for being so straightforward, he was surprised she knew which door was his.

He unlocked the door and let them both inside. He sat her down on the foot of the bed as he went inside the walk in closet, a majority of his clothes still in there along with all of her clothes and shoes. She leaned to the side to take a peek, her eyes watering when she saw what she assumed were her things.

He walked back to her and sat next to her, wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her hand. She gave him a small smile before kissing him quickly on the lips.

He kneeled down in front of her and slipped her shoe off on one foot, massaging it and rolling her foot on his hands before doing the same to the other. She fell back on the bed and closed her eyes because the massage felt so good and so relaxing. He slid his hands up her legs and stopped at her waist, lifting her up to move her further up the bed, settling his body in between her jean clad legs. They continued to gaze into each others eyes.

"Babe..." she whispered.

"You called me babe," he said as his hands travelled underneath her shirt, caressing her skin underneath.

"I did," she massaged his shoulders and went inside his collar, massaging the skin there.

"I love it."

She started tugging his shirt upwards, wanting to take it off. He raised his body up and used one hand and reached over his back, helping her remove the offending material off of him. She continued her exploration of the muscles on his back as he started kissing her neck.

"I want you," she said confidently to him.

He scooted down her body, took his hands from underneath her shirt, stopping the movement there, and kissed her abdomen. He slowly lifted her shirt up, revealing more of her skin, his lips following the upward movement of her shirt. She sat up so he can take her shirt off, his torso still in between her legs, and they kissed each other on the lips as soon as her head popped out from the collar of her shirt. He slid the straps of her bra down her arms and unclasped it, freeing her, letting her bare skin come in contact with his. He reached in between them and unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them and her underwear down her legs in one go.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too"

"I love you."

"I love you, too"

He kicked off his jeans and proceeded to show her just how much he missed and loved her. She reciprocated everything he made her feel. She remembered how to love this man, how special he always made her feel. She missed him the past week she didn't see him, and it was true, she was now in love with him again. They shared a night full of love, the body remembering just how well it fit with the other, remembering how to make the other tremble with delight and quiver with passion.

This was true love, emotions manifested physically, overflowing, breaking down time and space.

Coming home.