Damaged...But Not Broken

A Storm Is Coming

Noah was now 5 months old. It was September and not much had been going on. Jessica was thinking of going back to Broadway and Danny had finished a small role in a movie. Everything was going well, their marriage was strong.

On a September afternoon, they sat in a small cafe having lunch.
Having finished eating they sat for a while talking and Jessica was feeding Noah underneath her nursing cover.
"Let's have another baby." Danny said.
Jessica's eyes were wide. "No way!"
"Come on Jess." Danny pleaded.
Jessica let out a sigh. "Not right now. I want Noah to be at least 2 years old when and IF we have another baby."
"Okay Jess relax, I was just joking; sort of."
Jessica rolls her eyes and laughs.
Noah is finished eating and Jessica lifts up her shirt then pulls away the nursing cover.
"Peek a boo!" Danny says to Noah. "Did you have a nice lunch?"
Noah smiles at Danny and claps his hands together.
Danny laughs.
"You ready to go?" Jessica asks Danny.
Before Danny could answer someone says, "Danny? Danny Huston?" said the voice of a younger woman with straight black hair.
Danny turns around. "Megan? Hey!"
"How are you?" Megan says touching Danny's arm.
"I'm great!" Danny stops and looks at Jessica and says, "Megan this is my wife Jessica. Jessica this is Megan. She played Iris in 30 Days of Night."
Jessica smiled and said, "Hello nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Megan said. "Awe, is this your son Danny? He looks a lot like you!"
"Yes, this is Noah." Danny said feeling a bit uncomfortable because Megan placed her hand on his shoulder. Every time she would speak to him her hand would touch either his arm or shoulder.
Jessica kept a straight face not showing what she was feeling on the inside.
"Sorry Megan, I would like to stay and catch up but we have to go. It's almost time for my sons nap." Danny said standing up.
"Oh of course! Hope to see again soon." Megan said, giving Danny a hug.

On the drive home, Jessica didn't say a word. Danny could feel the tension.
Walking into their apartment, Jessica went straight to Noah's room to put him down for his nap.
After Noah fell asleep Jessica walked to the living room and sat on the sofa where Danny was sitting.
"Jess?"
"Yes?" Jessica said with no emotion in her voice.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She said with an edge to her voice now.
"It's just, you haven't said anything since we left the cafe. Is it because of Megan?"
Jessica looked up at Danny. "Yes."
"Why are you upset?"
"I...didn't like the way she was touching you."
"Hun, you don't need to be upset. We haven't seen each other since we finished filming and she was just asking how I was."
Jessica crossed her arms. "But the way she was touching you! As if..." She let out a sigh. "It looked like she was throwing herself at you. And you didn't do anything to stop her!"
"Jess, you're making this into a big deal. It isn't. There's no reason to be jealous."
Danny uncrossed Jessica's arms and took her hands in his. "Jess, she was just someone I worked with. After we would wrap up for the day, we would go our separate ways and that was that. So she was touching me, and honestly I felt really uncomfortable. Hun, I love you so much. I have eyes for no one but you. You and Noah are my whole world."
Jessica wipes the tears from her eyes and says, "Oh Danny, I'm...sorry. I saw how much younger she was than me and I couldn't help but think..." She trails off as she cries even more.
Danny wraps his arms around Jessica and she cries into his chest. "Please don't cry. Everything is okay."
They stayed embraced in each other's arms not saying anything. After a few minutes, Danny looked down at Jessica and realized she had fallen asleep. Not wanting to wake her he slowly moved slightly to get comfortable and placed a kiss on her the top of her head before he laid his head back and closed his eyes.