Make It Known

Bonus Chapter #3: Layoffs

"Layoffs"

early marriage, before kids • Gavin's POV

***

Damn, it's been a really long day.

I toss my keys haphazardly by the door as I walk into our apartment, scrubbing the bottom of my face tiredly.

"Hey, baby." Oh, she's in a really good mood if she's calling me "baby." Despite feeling like crap, the sweet sound of her voice and the sight of her sitting on the couch, wearing sweats and a t-shirt and with a book in hand, puts a small smile on my face.

I make my way over to her and collapse onto the sofa beside her. "Hey," I greet, leaning in to press a small kiss to her soft cheek.

"You're home late," she comments, studying me. Her cheery expression morphs into concern as she takes a good look at me. "Oh no. Is everything okay?"

And then she's crawling onto my lap and resting her hands on my shoulders, gently kneading her fingers into the tense muscles of my upper body. My hands come up to hold her by the waist and I let my head fall into the crook of her neck. Her curves beneath my hands, pressed against my chest, the light, clean smell of her... she feels and smells like my wife, like home and love and everything good in the world. As cheesy as fuck as that sounds.

The relief that comes from her just being here is staggering. "Really shitty day," I explain, my lips brushing against the side of her neck.

She combs her fingers through my hair, gives my scalp a tender rub that feels really damn good. "You wanna talk about it or forget about it?"

Now I'm smiling for real. It's one of those things she said way back, that first day I met her in that bar. I draw her towards me so I can plant a kiss onto her gently-pursed mouth, and the soft, sweet taste of her is like the cure to everything. I let out a sigh before confiding, "CBC's been feeling all those provincial budget cuts. I had to let three of my journalists go today."

"Oh, Gavin. I'm sorry." She hugs the back of my head as I nestle my face into the dip of her shoulder. "That must have been so rough."

"Yeah," I agree. "Deciding who to lay off was a fucking nightmare."

"Mm," she acknowledges. "Especially just after the holidays, huh?" She sweeps her fingers lovingly through the back of my hair and I swear I don't know what I ever did to deserve her.

"Mhm. I have three really bright new grads on the team, a couple guys closer to retirement, a few in the prime of their careers." I close my eyes as I think of the conversations I had with those three today, the looks on each of their faces. "A couple of my writers who just had kids. One whose mother was just diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer. It seemed impossible to come up with a fair decision."

"Damn. That really does suck." She holds my face, tilts my head back, meets my gaze with those big, warm, endless dark eyes of hers. "But you're amazing, Gavin. I know whatever you ended up deciding was the best choice."

"I hope so."

She gives me another kiss, this time firmer, longer. I let myself sink into the warm comfort of her mouth, take some reprieve from the softness of her body as it melts against me. Into my lips she mumbles, "So, here's what we're going to do. Your mom finally gave me the recipe for that favourite pasta of yours. We can have that for dinner. And then, I'll make some of those brownies you like. And then I'll give you a massage..." She floats her lips to the side of my face and brushes my earlobe as she speaks, "And then I'll suck you off. In whichever order you want."