It took a little more effort for him to get there, but we made it in the end, and it was spectacular.
Cuddling after was silent and mellow and easy and wonderful.
When Gabe felt me slipping into dreamland, he got up and took care of business.
But as ever, I was back in his arms the instant he returned to bed.
“Great night,” I whispered.
“Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” he replied.
“That new thing you did…nice,” I told him.
“I got a few variations, babe, so strap in,” he told me.
Awesome!
We fell silent.
This lasted a spell.
I broke it by saying softly, “Thank you, baby.”
To that I received a gentle, “You’re welcome, cupcake.”
I smiled in the dark and shortly after fell asleep tangled up in my guy.
And the first Gabe and Willow Special Night was a resounding success.
The next day…
I stopped after completing my assigned-by-Annette chore of collecting all the empty tubs that had had plants in them so I could put them in the recycle area.
This done, I wiped the sweat off my brow and gazed around Tex and Nancy’s back yard.
It was swarming with men, women and kids.
Oh yeah.
Tex had gone down.
Hard.
This started that morning when we all showed, truck beds and trunks loaded down with plants, trees, bags of garden soil and compost, pavers, some decorative rock and all the makings of a drip system.
We’d barely parked before Tex stormed out of the house to put a stop to it, but since “we all” included our aces in the hole—Nancy’s daughters, Jet and Lottie, along with their men, Eddie and Mo, and all their kids—Tex received the first blow to his mulishness.
The second came moments later when Nancy rushed out and cried, “Oh my goodness! Is it yard day? I’ve been so excited since Roxie emailed me the designs! It’s going to be so beautiful!” She then threw out her arms and screeched, “And look! Grandbabies!”
This was when her grandchildren rushed her (and then Tex), followed by her daughters doing it, and her sons-in-law coming up the rear.
Nancy was in seventh heaven.
So, yeah.
There you had it.
Tex was stymied.
