Alex's Legacy - 11. Epilogue

I lay on the couch with my head in Aaron’s lap. He stroked my hair absently. He was silent for several minutes after I finished speaking. I turned so I was lying on my back looking up at him. He ran his hand along my cheek.

“He sounds like he was an amazing man.”

“He was,” I agreed.

Aaron shifted his weight. “Can you move, sweetheart? I need to use the bathroom.”

I sat up and Aaron limped away. When he returned, he sat on the chair instead of the couch. It was the first time since I met him that I felt any distance between us.

“What do you want for dinner?”

“Aaron…”

“Sam, we haven’t eaten all day. I’m starving. What do you want me to order?”

“Whatever you want is fine.”

He walked to the kitchen and I heard him place an order for Chinese food. When he returned, he sat in the chair again. I crawled into his lap, resting my head against his chest.

“I love you, Aaron.”

“I love you too, Sam.” He rubbed my back, then held me tightly to his chest. “I don’t know what to say, Sammy. I don’t know how I can live up to that.”

I sat up, frowning. “I’ve never compared the two of you and never will. I thought I would live out the rest of my life alone until you crashed into my ‘New Releases’.”

He smiled ruefully. “I’ll never be Alex.”

“I don’t want you to be. What Alex and I had was special, but so is what we have.” I crawled up his chest until our foreheads touched and I looked into his eyes. “You showed me that it was possible for me to love again. I don’t want to lose you.”

Aaron kissed me. I brushed a tear away from his cheek and ran my tongue along his lower lip. He opened his mouth and we made out for several minutes until we both were panting with need. I wrapped my legs around Aaron’s waist as he carried me to our bedroom and we collapsed on the bed in a heap of tangled limbs.

We were desperate in our lovemaking. I wanted to feel Aaron as deep inside me as he could get and from the urgency of his thrusts, I guess he felt the same way. He pulled away every time he got close to the brink, until he was drenched in sweat and breathing erratically. Neither of us wanted our session to end, so I rolled him onto his back, straddling him and riding him until he came inside me. Seeing the look on his face as he spent himself triggered my own release and I collapsed on top of him in a sweaty, sticky, contented mess.

*****

Aaron and I both took the next day off. We felt guilty for ignoring the Chinese delivery man the night before, so Aaron called the restaurant and paid for our order, including a generous tip for the delivery man, with a credit card. We spent the rest of the morning making love. At noon, Aaron went into the kitchen to make us lunch and I pulled out my cell phone.

“Hey Ricky.”

“Hey Sam. What’s up? Is everything ok?”

“I was wondering what you were up to tomorrow. I think it’s time I went through Alex’s things and I’d like you there in case there’s anything you want.”

“Tomorrow would be fine,” he said softly.

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

“See you.”

Aaron walked into our room with a tray full of soup and sandwiches. He carefully set it down and climbed into bed, settling next to me. We ate our lunch in companionable silence. Aaron returned the tray and our empty dishes to the kitchen and returned to find me buried under the covers, hugging my pillow. He slid next to me and I burrowed into his side, falling immediately into contented sleep.