Chapter 16: Compromise Has Its Rewards

George looked up from his meal and studied the expression on his wife’s face. She was practically glowing with happiness. The meal out had not been as bad as he had anticipated. It was nice eating with company and that had diminished the unpleasantness of eating restaurant food.

The past five days had been significantly different than what he had expected. His wife hadn’t been nagging him so much about the errands. The boys had followed him around the house while he had fixed things. They had asked hundreds of questions. Answering the questions had helped the time fly by. The high point was earlier that day when he had replaced a couple of boards in the deck. He had let John help him cut the boards with the old handsaw. The kid had strutted around the rest of the day boasting about having cut a board.

His nights had improved beyond his wildest dreams. The night he had suggested they go out for dinner, his wife had given him a blow job that had been out of this world. She had even swallowed. That had been a first. Last night, she had lubed up the valley between her breasts and ended up with a pearl necklace when his come had pooled around her neck. Just remembering the sight gave rise to an erection.

Cindy looked up from her fish dish and saw him watching her with a satisfied look on his face. It was an expression that she hadn’t seen in years. She smiled and said, “You are going to get so lucky tonight.”

Smiling, he said, “I’ve already gotten lucky tonight. This has been real nice.”

She frowned and said, “I know that you are tired of eating out. It’s just that I never get to do anything anymore.”

“We’ll try to do this every time I come home,” George said. The difference in how his wife had treated him over the past few days was not lost on him. He could put up with one dinner out if it made her that happy.

Eyes wide, she asked, “Do you mean it?”

“Yes. I’ve really had a good time tonight,” George said. It surprised him that he actually did mean it.

“I know how much you hate this. I’ll try to make it up to you,” she said making reference to his distaste for eating out. She wondered what she could do to make it up to him.

Cindy had been shocked that none of her dresses fit her when she went to get dressed for the evening. She had to do some very quick work with her sewing machine to let out the dress she was wearing that evening. It still bulged in an unflattering manner. She had known that she was gaining weight, but the sweat pants and sweat shirts that she wore around the house had allowed her to deny how much weight she had gained. Over the past few months, she had taken to eating as a way of dealing with her frustrations.

If they were going to go to a restaurant on his next visit, she was going to need some new clothes. Lisa was available for babysitting during the middle of the week since school was out. That meant she could go shopping without having to watch over two very active boys. She actually might be able to buy some lingerie.

Thinking about the nights in bed, George said, “I’ve enjoyed my week here. It reminds me a little of when we first got married.”

Knowing what he meant, she blushed. She wished that she didn’t have her period. It wasn’t fair that now that she really wanted to make love to her husband that she had her period. She knew that some couples engaged in sex during the woman’s period, but the idea of doing that had always bothered her. She suspected that it bothered him. She said, “I’ll try to make sure that we get an evening together before my period starts.”

Smiling he said, “You’re forgetting that next month is July. I’ll be home for two weeks since we have the annual trainer’s conference during the week of the Fourth of July.”

“Ah, I did forget,” Cindy said. That changed her plans considerably. “We’ll have plenty of time to make sure that we get an evening or two together.”

“That would be nice,” George said. As much as he missed sex, he missed talking even more. Staring at the walls of his hotel room had left him with a crushing sense of loneliness. He said, “I’m alone so much of the time that I really crave companionship. The other night when I went over to see what Jack was doing, I realized that I hadn’t talked to anyone other than you about anything other than work in years. It seemed to me that the only thing we’ve talked about was what needed to be done around the house. I’ve missed talking with you about other things. The past few days have been a pleasant change.”

His mentioning Jack reminded her of her discussion with June. She said, “Jack and June have made some major changes in their life the past month or so. She mentioned that they are both going out of their way to take the desires of the other into account. Are there any things that I could do that would make it better for you?”

The question took George by surprise. He said, “A nice home cooked meal would be nice.”

“Tomorrow is Sunday, but you have to fly out in the morning. How about when you get back, we do a Sunday dinner?”

Smiling, George said, “That would be outstanding.”

“Is there anything else you would like?”

“I don’t know,” George said giving the matter some thought. He wished that she would stop nagging him about all the errands around the house. It would be nice if he could schedule when he’d work on items and have her accept his schedule. Thinking about it, he decided to tell her what he wanted. He said, “I’d appreciate it if you gave me a real list of the things you want done around the house.”

“You want a list?” Cindy asked thinking that he would not like to see how much work she had lined up for him.

“Yes, I would,” George said thinking that it would give him a little more control over how he spent his time at home. Maybe he would be able to schedule a little time to help Jack with his boat. He said, “I would like to establish my own schedule according to the tools and time required rather than the degree to which something bothers you.”

“I can do that,” she said with a frown. It dawned on her that in the process of making the list she would have to recognize the demands she was putting on him. It was a sobering thought.

Coming home from the restaurant they found Lisa curled up on the couch watching a television program. The young woman looked a little sleepy. George said, “Hello, Lisa. How was it?”

“Fine, I put the boys to bed and read them a bedtime story. They fell asleep right away. -They haven’t made a noise since then,” she answered.

“Good,” answered Cindy. She slipped down the hall to check on the boys. Looking through the door, Cindy could see that they were sound asleep. Satisfied that all was well with her children, she made her way back to the living room.

“Three hours, right?” George asked even though it was closer to two and a half hours. When she shrugged as if to let him that it was fine with her, he paid her for three hours. He appreciated that she had watched the kids and had given them a chance to be together.

“Thanks,” Lisa said looking at the money with a sense of pride. It felt great to have actually earned some money. This was her first babysitting job and she hoped that more would follow. Thoughts of finding other customers flitted through her mind. She said, “Call me anytime if you need me to baby sit.”

“Sure,” George said looking over at Cindy seeking her approval.

Looking over at the young lady, Cindy asked, “Is there any chance of you babysitting during the day?”

“Sure. Schools out, so I’ve got nothing better to do,” Lisa answered. She had a lot more free time this summer than the previous summer despite having a boyfriend. Harry was working at the mall part-time, so he was often busy during the afternoons and evenings. She wasn’t taking part in any summer camps this year. The whole family had decided that they could do some better things with the money this summer.

“I’ll call you tomorrow and we can discuss it then. It’s pretty late and you must be tired,” Cindy said. Turning to George, she asked, “George, will you watch her walk over to her house?”

“No need, it’s just next door,” Lisa answered although she appreciated the thought.

“We’d feel better knowing that you got home safely,” Cindy said. It wasn’t that long ago that a sick pervert was killing young men behind the school. She didn’t know all of the details, but there was no way that she was going to let a young woman walk even a short distance at this time of night.

Following Lisa out the door, George watched from the front porch while she made her way home. He didn’t go back in the house until she had entered her home. Satisfied that all was safe, he went back into the house.

Excusing herself, Cindy went into the bathroom and showered. Getting out of the shower, she studied her body in the mirror. What she saw reflected in the mirror disturbed her. There was no way to deny that she had gotten fat. Looking at her thighs and butt, it was hard to believe that George had never complained. She stepped on the bathroom scale and stared at the result. She was forty pounds overweight and she had not noticed it. She wondered how she could gain that much weight and not notice. Sick to her stomach, she put on her bathrobe and left the bathroom.

She smiled back at George when he smiled at her while entering the bathroom to take his shower. Yawning, she went to the bedroom and got into bed to wait for him. Within five minutes she had fallen asleep. It was almost an hour after her normal bedtime.

After taking a short shower and brushing his teeth, George entered the bedroom expecting to have a little fun. When he saw that she was sound asleep, he frowned and then glanced at the clock. He understood that it was an hour after she normally went to bed. Only slightly disappointed, he went to bed as well.

Cindy drove away from the departure lane at the airport after having dropped off George. The boys were waving goodbye to their father from their car seats. She thought about the past week. It had started unpleasantly, but had ended well. She sighed wondering how his next visit home would be and headed towards the house.

As they approached the house, Cindy could tell that the boys were ready to burn a little energy. She could understand why, since they had been sitting still for the entire round trip to the airport. Normally, that was the beginning of her rough three weeks. Instead of going directly home like she normally did, she stopped at the park. Helping the kids out of the car seats, she asked, “Do you want to race?”

The two boys looked at each other and then dashed off in different directions. For the next hour, Cindy moved much more than normal. In the process, she noticed that the kids moved fast for a little bit and then slowed down for a little while. They mixed different kinds of activities with a naturalness that no physical trainer could ever duplicate. She was sweaty and tired by the time she loaded the boys back into the car. They were just as happy to be resting. Smiling to herself, she thought, ‘That’s not a bad beginning to my new exercise program.’