The Love You Give

Fix Me

Celeste had spent the time crying in the shower. She thought of the many nights she had escaped to the shower to cry so that the falling water could drown out her sobs. She didn't know how she got back to this place. There was a time where she had given up and resigned herself to believe that she was in a one-sided marriage. Things became tolerable. She became accustomed to Jansen's late nights and constant phone calls and trips. For years that was how things were and she noticed the toll it took on her sons, but what could she do. She couldn't leave him. She loved him too much and her sons needed their father despite the strained relationships.

As she dried herself off, Celeste thought of Ezra and her not so subtle ways of fixing things in their broken home. She couldn't help but smile as she got dressed and thought of the song Ezra chose to sing. It wasn't lost on her that the first time Ezra chose to sing without her mother was for them in hopes of resolution. The sixteen-year-old girl was an angel. Celeste walked out of their bathroom and saw Jansen lying in bed shirtless. She hated how her body still responded to him, because she was certain it wasn't truly reciprocated. The night she overheard him talking to Ezra something came over her. She pounced on him and for one night they were young lovers again. They spent the whole night remembering what it felt like to bring pleasure to their spouse. Then morning came and he was back to being glued to his phone and putting her on the farthest back burner.

She lay down beside him staring at the ceiling thinking over everything. They remained like that for a beat before Jansen spoke up. "That song," he smiled to himself. "It was amazing." Celeste breathed out. "It took me to another time and place." Jansen nodded in agreement. He turned to look at his wife's profile. She was still just as beautiful as the day he first saw her. He reached over and grabbed her hand. He noticed her stiffen, but she relaxed as he rubbed small circles against the back of her hand. "I want us to take a vacation, Celeste." She looked at her husband. "The kids just started school. We can't take them out." He shook his head. "Not them. Us. I want you and I to go somewhere alone. I think it'll be good for us."

She turned her body so that she was facing him fully. "You're serious. This isn't a joke." He shook his head. "I'm serious, babe. I want us to go to Antigua." This brought a huge smile on her face. "Second honeymoon, huh?" He laughed at her wiggling eyebrows. "Yeah, something like that. What do you say?" She looked at him and smiled, but the doubts started to creep in and he could tell. "Why now?" He sighed as he brought her hand to his lips. "There's a certain teenager that called me out not so subtly on the way I've been treating my family. I know I've been a shit husband, but it took seeing the changes that Ezra has brought about to make me realize we're not so far gone. We can fix this. We can fix us."

Celeste smiled happily at her husband because she saw the sincerity in his eyes and heard the truth in his words. "I love you, Jansen." He gave her a wide smile that took her breath away before kissing her passionately. He removed her nightgown and panties with a quickness. She hadn't even realized he was naked until he was sinking into her. She cried out his name as his deep strokes penetrated her. They felt like one again. She didn't know where she began and he ended. Their broken pieces were slowly being mended and she couldn't be happier. She didn't know how she was going to thank Ezra, but she would for being the balm her broken family needed.

That night Jackson demanded Ezra sleep with him. She didn't understand why Jace and Jacob kept laughing and saying it was a bad idea, but as she lay awake in his bed she understood why. Jackson slept like a mad man. If he wasn't flailing around, he was holding onto her as tight as a bear. At some point he squeezed her so tight her back popped. He currently had her in a death grip and there seemed to be no way of getting out. She had stupidly left her phone in her room and didn't have the help of the alarm that was ringing to help release her. "Bubba, you got to let me go. I need to get ready." Silence. Ezra huffed trying to move, but Jackson was a boa constrictor.