Teach Me How To Love Again

Chapter Twelve

Author's Note: This chapter is rather short, but the next one is packed with some fun and drama so stay tuned!

CHAPTER TWELVE

"How am I supposed to go to work when you look like this?" Joe asked, pulling her close until their hips touched. Joe let her sleep in on her day off and dropped the boys off at a friend's house. When he returned, she came down the stairs wearing only a white tank top and a lavender pair of panties from the night before.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She pulled away and put her hand over his forehead. "Oh no, suddenly you've come down with a fever. You should stay home. I wouldn't want you to infect your colleagues."

He chuckled. "You have no idea how close I am to considering that but I'm afraid that I have to vote."

She frowned. "I know."

She leaned into his body and captured his lips, the kisses were short but not lacking need.

Finally, Joe forced himself to tear his body away from hers and kissed her on the lips one more time. "Okay, okay, I really have to go."

With that he was gone.

Jill turned her attention towards the dishes. It fascinated her how much mess the boys managed to create in the kitchen.

She heard the door open.

"Joe?" She called. "Did you forget something?"

Standing before her was an older woman with cotton colored hair. Jill instinctively covered her legs with a dish towel.

"Oh. Um, you must be Mrs. Biden."

The woman nodded, raising an eyebrow at the young blonde's undressed state.

"Do you wear this around the kids?" Mrs. Biden questioned. "Where are my grandsons?"

Jill shook her head. "No, no of course not. They, uh, went to a friend's house this morning."

Mrs. Biden nodded but didn't respond.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment I'm going to run upstairs and get changed. There's coffee and cake on the counter in the meantime.", Jill said, rushing upstairs to find something to put on.

She dug through her closet looking for a dress that she could slip over her head quickly and settled on a green DVF wrap dress. She put her palm across her face and winced. She'd think about this interaction at 3am for the next several months when she couldn't sleep.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Biden. Had I known you were coming over, I would have made myself far more presentable."

Catherine smiled for the first time and Jill felt like she could breathe again. "It's quite alright. I'm not naive, I know what has been going on."

"You do?" Jill inquired.

"Of course I do. The kids think that they're so stealth. They can't hide anything from me. I've known about you and Joey for sometime now and I wanted to speak with you while he wasn't around."

Jill swallowed hard. "Okay," she said apprehensively.

"Oh Jill, Forgive me. I shouldn't be here but you have to understand that... I just... you're so young and Joey's so fragile," she stumbled. "The boys are so fragile. It hasn't been easy for any of them and I've done my best to protect them, to shield them from more pain and emotional turmoil."

Jill let her continue without interruption.

"But, honey, I came here to thank you."

"You did?"