The Cuckoo's Song

Chapter Sixteen

Anna was the happiest she had ever been, finally living life again. She was playful, something that she so rarely indulged in. But Abe encouraged the fun at all times. Whether it was racing with Anna on his back and Elli on Sam's, or picnics by the lake, Anna was always joyful.

Elli was certainly smug about the change in her sister; she had been right about them all along. Now all she had to do was get Anna to agree to move to America and her scheme would be complete.

There was never a moment when Abe wasn't grinning nowadays. The boys teased him mercilessly about how dreamy he was when he was away from Anna, begging him not to think too hard or he might hurt himself. He didn't care. He'd never been so excited to see someone as he was Anna, or Elli for that matter. He did wish he could spend more time one on one with Anna though. He would never begrudge Elli anything in the world, but it would be a lie to say that he didn't want Anna to himself on occasion.

When Heidi suggested an adult's night out for his birthday, Abe hatched a brilliant plan with Anna.

"We'll just fuck off," he murmured to her as they watched Elli and Gabby play in the water. "Slip away from the crowd, go and do our own thing."

"That sounds perfect," she sighed happily, snuggling into him as his arms wound tighter around her. "Where shall we go?"

There was a long pause.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. Plannin' ain't my strong point."

Anna giggled. "There's that café we walk past on our evening walks. That seems far away from everyone else."

"See? We make a perfect team," he said, kissing her cheek. "I'd love to dance with you again," he said after a time. "I like having you pressed against me."

She kissed his hand but said nothing. Anna was looking forward to spending time just the two of them. But it did make her nervous. She knew at some point their intimacy would ascend to the next level and it worried her.

Not that she didn't want to. She thought about it a lot.

When she fell asleep, it was always to thoughts of the two of them together in the throes of passion. But her memories of a happy sex life had long since passed, and all she had in her mind was suffering through Ernst and Keller. She did trust Abe implicitly. She was simply overthinking it.

"Y'all right?" he asked, sensing her tension. Before she could answer, he had guessed what was troubling her. "When I say pressed against you-"

"Don't worry," she assured him, "I know what you meant."

"I'd never pressure you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do," she said, turning around to look at him. "I like being pressed against you too." He gave that gorgeous grin, and she could feel herself melting. "I feel silly for being nervous about the next step."

"You shouldn't feel silly 'bout anythin'. I need to learn to calm down anyways."

"You are incredibly patient, and I really appreciate it."

"Well I am pretty great," he said.

Anna grinned and kissed him, both of them exceedingly excited for their little plan to unfold.

***

Anna continued getting ready as Heidi and Gabby bustled in. They lounged on Anna's bed as they all laughed and joked about the evening ahead. Anna had told Gabby about her and Abe's plan, which she whole heartedly agreed with. They just couldn't tell Heidi. As nice as she was, she could be very selfish when it came to monopolising people's time. When she had finished her hair, Anna turned to the others.