The Next Best Thing

Chapter 16

In those wee, small hours of the morning, Emma lay awake next to Mitch in bed thinking about, of all things, phantom limbs. She had only drifted briefly into sleep and now could not get back to it, wondering if the way people who'd lost appendages said they could still feel them was anything like still being able to feel Mitch inside her, as if that's where he belonged, instead of snoring lightly on his side a pillow over? Her tenderized body still pulsated with the memory of pleasure that had rippled through every part of her earlier. Phantom orgasms, she thought. That's what the word 'phantasm' should actually mean.

Oh no. Stop thinking of ghosts.

She brought her mind back to the replay of the night. This first time, she'd been so ready for Mitch he had to catch up. The second time was more exploratory. They both took their time, and how sweet it was! She'd never been with a man so virile. She felt like he could've shot a full grown baby into her womb if she'd wanted him to. Yowza.

She could think that again.

Yowza.

Emma never pictured herself as a mother. As a kid, she'd never owned a doll that didn't have boobs and a career. She wondered, if she'd met a man like Mitch earlier – kind, romantic, patient, good with kids – if she felt this wonderful at least as often as not, would she have changed her mind? Her heart was already so full of Gabe, more so than just as her nephew and an extension of her sister, but as hers to love and protect forever. How different could she have felt about a child of her own? Nothing was certain, but she doubted she could be much happier than she was at this particular moment. She hadn't experienced true happiness since Sophie passed. Some instances of peace and relief, but not happiness. It was as if another phantom feeling had returned to her, and while she marvelled at the reunion, she had to force away the worry that it might be a short-lived visit.

Maybe she was thinking too loudly, or maybe it was the way she shifted to cling onto Mitch like a baby bear hugging a giant tree that stirred him awake. He squeezed her hand, then turned to face her. He smiled, his eyes barely open, and kissed her on the forehead, then the lips. He seemed to be sleep-waiting. Did she want him to wake up and be of service, or could he drift off again? She kissed his nose and told him to sleep, then folded herself into his arms and chest, savouring an endless night.

She never was good with mornings.

Emma woke in an absolute panic. She looked at the time and gasped. It was seven-forty-seven and Gabe would be home any minute. She'd shut off her alarm instead of hitting snooze. "Whyyyyy???" she whimpered. All of her anxieties raised their hands to answer at once. They also had questions of their own.

"Mitch! Up!" she yelled. She ran to his side of the bed and shook the beautiful body warming her sheets. Even flipping out, she could feel her attachment to him intensifying. This one was going to hurt when it ended.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily.

"We slept in!" she said, racing to put on a bra and anything she could wear to work.

Mitch looked at the time on his phone. "Don't worry. You told them carpool was at eight, right?"

"Yes, which means they have to drop him off first so he can get his things. Stop looking at your phone. You gotta get out of here before Gabe sees you. Before Colby sees you! Agh! I'll write him and tell him not to come up."

She ran back to her phone and saw a message she'd missed in her frenzy. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"Colby's car wouldn't start so he put Gabe in an Uber. Now I have to text Casey and tell her Gabe's going to miss pick-up. I'm going to have to take him myself. Shit!"