A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter LI: We Can Work it Out

Nuclear war was the hardest subject to diffuse. It wasn't something either one of us could control but it still haunted our television sets. We decided not to watch any telly for a while. If there were any big news, we'd hear about it eventually. 

We devised ways about how to tell Wanda we knew what she was doing. She had been writing all those Bette Catherine letters. Maybe once she knew we were on to her, and that we were in a very serious relationship, she'd give up. 

"We could invite her over here," Angus suggested. I grimaced.

"We could send her a letter from some desperate man," I said. We giggled. The idea of giving her a taste of her own medicine was tempting, but probably wouldn't work. 

"We could keep lettin' the dogs use her grass for a toilet," Angus said. "But...wouldn't be very nice, I guess..."

We giggled again. 

There were only a few days left until Angus left for the tour. He'd be in Australia for a month then head out. We talked about anything else we might be worried about. And Angus promised he'd call every night, and if he couldn't, he'd get one of the other guys to call. I promised him I'd keep the line open every night, and we'd figure out what to do once he changed time zones. 

I slept a lot better at night. I still had some unpleasant dreams here and there but I wouldn't wake up in a cold sweat or a panic. My mood picked up a little bit. Nothing was ever perfect. I wasn't suddenly the happiest person in the world. But I was able to manage my stress a lot better. 

I still refrained from making love sometimes. I just didn't want to. And Angus would reassure me that it was fine, and he wasn't upset about it. He wasn't ever tempted to leave me for someone more willing. And I made an attempt to believe him. We were intimate in other ways. Hugging and holding hands. Cooking together, playing on the floor with the dogs. Planting our new spring flowers. And we enjoyed being together. We were best friends. 

I put the sleeping pills in the bathroom cabinet. I just wanted them out of our room. Instead I drank soothing herbal tea. Angus and I preferred black tea with milk or the like, but we gave it a try. It was nice sitting in bed with him drinking our tea and either playing a board game or just snuggling. Our dogs liked it too. They preferred the peace and quiet over the loud television anyway. 

It was during one of these nightly cuddle sessions that it happened. It was Angus' last night home and he'd be leaving tomorrow afternoon. We had our tea and the dogs snored on their blanket. Our bed was extra warm. After days of saying no, I was ready to say yes. I really loved that man and I wanted to be close to him. 

Angus had no qualms whatsoever.