Relief

Chapter Nine

DREW'S POV

I hated lying to Katelyn, but I'd been away from her and my son for 3 weeks and I couldnt wait to get home. I'd text her and told a small lie, saying that my flight had been diverted and my connection had changed, so I would be back later than first thought, but she said it was cool because she was at the mall with Joe, doing some last minute shopping. I'm glad that she had Joe to keep her company, and vice versa. He was going through a real bad time of late, gets diagnosed with leukaemia, his wife leaves him because of the affair we had, now he was having chemo 3 times a week. Sometimes Kate would go with him to his appointments, just so he wasn't alone, and there were numerous occasions when I would Facetime her at night, after a show, and I could either hear or see him in the background. If I was totally honest with myself, yes, I did hate how close they were and yes the thought had crossed my mind that they were sleeping together, but I knew Katelyn. She always joked about how she was too tired and lazy to cheat on me.
'This is the final call for flight 1947 to Orlando. Could all passengers please make their way to the boarding gate,' came the voice over the speaker. I grabbed my carry on and headed for the gate. Only 4 hours until I'm home for the holidays.

Stepping out of the cab, I paid the driver and got my suitcase and gym bag out of the trunk. I wished the driver a merry Christmas and set off up the path to the house. Kate's Land Rover was parked in the driveway. Thank God she was home because I didn't have my keys on me. With a stroke of luck, the front door was unlocked. The house was eerily quiet. Knowing Kate, she was probably upstairs having a nap. I wheeled my suitcase into the laundry room, took out my dirty clothes and put them in for a wash. I left my bags in the small room and went in search of my wife. Heading up the back stairs from the kitchen, I quickly peeked into the nursery and saw AJ asleep in his crib. It amazed me how quickly he was growing up. Nobody would ever believe that he was 14 weeks early. Leaving him to sleep, I crossed the hall and entered our bedroom. I could hear voices coming from the en-suite.
'You're saying that it was a mistake?' I heard a male voice, sounding a lot like Joe, say.
'Yes.. No... I don't know. We both wanted it to happen...' came Kate's reply. What the hell was going on? I walked to the bathroom doorway and leaned against the door frame, soaking in the scene before me.
'And now I can die a happy man, knowing that I got to fuck the woman of my dreams.'
'Oh really?' I said, looking directly at Kate, half naked, except for her black silk kimono robe. 'Does somebody want to explain what the fuck is going on?'
'I should go,' Joe said, trying to get passed me. I blocked his way.
'No, I want to know what is going on. One of you better start talking right now.' I looked from Joe to Kate. It didn't take a genius to work it out.
'I'm so sorry,' Katelyn stammered, as she began to cry. 'We didn't mean for it to happen, it just did.'
'What happened?' I demanded. 'You fucked him, didn't you?' Katelyn looked at me, tears streaming down her face. 'You fucked him in our bed, with our son in the next room. I can't be dealing with this right now.'

KATELYN'S POV

What the hell had I done?
Drew stormed out of the bedroom and I ran after him.
'Babe, listen...'
'DON'T BABE ME,' he roared, turning and shoving me into the wall, pinning me there.
'For fuck sake, will you please just listen to me?' I yelled back, trying, and failing, to push him off me. He gripped my shoulders and kept me pressed against the wall.
'No, you don't get to lie and makes up some bullshit reason as to why I find you half naked with another man in our bedroom.'
'I'm not going to lie. Yes, I fucked Joe. It wasn't planned. He's having a really rough time of late...'
'So that makes it okay, does it?'
'Drew, I'm not condoning what I did, and no, it's not revenge for you having an affair with Joe. I love him, but I love you more.' Drew let go of me, leaned against the other wall and sunk down to the floor. I had seen that look on his face before. Pure heartbreak.
'What are you saying Katelyn? That you want to end our marriage?'
'No, I'm not saying that at all. When we got married, we got married for life. I meant every word of my vows..'
'So what? You want an open marriage? You want to keep seeing him?'
'No, Drew,' I snapped. 'I don't want anyone but you. Yes, I love Joe, but as nothing more than a friend. You've seen what he's gone through these last few months..'
'That doesn't excuse you for taking another man into our marital bed.' Drew stood up and placed his hands on my neck, my robe coming undone. 'I'm not saying that I can forget what you've done..'
'We can move forward from this. Drew, how many times do I have to tell you that you're the only man I want to be with?' I looked into his bright blue eyes, not sure if it was last or hatred that I saw in them.
'How am I meant to have a serious conversation with you when you're looking like that, huh? Do you know how hard it has been to be away for you for 3 weeks? All I've thought about was what I wanted to do to you when I got home. I love you Katelyn and I will fight anyone who even tried to come between us.' He pressed his forehead to mine, my robe slipping off my shoulder and exposing my chest.
'I'm sorry Andrew, you know I love you.' I kissed him quickly.
'Promise me that I will never come home to this again.'
'It will never happen again. I promise.'

Later that evening, Joe had gone home because he didn't feel well, Drew was downstairs with AJ whilst I was in the bedroom, wrapping the presents I had bought earlier. I heard the doorbell go and shouted to Drew to go answer the door. I tried to listen to who was there, as we weren't expecting any visitors and Joe usually walks straight in the door anyway. I heard Drew thank the person and close the door again. Drew's footsteps became louder as he walked up the back staircase. I was putting the finishing touches to my final gift when he walked in the room with a pet carrier.
'Drew, what the hell?'
'Joe is downstairs with AJ and I want you to have your gift early,' he said, handing me the carrier. I set it on the floor and opened it up. Out sprang a small black German Shepherd puppy.
'Oh my god, she's gorgeous,' I gushed, throwing myself into his waiting arms. I kissed him deeply and turned back to the puppy. 'Does she have a name?'
'She is actually a he and no, he doesn't. I though we could name him together.'
'How about Loki?'
'Cos he looks like he's gonna be trouble?' We both laughed and I tried out the name.
'Loki?' No response. 'What about Bruce? We both love Batman, Hulk and Springsteen.'
'Bruce?' Drew tried. The puppy came running toward us. 'Looks like he has a name.' I scooped him up in my arms and tickled behind his ear. 'He will make a great guard dog when he gets bigger. That's why I thought we should have a bigger dog, instead of a tiny yapper. He can grow up to protect everything I love the most.' I leaned in and kissed him in thanks, Bruce decided he wanted in on the action and licked my cheek. Drew and I broke apart and both laughed at the silly puppy.
'Babe, I'm so sorry about earlier...'
'Look, let's just forget about it. I kinda can't be made at you because I've already cheated and you forgave me. Just promise me that it won't happen again .' I kissed him in way of an answer.