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Everything Your Heart Desires Chapter 50 Cheryl lay awake in the Dorough�s guestroom. She had pleaded tired after watching Good Will Hunting and retired to bed a couple of hours ago. Dinner had been wonderful. It was the kind of thing she remembered from her childhood and now missed with her own family. The friendly banter and casual chit-chat. And Momma D certainly knew her way around the kitchen. After savoring too much homecooking and spiting Paula�s protests, Cheryl helped clean up the dishes. The men, meanwhile, went to the local video store to rent the night�s entertainment. Just to be certain there wasn�t an overabundance of movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean Claude Van Damme, Polly joined them to keep the balance. It was now 2 a.m. She had passed the time staring through the ceiling and daydreaming about her life � more specifically her relationship with Howard Dorough. Her thoughts lingered in the past for sometime but in doing so, she realized the best lay ahead. It was obvious she wouldn�t be sleeping that night so she wrapped herself in Howie�s burgundy terrycloth robe before quietly creeping down the darkened hallway. Knowing her destination and the floor plan of the house, she carefully counted the doors as she passed. "One � linen closet. Two � bath. Three � John." Cheryl nudged open the fourth door and snapped on the light. She smiled as she saw the captain�s bed in the corner, the bookcase with awards from talent shows, the walls adorned with childhood memories and family photos. "It�s pretty amazing to realize that a childhood worth of memories is in this room." Cheryl turned at the sound of the voice. "Paula, I didn�t mean to� I�" "No need to apologize, Sweetie. Our home is open to you." The older woman took the younger by the hand and the two sat on the bed side-by-side. Proud brown eyes scanned the room. "My baby grew up so fast. They all did. As a parent, you hope that you�ve instilled the right morals and values in your children. You try to guide them, but in the end, it�s all in God�s hands. "Even still, you pray that they will be happy and be loved. You want nothing more for whatever amount of time they�ve been given." Paula�s glossy gaze returned to the redhead before her. "I wanted nothing more for my Howard than those two things � happiness and love." The mother�s olive-toned hands squeezed those of the young woman beside her. "He�s found both of those things in you, Cheryl. Thank you for making my wishes for my baby become reality." Cheryl was speechless as the tears escaped her hazel eyes and slid down her cheeks. Paula opened her arms and Cheryl willingly � almost subconsciously � fell into her embrace. "I promise I won�t ever let you down, Paula," she whispered around the lump in her throat."Where did that come from?" Kevin asked as he let his head fall back on the couch and thought about Kristy�s statement. They�d gone from making up � and making out � to fighting again in a blink of an eye, and Kevin wasn�t sure how it had happened. He stood and walked over to the kitchen area where she was pouring some water. "Angel, why are you upset now?" Kristy shrugged off his hand on her shoulder. �Don�t �Angel� me. You can�t just seduce me into forgiving you.� She dropped the glass and cursed as it shattered in the sink. �Shit!� Kevin knew something else was upsetting Kristy, but for the life of him, he didn�t know what it was. Prior to the episode at the club tonight, he�d thought things between them had never been better. But clearly Kristy was bothered by something. �Kris, whatever is upsetting you, let�s work it out.� Again Brian�s comment at the club came to him. �We can�t leave tomorrow without setting things straight.� Kristy took a deep breath and turned to her boyfriend. It was something that had been eating away at her for awhile now, but she hadn�t wanted to really think about it. �Kev,� she paused and wiped away the tears that had begun to fall, �I�m afraid our relationship is going to get weaker now that we�ve slept together.� �What? Kris, how do you figure?� She looked up at him and drew a shaky breath. �Before, we used to stay up all night, just talking and cuddling because we couldn�t do anything else� now, we�re physically closer, but I�m worried we�re going to loose that emotional closeness we had.� Kevin felt his heart sink. �Is that how you feel? Do you feel like we�ve already lost our connection?� He was in shock. He thought their relationship was the most incredible thing he�d ever experienced� each time they made love, it was as special to him as the first time, and he felt like they continued to grow closer. Now he was scared that Kristy didn�t feel the same way. �No, it�s been wonderful� but the sex-part seems so important to you, that I�m just afraid it�s going to overshadow everything else.� Kevin frowned as he watched her face. �If sex was the driving factor in my life, do you think we�d be where we are now?� Kevin saw hurt and anger fill her eyes. �Now, wait� I meant that if I was that obsessed with sex I probably never would�ve invested the time in building a relationship with you � a relationship that�s based on love and friendship, as well as physical attraction.� Kristy recognized the truth in what he was saying, and Kevin could see it in her face as he continued. �If the �sex-part� was so important to me, I wouldn�t even have a girlfriend� I could have a different woman every night of the week if I wanted to.� Kristy shut her eyes as she felt her heart scream in protest at the very thought. �Kris, I�m not saying this to hurt you � I never want to hurt you � but it�s the truth.� He tipped her face up so he could look her in the eye. �But I don�t want a different woman every night� I want to share my life with one woman � you.� They shared a tearful smile as he reassured her, �The great sex is just a bonus.� Kristy giggled slightly, then sighed. �Kev, I�m sorry to just throw this at you, but this is all still new to me. I�ve never been in a relationship like this.� He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. �Neither have I, Princess.� �I love you,� they whispered together as they stood there quietly and let the music from the radio fill the room. A new song started and Kevin smiled, knowing fate was once again involved. The soft melody washed over them and both Kristy and Kevin knew they couldn�t have chosen a more perfect song at that moment if they�d tried.Every time our eyes meet They held each other, dancing slowly and letting the song�s lyrics speak for them. Never had someone else�s words described a couple�s love so well. Both of them felt the writer had been able to listen to their hearts and souls� and had taken those emotions and put them to music. I don't know how you do what you do Kristy stepped back and looked up into Kevin�s eyes. She smiled and took his hands in hers, pulling him towards the bedroom. Kevin searched her eyes and saw them filled with love and desire. As much as he wanted to make love to her, he decided to let Kristy determine the course of the evening. I don't know how you do what you do It was an evening neither of them would ever forget. That night they made their first rule for their future� to never go to sleep angry. Even though they were no longer fighting, they still stayed up the entire night � listening to music, talking, cuddling, and making love� finally falling asleep in each other�s arms early in the morning. |