Gift of Love

David and Tracy

Chapter 19

 

With one leg crossed over his knee, David leaned back against the couch, exhaustion slowly settling in his body. Keeping his blue eyes fixed on his wife, he watched as she slid behind the bar sitting in the corner of the living room.

Pulling two glasses down from the shelf in front of her, she set them down on the counter. Reaching under the bar, she pulled out a bottle of Whiskey. Holding the bottle up for her husband to see, she spoke. “Is this okay?”

“Whatever you are having is fine with me, honey.” Tipping his head back, he took in the changes to his wife’s figure. She looked good. “You look great, babe.”

Tossing a wink his way, Tracy nodded her head. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Popping a couple of ice cubes in each glass, she poured a double shot of golden liquid into each cup before adding a splash of coke. Not seeing a stir stick anywhere, she had to improvise. “Sorry, hon,” she said, and then using her index finger she mixed their drinks.  Slipping her finger inside her mouth, she moaned.  “Perfect.” Leaving the open bottle sitting on the counter she moved over to the couch to join her husband. Handing him a glass she sat down beside him.  Tucking her legs under her, she raised her glass, “Cheers.” Taking a large pull from her glass, Tracy felt the familiar burn of  the whiskey as it slid down her throat. When the warm burning feeling spread throughout her belly, she sighed.  It was exactly what she needed after a long day of traveling with four other wives, and too many kids to count.

“Tired, babe?” It was more of an observation instead of a question. He could see it in her eyes that she was tired.

“Yes.” Taking another sip from her glass, she closed her eyes. “Between getting the kids up and ready this morning, the flight, and dealing with the time difference, my body is all out of whack.”  Keeping her eyes shut, she leaned over to rest her head on David’s shoulder. After all the crap they went through downstairs tonight, she needed some comfort. “You would think after all the years we have traveled together our kids would know how to behave on a damn plane.” Tracy chuckled. “It is a damn good thing Joanne booked a private plane. If we had flown commercial we probably would have been thrown off the flight somewhere over the ocean.”

Using his free hand, David massaged the back of her neck. “Were they really that bad? Or were they just going along with whatever trouble their cousins were causing?” He already knew the answer to his question. From years of flying with the band he was well aware that when you got all the kids together in one room, let alone a confined space like an airplane, all hell was bound to break loose. Private plane or not, one thing the dads had never done, nor will they ever do, is travel with all of the kids on the same flight. Whether their wives were with them or not it just wasn’t going to happen. They were all too smart for that. However, he was not about to tell his wife that.

 Giving a tiny moan when his fingers hit an especially tender spot, Tracy shook her head. “Of course they followed in their cousin’s footsteps. But they also started shit too.” If there was one thing her husband was good at, it was giving great massages. “That feels so good. I love your hands.”

“”Feeling better?”

“Mm, hmm.” She murmured, lifting her head; she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

Leaning back against the cushion she studied the man sitting beside her. The lines on his face were deeper than when he first left for the tour. The dark circles around his eyes were more prominent now. It looked like he had even lost some weight too.  She could see that this tour was wearing him out.

Tucking her under his arm, he kissed her temple. “It’s good to see you, honey.”  The phone calls, emails, and text messages they exchanged were never enough for him when he was on gone.

Nestled in her husband’s arms, Tracy thought about the man she has been married to for the last nineteen years. She knew long before they ever married it was not going to be easy on their relationship with him being gone for weeks, sometimes months, at a time, whether it was to record a new album or promote it. She was even used to the late nights he would spend in his recording studio. Despite all that, she wasn’t prepared to raise their kids by herself. Unfortunately, that is exactly what she had been doing since Caleb was born. For quite some time now, Tracy knew her feelings towards her husband had changed. She no longer looked at him the same way she did just a few short years ago. Being alone for months on end had changed her, and the way she felt about her husband. The woman who had promised to love, honor, and always be faithful was long gone. In her place was a new, stronger independent woman. There was no doubt in her heart she still cared about him. A small part of her still loved him, probably always would until the day she died, but, it wasn’t the deep, soul burning can’t live without you love she once felt for him. She could remember back when he would come home from a tour. Whether it was a short break or just one night, she would be so excited to see him she would sit at the bottom of the stairs and wait for him to walk through the front door. When he did, she would attack him where he stood. There were many times they would end up making love right there in their foyer. She was sure on one of his trips home she conceived Tabitha on the floor of their foyer. Now, there was no bubbling excitement inside her anymore when he came home during a break from whatever tour he was on, or when the tour was over. When he was home, she would feel suffocated.   There were times she would feel resentment during his returns because then, the routine she built for her and the kids while he was gone, would fall apart.  Internally, she felt like her freedom to come and go was limited.  He never questioned her about where she was going when she left the house, but she could see it in his eyes that he wanted to ask but never did. Their sex life was satisfying but she longed for the days when they could not keep their hands off each other. Back when it was just the two of them lost in one another. When the passion was raw and the hunger for each other burned hot. Now it felt like they were always in a hurry. Almost rushed at times wondering when the kids were going to knock on the door or the phone was going to ring.  One thing Tracy could not deny was her husband was a great father and a great provider for the family, but she wanted more than his money. She wanted him. She wanted time alone with him and their kids, where they could be a normal family. There was never enough time carved out for them as a family. Or as a couple. Those days were rare now, due to him having to divide his time between the world tour he was currently on, and the Broadway show he was putting together for next year.

David could sense the distance between them as they sat on the couch. Try as he might, he could not figure out when or where the gap had developed.  Was it while they were recording the album “The Circle”? He wondered.  Perhaps it had started back when he was in the early stages of production for his latest Broadway show.  There had been many nights where he would come home late, tired and ready to fall into bed.  It was on those nights he barely had the energy to climb the stairs leading to their bed, let alone pay attention to his wife who was usually up waiting for him. On those nights, he would merely give her a quick peck on the cheek before slipping into bed careening into an exhausted, dreamless sleep. Now it seemed like every time he tried to talk to Tracy about something, anything at all, she would yell at him then storm out of the room. In the last two years he was home, David felt like he was the odd man out in his own home.  The kids were hardly ever home. They were either busy hanging out with their friends, or participating in some school activity. Tracy was always at one of the kids schools attending to some kind of function, which meant she was hardly home when he was.  In addition to being gone a lot she had begun to have some serious mood swings. Some of them really threw him for a loop.  Tracy had always been a laid-back kind of woman but now, her mood would change at the drop of a hat.  He was never sure what kind of mood he would find his wife in when he get out of bed. One minute she would be laughing and kidding around, flirting with him like she used to do back when they were dating. Those were the moments she reminded him of the girl he fell in love with and married. Then in the blink of an eye, her disposition would change. They could be having a casual conversation then all of a sudden; she would start bitching at him about leaving the toilet seat up.  Or that he left his wet towels lying on the bathroom floor again. A bathroom they shared but she seemed to be the only one who cleaned it.  If he left coffee cup in the sink, she would scream at him then call him lazy for not washing it out. Studying her moods was like watching an irregular metronome. When she was having a bad day, she would alternate from the silent treatment to clipped, one-word answers, to completely ignoring him.  If he tried to touch her, she would glare at him and then walk away.   

“Do you want another drink?” Hearing his wife’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “No, I’m good.”

Taking another sip from her half empty glass, Tracy sighed. “It is nice to just sit and relax and not worry about what kind trouble our brood is creating.”

“Was it really as bad as you are saying it was?” David knew how rowdy their kids could get when it was just them, but throws their cousins into the mix. Well, it always added up to major trouble.

“The entire flight over the boys would not sit still. I swear they switched seats more times than I care to remember. Just when I thought they had finally settled down, one of them would get up and move to another part of the plane. We tried to watch a movie but the boys kept making farting noises, or  Michael and Eric would have a belching contest. Poor Isabel, she finally had enough of them running all over the place like a bunch of out of control monkeys. She threatened them and told them if they didn’t sit down and knock it off she was going to make them go shopping with her instead of going to the museum with their cousins.”  

David shuddered. “Shopping with Isabel? No thanks.” He had heard Richie say on many occasions that when it came to his wife shopping. You had better wear the most comfortable shoes you could find because she loved to shop. “Did they listen to her?”

Tracy shook her head, yes.

“That’s good. Did they give you any more trouble after that?”

“Nope, they stayed in their seats for the rest of the flight.” Leaning forward, Tracy set her empty glass down on the coffee table. Twisting sideways, she plucked the glass out of her husband hands.

“Hey, I was drinking that,” he protested, a playful pout on his lips.  

 Placing her knees on either side of his thighs, she straddled his lap. Sitting her butt down on the bulge growing beneath her, she grinded against him. “Still want that drink?”

“What drink?” The back of his head hit the couch with a loud thud. “Jesus, honey, what's gotten into you?” It had been a long time since his wife had been this forthcoming with him sexually.

Nipping the edge of his ear with her teeth, she whispered. “Nothing has gotten into me. Yet, but I am working on changing that right now.”

“Well let me help you out there, honey.”

Before long, their clothes lay littered around the room, as the couple was oblivious to everything but each other. Every touch, every whispered word of affection was said in an effort to help bridge the gap that was growing between them.