Life in Stoneybrook #12 - Forever, Or Until Sam Thomas
Title/Prompt - Forever, Or Until Sam Thomas (Table 1, Prompt 063: Invite)
Author -
bookplayer
Word count - 805
Rating - PG
Summary - Stacey has a nearly perfect life. Is she ready to throw that all away?
Link to table - Over here.
Author's note - This one is short, and just slightly angsty, but I'm happy with it. (Also, if you follow Life in Stoneybrook, you might be interested in a story I posted from the same setting (there was no prompt, so I couldn't post it here.) Andrew's Robot is over in bsc_fanfiction.)
Previously on Life in Stoneybrook: Stacey is married to a man named John, and has three children. She ran into Sam Thomas when she went with Kristy, Mary Anne and Claudia to ask Watson for a loan to start a daycare. Sam is a police officer, also married with a family.
From: Sam Thomas
Stace, how bout drinks tonight? Just you and me.
I stared at the text message.
I typed No. Then I deleted it.
Then I typed, Sure. Where? Then I deleted that, too.
I could hear my heart pounding over the noise of cartoons coming from the living room.
There was nothing wrong with going out for drinks with Sam. He was an old friend.
If he was an old friend, then why couldn't I invite him for drinks here? He could meet John.
Sam could not meet John. I was completely sure of that. Sam was the man I was going to cheat on John with.
Hold on, what? I couldn't cheat on John. I loved him. I had to love him, I married him. I'd never considered cheating on him in seven years.
Until now. Now I was considering it. I was thinking about that hug Sam gave me the other day. The way he smelled, oh God.
And Sam was thinking of me. He must have been, he asked me out. I was proud of that, three kids and I still looked hot.
Three kids. John's kids. I was a married mother of three, I couldn't go out for drinks with a handsome ex-boyfriend. I knew where that would end up. Divorce.
My shoulders tensed at the word. I didn't want to get divorced. I couldn't get divorced. John and I both had divorced parents, and that was part of the reason we got married, because we were dedicated to having a marriage that lasted. We told each other that when we said our vows, we meant them forever.
Or until Sam Thomas. Why Sam? When I was a kid, it was that he was older. But John was older then me too. Sam was handsome, and so was John. Okay, John wasn't as handsome as Sam. But he was handsome enough. Sam was funny. John wasn't funny, really. But John was not going out for drinks with a woman who wasn't his wife, which Sam was. And John moved out here because I needed it, and he made a lot more then a police officer. John was a nice, good looking, stable man, who I happened to be married to. Sam was just funny and sexy and I was in love with him.
No. I was in love with John. My husband. There was no choice, really.
I heard the front door, and started to panic. John was home, and it was obvious to me that he would know automatically what I'd been thinking. He walked into the kitchen in his suit and tie, and he smiled at me. “Hello, cutie.”
“Hello there yourself.” I said, trying to smile normally. He leaned over and kissed me, and it was nice. I told myself that, that it was nice.
“Have you started dinner?” He said, as he took off his tie.
“Nope.” I said. “The kids have been driving me crazy today.”
The kids had been perfect angels all day. But I needed some excuse as to why I was acting so strange.
He smiled, “Well then, why don't I make dinner, and you can put your feet up? I'll even entertain the kids this evening.”
“Maybe I could go out with Claudia?” I said. I was not thinking about going out with Claudia.
“Sure. She can bring Zee over if she wants, one more kid won't hurt much.”
I bit my lip. That's what he said before Micah was born. But I had to leave my job, and three kids was an awful lot of baby food and getting dressed and changing diapers and cleaning scraped knees and, well, work. One more kid made a difference.
But John was trying, he really was. He helped out when he got home, he left a fast track job in the city to move out here. John really was a good husband, even if he wasn't funny or sexy. And things were a lot better here.
“I don't really feel like going out.” I said. “Why don't we do something together?”
John wrapped his arms around me from behind, “How about this? We'll order pizza, and stream a movie. Something the kids haven't seen a million times already. We can all curl up on the couch and have some family time.”
I leaned my head against his arm. “That sounds perfect.”
He kissed my cheek, “Great. You order the pizza and I'll put on some jeans, then we'll find a movie.”
I smiled, “I love you.”
“I love you too, cutie.”
He left the kitchen, and I heard him head upstairs. Then I picked up my phone.
I typed Not Tonight. I hit send. It was an answer to his invitation, but it didn't answer any of my questions.