Immaculate Touch
Immaculate Touch
Colby watched as Charlie gently laid Esther into the renovated Eppes family cradle. It had been pulled from the basement a week earlier, the night Esther had arrived. Charlie had taken one look at it and insisted it be stripped, sanded, and sealed before any offspring of his got anywhere near it. Colby had agreed, he wasn’t sure what had been worse, the orange, yellow, brown 70’s color scheme, or the knowledge that the paint was probably lead based.
Charlie climbed into bed and turned away from Colby to face the cradle. Colby reached out and lightly ran a finger across Charlie’s bare hip. Charlie shifted away out of reach.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Colby asked softly, not wanting to wake the baby for a third time.
“I’m just tired.” Charlie answered quickly and shifted even further away. Colby frowned. Charlie either sprawled while asleep or wrapped himself around Colby like an octopus. He never slept curled up on the far edge of the bed.
“Charlie, serious, what’s wrong?”
Charlie flipped over quickly. “What’s wrong?” He hissed. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong is sleeping three feet away. What’s wrong is the biggest oops a person can make. I had a child with someone Colby. I cheated on you and managed to produce offspring in the process. I combined DNA with someone who isn’t you. I had sex and produced…spawn. My god, how can you even stand to touch me!?”
Colby closed his eyes for a moment. That fight and seemed like a lifetime ago, until Esther had landed on the front step. “It was nine months ago Charlie. We both got angry, got drunk, and we both did stupid things we regret, and we both forgave each other. Nine months ago.”
“It’s a baby Colby.” Charlie said frustration thick in his voice. “She’s going to be here for the next eighteen years. A lot longer if she’s anything like me. This was not part of any even half assed plan we’ve ever had. I don’t know what to do with her. I barely know what to do with me, and this thing we have wasn’t exactly designed with kids in mind, if there was any design at all. You should have taken one look at her and been out the door.”
Colby heard Charlie’s voice begin to crack under the harsh whisper.
“Charlie do you know what I wanted to do the first time I saw that baby and realized it was yours?”
“What?”
“I wanted to throw you to the ground and ravish you until we had a dozen baby Charlie’s running around the place.”
Charlie blinked a few times in the dim light from the street. “Uh...Colby...It doesn’t exactly work that way.”
“I know that. Not to mention what it would do to your figure.” Colby joked. Charlie gave a weak, exhausted laugh. “I’m serious. Every time you hold her...it’s...it’s like looking at a miracle, an immaculate conception, like she just dropped down from heaven with your eyes. The two of you are perfect and beautiful and I’ve been wanting to screw your brains out for a week ‘cause of it.” Charlie squeezed his eyes shut and let out something between a sob and a laugh. Colby shifted over so he could pull Charlie close to him. “I will be three days dead before I loose the desire to touch you.”
“This changes everything you know?” Charlie said.
“I know, but it’s not like we’re the first people to get blindsided by a little bundle of joy. We’ll manage.”
Charlie buried his face into Colby’s chest. “I am soooo tired.” He said.
“That because you’ve been doing everything yourself. Let me help. I’ll get the next feeding and we’ll take turns from there.”
Charlie looked up. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Now close your eyes and try to get a bit of sleep.” Charlie took a deep breath, closed his eyes and was asleep. In the cradle the spawn began to stir.