My Spare Husband #4
Fuck Me - No, Don't
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There was little point in me staring at the ceiling. I had arrived in Kenya having chosen to come here. I made my bed quite literally thousands of miles away a day ago, and now I must shower before lying and sleeping in it here.
I sat up too quickly, propped myself steadily on both arms, and waited for the stars before my eyes to vanish.
“Wow!”
“Fucking wow, Charlie!”
I was finally alone in my bedroom, so I locked the door and returned to my bed, lying down again, reading my husband’s written madness five more times. In the end, I laughed and set the letter aside, staring through the glass window above me at the stars Charlie had mentioned.
“The cradle of life, eh, Charlie?”
“Fuck me!”
I’d better stop saying that around Jeremy. He may take me literally.
“Are you here, darling?”
“Charlie?”
“It feels like you are with me.”
My husband had gone to the ends of the earth to build this place in the cradle of life. I could safely assume that every business trip he’d taken over the last few years and the secrets buried somewhere in the house were all his hardy efforts poured into this venture.
He even found me a husband who looked a lot like him.
“Oh my Charlie - what an amazing man you are.”
I shook my head in disbelief and smiled through the tears of sadness because there was also joy in my being here. My husband loved me so much that he found a way for us to be close or at least to make me happy after he was gone.
But I wasn’t sleeping with Jeremy.
I was blessed to be wed to a fine man - the first and last to bed me. I could have crumbled when seeing this lost paradise, but Charlie knew I would love it, except for Jeremy, who seemed an excess to his fantasy.
When my phone rang, sobering me, I swung my legs off the bed and reached for it on the nightstand.
“Hi, Annie.”
“Mom, you said you’d call as soon as you arrived.”
“Sorry, honey. I arrived an hour ago and haven’t even showered yet.”
“Okay… are you well? I have Chuck here, too - you’re on speaker.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, baby boy. Yes, I am okay, both of you. I’m a bit shocked but fine.”
“Why are you shocked?”
“Dad built me an exact replica of our Maine house in the middle of a private safari park. I have lions and giraffes - hippos too, I think.”
“Come again, Mom?”
“You heard me right, Annie. I am lying in my bed right now, staring at the stars through my glass window above. I have the same bedding, pillows, and everything else as my house in Maine.”
“That’s weird.”
“Are you lying on my bed?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Well, imagine that I am, too—right down to the brass stem and stained glass bedside light on my nightstand.”
“Very weird.”
“I said that too at first.”
“Who is Jeremy? I remember Dad mentioned him shortly before he passed.”
“He’s my butler.”
“Wow. Remember how Dad always joked around saying he was your butler?”
“I do.”
“Well, Mom - I don’t know what to say.”
“Can we catch up in the morning, please, guys? I must shower and grab some sleep. My body is aching from traveling on buses and cabs with no suspension.”
“Goodnight, Mom. I love you.”
“Me too, Mom - love you.”
“I love both of you too.”
I disconnected the call and saw it was way past midnight, so I undressed and threw my dirty clothes into a wicker laundry basket—the exact same one I had thrown my nightdress into on the morning Chuck drove me to the airport.
I couldn’t tell Annie and Chuck the truth about Jeremy because they would freak out, and I didn’t want to sully my husband’s memory by them knowing Daddy had set me up with a fuck buddy in his last will.
The same rainshower as in Maine cascaded warm water over my tired body in my marble floor and walled wet room while I lathered and washed with my favorite lemon verbena soap using a familiar natural sponge. After I dried off, my brain had adapted, and I no longer made comparisons with my Maine home because Charlie made sure this Kenyan paradise was my home.
I lay on my bed, opened the nightstand drawer, and removed my latest read, The Most Fun We Ever Had, by Claire Lombardo. I turned to the bookmarked page I had left the day before Charlie died and laughed joyously because he had ensured every tiny detail of my life was catered for.
I kicked my legs up and down excitedly, feeling like Charlie was with me for the first time since the day he died.
“Oh, Charlie - How I love you, sweetheart.”
I was talking to nobody except myself, but as Charlie said, I was in the cradle of life, a spiritual place where anything could happen. My husband’s familiarity pervaded everywhere; his smell and humor covered me like a protective blanket.
As I dropped off to sleep, I heard Charlie’s voice summoning me to a dream.
Don’t give up, Jess. I am here with you, in the cradle of life.
Next Chapter:
Thank you for taking us along on this amazing adventure. It seems even more unbelievable when she will only explain a pert of the wonder to the kids. The whole thing would probably put one of them on the next plane to Kenya, no where near what Charlie had envisioned. Better with each chapter. Good job, Kate!
Wow, I am really loving this story! I’m way behind, though. Gotta go read more. 😊