Unspoken Pleasure

That night, James climbed into bed, his whole body weary. It seemed that all the lack of activity caught up to him in almost the same way that doing a whole lot of things did. He couldn't remember feeling this tired when he was working, exercising, doing things around the house, and everything else that ordinarily came with everyday life. Now he was doing next to nothing: watching TV, going for drives, taking the occasional work call, and his, well, extracurricular activities with Molly. And yet he was as sleepy as he could remember.

James opened up his iPad and let himself get lost in the Internet. He checked on the family finances (strong as ever), the news (depressing as ever) and the Mariners (worse than usual). The bed shifted as Christine climbed into her side of the bed. James glanced over at her.

His wife was wearing a tank top and long pajama pants: nothing particularly enticing. Yet James had to admit she looked good in it. The inaction of the last few weeks had meant his wife actually had some softness to her body in places. She wasn't chubby, just a bit rounded off at the angles. James preferred it when Christine looked this way, but he didn't know how to tell her that. So much of his wife's self-image was tied up in her near-fanatical exercise regimen.

Christine, sensing James' eye, looked over at him. She smiled, tentatively. They'd been sharing the same bed for only a few days now and the old familiarity felt strangely foreign.

"Anything interesting in the news?" Christine asked. She lay back and pulled the covers up to her armpits, creating a kind of force field around her body. Armor to keep her husband's advances at bay.

James shrugged and went back to his reading. Christine picked up her own iPad. Husband and wife. Shared bed, shared screens. Separate life.

"I think I'm going to bed," Christine said after a while.

"I'll turn this off," James said. He knew the light of the iPad would keep her awake.

"You don't have to," Christine said.

"No, it's OK," James said, "I should be getting to bed, too. I've got another early call in the morning."

"We're doing it," Christine said. She rolled onto her side to face her husband with a look that might be mistaken for affection. "We're getting back to normal life."

"I suppose," James said carefully.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

"No no," Christine said, and here she rubbed his shoulder gently. "You're doing so well. The work stuff. The family stuff. I'm impressed. Truly."

"You're doing so much better than me," James said, "You're getting back to the job. And trust me, you're doing a way better job on the other things, too."

"We need to stop beating ourselves up," Christine said. "We've both had slip ups. Right?"

Slip ups. Sure. James was pretty sure that was the most generous way to describe what he'd been having. Compared to Christine... Well she did say 'both.' Maybe his wife was struggling more than she let on. But it couldn't be worse than what he was doing, right?

"You're doing so great," Christine said.

"So are you," James said.

Christine smiled and kissed her husband chastely on the cheek. James closed his iPad and the bedroom went dark.

Maybe it was all going to work out, he told himself. But sleep didn't show for a long time.

*

When Christine announced that the family should all get ready for church, Molly almost laughed out loud. She quickly stifled it. She wasn't sure why it seemed so funny in the moment. The family went to church every Sunday before the camping trip. Why should a routine seem so silly now? Everything else was getting back to normal, after all.

Both her parents were working from home almost every day. Lexi was exercising like crazy and had started getting ready to go back to State. Austin had even gone out for drinks with friends the night before and had come back just fine. Molly, herself, had also started packing for the long trip to school. It felt strange, like putting her childhood away forever. A lot of what Molly did felt like that lately.

So, going to church wasn't funny -- in fact, it was hilarious. After everything they'd done, everything they were doing, to just go sit in those pews and say the prayers? That was some high comedy right there. But Molly wasn't having that argument with her mother. So, the buxom blonde put on her church clothes: a navy dress that did it's best to keep her ample body under control, and heavy, white stockings.

Downstairs, the rest of the family was also in the standard uniforms. Christine and Lexi were both wearing plain dresses in dark colors and long sleeves that belied the still-Summer heat. Austin and James were in dress slacks and button-down white shirts. Her father had even thrown on a tie.

The family piled into the car, a machine that Molly had begun calling the orgy-mobile for all the dirty stuff they'd done in it. Taking this car, with this family, to church. Hilarious was quickly escalating to hysterical. Molly noticed Austin seemed to be having similar thoughts -- he smirked at his sister as they climbed into the backseat.

The Campbells drove to church in silence. Like saying a word might trigger something inappropriate. Which, ok yes. That was a possibility. At this point, Molly wasn't sure where anything stood. Her siblings and mother seemed to be well under control now. She and her father, on the other hand... Well, in some ways they had slowed, as well. No more daily errands or "little rests." The punishments, however, they had been way more interesting. Molly's backside still stung a bit from the last penalty, and it made other parts of her tingle quite deliciously.