Hush (working title)

The rumble of his motorcycle grew louder as he drove slowly up the driveway.  "Daddy's home," she called out for both her benefit and that of their two year old son.  The pair walked to the door, unlocking and opening it before he had even finished removing his jacket and helmet.  Her smile faltered slightly when she saw the extra bag he had with him. 

"Hi, babe," she called to him just before he snapped off the engine.  He deftly swung the boy up onto his lap while holding the bag out to her. 

"This is for you, we're going out tonight.  No questions right now okay?"  He held her gaze for a moment until a silver car pulled up in front of their house.  She watched them for a moment before turning her attention back to her family.  They lived a fairly quiet life and rarely had visitors other than family.

"Babysitters," he said simply.  "Monkey, you're going to have a good time tonight, promise," he lifted the squirming toddler off the bike and kissed his wife.  She refrained from looking in the bag and looked back again at the silver car. 

"What's going on honey?"

"No questions, remember?"  He grinned at her and pinched her backside, "it's a surprise, isn't a husband allowed to sweep his wife off of her feet now and then?"

Her jaw dropped before she could stop it from happening.  Surprise?  Sweep?  He was a wonderful husband and great dad, but this wasn't normal.  She tilted her head slightly as she studied him from behind.  He was swinging Marco and the toddler was earning his nickname as he scrambled around his dad as he swung.  She smiled despite herself and peeked into the bag.  With something between shock and giddiness she pulled out a dress that was made out of some kind of soft silk.  The texture made her gasp as the softness slipped through her fingers.  The colors reminded her of the sunsets they saw often when the sky was scattered with clouds.  Reds, oranges and yellows melted into each other with no defining separation.

She looked up to see him watching her carefully.  "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, but,"

"No questions," there was a knock at the door and Marco slipped from his dad's arms and ran for the door, screaming excitedly the entire way, "ah, there they are," he said as though the silver car hadn't been sitting there since before they'd come in.  "How soon can you be ready?"

She shrugged as her attention flickered between the door, the dress and her husband.  "I'll do my best to hurry," she said.  Torn between meeting the strangers who would be taking her only child into their care and showering, she went for the bathroom, knowing that Jonah wouldn't hesitate to herd her out of the house before she was ready.

The hot water sliced over her skin, though Abby barely noticed.  She didn't have time, she suspected, to relax in the water.  Her rituals thrown out the window, she hurriedly washed before hopping out and rubbing frantically at her thick hair.  She didn't take the time she usually did to gently comb through the tangles, but pulled her brush quickly through, wincing as she went.  As she dried her hair, dryer set on fast and furious, she thought about the dress Jonah had bought for her.  She even thought she saw a pair of shoes in the bag.  Where had the money come from, she wondered, not for the first time.  They weren't poor, not at all, but they still lived paycheck to paycheck and she knew there wasn't money in their account for a dress, especially not one that felt as expensive as this one did.

Jonah had been in the military now for 6 years.  It was a decent life, with more ups and downs than calm times, but they adjusted and dealt with it.  They had a roof over their head, cars to drive, a motorcycle and food on the table.  But silk dresses were few and very far between. 

Abby's hair fell in soft waves a few inches below her shoulders.  The dark brown was monotonous, but it was hers, she smiled at herself ruefully as she quickly applied a little makeup to her too pale skin. 

"Mama," she heard Marco calling with his mouth, undoubtedly pressed against the door as his little fist banged on the door. 

"Coming, monkey, one more minute!"  She held the dress up one more time, expecting it to disappear or change rapidly into something that cost $10, rather than the figure she imagined it to have cost.  Slipping it over her head, Abby could barely contain the purr as it slid over her skin.  It wasn't tight, but she was grateful that she'd been able to fit a run in this morning.

Looking into the bag, her suspicions were right.  There was a pair of impossibly high heels with thin straps that would crisscross over her ankles.  She rubbed her finger lightly across the heel reveling in how perfectly it matched the burnt orange color in the dress she now wore.  At first, as she slipped them on, she couldn't imagine the point of such outrageously high heels with a dress that completely covered her legs, until she turned and the material of her dress parted slightly with the movement.  Two openings revealed her legs in a way that she thought both subtle and sexy, though she couldn't imagine what a simple woman was doing in it.

Another chubby knock at the door returned her from her thoughts and she gave herself one last quick glance in the mirror.  Abby opened the door slowly, knowing her little man would be on the other side leaning with his entire 23 lbs.  "Mama, pretty," he said and his opinion was followed by what she could only describe as a low growl from her husband.

"Jonah, really," he silenced her with a kiss and brought her into their small living room.  There, sitting on the couch was a couple she'd never met before.  She assumed the man was also military; the haircuts frequently gave them away.

"Marla and Jack, this is my wife, Abby.  Abby, Jack and I," he paused almost imperceptibly, "work together. "

Marla stood up and Abby watched in laughing surprise as Marco ran to her and wrapped his arms around her leg.  Marla laughed softly and Abby thought it sounded impossibly like the soft tinkling of wind chimes singing in a light breeze.  "It's nice to meet you Abby.  Jack and I don't have kids yet, but we love them," she smiled down at the boy trying to climb up her leg, "and they seem to like us too," she smiled.

Jonah trailed his hand lightly down his wife's arm and started to guide her out the door.  A tinge of anxiety laced its way through her heart as she watched her son, "he sleeps with us," she said, "he goes to sleep around 8pm, but someone will need to lay with him."  Marla smiled and nodded, "if he won't go to sleep he can stay up.  But, call if he's a problem, sometimes he has quite a temper."

"Don't worry, Abby, we'll call if there are any problems.  I'm sure we'll be fine," she looked conspiratorially at Marco, "we brought McDonalds!"  The little legs ran to his chair at the table and he looked up expectantly.  Abby gave in and walked over to him to kiss his chubby cheeks.  He dutifully waved and she had nothing left to do but let her husband guide her out the door. 

"They'll be fine," he assured her as he opened the door for her. 

He slid in next to her and started the car.  She looked over at him and was no longer surprised at the swift hit to her gut she felt every time she really stopped to look at him.  She wanted him just as much as she had the first time she met him, but that lust was now mixed with the love that grew daily as well as the comfortable companionship they'd found together.  He wasn't tall, maybe average height, but she knew that under his clothes his body was a finally toned machine.  Somehow, despite the hard work he did, his skin was still soft and smooth.  Except for his hands.  They were wide and strong.  The tough skin covering his fingers was in sharp contrast to the soft skin on her hands, but the difference only made her shiver in pleasure.  His hair was a brown so dark it was almost black, cut short but still thick and soft.  His eyes were just as dark and somehow those eyes always seemed to be able to dive straight into her soul.

He was gorgeous and it still surprised her sometimes that he was hers.

The craving to ask where they were going was driving her nuts, so she laid her head back against the seat and tried to relax.  She couldn't even guess as to where they were headed because they had turned off the highway almost immediately and were headed out into the country down a road she'd never seen before.  The miles melted away as she continued to watch the country become less and less developed. 

She nearly lost her battle with her curiosity when he turned down a driveway.  It wound around the trees and it was a few minutes before she saw the house.  It was magnificent and lights burned brightly in each of the windows.  She gasped and turned to Jonah.  "Where are we?  And, no, I can't hold my questions any longer!"

His chuckle should have been irritating, but her attention was still divided between glaring at her husband and  gaping at the house looming closer.  "This is the home of Colonel Jenkins."

"I don't recognize the name, who is he?"

"The colonel and I met recently over a mutual interest.  This is good, Abby.  I'll be able to tell you everything very soon.  You just have to suffer through some introductions."

Abby was about to reach for the door when it clicked open and a hand entered her line of vision, apparently there to assist her out of the car.  She took it and found herself standing in front of a very handsome man, mid-twenties she guessed, dressed impeccably in a dark suit.  "Mrs. Martin, allow me to walk you in," she realized quickly as he tucked her hand through his that it wasn't actually a request.  "Mr. Martin, Michael will take care of your car, just leave the keys inside."  Jonah didn't seem overly surprised and was soon following them up the stairs and through the door.

Whatever Abby was expecting, it wasn't this.  The foyer, she guessed it would be called, opened into a wide expanse of space.  The room to her right seemed to be some sort of parlor, she couldn't think of another word for it, where the wives were sitting in various arrangements of chairs talking and sipping at glasses she assumed contain wine.  A few looked up when the door opened and smiled before returning to their conversations.  Soft music seemed to be everywhere, but come from nowhere in particular.  She could see the kitchen to her left, a kitchen that made her drool.  It was nearly as big as her entire house and seemed to contain the latest in culinary technology.  Several people dressed in perfectly stain-free white rushed around the space, setting out beautifully presented trays that were picked up by women dressed formally in black slacks and crisp white blouses.

They were met by a severe looking man somewhere in his fifties, Abby guessed.  It was obvious to her that he was military, simply by the way he carried himself.  She thought of him as severe simply because his clothes were perfection and he walked as though meeting them at the door was a top-rated mission to be carried out.  His face seemed friendly enough, however, when he held his hand out to her and introduced himself.  "Mrs. Martin, it's a pleasure to meet you finally after hearing so much about you.  I am Colonel Jenkins, welcome to my home."

"Colonel," she shook his hand, "I wish I could say the same, I am usually so busy that I don't always get the chance to hear about Jonah's work." 

The colonel grinned, which was something she didn't expect to see from him and it made her feel as though she was missing out on a joke.  She tried to keep that look out of her eyes when her gaze met her husband's.  The look that said, why does he know about me and I don't know about him?  She didn't have long to be irritated, though.  They were swiftly moved into another room, adjacent to what she now was terming the Ladies Room into a room that was much more obviously designed for the masculine.  She looked around casually, noting that she was something of an interest to every man in the room.  She didn't feel that it was a sexual interest.  It was something different, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Introductions were made and most carried with it some sort of rank, though, there were a few there who did not seem to be tied to the Army.  An hour past as she small-talked with more people than she cared to count and she still had no idea what it was they were doing here.  Jonah had never been much for hanging out with the guys and bbq's with the families were few and far in between.  It wasn't like him to want to go to the fancy dinners or balls, so being here, in a colonel's home was beyond her comprehension of her husband.  Abby was beginning to feel as though something was going to happen soon that was going to blow her mind.

She had no idea just how much.