Faithfully

Faithfully

A novel by

Izzy Cullen

Faithfully Copyright © 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced. Distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
             

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by
:
Kari Ayasha of Cover to Cover Designs

Edited by:

Frankie Sutton http://frankiesfreelanceediting.blogspot.com

And

This book is dedicated to all the readers of What You Do To Me. Thank you for the e-mails and messages pushing me to get this book out to you.

~1~

              Alex had been here for a little over two months already and he seemed to be easing into small town life. The locals paid little to no attention to him, almost as if he had been born and raised here. My mother, on the other hand, was absolutely in love with him. The fact that Alex was using his charm and irresistible personality helped him when dealing with her. The girls were getting used to seeing him daily, except for most Sundays, which Alex and I agreed would be set aside for the girls and me. This was unless something came up, and then we traded Sunday for a day of the week.

             
I was happy again. Derek and Lexi were still there and always would be, but I no longer leaned on them as I used to when needing advice or help. Alex was becoming my equal partner. It scared me a little to realize how much I was relying on him, but he made it so easy. I still had the fear that small town life would never be enough for him, or he would eventually realize the girls and I were no longer, what he needed or wanted. I tried to bury that fear whenever it popped into my head. Luckily, it didn’t happen as much as it did in the beginning of the relationship.

             
Alex never stayed at my house. That was one rule that I hadn’t budged on so far. Luckily, he agreed to my terms and stayed at his place nightly, but was always there to help with the bedtime routine. We always stole the next hour or two after bedtime for ourselves. My other rule was no sex while the girls were in the house, and that was the hardest not to break. Alex was so desirable and always pushed me to my limit, but I had managed not to break that rule. There were times I felt he would push me to the point of rethinking these terms, and then he would leave for the night, almost like a game he played with me.

             
I wasn’t sure how he did it, but Alex was always standing with a coffee in hand outside the bathroom when I emerged in the morning, and he started becoming the one responsible for getting lunches together, if needed, and breakfast for the girls. The way he managed to find a place in our lives was amazing. This life was all new to me, and I was navigating the waters as I went. I was used to being the one that the girls always depended on. Even when David was alive he had never helped in the morning and usually stayed in bed during the morning routine. It was rare if he was even home by the time we all went to bed at night.

             
I pushed my mind away from my thoughts of the past month as I shut the water off. Wrapping my hair in a towel and quickly drying off, I applied toner to my face and threw on my robe before I started my morning routine of drying my hair and applying makeup. I emerged from the bathroom knowing my morning coffee and kiss would be waiting for me.

             
“Good morning,” Alex said, leaning against the hallway wall. “You know you don’t have to lock the door in the morning. I already told you I wouldn’t come in with the girls here.”

             
I reached over and grabbed my coffee. “Well, the only way you would know the door was locked is if you tried it.” I took a sip of coffee and moaned.

             
“The moaning needs to stop every morning. You are killing me with the no S-E-X rule in the house.” I let out a quiet laugh. It is funny how Alex spelled out words so the girls wouldn’t hear what we were talking about.

             
“You know Lily can spell, right?” I said as I walked closer to him, reaching up and kissing him. Alex wrapped his arms around me, pulled me into him, and kissed me deeper. My mouth willingly opened up for his tongue. I let out another moan. Alex pulled away.

“I said stop with the moaning.”

              “I need to get ready or we will be late for school.” I turned to walk down the hall.

             
“Abby, why don’t I start taking them? It’s stupid for the girls to get up so early and sit there forty-five minutes before school starts because you like to work in your classroom in the morning.” Alex had a point, but that was a lot for him to do. “I don’t mind, so get the look off your face. Plus, it gives me a little more time with them before I’m left to do basically nothing for seven hours.”

             
I walked back towards him and wrapped my free arm around his waist. “If you want to drive them then I’m okay with it. I know the girls will love it. I know I can get more work done without them around. It’s sweet of you to offer.”

             
Alex leaned down and kissed me on the nose. “It’s for both of us. I hate not spending time with them, and you for that matter. So now that they get to sleep a little longer, can I help you get dressed?” I looked up and saw the mischievous grin on his face.

             
I unwound my arm from his waist and pushed him away playfully. “No, but you already knew that answer.” I turned around and walked to my room at the end of the hall, shutting the door behind me. I could hear Alex chuckle as he walked down the stairs.

             
A minute later, I heard Josie in the hall shouting down the stairs to Alex. I heard him run up the stairs, probably taking two at a time to get to her. “Hey, baby girl, want some breakfast?” He was so good with them, and I was falling more in love with him daily, if that was even possible.

             
I finished getting ready, slipping on a pair of earrings and grabbing a scarf from the hook on the back of my closet door. I was walking down the steps when I overheard Lily talking to Alex.

             
“Why don’t you sleep over if you are always here?” Lily was always full of questions. I almost stopped, but decided to continue my trek down the stairs.

             
“Well, Lil, that is a good question.” Alex paused and looked at me when I walked into the room. “Maybe we can have your mom answer that.” I shot him an evil look.

             
“Answer what? I didn’t hear what was being said.” I was hoping to buy myself some extra time to think of a response.

             
“Mom, why doesn’t Alex just sleep over? He’s here every night and every morning.” Lily was too smart for her own good. I had to remind myself at times she was only in second grade.

             
“He isn’t here every night. Alex doesn’t come over on Sundays.” I walked over to fill my mug with more coffee. I watched Alex sipping his coffee while he leaned against the counter with his ankles crossed.

             
“Yes he is, and yesterday was Sunday. He was here last night and most of the day.” She was right. I had gotten a little lax with that rule the last few weeks.

             
“I don’t know, Lil. Alex spent a lot of money on his house and he should sleep in it, don’t you think?” I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted Alex with me at night, but if he stayed here there was no way I could keep him at a distance where the no sex rule wasn’t broken. Plus, I was scared what it all would mean, that it was real and there was no safe zone left in the relationship.

             
“Alex.” Lily was looking at Alex now. “You have a lot of money, right?”

             
“Lily Jo Porter, you do not ask questions like that. It is rude and impolite.” I couldn’t believe she asked Alex that question.

             
“Sorry.” Lily turned away from us, looking down at her breakfast plate.

             
Alex shot up straight and walked over to Lily. “Yes, Lily, I do have a lot of money. It’s okay to ask me questions. You can ask me anything. I don’t mind,” he said, looking at me. I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but I had to act like an adult at that moment.

             
Lily stood and walked over by me, almost like a lawyer in the courtroom when making a great argument to the jury. “If you have a lot of money, then the house really wasn’t a lot of money to you, was it?” I wasn’t sure where that line of questioning was going, and I wasn’t sure I liked it at that moment.

             
“No, Lil, it was actually pretty cheap.” Alex had a gleam in his eye as if he knew where Lily was going with it while I was still lost with the line of questioning.

             
“So if it was cheap, then you don’t care if you stay there? Kind of like how mom doesn’t care if we lose the cheap mittens.” I wasn’t a fan of her analogy, but she was making her point. She was looking right at Alex with a smile.

             
“Actually, Lil, I don’t care if I stay there, but I think your mom has her reasons, and we have to be okay with them.” Alex walked over and kissed her on the head.

             
Lily turned and looked at me with pleading eyes, but didn’t say anything more. “Lil, maybe we can talk about this later. I need to get to school. Alex is going to get you guys ready and drive you.” I placed my mug in the sink and turned to get my stuff to go. Alex followed me to the door as he did every morning.

             
“You look super sexy today in your skirt and sweater. The classic kindergarten teacher look. It’s hot.” I grinned at him, because this was becoming a usual comment in the mornings. “Lily is right. I don’t mind that house sitting empty at night.”

             
“Look, we will talk about it later. I’ll see you after school.” I pulled on my jacket, grabbed my duffle with my running clothes, and headed to the door. I turned and looked at Alex. “Remember, school starts at eight, so please have them there by five to eight.”

             
“I’ll have them there at ten to eight.” He quickly closed the gap and kissed me goodbye.

              As I drove to school, I thought about the conversation that had taken place that morning. I had my reasons for not allowing Alex to stay, and sex in the house with the girls there was the biggest reason, but then there was the fact that if the girls got used to him living there, and if things changed, it would be hard for them to readjust. Well, for me to readjust as well. Lily had made her point. They were so used to seeing him, and we did already show more affection in front of them than they saw my whole marriage with their dad. I think it was the thought of the girls seeing us in bed together that just felt wrong. I had this battle with myself a lot lately, because I missed him at night.

             
I made it to school and walked in alone. It kind of felt strange, but exciting that I had someone who willingly wanted to bring the girls to school. When I entered the school I saw Kate, one of the teachers.

             
“Hey, are the girls sick today?” Kate was looking at me a bit puzzled, because I usually took a sick day if one of them was sick.

             
“No, Alex wanted to bring them today.” I felt uncomfortable telling her, even though it was no secret that Alex and I were officially together.

             
“You are one lucky lady. I’ll see you later. I have to meet with a parent before class.” Kate and I said our goodbyes and walked to our separate classrooms. I got a lot of work done without the girls in my room. I didn’t even notice the time when I heard a knock on the door. When I looked up I saw Alex standing there.

             
“Hey, I brought you a travel mug. You didn’t grab one this morning.” He had a smile on his face.

             
“Thanks. How did the morning go?” I grabbed the coffee from his hand.

             
“Really good. I’m not sure the hair is to your standard, but I’m becoming freakishly amazing at braids.” The look on his face was one of pride.

             
“Thank you. This means a lot to me. You didn’t have to do this and I know that.” Alex doing this did mean a lot to me. Their father had never even gotten them ready for school when he was alive.

             
“I love doing it. I’ve watched so many YouTube videos on how to braid that I needed to test it out.” We both laughed, but he stopped and looked at me seriously, almost too seriously. “Doing these little things makes me feel like I’m more a part of this, of your family, and that is what I want, Abby. I want to be a bigger part of all of your lives.” He walked over and placed his hands on my waist, not getting too close. “Now if you would just let me put the ring on your finger already.”

             
I didn’t want to have this discussion, not here and not again. I wanted to marry Alex, and I told him I would the first day he moved here, but after giving more thought on the matter, I realized ten months was too soon. I asked him to slow down and see how things went during the fall and winter before we jumped into marriage. I couldn’t leap before looking, not with the girls.

             
I didn’t have time to answer or respond because there was another knock on the door. I jumped back from Alex and his hands fell from my waist. I looked up and saw my superintendent standing at the door. I glanced at Alex. “I’ll see you after school for our run.” He nodded his head and headed out the door, saying good morning to Charlie as he passed.

             
“Sorry to interrupt.” Charlie cleared his throat. It was weird having him as my boss. He was a year younger than me in school, but he had been eager to be an administrator and got his doctorate instead of staying in the classroom. “I just wanted to stop in and see how things have been going this year. I know I haven’t stopped in lately because there has been no need. You seem to be doing well, and so do your students.”