“Married you, Vi,” he said, sounding like he was close to laughing.

“What?” I breathed.

“They’re that good.”

“What are?”

His hand curled around the back of my head and he urged, definitely laughing now, “Stick with me here, honey. Your sundaes. They’re that good.”

My sundaes were good, I loved my sundaes. The hot fudge was Bea’s recipe but I made it better simply by putting in a bit of cinnamon.

Still, I asked, “You wouldn’t have told me you were done with me if I’d made you a sundae, instead, you would have married me?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you tryin’ to piss me off when I’m half asleep?”

“Just givin’ you a head’s up on what’ll keep me happy.”

I pushed up higher. “You are tryin’ to piss me off when I’m half asleep.”

He curled up, his arms went around me and suddenly I was on my back, Joe on me.

His mouth against mine, he muttered, “I’m teasin’ you, baby.”

“I don’t like to be teased.”

“Then whoever did it wasn’t doin’ it right,” he whispered.

My breath caught, my body stilled and I stared at his shadowed head in the dark.

He did remember everything.

“Joe,” I whispered back.

His mouth slid from mine to my ear and he murmured. “Don’t say my name like that in this bed unless you want me to f**k you, Vi.”

My arms went around him, my hands gliding across the skin of his back, my head turned slightly so my mouth was at his ear and I whispered, “Joe.”

He laughed softly in my ear.

Then he f**ked me.

* * * * *

In the middle of the night I jolted awake, breathing heavily, the dream still had hold of me.

“Buddy.”

“I’m okay.”

We were spooning, his arms tightened around me and I pressed back into his body.

“Same dream?” he asked.

“Bits different but mostly, yeah,” I answered.

Joe rolled closer, giving me some of his weight, pressing me into the bed, his big body cocooning mine.

“You wanna tell me what it is?” he asked.

“No, no, I need to let it go.”

“All right, buddy.”

“Just, keep close,” I whispered.

“Not goin’ anywhere.”

“Good.”

I felt his face in my hair, his breath stirring it and he held me close, his body a protective shell, until I fell asleep.

* * * * *

Sunday, Joe (and Dane) learned what being a part of the Winters Girls clan meant when we all went to look at bathroom and kitchen fittings.

Kate and Keira’s visions for Joe’s house clashed significantly, they couldn’t agree on anything and discussion got heated.

In store three when the salesperson was backing away, Dane was faking getting a text and I was about to intervene, Joe waded in.

“Right,” he said in a commanding way, both Kate and Keira stopped arguing and their eyes cut to him, “Kate, you get the kitchen, Keira, the bathroom…” he turned to me, “Vi, you pick the paint and the carpet.”

“I want the kitchen,” Keira unwisely put in and Joe’s eyes went to her so she snapped her mouth shut.

“That’s cool because I’d prefer the bathroom,” Kate said.

“Done,” Joe decreed and the girls smiled.

Simple, logical and doable.

Shit, he was like Superman.

* * * * *

Monday I went back to work, so did Kate, Dane went home to his folks and we managed our first day living life the way it was going to be without any real drama.

I was relieved to see that both girls acted like Joe was a natural fit in the house but it became clear Joe didn’t feel it was so natural. Joe had things on his mind.

This became clear at the end of the day when I was cleaning off my makeup in the bathroom, Joe was in my bed and I was thinking about our evening.

When I got home from work, Kate was already home and Keira arrived ten minutes after me. She’d been laying out by Heather’s pool all day, dedicated to building her tan to the highest possible heights prior to school starting. When Keira got home, Joe told us he was taking us to eat at Shanghai Salon. I was thrilled at this idea; it meant I didn’t have to cook. The girls were thrilled because they loved Chinese food.

When we came back, Joe got a phone call that lasted awhile and the girls and I put in a movie. Kate was in an armchair, Keira and I were stretched out on the couch, Keira in front of me, my arm around her, not unusual for us (or for Kate and me for that matter). Also not unusual for Tim and one of the girls when he was alive.

Joe was taking his call in the study, I heard it end then I felt him approach the back of the couch.

Then I felt the cushions behind me being pulled out and both Keira and I looked up as Joe put a hip to the couch then rolled over it, sliding in behind me. With his elbow in the couch, head in hand, his eyes went to the TV as his arm circled both Keira and me.

I laid still and breathless but looked at my daughter.

She was still and breathless, her neck twisted, looking at me.

Then her face went soft, her lips tipped up at the ends and she snuggled into me, forcing me to snuggle into Joe, his arm tightened, my body relaxed and we watched the movie. But before I looked back at the screen I glanced at Kate to see her eyes on the television but her lips were tipped up like her sister’s.

And, taking my makeup off, I realized this was Joe staking his claim in private and in public. We were his, he wanted us to know it and he wanted everyone else to know it too.

I stared at myself in the mirror, thinking that Mike told me Joe told him that he was going to give me everything. When Mike told me that, I didn’t know what it meant, I just knew that the promise of it felt brilliant.

Now I knew what it meant.

I’d had everything once and what was more my daughters had it and in a way I didn’t think it could begin again the world had ended when that everything was ripped away, not just from me but from my daughters.

Joe was giving it back, to me and my girls.

Standing in the bathroom, I felt my side of the scale crash down, it was loaded so full by Joe.

I walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom and I didn’t look at Joe as I walked to the door and locked it. Then I turned, my eyes went to Joe in our bed and I walked to the end of it. I stood there and, as Joe watched silently, I pulled off his tee, tugged down my panties and stepped out of them then crawled on all fours up his legs. I kissed his belly then slid the covers down.