Sealed With A Slap

Chapter 1-2

Sean dropped onto his couch with a sigh. He steadied the glass of wine he poured himself before he headed to the living room and took a sip, enjoying the fruits of his labor. Literally.

He set the glass on his end table and turned on the TV. It was his quiet time. The time that was frequently the hardest. He’d spent more of his life without his wife, Angela, than with her, but he missed her every day.

She made him smile and challenged him every day. Their marriage was never easy, but he didn’t regret it. From the day she told him she was pregnant and he proposed to the day their daughter was born and she slipped into the coma that would eventually mean he was saying goodbye to the woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with, he loved her more than anyone else ever loved a person.

The day they met, she argued with him. Told him off about not being nice to a friend of hers. It wasn’t even him, it was a friend of his, but she lit into him until he apologized just to get her to shut up.

Then he spent the next few weeks learning everything he could about her. Her name, where she lived, who her friends were, what she liked to do. When she finally agreed to go on a date with him, it was a disaster. She told all her friends not to ever date him.

He set out to convince her to give him another chance, and when she finally did, he pulled out all the stops.

And she gave her friends a new warning, to keep their hands off her man.

Sean kicked his feet up when he flipped past Dirty Dancing. He changed it back and smiled. Angela loved that movie.

The movie was half over by the time he finished his wine. He seriously considered pouring himself another glass. It had been years since he had more than one drink by himself. He didn’t think twice about it when he was with his siblings or cousins, but when he was alone, the only person responsible for his twelve year old daughter, he only let himself have one drink.

But that woman…she made him so mad. He knew that was the whole reason he wanted another glass of wine, and the reason he shouldn’t have one, but he really wanted one.

He couldn’t get her out of his mind all day. The nerve of her to insert herself in his personal business with Emily. Some people. Wow.

He laughed to himself and pictured her again. She was beautiful, not that he was really paying attention. Her curves teased his mind. And that hair. He was always a sucker for a blonde. Angela wasn’t blonde, though. She had lush brown hair with soft waves that hung in his face when she sat on his lap and kissed him.

The blonde’s hair was long. Long enough that he could wrap his hand around it if he wanted to. He could hold her steady while he kissed her hard and shut her up.

He shook his head. He didn’t want her. She was a stranger. And a pain in the a*s. She was beautiful, sure, but she wasn’t his type.

He huffed a sigh and got up. One night wasn’t a problem. He could handle another drink.

He sat back down with the glass and sipped it as he watched Angela’s movie. She wanted to practice the lift one day. In the lake like they did in the movie. She even wore the white tank top. It was a colossal disaster, but they laughed through it all.

That was the day Sean knew he loved her. Her bright blue eyes sparkled when she laughed, and her hair clung to her cheeks, plastered against her skin. One strand curled around her neck, tempting him. The edge brushed her collarbone. He brushed it aside then replaced the strand with his lips.

All her laughter faded as she sucked in a ragged breath. He kissed his way up to her lips. They stood in the water and kissed, making out like the teenagers they were. When he pressed his erection against her, she pulled back.

And he was done.

He loved her, and waiting was harder than he ever thought it would be. When she whispered that she wanted to make love to him, he didn’t try to talk her out of it.

Part of him would always regret that choice. Once they started, they never stopped. She got pregnant because he was careless. If he’d been man enough to buy a box of condoms, or stop them after he ran out, she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant with Emily.

Of course, then he felt like s**t for wishing he didn’t have Emily.

There was no right answer. Either he had his daughter and lost his wife or he had his wife but never had his daughter. Choosing between them would have been impossible.

She took that choice from him. A part of him hated her for it, but a bigger part of him loved her for it. She made the decision for him. She chose their daughter. She gave Emily life as she let her own slip away. And he was so wrapped up in the life growing inside her that he never noticed it was happening.

World’s worst husband. That’s what he was. His dirty little secret. He stayed away from relationships because he knew no woman on the planet deserved to be involved with a man like him. Angela died because of him. He couldn’t take the chance that the same would happen to anyone else, so he stayed in the shadows. He hung back. And he loved his daughter the best he could.

But his best would never be enough.