Push Play – Take 21 | Coda

Take 21 | Coda

Coda

A post-credits scene (also called a tag, stinger, coda, button, after-credits sequence, end-credit scene or credit cookie) is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video game have run. It is usually included for humor or to set up a possible sequel.

Stingers lacking the metafictional aspects also gained prominence in the 1980s, although they were still primarily used for comedy films. Post-credits scenes became useful places for humorous scenes that would not fit in the main body of the film. Most were short clips that served to tie together loose ends—minor characters whose fates were not elaborated on earlier in the film, or plotlines that were not fully wrapped up.

Paris, October 2010

When Lisa felt herself slowly swinging out of unconsciousness, like a feather blown by the wind, the first thing she thought was that she hadn’t noticed she had fallen asleep at all. As far as she could remember, she had been reading. But now the book was gone as if someone, at one point, had just taken it from her hands, turned off the lights and tucked her in.

The room was quite dark, but she felt him – of course. Hard not to, in so many different ways. It wasn’t even surprising that “hard” was the keyword and the delight she felt wasn’t either: after all, the fact that he could still surprise her was unsurprising as well.

She had gone to bed first. Michael had sauntered into the room a while later, looking a bit disheveled, but also as handsome as always. In perfect physical shape, healthy and strong, sporting a way more natural look, short hair, his face stubbly, his eyes bright. Lisa loved the new, equally stylish appearance he had started to don since he had stepped back from the music scene. Which had been kinda shocking, in a way, but at the same time not entirely unexpected. He had been rambling about wanting to do other things for years. He still loved to make music, but he also wanted to focus on movie-making and producing new artists. Which was precisely what he did now.

When a couple of years earlier he had been offered a residence in Las Vegas, at first he had been insecure about what to do. He had just turned fifty and, at that point, he and Lisa – and the kids – had already moved to Paris permanently. After a bit of a fuss, they had finally found the perfect house to build their present – and their future. The Garden Mansion at Ile-de-France was everything they had been dreaming of and more: with its five-thousand square feet of green beauty, it reminded them a bit of Hidden Hills and Michael’s ranch, but at the same time its European charm made it a completely different animal. Drowned in greenery, the mansion was undoubtedly smaller than the houses they had shared, but it felt like a perfect nest for their family: the rooms were wide and bright, the south-west exposure allowed the house to be illuminated by the sun, and the magnificent view on the Eiffel Tower was the best treat ever. Spending an hour exploring the mansion, spread over three levels served by an elevator, had been enough for Michael and Lisa to make their offer. And the Realtor, of course, had accepted right away. The idea of having that ultimate power-couple live there was more than thrilling, after all.

And so Lisa and Michael had packed up and left the States once and for all. And they had been very, very happy with their choice. The leeches they had been surrounded by when they had been married were gone, left behind, together with the sect and any Doctor Feelgood suffering from Tourette’s of the hand when it came to writing down prescriptions. Life in France was so different, and choosing Paris as their headquarter had been a great decision. They had spent their first honeymoon there after all, and the city still held that same magic. Magic they had immersed themselves in, fully.

Business there hadn’t been bad either.

Michael and Lisa still worked a lot, but now only did it in a very selective and studied manner, with people they knew they could trust and over whom they had leverage… just in case. They would work, but not overwork, as their personal life now occupied the top spot in the list of their priorities. However, Michael had been involved in several movie projects about superheroes, while Lisa had released two albums and was currently working on her third. Keeping Michael away from her songs was possibly way more complicated than writing them and making them sound the way she felt was right. Yes, he was nosy, but in such an endearing manner that it was hard not to melt.

“Hey – do I ever meddle when you do your thing in the studio?”

Michael tossed a peanut in his mouth and shrugged in a very alluring, nonchalant way.

“Well, you can meddle. I don’t mind.”

Lisa snorted.

“Sure you don’t. But the point is that I don’t want to! So please stop intruding!”

“Why don’t you want me to listen to your songs, Lise? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Why are you so cruel to me?”

He had offered her his best puppy dog eyes and she had shoved him playfully. Of course, he had grabbed her and before she could tell him to get the fuck out, he was kissing her. Which was fine. She loved it when he was a goofball. But hell if she was going to disclose anything from her album until she felt it was the right time, whether Michael liked it or not!

They already did so much stuff together – charity work being the main thing – and, despite continually acting curious and mischievous about the other’s whereabouts, they also recognized the value of individual activities and hobbies. They were a solid unit made of two different people.

The truth was that, through the years, they had progressively learned new communication tools – and they worked like a charm. The saddest part was that they had both realized pretty early that they had the same skills during their marriage, but they had been too distracted by their own stubbornness – and too many external forces – to notice. However, the upside was that they were not distracted now. Lisa and Michael had each other’s back the way they once had, and this time nobody was going to fuck them over. They were scarred by the past, but driven and purposeful in their present.

They had also learned from their previous mistakes: Michael would now listen to Lisa way more than he ever did in the past, and she had managed to finally let go of her ancestral insecurities. After all, he couldn’t make her feel safer than she was. And she felt secure in their relationship just like he did. Even when they fought or got caught up in their small quarrels – like when Michael took over Roman’s business without even telling Lisa, effectively removing him from the board of directors and placing him on desk duty on a permanent basis – they would always remain each other’s rock. The constant need for reaffirmation, the old territoriality were much more under control than they had ever been.

Now, when Michael did leave for a while – going back to the States to his family, sometimes for business – and Lisa couldn’t go with him for whatever reason, it was never a problem. She had only made it a point to have a single sunflower delivered to him every day, wherever he was. Just like he loved showering her with red roses when she was the one being far from home… wherever she was.

However, when Michael had been offered the residency in Las Vegas, after three years of almost complete hiatus, at first he had been torn. The deal was tempting and concerning in equal parts and the old stage fever had been back, at least a little bit. The difference? There were so many other things he put on a pedestal, now. His art was not the dish, but an ingredient to the recipe.

“I’m not sure I wanna dive into this thing headfirst, you know… Not again…”

“Well… You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Remember our first rule for happiness, Michael? We choose. Every day. And everything.”

They were having lunch in a small bistro in Rue du Cherche-Midi that day, and he had reached out, taking her hand on the table, squeezing it lovingly. Wasn’t it amazing how they only needed a very small security detail now, whenever they would go out? After the initial frenzy of having the King of Pop and his Princess living there, even the Parisians had gotten used to their presence and had learned to respect their privacy.

“Besides… we’re doing OK, money-wise. We don’t need to do anything that rubs us the wrong way.”

He had smiled, shaking his head.

“It’s not about that. I love performing for my fans. But – being away from you, and the kids… in another continent. For so long… Two years is a long-ass time, babe. It’s not what I want. I don’t think it’s what I need. I also don’t wanna get swarmed by people who aren’t healthy for me. And then, you know… then there’s Luna…”

Scooting his chair around the table, he had rested his hand on Lisa’s growing belly. Oh yeah… his woman was pregnant. Again. It had been unexpected and surprising and otherworldly beautiful. And he really didn’t want to miss a minute of that experience.

Lisa’s hand had covered his, and their eyes had met.

“You don’t have to make up your mind right now. Just think about it, OK. Whatever you wanna do, I’m by your side.”

In the end, he had opted not to do it. He wasn’t going to leave his family behind and didn’t want to force them to move to Vegas for a couple of years. Eventually, he settled for a handful of apparitions during the Cirque show and quick performances over the course of twenty-four months: nothing exhausting, all well diluted time-wise, and allowing him to keep living in Paris. Which was precisely where he wanted to be.

It had been ten years since he and Lisa had gotten back together. Tentatively, yes, but with all the love and the good intentions in the world. Figuring it out, day after day, starting from that rainy night at Seal Beach. And days, weeks, months and finally years had passed just like that: by choosing to be together, all the time, and not merely going through the motions. That was freedom. That was the way that would never make them feel shackled.

About the leaked footage mess, Michael and Lisa had dealt with the second public sex tape in a very classy way: by ignoring the shit out of it. Of course, it had been hell at first. The media had a field day targeting them with the usual, fair amount of violence and disdain, calling them serial cheaters, fake personas, posers, calculating and manipulative celebs… the whole list. Nobody had ever found out the truth about the people who had actually released such private footage to the press. Well, if anyone in the business had, they had kept their mouth shut anyway. But all in all it hadn’t been too bad, especially if compared to the possibility of a surprise pregnancy. Which, thank God for small favors, hadn’t happened.

Yes, Michael had told Lisa about his last conversation with Zoe. As a matter of fact, the whole thing had stunned him: he imagined that Lisa would flip out and try to renege her promise to give their relationship another try, but she hadn’t. In a quite surprising move, she had listened to his words very calmly, and then had dropped the bomb.

“Why do you think you don’t remember if you screwed her without a rubber, Michael?”

There it was, the elephant in the room. The one they both had tried to ignore for a very long time. Pretending that it wasn’t there was no longer a possibility, so they had acted on it.

Michael wasn’t addicted to his medications, but he certainly had a dependence. That had been the clear diagnosis that the quite unimpressed doctors he and Lisa had finally consulted had bestowed on him.

“Mister Jackson, you’re not addicted. You have a physical dependence, which is characterized by the symptoms of tolerance and withdrawal. You don’t have the classic changes in behavior caused by the biochemical variation in your brain because of continued substance abuse. You don’t act irrationally when you don’t have your medications with you: you are simply in pain.”

“Which is good, right?” Michael had stared at the doctor intently. By his side, Lisa was serious and composed. But very much tense, he could tell.

“Yes, it is relatively good. However, addiction could be just around the corner, especially considering how some… other physicians have been managing your… ah, situation in terms of treatment.” The doctor had paused. “I would suggest a more holistic approach, which has nothing to do with overmedicating.”

“But that would take time… And I gotta… I gotta…”

“Well, I would strongly advise you to make some of your time available for this.”

It had been the gruff but correct approach. After his accident in Munich, Michael had felt forced to get back on track in zero time and he had never granted himself any reprieve. Healing properly would have needed months. Months that he didn’t have. Months that were not his priority. But once again his prerogatives had shifted and after releasing Invincible, he had pulled back from business altogether. Together with Lisa, he had settled his financial problems as best as he could, knowing well that it would have taken years to achieve the final result and be truly out of the woods.

Meanwhile, he had found new business deals that were way more convenient for him. He had not performed at all, but had promoted his record in different ways. By touring the world and giving speeches, doing charity work, shooting short films, being on the front line without exhausting his body too much.

Around that time, he and Lisa had found themselves in Paris together for the first time in years. Their hotel was surrounded by fans, the paparazzi were everywhere, as usual. Their relationship had become a public affair once again and they did not mind. As a matter of fact, they didn’t hide it at all: they would walk around hand in hand and appear at public events together, like any normal couple, but without any formal, public definition.

A few months after Zoe had thrown their tape to the lions, something unexpected happened. The tide changed: with the internet, the audience now had the possibility to speak their mind and the media were forced to notice. Articles and blog posts were written, surveys were taken, fans and non-fans expressed their opinion. Of course, Michael and Lisa still had their fair share of haters, but the love poured: unimaginably, most people were happy that they were back together. The stupid tapes had made Michael and Lisa look very much human, more human than they ever had been to many. Fallible and imperfect, yes, but also finally so much more readable and understandable in the eyes of the audience. Their brand image improved. Their overall reputation soared. Not that they would have minded if it hadn’t, but still, it had been satisfying to be on the other side of the barricade for once.

And then one night in Paris, Lisa had made Michael the happiest man in the world. Even happier than he thought he could be, and she had been able to do it merely by uttering three words in a very dazed, kinda stupefied fashion. She just emerged from the bathroom as if she had just seen something magical and scary in there. Stopping right in front of Michael, she had lifted her head and had searched his eyes.

“I’m pregnant.”

He had stared at her, blinking, not really registering. Blank slate. Flat brain scan all of a sudden.

Lisa had reached out, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt.

“I peed on the stick. Two lines. I peed on another stick. Two lines. Which means that the test is positive. We’re… pregnant, Michael. We’re having a baby.”

Narrowing her eyes, she had tried to gauge his reaction and he had snapped out of his trance the moment he had noticed how insecure she looked. As if she was wondering if what she had just said was good or bad news for him.

The next few minutes were a blur in his mind. He vaguely remembered having blurted out something stupid which had made her laugh, but could not recall what it was. One thing he remembered was that he had not asked her if she was sure: he knew she was. Then he had taken her into his arms and picked her up, starting to spin around lopsidedly because he felt like a drunk sailor suddenly. She had squealed and had closed her arms around his neck, telling him to put her down. He had said no and had kept spinning and had made her laugh so hard that tears had started misting her eyes.

A bit later they had fallen on the bed, still connected in their embrace. He was panting and she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Half on top of her, he had shifted his bodyweight not to crush her, his brain finally kicking in.

“We’re pregnant.”

“Yes…”

“We’re having a baby. Our baby.”

Her hand had cradled his cheek.

“Yes… Our baby.”

Michael had kissed her palm and she had given him the most radiant smile.

“Well… I guess you’re happy. I mean… You look happy…” Lisa had cocked her head to a side. “Are you happy? You can tell me if you-”

He had kissed her until she finally had stopped being confused about his reaction and when he had realized that he was crying, he had just sniffled and dried his tears with the back of his hands. Those were good tears. Tears of joy.

“I’m the happiest man in the world. And I love you… So much…” Taking her hand, he had brought it over his own heart. “Listen to this…”

Her lopsided smirk was as sexy as all get-out.

“You got a nice rumba rhythm going on there.”

“I know. That’s because I’m over the moon. Lise, God…”

He had kissed her again and they had rolled over on the bed. When she had landed on top of him, her long hair cascading around his head like a silky auburn curtain, her lips and her eyes were everything he saw.

“I’m so fucking in love with you…”

“Lisa… language. We’ll have to work on that, now that we got a little one on his way…”

“Her way.”

“Uhm, no. It’s a boy. I feel it.”

They had laughed together. It was so carefree. So beautiful. They hadn’t been actively trying to make a baby, but at that point they had been together for over a year and, just like that, one day Lisa had told Michael that she was no longer on the pill. He had just contemplated her words cautiously, remembering well how, during their marriage, he had pushed and pushed until she had felt cornered – and then she had snapped. Michael still wanted her to be the mother of his kids and adored how she had indeed become a mom for Prince and Paris, but he was not going to strong-arm her any longer.

“Uh-uhm… Can I ask you why?”

She had smirked, pretending to look for something in a drawer.

“Sure you can.”

“….Why?”

Just a vague shoulder-shrug.

“Because. I mean, why not.”

Still staring at her, he had pondered over his next words carefully.

“Do you want me to… you know… use something from now on?”

She was still rummaging through that darn drawer. She was so full of shit. He almost cracked up.

“How about no. I mean, unless you want to… Do you want to?”

“Nope…”

“Well, then… no. I don’t think you need to use anything.”

And so it had been a no. They had kept making love with the same passion and abandon, possibly even more so than usual, but Michael had tried very hard not to think about getting her pregnant on purpose. The possibility was there, she was now open to the idea and that was all that mattered.

Six months later, they were expecting their baby.

Well… that was incorrect. They were expecting their set of twins. They found out during the first sonogram and Michael almost passed out on the spot. Lisa too was in seventh heaven. They were both deliriously happy, albeit a bit concerned about the pregnancy. However, Lisa’s blood clotting problem had been handled just fine at that point and she spent the following months in absolute peace. Michael cocooned Lisa in a way that he never even thought possible, to the point that more than once she had yapped at him, complaining about his “overbearingness,” but all in all they had gone through their pregnancy in the most joyful way ever. And as a married couple once again, since that night in Paris, after discovering that they were expecting, Michael had proposed.

“Lise… I am ready for this. We are ready for this.”

“For what? For this baby?”

They were still on the bed, their legs interlaced. His head was on her chest and she was stroking his hair. He had been listening to her breathing and heartbeat for several minutes before deciding to speak up. When he had said those words to her, he meant them. And she had known he did.

“For this baby… and for what comes next for us.”

“And what comes next, Mike?”

He had felt her soft lips and her warm breath on the top of his head. She had kissed him, again and again.

“A wedding.”

Finally, he had propped up on his elbow and had looked down at her. Just to assess her reaction.

“Get the f… Get out of here…”

She had snorted and had tried to turn her face, but he had captured her chin with his fingers, searching her eyes again. He would not allow her to make light of this, nor to brush him off like a pesky fly.

“No, I’m serious.” He had placed a sweet kiss on her lips. “We got this, this time. Lisa… Marry me… Be my wife again…”

Backing off he had studied her. She seemed to be doing just the same. Michael had taken a deep breath and then had opened the floodgates.

“Please don’t think I’m proposing just because you’re pregnant. ‘Cause this ain’t it. I been wanting to do this for a while now but I don’t think I will find a more perfect moment than this. And I’m sorry I ain’t even got a ring for you – but that doesn’t mean that I am not serious. I wanna marry you. I want you to be my wife. Hell, I’ve always wanted you to be my wife, even when you were getting on my nerves. And it’s not because of our baby. I mean – OK, that’s the ultimate blessing, but I’m committed, Lise. And you’re too, don’t pretend you ain’t. I know you. So don’t say no right away… I mean, I want you to say yes. But I don’t wanna force your hand. I just want you to know that I really mean it. So say yes, please. Or at the very least tell me that you’re gonna think about it. The only thing I ain’t ready to hear is a no, ‘cause -”

“Yes.”

She had held his face in her hands, and he could tell that she was trying hard not to laugh.

“What?!”

“I said, yes. I wanna marry you. I love you. And you’ve never really stopped being my husband in my heart anyway, so… Yes.”

“You’re saying yes because of the baby?” His eyes had narrowed. How quickly the coin could flip.

Lisa had smiled.

“I’m saying yes because I’m crazy for you, and I can’t imagine not being your wife.” She had pulled his head down and had kissed him slowly, deeply. “And because you’re right. You are committed, and I am, too. We are choosing each other every day and now… well, now I’m choosing this. So… Would you marry me, Michael?”

Staring at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads, Michael had frozen for a handful of seconds. Then he had jumped onto his feet, pulling her up with him, kissing her again, his hands on her ass, pulling her against his body, making her aware of how deliriously happy every single part of him was.

“I’ll marry you.”

Then he had dragged her out, on the balcony facing the huge crowd of people. Fans and paparazzi.

“Hey! What are you doing, silly! Get your crazy ass back in!”

She was laughing so hard that she was hiccuping. Which meant that the ecstasy and thrill of the moment had made her unaware that her usual self would flip out after being dragged out in front of the crowd like that. Well… They could be delusional together for once.

Michael had looked down at the people, and the fans had started to applaud and chant. He had waved at them, and Lisa had done the same. Then, remembering of being shy, she had half-hidden behind Michael’s back.

“We’re getting married!”

He had shouted it out at the crowd as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Cracking up once again, Lisa had doubled-over, unable to contain her fit of laughter any longer. Michael was officially out of his mind, and she loved every minute of it.

And so they had gotten married a few months later, before Lisa’s pregnant belly became way too visible for her to be comfortable. This time it hadn’t been a quick wedding abroad, but a very well done thing at Michael’s ranch and, for once, even the mother-in-law from hell had managed to behave like a regular human being.

Lisa had given birth to the fraternal twins without any significant complications: a boy and a girl, both breathtakingly beautiful. Alexandra and William Jackson were a sight to behold, and they sported both Michael’s and Lisa’s genes. Alex was dark-haired and with the same aqua eyes her mom had, while Billy’s hair was auburn, his skin dark, and he had Michael’s same warm, big brown eyes. They were magic incarnated, pure love manifested, fate became a reality, eternity turned into flesh and bones.

The other kids had welcomed the twins with the same joy of their parents, and at that point Michael had found himself immersed in the large family he had always dreamed for himself… together with the woman he loved.

Luna, their youngest baby, had been even more of a surprise than Alexandra and William. Lisa had gotten pregnant again in a moment when she and Michael had not been looking for another kid in any way, shape or form. However, when Lisa had found out that she was expecting, once again they had experienced the same intense, unspeakable joy they had felt about the twins. At forty, she had thought her conceiving days were over: how wrong she had been! A romantic vacation in Greece with Michael had been enough to allow a new life to bloom inside of her. Yes, well… he sure had been hell-bent in loving her again, and again, and again, but still, she would have never imagined such a beautiful outcome.

Now, over a year after Luna’s birth and ten years after having finally gotten back together, and decided that their love was worth all the struggle, all the anguish and all the commitment in the world, Michael and Lisa enjoyed their peaceful life in France. And it was heavenly. The most recent bump had been Riley leaving Paris and going back to L.A. to pursue her acting career. It had been heartbreaking to see her go, but hey… she needed to spread her wings and fly. It was only fair. It was her journey. And Michael and Lisa would be there for her anyway. Always.

Michael nipping at her bare shoulder dragged Lisa out of the mental, drowsy recap of the past years and back into the present.

“Whatcha doing?”

Her voice was husky. Just the way Michael liked it. She heard him chuckle in the darkness and his warm hand came to rest over her stomach, then caressed down her belly, her pelvis, finally stopped at her thigh.

“Nothin’…”

He kept kissing the exposed skin of her arm, and the raspy feeling of his unshaven chin reawakened and aroused her. Of course. How unsurprising. Some things just never changed. And just like always, Lisa needed to see his face. Reaching out, she turned on the small lamp on her nightstand.

Michael squinted his eyes.

“Hey!”

“Oooh, there you are! I thought it was someone else!”

He glared at her. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah…” Her arms came to circle his neck, and she looked up at him. His now short hair wild, his face stubbly, his eyes shining. He was fifty-two and looked amazing and sexy as all get-out. And still so young. “Remember the plumber? The one who fixed our irrigation system? I think he was handsome…”

“I can only hope you’re kidding, Lise.”

He was getting all flustered and huffy now. Lisa adored to push him out of his comfort zone. Besides, his head was big enough as it was and she liked to keep things unpredictable. But of course, yes, she was not being serious at all. She pulled his head down to her.

“Let me show you… and then you tell me…”

They kissed in a way that still tasted like the very first months of their relationship. With the same passion and the same rapture – and the same love. As she kept kissing him, Lisa reached down and touched him through the soft fabric of his pajama pants. The mere contact, the feeling of his arousal, caused her to moan. He was still so responsive… and she was too. As Michael’s kisses moved to her neck, as his lips singed her with that ardor that only belonged to him, she spoke again.

“There’s no-one else for me… no-one but you.”

His breathing was already affected. He was now standing on his knees in between her open legs, allowing her caresses. He swallowed and she felt him engorge and harden even more under her touch.

“Good…”

Then he leaned forward and pushed Lisa’s flimsy underskirt up, helping her take it off.

“That’s a sexy little thong, baby…”

“You gonna leave it there, big guy? Do we need it?” Feigning a decency that she did not feel at all, Lisa covered her naked breasts with her hands. Michael grinned down at her.

“Uhm… Not at all.”

The first thing he did was getting rid of his own t-shirt, and Lisa stared at his solid, muscular torso, his smooth skin, the twitching muscles of his chest and abdomen. Then his hands were on her sides, gently pulling her underwear down. He accompanied the motion with caresses and little kisses down her legs. Lisa sat up and kissed his stomach, loving the scent of his skin, his taste against her tongue. She felt his steel pressing against her chest and gazed up at him.

“Stay right there, Mike… don’t move…” Touching him again, she held him even tighter, making him sigh. “Shit… You’re so damn hard, baby…”

God, what could this man do to her? Was it even remotely reasonable that she still wanted him so much after all those years? That her body vibrated to his chant even before he touched her? And when he would touch her… she would always disintegrate, becoming stardust. Part of the same fabric of the universe. One with him.

She ran her fingers across the elastic band of his pants and smiled when she felt him shiver. Mimicking his movements, she pulled his jammies down, kissing his lower abdomen and sides, teasing him until she detected goosebumps under her lips. Then her hand closed around him, and her mouth found him. Glancing up at him she saw him lean his head back, getting lost in the moment. Blindly, Michael brushed the side of her face, in a slow, gentle touch which then moved to the back of her head just as his hips pushed forward slightly. He needed to feel all of her. The purr she emitted forced a moan out of him.

Exerting immense self-control over himself, he pulled back and sat back on his calves. Tipping her chin up, he kissed her slowly, thoroughly, and her lips were warm and soft. Her lips were home.

“Lie back…” Another kiss. “…And open your legs…”

“Yes, sir…”

Lisa obliged. Her eyes sparkling and always, always focused on him.

Michael felt immense peace dawn over him. Positioning himself in between her perfect thighs, he guided himself inside of her slowly, and they never broke eye-contact. He stared at her and watched her as she arched her back and welcomed him in, as her body struggled to accommodate him, as her love wrapped itself around him like a blanket of stars. This was nothing but the beginning of a very, very long night. The prelude of a new day that they would spend making each other complete. Figuring it all out, like they always did.

End.