14 Hours Pt. 14

"Hello Nathaniel," I said, putting my hand on her stomach. She closed the book and hit me with it.

"Frank. His if he's a boy name is Frank," Chloe says, and I laugh, so she hits me again.

"Easy," I say, her dropping the book.

"We got boring, didn't we?" Chloe asks, and I shake my head.

"You're confusing routine and stability as boredom," I say and touch her stomach again. "How is this baby boring? How is running with my daughter boring? How is teaching my son carpentry boring..."

"I get it," Chloe says and smiles. "We used to do some crazy shit. When was the last time we did road head? Or had sex in the back of the car after work."

"Why is boring to you, just related to sex?" I ask, and she looks at her chest and chuckles. "Exciting to you now is getting in a quickie when the kids take a nap."

"I know. Remember trying to for Henry? You fucked me everywhere," Chloe said with a grin, just remembering how fun that fun. "This baby was conceived from morning quickies."

"Regardless. I don't need any other women in this bed. I just need you," I say, and that quickly escalates to a long completed sixty nine.

I think everyone can point to a single moment in their lives, that changed their lives. I can too. It was waking up under a bridge.

To this day, I don't fully know what happened. What I do know, is I met every woman who would be important to me that night. The first woman I met, who seemed the least important at first, was Chloe. My wife. Lili, the mother of my daughter. Kori, the first girl I loved. Samantha, the first girl who said she loved me.

Before that day, I was a shell of myself. A nervous, quiet introvert caused mostly by my parents overbearing pressure on me. One wrong pill and that dissolved. All of them helped me give myself permission to be myself.

Kori's journey to do the same inspired me to do it myself. Samantha's shockingly deep character complexity told me I didn't have to choose one thing over the other. Personality traits weren't a zero-sum game. Lili showed me how going too far one way was dangerous and volatile. And occasionally batshit fun.

Chloe was the balance between all of them. Sensitive and strong. Compassionate and firm. She was the natural end of the journey. She has her own doubts and insecurities, but she recognizes them. They're part of her, and she knows her weaknesses intimately.

I couldn't have built the business without her support and patience. We couldn't raise our kids without her sacrifice.

My life could have gone a hell of a lot worse.

My life turned out pretty well for a guy whose story started under a bridge.