My New Woman

When I emerged, I saw Jennifer sitting on the couch with the TV on, and with sweatpants and a t-shirt on. "Were you waiting for me to go so you could head out?" I wondered.

"Nah. I'm not usually an out on the town kind of girl. Unless work makes me," Jennifer replied. "I might go for a nighttime Times Square stroll later, but that's it. Right now, I....like not having to move around."

"I see where you're coming from," I stated, practicing making my legs work again. I got to the other end of the couch, as awkwardness finally bothered to set in.

I hadn't been in a....aftermath like this since my first time with my wife. Adding everything else on top of it, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Should I just leave, wait for her to kick me out, stick around, or what else?

"Did I keep you from your train?" Jennifer spoke up, bringing my next concern to light. I looked over at the nearest clock and breathed a sigh of relief.

"No, actually. Turns out we did this just early enough," I said. "From here, I think I can reach the station in time if I..." I trailed off.

"Leave right now?" Jennifer wondered.

"Well....I certainly would if I did," I answered. "But I've got about....30 minutes till I really gotta get going," I said without trying to pressure her.

"Ah. I'm sure we can find some reality show to keep you up till then," Jennifer offered.

"I'm not a reality show person. So that might not help," I replied.

"Well, finding a genre you like should keep your eyes open too," she came back with. With no argument for that, I sat on the couch with her.

Before long, she asked, "You sure you're all right here?" Thinking of a way to be delicate – which was probably rare for her – she settled on, "The timing wasn't too much, was it?"

"The timing's never perfect for something like this. Even if two years is long enough," I said. "But....in this case, it paid to wait until the right first time. Rare that happens twice in a lifetime."

Jennifer had no one-liner or comment, as she just smiled and went back to flipping through channels. I sat quietly too, letting the end of this....unlikely milestone in my road to recovery pass by.

But my son didn't need to hear every detail of it. No need to risk him being creeped out on top of being jealous.

THE END