“Let me get on top.” I push him back and he turns us easily.
I close my eyes and sink down on his length. Liam’s voice rasps as he tries to form words, but nothing is coherent. “Lee, fuck. God. You.”
His hands hold my hips as he guides me to his pace. I feel the orgasm start to take shape again. It grows stronger with each brush of my clit and the feel of his cock inside me.
“I can’t,” I say aloud as the smell of sex and sweat fills the room.
“You can. Give me everything.”
I close my eyes and Liam reaches between us and presses his thumb against my clit. I can’t hold back. I come with such intensity I swear I black out. Liam grunts a few times and follows me over.
I lie against his chest listening to his heartbeat. After a few minutes of coming down from our incredible high, I go and clean myself. When I come back into his room, he’s on his back staring at the ceiling.
He turns on his side as I climb in bed with him. “Hi,” he says sounding forlorn.
“Hi.”
“I think tomorrow is when they’ll take her off the life support.”
Liam wraps his arm around me and rubs my back. “I wish I had some magic words to make this easy. There’s nothing that will ease this but time. And I’ll be by your side every step. You’ll never be alone.” He kisses my forehead and I nestle into his chest. “I thought I lost you.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than some idiots to keep me from coming home to you.”
I look up and he pushes my hair back. “It’s a fear I’m always going to struggle with.”
“And I’ll try to ease it, but no matter what, I’ll fight ‘till the end.”
“That’s all we can do.”
“Well, and love each other,” Liam says, trying to lighten the mood.
“Good thing we’ve got that down.”
“How about I make sure one more time?”
I smile and push him onto his back. “By all means . . . we should be sure.”
“I think it’s time. She wouldn’t want this,” Aidan says to the doctor. Liam and I stand on one side of her bed, waiting for what’s to come.
“Okay, Mr. Dempsey. I’ll give you each some time to say your goodbyes, and then we’ll be back to start the process.” He looks at all of us and no one speaks.
Aidan looks at his wife and then Liam. “I’ll give you time first. I need a few minutes before I do this.”
Liam looks lost. He gazes back and forth at his parents and my chest squeezes. Our fingers tangle and he stares at me. I’m not sure what to do, but I know that just holding his hand could help.
After a few moments, Liam lets go and heads to his mother’s side.
“I can remember as a kid people talking about their moms and how they hated them. Do you know there was never a time I felt that way? I never hated you because there was never a reason for it. You were the mother people wish for. Yeah, you called me to the carpet, but I deserved it.” Liam’s voice is reverent as he speaks of her. “I don’t think I ever told you how much you meant to me. I wish I had more time with you, Mom. I never thought you wouldn’t be around. You’ll never hold our baby or just be there to tell me to stop being stupid. What’s Dad going to do? We’re not a family without you.”
Liam takes a break then walks toward the window. He discreetly tries to remove the tears that are falling. This wrecks me, watching him handle his grief. The pain that he feels I want to carry for him. Be the rock he needs and heal him like he did for me.
I walk over to him and place my hand on his back.
“I can’t say goodbye to her. I can’t tell her it’s okay to die,” he says defiantly.
“You love her and she loved you. You don’t have to say goodbye.”
“She’s going to die the minute the machines stop.”
“And she’ll be surrounded by the two men in her life that she loves.”
“My father is going to die alongside her, Lee. He’s been with her since they were fifteen.”
Their love story mimicked part of my own, but I won’t say that. I want to point out that he’ll be okay just as I was, but I don’t. There will be a part of his father that won’t ever recover. A young love that stands the test of time isn’t something he’ll ever find again. He might not ever love again, but he’ll survive.
“Then you be the son you are. You remind him why he has to carry on. You give him the strength he’ll need . . . just like you did for me. There’s no one I know that’s as strong as you.”
“She was.” Liam looks over at his mother again and heads toward her. He takes her delicate hand in his and kisses the top of it. “I’m going to miss you. I hope you find Kristine in heaven and tell her I loved her. Tell her how she’d be an aunt to two little girls. Hold her in your arms and know that you’ll be in my heart. I was blessed to have you as a mother.” Liam puts her hand down and leans in. He gently presses his lips to the top of her head and then let’s out a deep sob.