As the packing progressed, David seemed to sink into a bit of a stupor. Brie noticed the funk as they packed her office. “Honey, what’s the matter?” she asked.
He sighed as he packed her essential oils into a box. “I’m bored”, he said.
She knew this was coming. “Bored? As in you want to write?”
“Yes.”
“Ok. You can write if you want to.”
“You’re going to let me write music?”
“I didn’t say that. I said that you could write. What I didn’t add was it has to be anything BUT music. You can write poetry. Or short stories. Or hell, you could even write a novel that has NOTHING to do with your life, or that’s totally about your life but has fictional characters. You just can’t write music.”
“You honestly expect me to write poetry?”
“That’s what you’ve been doing all these years. Your lyrics are poetry. Haven’t I said it a million times?”
“But I’ve always had a musical background.”
“Honey, you don’t need music to convey what you’re feeling and thinking. Rather than using your music as a weapon, why don’t you use your words as your weapon?”
He looked at her with a raised brow. “You know, I haven’t thought of it that way. But, that’s what I’ve been doing all this time, isn’t it?”
She looked at him as thought to say, It’s taken you this long to figure it out? “Yes, David. That’s what you’ve been doing all these years. With ever record, every monologue you recorded, every interview you’ve ever done… it’s been your words that have been your weapon. Danny, Mikey, and John… all they really did was give you the guidance system to launch the missiles. Now, do I have to do like Nikki did to Danny and hide everything you use to write or are you going to take my advice?”
---------------
While they weren’t packing, David sat with a pen and a pad of paper and just put down his thoughts. He’d written his memoir already. He was just jotting down his thoughts about this and that, almost as if the notepad were a journal. It helped with the things that were constantly bouncing around in his head. When they went to bed, he would share what he had written with Brie. She would smile as he read his writing with her. Seeing him at peace gave her peace.
“So, what do you think?” he asked.
“I love it. It really tells a story. Now, aren’t you glad I made the suggestion?”
“Yeah, I am. This is actually easier I think because I’m not struggling to fit the words with a melody in my head that was inspired by the music the guy sent me.”
“Can I say it?” she asked, crinkling her nose.
“What?”
“I told you so.”
He laughed. “So you did. I’m not arguing that with you. You absolutely did tell me so.” He relaxed in bed next to her. “We’re heading to Israel soon, baby. Can you believe it?”
She laughed. “No, I can’t really. It’s crazy to think that we’re about to leave the country for good. It amazes me.”
“Well, it’s true. We’re about to retire to Israel like you asked.”
“How is the sinking in of the fact that you’re now retired coming?”
“It’s a long process, but I’m getting there. I don’t need it to sink in so much as I need to accept it, now.”
“And that will happen when?”
“Probably not until you’re lying out nude on a beach in Australia.”
“You’d like to see that, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m a man. What man doesn’t want to see his wife naked on the beach? And you have the body for it. You’re far from fat.”
She laughed, burying her face in his chest. “I’m not fat? You do realize that they’re not that fickle in Australia, right?”
“Yes, and I’m not that fickle either, but I know how obsessive you are about your fitness.”
“Because of my blood sugar. And I enjoy the rush of working out. The endorphins bring me a high that’s better than the marijuana from the after party.”
He laughed. “You’re nearly militant about it, though.”
“I have to have a routine to follow. It keeps me from forgetting anything.”
He laughed and pulled her tighter against his chest. “You’re sharper than every knife in the kitchen. You won’t forget anything.”
“Don’t kiss ass, David. It’s unbecoming a man with your education and intellect.”
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Writing wasn't the only thing that was putting a smile in David’s face. His office was packed. Brie’s office was packed. Their bedroom was almost pack. Her knick knacks were almost packed and ready for shipping. The trip was coming together. It wouldn’t be long before they were leaving the country for good.
The day before they left, David had everything sent to the house via UPS. His Mustang and bike were going with their belongings. All of the other vehicles were staying there under lock and key. Jake knew not to let any of his brothers or sisters touch is father’s vehicles. David had made that perfectly clear.
The night before they left, they had one final family dinner before leaving the house. Because their bed had been sent along with the rest of their stuff, they would be staying at a hotel in Denver.
After dinner was served to everyone, David got all of his children’s attention. “As you all know, this is mine and your mother’s last day in the country. We’re leaving first thing in the morning to Israel. We will see you all again in November for Thanksgiving.” He took his wife’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You mother and I just want to let each of you know that we’re proud of all of you and everything you’ve accomplished. We love each and every one of you. We’re proud to call ourselves your parents.” He chuckled a bit. “And we want you all to know that when the first great- grandchild is born, we want to be here.”
The kids all laughed. “You got it, Mom and Dad”, Malachai said with a chuckle. “When Isaiah or ‘Randa start having kids, Mandy and I will give you a call.”
David laughed and nodded. “You had better. Now, why don’t we all go on ahead and eat like this were any other family dinner?” They started eating and talking about the things that had been going on. Jessi would be following her parents out the following week so that she and her boyfriend David could house sit when her parents went to Australia. They would spend a week or so there before coming home to plan their next trip. They had explained to Jessi and her David that they weren’t going to be home very much.
Dinner ended and they bade each of their children and grandchildren goodbye before going out and getting in their cab to Denver. Their children all stood outside as they watched the cab drive away. “I can’t believe that they’re leaving already”, Meagan said softly.
“I know”, added Jordan. “They haven’t even left the country yet and I miss them already.”
“If you all want to stay nearby the house tonight, it’s totally doable”, Jake said. “I understand if everyone wants to crash here tonight.”
Marc took Mercedes’ hand and kissed her knuckles. “Do you mind, baby?”
Mercedes shook her head. “Of course not, baby. If you need to be close to family tonight, then we can do that. Your parents’ leaving the country is a big deal.”
Maddie and Jordan asked their significant other’s if they were ok with the idea as well. No one objected. They small children that weren’t still being fed every two to three hours were put to bed. It didn’t take long to put the children to sleep.
All of the adults stayed up and reminisced about childhood as they all sipped on drink s of their choice, alcoholic or not. “Do you guys remember the day we moved in here after the War?” Makayla asked.
“NO”, Marc and Jessi laughed. “We weren’t even thought of yet.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah you were. You just hadn’t been conceived yet. Dad had been begging Mom to look for a surrogate for the two of you for two years before it happened. Mom wanted to wait for the end of the War first.” Jake took a sip of the scotch in his glass and looked back at Makayla. “Yeah, I remember. We all go to run down the hall and pick our room one at a time. Mom and Dad’s offices and Mom’s massage room were already set up. Their room was already set up. James and Jeremiah fought over who got which room and Mom and Dad had to settle the argument. It was so funny.”
“What I never understood was why Malachai, Jordan and you got the biggest rooms aside from Mom and Dad’s”, James asked.
Jordan laughed. “Because we were the oldest. We got to choose our rooms first and we got the bigger rooms.”
Jessi and Marc laughed. “We didn’t get to pick our rooms”, they laughed.
“Because you’re the babies. Once you were old enough for a room to yourself, Mom and Dad pick your rooms from the three that were left.”
“And the holidays when the rest of the band would come out sucked!” James laughed.
“Until Dad told everyone that we just didn’t have the room for everyone to pile into the house anymore. We were getting to be too big”, Malachai laughed.
“It was great when Dad finally said, ‘Look, we just don’t have room for everyone anymore. You guys need to start staying in a hotel until it’s time for the festivities’.”
None of them could have agreed more.
----------------
Once they were settled into their hotel room, David and Brie settled into the couch in the room and watched the news for the last time as solely US citizens. They had petitioned for Israeli citizenship on their last trip out to buy the house. They would hold dual citizenship until the day they took their final breaths.
“So, how does it feel to know that when we touchdown in Israel the day after tomorrow that we’ll be Israeli citizens?” he asked her.
She smiled softly. “It actually feels really good to know that”, she responded as she tucked herself closer into his side.
He rubbed a hand up and down her back. “So I take it this means you’re happy?”
“Ecstatic. We’re moving out of the country. Yes, it’s a little bittersweet to tell our kids, ‘We’ll see you for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah’. But, we’re at the point in our lives where we deserve to have a little bit of time to ourselves to be alone and to be a couple rather than parents and grandparents. I think we’ve earned that much.”
He grinned. “I agree. I’m 68 for God’s sake. You’re 64, almost 65. You don’t get to have a lot of time with me and I don’t get to have a lot of time with you. It our turn to have time together. “
She smiled at the conviction in his voice. She uncurled from his side and placed herself in his lap. “If that how you feel about it, then fuck me.”
He grinned wickedly as one hand slid up her back and into her hair. He grabbed a handful of her curls as he devoured her mouth. He wanted her so badly he ached. He’d waited all day to hear her say what she’d said. He could feel that was what she wanted.
She ground her hips hard against him. She was just as eager for him as he was for her. The only reason they hadn’t been able to make love was because they had to coordinate the movers and make sure that everything was being moved the way it needed to be. But now that they were alone…
His hand in her hair yanked her head to the side so that he had access to her neck and she cried out softly. He kissed, licked and bit his way up her neck and growled in her ear. “How rough?”
“As rough as you want”, she panted softly.
He stood with her and her legs wrapped around his waist. He was glad that he made sure that the handcuffs from their bedside table were in his carry on. He set her on the bed and grabbed his carry on to pull out a few things. The only thing he said was, “Strip”, and she did. He told her to lie on her stomach and she did. He handcuffed her to bedpost and stripped down to his jeans and bare feet and began to have his way with her as she sank into that headspace that allowed him to do what he was doing. She needed this release before leaving the country. And she could feel that he did too.
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