ToD

"Truth or Dare"

      With a grin, Shawn continued up the snow-covered walkway. He hopped up the two stairs to the doorway and his smile grew when the door easily pushed in. He stomped the snow off his black boots as he stepped carefully on the rug that covered their hard-wood floors.
"Honey!" he called, as he slipped out of his black coat and undid his scarf. "I'm home!" He peeked around the corner into the living room but it was dark, the curtains drawn against the setting sun.
"Anyone home?" he asked, as he peeked into the kitchen, which was empty.
"That's odd" he thought, as he sat down in his favorite seat. He stretched back and put his feet up on the coffee table, certain no one was around to scold him for it. His one hand reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes-he hadn't made it out of the office on his break for a haircut-and the other tugged on his tie, loosening it.
"How was work, sweetie?" someone asked, and he jumped at the sound. He was about to turn when a warm hand skillfully rubbed the back of his neck. He closed his eyes at the sensation and then her long fingernails dragged gently down his skin, causing the tiniest of hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.
"It''s great, now that it's over" he answered, closing his eyes with a content sigh as her hand began to massage his shoulders.
"Another bad one?" she asked.
"Mmm, let's just forget about it" he said
"I think we can do something to help you forget" she whispered in his ear.
"And how do we plan on doing this?" he asked, amused, as she began to walk around the chair to face him.
'"I'm sure we can figure something out" she said, directly in front of him. He opened his eyes at this and his eyes bugged out at the sight. She stood before him, an utter portrait of heavenly beauty. Her long blonde hair, that he had repeatedly asked her to grow in and she had finally agreed, hung in long, loose ringlets around her face. She had a light amount of make-up on, enough to give her face some color without taking away from the innocence that he loved about her. But all thoughts of her innocence flew from his head as his eyes traveled downward to what she was wearing-or, what she wasn't wearing.
     Her slim, feminine form was covered slightly by a tiny silk nighty. It was dark pink-her favorite color-and stopped high above her knees. Her long legs were bare and Shawn's eyes traveled up their tanned, shaply form. She walked closer to him and he lowered his legs from the coffee table to allow her. With a sexy smile, she bent closer to him and the top of her nighty puckered to give him a quick view of her bare cleavage.
"Are you sure you're not too tired from work?" she asked, and he forced his eyes upward to her own.
"Not in the least" came his answer, his voice dropping in octaves.
"Good" she said, straightening up. "I'll go start dinner" She started to walk away and Shawn watched her retreating form with a look of confusion. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet.
"I don't think so!" he said, and she giggled at his response. She hurried away from him and he pushed past the chair to follow her. She bounded up the stairs and he followed her, watching the silky material jump from her rapid movements. Their bedroom door slammed shut and he turned the corner to the closed door.
"Aren't we playful tonight?" he called through the door, and she giggled in reply. He slipped his hand around the doorknob and pushed it open. The bedroom was dark with the exception of a few lit candles that were scattered about. She was sitting on the middle of the bed, her long legs tucked underneath her as she absently twisted a lock of hair around her finger. Silently, he slipped in the room and shut the door firmly behind him. Quickly, he tugged at his tie and slipped it over his head, letting it drop to the floor. His fingers grapsed the top button of his shirt.
"Here, let me" she said, rising to her knees and coming to the edge of the bed. He stood and watched as she carefully undid each button and then pulled the shirt bottom from his pants.
"Thank you" he whispered, as she pushed it off his shoulders where it joined his tie on the floor.
"Mm hmm" she answered, as her hand moved eagerly over his chest. She moved backwards on the bed as he sat down on the edge and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Hmm, Isabella, wonder how you knew this was just what I needed" he said, as he began to lower her backwards on the bed, settling down on top of her.
"Oh, I just knew" she said, as his hands slipped underneath the straps of her nighty and began to push them off her shoulders. He began to kiss her as her fingers dug deep into his hair to pull him closer to her. The straps of her nighty were pushed down as far as they could go but still didn't allow his mouth to explore as much skin as he would have wished.
"Ohh, for Chrissakes..." he muttered, his hands slipping down her sides and grabbing the bottom of the nightly and pulling it over her head. She giggled at his aggressiveness and responded by attacking his belt buckle with equal eagerness. Shawn kicked them off of his legs as his mouth moved down her chest.
"Mmmm, Shawn..." she moaned as her hands held his head in place. "Shawn...Shawn....Shawn?" He lifted his head up as her voice began to change. "Shawn, it's time to get up" his mom said, shaking him gently. "Shawn, you said you were going to meet Philip at 11" Groaning, Shawn opened his eyes to find his mother leaning above him in the bright sunlight.
"Mom?" he asked, blinking his eyes furiously.
"It's 10:00, you have to meet Philip in an hour" she said, turning toward the window. Shawn glanced down at his mussed bed and quickly pulled up his sheet to cover how awake he was physically.
"Are you getting up?" Hope asked, turning and grabbing the edge of the sheet to pull it off of him.
"YES!" he shouted, and she jumped at the noise. "I mean, yeah, thanks mom. I"ll be down in a little bit" Hope opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a small cry from down the hall. With a groan of her own, she hurried down to soothe the cries of her other baby. Shawn swung his legs out of bed and got up to examine his bedhead in the mirror.
"Damn Brady" he said out loud. "What were you dreaming about HER for?"

~Across town~
    Belle looked up from the beautiful blonde baby that she held in her arms, nursing. She ran her fingers over the little girl's fine blonde curls and smiled. When she was finished, she wiped off the baby's mouth and reached to button up her shirt. Once she was done, she laid the sleeping baby back in her bassinet and went to the mirror to check her hair. Tucked into the corner of the mirror was an old photograph. Smiling, she plucked it from the edge and examined it. She and Shawn sat on a towel at the beach, she in a pink bikini and he in a red set of trunks. He had his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer and her hand rested protectively on his upper thigh. As if on cue, she heard the front door open and close. After checking on the baby one more time and hurried to meet who was there. Turning the corner of the dark hall, she slammed into his hard chest.
"Belle!" he said, smiling down at her.
"Ph...Philip?" she asked, taking a step back. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" he repeated. "Well one, I live here. And two, I got off of work early"
"But I...I thought" she stuttered, staring up at him.
"Are you ok?" he asked, as they walked back into the richly decorated living room. "Is Addie ok?"
"Yeah, Addie's fine" she said, as she collapsed into an armchair.
"Are you ok?" he asked, crouching down before her. "Did you hit your head? Are you feeling ok? You look pale"
"Yeah, I"m fine" she said, gently rubbing her temple.
"Good, I don't need my beautiful wife getting sick" he said, rising to his full height again.
"Wife?" she asked, looking down and then noticing the gold band wrapped around her left ring finger next to a humongous diamond ring. She glanced up in confusion as Philip's face turned to one of concern.
"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, walking back toward her and she held out her hand to stop him.
"But what about Shawn?" she asked. Philip's smile faded even more.
"Belle, honey, don't you remember?" he asked. "Shawn died a year ago, in that horrible boating accident"
Belle sat straight up in bed with a silent scream. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she hurriedly brushed them away.
"Shawn" she repeated, as she pushed back the bedsheets and rose to her feet. "You have to be ok"