Linda's Legacy - Sex Stories

Linda's Legacy

... talking to? Why was he talking about mom?

With the children bedded down, I came downstairs to find Bradley back at the table with a full carafe of coffee, two mugs, and a large Yeti cup.

"Sit," he said. I did. He poured the coffee.

"I don't want any coffee, Bradley. It'll keep me up all night."

"That's the idea. You're going to need it."

"No. Tell me what's going on in your head."

"I will if you will, dear wife."

"Nothing's going on. I swear. You're getting all upset over nothing. It's just a conference."

"Just one conference. Just one Event. Just Once. Because this is something you need to do, for your sake. Is that right?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Shit." He took a swig of his thick black brew. "It's worse than I thought."

"What's worse than you thought? The coffee?"

He looked at me as if I'd blasphemed. His coffee was perfect, of course. That was His Thing. He had thousands of dollars' worth of gleaming steel coffee equipment in the kitchen and I didn't know how to use half of it. I wasn't even allowed to touch the espresso machine.

"No. The coffee is fine. Look. Before we begin, do you think that I'm stupid?"

"No, of course not."

"Are you sure? You're the one with the graduate degree. You're the psychologist. Don't you think you're a lot smarter than me?"

"Bradley... no."

"Do you have any respect for me at all?"

"Of course!"

"Let's be clear. Do you respect me as a husband? As a partner? As a man? As a human being? Any ...

... of that?"

"All of that! And more. So much more. Bradley. You're my husband. You're a great man. You're my partner, you're my lover, you're my best friend. You're the most important thing in my life and I'm so, so, unbelievably lucky to have you!"

"Okay. I'm going to ask you to remember that."

Oh dear. This was not going at all the way I'd hoped. It probably showed.

"All right. We're starting now, Emma. I'm going to ask you some questions, and I'm going to demand honesty from you. Not half truths. Not shades of gray. Not just what you think I could handle, or in the words designed to make it easier or more palatable for me. I deserve at least that much from you. Agreed?"

"Honey, I don't see..."

"Agreed?"

"You don't need to be..."

"This is going to be a very short goddamned conversation if you keep that up, Emma."

"I... okay. Agreed."

"Good. Before you answer anything, please understand that I know more than you think I do about what's going on. I don't know everything, but it's enough to matter. Also, please understand that you know LESS than you think. As you said, I am not a stupid person, and you do respect me. So, if you lie, or prevaricate, or try to make this go the way you want, it's not going to go well."

"I would never lie to you, honey."

"You would, however, lie to yourself."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Okay. So it begins. When were you invited to this conference? How long have you known, before you told me ...