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From: Lazlo Zalezac <lzalezac@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} A Different Sort Of Lifestyle 13 (MF, rom)
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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:10:02 -0500
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Lazlo Zalezac
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Lazlo_Zalezac
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Lazlo_Zalezac
 
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<1st attachment, "Life01-13.txt" begin>

A Different Sort Of Lifestyle
Chapter 13: Recovery
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006

While scrubbing the pan in which she had burned the brownies 
June heard the front door slam. Hearing the booming echo all of 
the way to the kitchen, she figured that Jack was still angry. She 
couldn't blame him if he was. Turning to Lisa, she said, "Jack's 
home. Stay here and let me talk to him first."

"Why?"

"I have to tell him that I'm sorry," June said wiping her hands on a 
towel. She was prepared to do anything to get his forgiveness, even 
grovel at his feet if necessary.

"Okay," Lisa said somewhat thankful for the reprieve. She was 
worried that after having just learned that her father loved her that 
she had already lost his love. It was her hope that waiting a little 
longer to talk to him would allow her to come up with better words 
to say to him. 

June stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. Much to 
her surprise, Jack was nowhere to be seen. She went to the door 
and looked out. His car was there which meant that he had 
returned. Fearing that he was in the bedroom packing a suitcase, 
she locked the door and stood in front of it thinking that he would 
have to get through her before he could leave.

The sound of the toilet flushing echoed through the house. It was 
so unexpected that she almost laughed. The seriousness of the 
situation was sufficient to squelch all humor. She licked her lips 
and waited for him to appear in the living room. She didn't have to 
wait long. One quick glance in his direction let her see that he 
looked horrible. 

"I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice unable to look him in the eye.

"Which insult are you apologizing for?" he asked. He knew the 
question might have been seen by her as unfair or even harsh. The 
fact was that he didn't know what she was apologizing for having 
done. In his mind, she was guilty of many things. The pain inside 
of him needed to know and that allowed him to ask.

Staring at a patch of floor a few feet in front of where she stood, 
she answered, "I'm sorry for believing that you didn't love Lisa. 
I'm sorry that I didn't trust you to tell you of my fears. I'm sorry 
that I helped turn Lisa against you. I'm sorry for how I've treated 
you. I'm sorry for the horrible life that you've had to live here. 
That doesn't even scratch the surface of all the things for which I 
am sorry. Most of all, I'm ashamed that I didn't love you as much 
as you loved me."

Jack had to admit that was a pretty good list of things to apologize 
for having done. He asked, "Why do you say that you didn't love 
me as much as I loved you?"

"Because if I had, none of this would have happened," June 
answered giving voice to the belief that made her feel the guiltiest. 
For the first time in the conversation, she looked up at him. She 
said, "I would understand if you don't love me anymore."

Unused to dealing with his feelings, Jack stood in the middle of the 
living room in silence. As the seconds passed, he tried to figure out 
what he felt. The pain that he felt should have killed his love. He 
knew that, but there were still feelings for her that weren't 
diminished by the pain or anger. For both of them, it felt like hours 
had passed before he said, "I still love you. I don't know why, but I 
do."

Unable to trust herself to say more, she said, "Thank you."

"I need to understand why you thought that of me."

The answer lay in the beginning. She said, "The first time you held 
Lisa in your hands, you had this look of absolute terror on your 
face as if she was some sort of monster that was going to eat you. 
I'll never forget the look of relief when I took her out of your 
hands. That same look of terror came over you every time you held 
her."

Stunned, Jack didn't know what to say. He backed over to his chair 
and sat down. Unable to look at his wife, he said, "I remember the 
day she was born. The nurse put Lisa in my hands and I looked 
down upon that fragile little being. She was so small. She had 
perfect little hands complete with little fingernails. I couldn't 
believe it. I looked at her thinking that this is my daughter.

"I had never held a baby before. I kept thinking that I was holding 
an incredibly fragile and precious treasure. I was afraid to move. I 
was afraid that she would wiggle and fall from my clumsy hands. I 
felt big, clumsy, and ugly compared to that perfect little being. 
You're right, I was terrified. I was terrified of dropping her or 
breaking her somehow.

"When you took her from me, she looked so right in your arms. 
You moved and touched her just right. I could see that Lisa was 
more relaxed. I remember thinking that with you holding her in 
your arms that she was safer than in mine. I could protect her by 
protecting you.

"After I left the hospital, I went to work. On the way, I bought 
cigars and handed them out to everyone. I was so proud of you and 
her that day. I think I bragged more that day than I had ever 
bragged in all my life. I don't think I did a minute of work that 
day."

Ready to collapse, June edged across the room and sat down 
staring at Jack. She'd had no idea that he had felt that way. All she 
had seen was the terror and not the reasons behind it.

He continued, "I remember when she said her first word. It was 
mama and not dada. I knew that the first word was always mama, 
but I had hoped that it would be dada. I was still proud of her. 
Maybe I didn't show it, but I was. 

"I remember the day when she took her first steps. It was the day 
that I realized that she was becoming a real person with her own 
personality and style. I watched her, imagining she was running 
around with ribbons in her hair chasing butterflies in the yard. 
Sure, she was stumbling around and falling down like babies do 
when they are learning to walk, but I saw the future little girl in her 
movements.

"I guess she was about eight when I was watching her play outside 
and it was just like I had imagined. There she was in the back yard 
with ribbons in her hair chasing a butterfly. It choked me up. She 
was so happy and carefree. 

"I thought that with you taking care of her and me taking care of 
you, she could do and be anything she wanted. I would make sure 
that she got everything she needed. You would teach her to be a 
better person than me. You see, I wanted to be the perfect father 
and that's what fathers do. They provide for their family. They 
keep the wolves at bay. 

"Every year that she got older, I kept thinking that she was 
growing into an even more special person. I could see that when 
she went to school. She's a smart kid. She takes after you that way. 
I was never that good of a student. She can be anything she wants 
to be, a lawyer, a doctor, or even President of the United States.

"I have always been amazed that I have been part of her life. 
Providing for you and her is the best thing that I've ever 
accomplished."

Jack fell silent and stared at the floor. It was the most he had ever 
said about his feelings towards his family. Having said his peace, 
he didn't know what else to say or do so he sat there. There was a 
blur as Lisa ran from the kitchen and flew into her father's lap. She 
wrapped her arms around him and hugged him even as she cried. 
He held her tightly, afraid to let go.

It took hours for the emotional temperature of the room to finally 
lower to a point where they were able to discuss more mundane 
aspects of living. The smell of burnt brownies still hung in the air. 
Throughout the afternoon, Jack had noticed the odor off and on. 
He asked, "Was there a fire?"

"I burned some brownies," June answered. 

"Oh. Are you all right?"

June smiled and answered, "I'm better than I've been in a long, 
long time."

"I'll help you fix dinner, mom."

Thinking about the day that all of them had experienced, Jack said, 
"I don't think you feel like cooking. I don't feel like eating out. 
Let's order a pizza. I'll go get it and we can eat here. What do you 
think?"

June's first reaction was a desire to say that she would go ahead 
and fix sandwiches or something for them. She caught herself and 
said, "That sounds lovely."

"Everything but fish?"

"That sounds good."

June watched him put on a pair of shoes and head out to get a 
pizza. He could have called in his order and had it delivered, but 
she felt it was important to him to be doing something. Once he 
was gone, she turned to Lisa and said, "There are going to be a lot 
of changes in this house."

"Like over at Harry's house?"

"Jack deserves a lot more of our attention from now on. I don't 
know what he might want, but I'm going to make sure that he gets 
it," June said. She sighed and said, "He's been a second class 
citizen in the house for too long."

Looking over at her mother, Lisa asked, "Does that mean you'll be 
spending a little more time with him and less time with me?"

"I'm afraid so," June answered. 

"Good, that will give me more time with Harry," Lisa said with a 
smile. 

Having seen the two of them together, June said, "I take it you are 
thinking about birth control pills."

"Yes."

"I'll make an appointment with the doctor. His mother and I are 
too young to become grandmothers," June said. Putting a hand on 
her daughter's arm, she added, "Just don't rush into it. You have 
your whole life ahead of you."

"Are you worried that he'll take advantage of me?"

"I think that you are particularly vulnerable to the attentions of 
males because of the past relationship between you and your 
father. It would be my hope that you slow down a little with Harry 
until after you come to grips with what happened today," June 
said. In a way, she was relieved that Lisa had not turned into the 
school slut by seeking male approval there that she couldn't get at 
home.

"You might be right," Lisa answered. 

"You know, I'm glad that your father decided to get a pizza. I'm 
too exhausted to do anything right now. I didn't sleep very well 
last night and this afternoon has been particularly draining."

"I didn't sleep well either," Lisa admitted. She wasn't going to 
mention the lust filled thoughts that had been going through her 
mind.

"I can imagine," June said thinking that her daughter had laid 
awake through the night thinking about her father. She sighed and 
said, "You know, your father is always going on about having a 
Sunday dinner. Maybe tomorrow after church I could cook up a 
nice big meal. We could stay dressed up in our church clothes and 
make it a special occasion." 

"Daddy would like that."

"He would, wouldn't he?' June said with a little smile thinking that 
it wasn't so hard to put him first on occasion.

Jack sat at the pizza place waiting for them to finish cooking his 
pizza. The events of the day had been rough and he was tired. He 
thought about the advice the bartender had given him and his 
discussions with Greg. The bartender had been right that women 
needed to hear the words. He'd have to remind himself of that on 
occasion. He'd also mention it to Greg the next time he saw him.

The idea that he should start making his desires known slowly 
came to him. For the past few years he had become increasingly 
unhappy about his life. Greg was right about waking up one 
morning wondering what had happened to his life. Some of it was 
explained by the events of the morning, but there was more to it 
than that. There had been things missing from his life. Activities 
that he wanted to do on occasion.

He wasn't sure what kind of changes he wanted to make in his life, 
but he knew he wanted some things changed. He thought that 
having his wife dress up would be nice, even if it was just once a 
week. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted that. Greg 
and Sharon dressed up for dinner, but that didn't really appeal to 
him. He liked being informal at dinner after work.

When they were first married, she used to walk around in the 
living room of their apartment wearing very little. She had a couple 
of transparent wraps that she'd wear for him. Occasionally, she'd 
add in a corset or a garter belt. When she sat down, she posed just 
like the women in those old Playboy Magazines he remembered so 
fondly. By the time the nightly news came on, he'd be so horny 
that a national disaster couldn't have kept him away from her.

He shook his head and thought that it wasn't possible with Lisa in 
the house. He was going to have to come up with something else to 
request. He didn't resent Lisa for that. Being a parent required that 
adults make certain accommodations in their lifestyle for their 
children. Maybe they could start having Sunday dinners together 
with all of them dressed up their church clothes. That would nice.

The pizza guy called out, "You're pizza is ready. Everything but 
fish."

"Thanks," Jack said when he picked up the pizza box. As he 
walked towards the door, it dawned on him that he hadn't been 
fishing in years. He and his brother used to go fishing all the time 
when they were younger. They'd climb into an old aluminum boat 
with a little five horsepower motor and putt out onto the lake. 
They'd drink a couple of beers, tell a few stories, and, sometimes, 
catch a few fish. It was a typical male bonding type of activity, but 
he missed it. They had stopped when his brother had moved away. 
He wondered if Greg would be interested in going fishing with 
him.

The one problem in his plan was that he didn't have a boat and he 
didn't see how he could afford one. He decided they could always 
fish from the shore until he could figure out a way to buy an old 
boat. Starting the car, he said, "I could always build one."

The more he thought about building a boat, the more he liked the 
idea. While he was working on the boat, his wife could do her 
thing with the daughter. When his daughter was with Harry, he 
could spend time with his wife. When both of them were available, 
they could do something as a family. 

He had pulled up in the driveway and realized there was one hole 
in his plans. He wasn't doing anything with Lisa other than as a 
family. The problem was that he didn't know what kind of activity 
they could do together. He didn't think she liked going to sporting 
events. He didn't think she would enjoy working on a boat. What 
could he do with her? That was the problem that had led to the 
current state of affairs.

Picking up the pizza box, he got out of the car while thinking he 
should have washed it earlier that afternoon and headed towards 
the house. He stopped and looked back at the car. Grinning, he 
knew what he could do with Lisa.

Seated around the dinner table, June said, "I thought we might 
have Sunday Dinner tomorrow after church."

"That would be nice. I was going to suggest that we do that," Jack 
said looking at his wife in surprise.

"I thought we'd stay dressed in our church clothes and make a real 
event out of it."

Nodding his head, Jack asked, "Lisa, would you like to invite 
Harry?"

Both women looked at each other in surprise. Neither of them had 
even considered including Harry. Lisa asked, "You wouldn't 
mind?"

"No," Jack answered thinking it would give him a chance to get to 
know the boy a little better. He grabbed a slice of pizza and said, 
"Give him a call after dinner."

"Don't worry, I will," Lisa said amazed.

Jack took a bite of his pizza and looked around the table. He 
wondered how to bring up the other matters he wanted to discuss. 
He decided that talking about the boyfriend was a perfect way to 
make another suggestion. He turned to June and said, "Maybe we 
should start doing something together the nights that Lisa is out on 
a date. You know, dinner out or something."

"I think that would be a good idea," June said glancing over at 
Lisa. For the `or something' he had mentioned, she recalled 
Sharon's suggestion of lingerie nights. She added, "I have some 
ideas about what we could do, but maybe we should discuss them 
later."

Curious why she didn't want to discuss the matter now, but not 
wanting to create a scene Jack said, "Okay."

They were silent as they ate pizza. After a while, Jack said, "I was 
thinking about building a boat."

"A boat?" a pair of female voices echoed.

"I was thinking that I'd like to start going fishing again, but that I 
didn't have a boat. I realized that I couldn't afford one, so I 
decided to build one. I've got Dad's old tools that I haven't really 
been using. It shouldn't cost too much money to build one," Jack 
said. He grabbed another slice of pizza and added, "I figure it will 
give you two a chance to do mother-daughter kinds of things while 
I'm working on it."

Unable to believe what she was hearing, June asked, "What kind of 
boat?"

"Just a simple little motor boat; nothing too fancy."

"Interesting," June said. She didn't know what to make of the 
announcement. 

Lisa watched the exchange confused. She didn't know that her 
father liked fishing or knew how to build things. She wondered 
what other surprises he had in store for them.

Jack looked over at Lisa and said, "I figure after you and I wash 
the car on Saturdays that we'll go out driving. Does that sound 
good to you?"

"Driving?" Lisa asked. Her eyes got big.

"You're getting your learner's permit this week, right?"

Considering that she had no idea that he loved her until that 
afternoon, the fact that he knew she was getting her learner's 
permit shouldn't have surprised her. None the less, she was blown 
away that he had known. Nodding her head, she said, "Right, on 
Tuesday."

"So next Saturday, we'll wash the car and then you'll take it for a 
drive around the neighborhood for a while," Jack said. He was 
pleased that he had found some activity that he could do with his 
daughter. 

"That would be wonderful," Lisa said. The excitement in her voice 
was clear to everyone at the table.

"She'll enjoy that a lot, Jack," June said. If she hadn't been cried 
out, she would have started crying again. This was the first time 
that she could recall where he planned some activity with his 
daughter. Then it dawned on her that it was the first thing he had 
ever found that he could do with his daughter.

"Good," he said. Having said everything that he wanted to say, he 
turned his full attention to the pizza. It seemed to him that the pizza 
tasted better than usual. 

Everyone was quiet as they enjoyed the pizza. It had been an 
exhausting day and no one really felt like talking. June was busy 
thinking about what Jack had done. He had really taken a lot more 
control over his life and had done so in a way that wasn't at her 
expense. She could live with him working on a boat. With him 
taking Lisa for a drive, she'd even get a little time to herself. 

The most surprising thing was that he had asked for a little time 
alone with her. After years of rejecting him, she knew that it must 
have been hard to ask. Of course, with Lisa on a date her usual 
excuse was gone. She reached for another piece of pizza and was 
surprised that the three of them had finished it. Usually, they had 
one or two slices left.

Lisa stood up from the table and said, "I'm going to call Harry 
now."

"Go ahead," June said. She watched her daughter go into the living 
room unable to believe the difference in how her daughter looked. 
Learning that her father loved her had removed a shadow from 
over her heart. Now when she smiled, it was as if she glowed.

Jack picked up the empty pizza box and threw it in the trash. 
Grinning, he said, "The dishes are done."

She laughed and said, "That was wonderful. I really didn't feel like 
cooking tonight. I definitely didn't feel like doing dishes."

"Good. I'm going to go look for boat plans on the web," he said.

"Go ahead. I'll bring in some coffee to you in a little while."

"Thanks," he said and left the kitchen. 

On his way to the computer, he stopped and kissed his daughter on 
the head while she was talking on the phone to Harry. When she 
looked up at him, he whispered, "Just wanted you to know that I 
love you."

He went over to the computer not realizing that she was crying 
again. These were tears of happiness, though. She had to hang up 
before racing to her bedroom where she ended up crying for 
another half an hour.  She fell asleep without remembering to call 
Harry back. 

June got up and went over to the sink. The brownie pan was still 
soaking in the sink. She reached down and poured out the water. 
Walking over to the trashcan, she threw the pan away. Looking 
down at the pan nestled amongst the other trash, she said, "Good 
bye old marriage. Today we start a new one."

She went into her room to look through her clothes. She had pants, 
dresses, skirts, and blouses of all kinds in her closet. Not a single 
outfit, other then the dress she had worn the previous night, was 
sexy. Amazed at the utility of her clothes she sat on the edge of the 
bed wondering when she had stopped trying to look attractive. 

Physically tired from the lack of sleep the previous night and 
emotionally tired from the discussions of the day, she lay back to 
consider her wardrobe. Before she knew it, she was sound asleep. 

Jack searched the web for free plans for a simple motorboat. There 
were a large number of plans for sale with prices ranging from 
twenty dollars on up to thousands for the bigger boats. He finally 
found a couple of sites with free boat plans and spent a couple of 
hours examining each one. 

His search was interrupted when Harry called. The poor guy had 
been waiting for Lisa to call back and, when he had to head to bed, 
he decided to call back. Jack made the invitation for Sunday dinner 
on her behalf and Harry accepted. He wandered out to tell her or, 
at the least, her mother, but discovered that all of the lights were 
out in the rest of the house. Looking around, he said, "Looks like 
everyone has gone to sleep before ten."
<1st attachment end>


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