It all started nine years ago
You sat to my left back in school
The future showed itself to me
The god in you, the god in me
Stood together like two trees

Isabel smiled. She had been attracted to him right from the start. There was something about him that was a total turn-on, the way he was so unashamedly nerdy. He didn’t care about being cool, not even to impress her. He was who he was and knew all the impressing in the world wouldn’t cut it when it came down to it – if Isabel couldn’t accept him for him, she wasn’t worth it. And Isabel had loved that. Once Isabel had let him into her heart, they’d been inseparable, always out together, sharing everything, become an integral part in each other’s lives.

I was too shy to inquire
If you’d like tea sometime
But in my mercury
Hand on hand, hand on knee
Mercy, mercy, mercy me

The mercury certainly had skyrocketed when Isabel and Alex had finally shared their first kiss. They had been on fire, the heat, the chemistry between them had been so huge. It had gone from a simple kiss to Alex carrying her upstairs to her room to make love all night. When they’d woken up in each other’s arms after falling asleep exhausted from their sexual liaisons they’d decided to cut school and spent the day in bed. Yep, those days had passed in a blur of secret rendezvous and frantic couplings after they’d gone without sex for too long. And then there were the days when they took their time climaxing – Isabel thought those days had been more special then their need-sex-now sessions.

I had a vision where we
We opening presents Christmas Day
But we were not all alone
The wedding was shotgun
We had a daughter and a son

To this day, people still talked about how goofy, geeky Alex Whitman had got gorgeous, sophisticated Isabel Evans pregnant. She must have been drunk, they all said – this satisfied the guys, who couldn’t work out what Whitman had that they didn’t, and the girls, who were horrified to know one of their own had defaulted to their side – the nerds. The truth was, Alex and Isabel had been talking about marriage for a few months, her getting pregnant had only clinched it in their minds – a sign from a higher power.

Isabel had been worried about the birth of her daughter, given her and Alex’s differing genes – maybe it would be a stillborn. But they’d had nothing to worry about. Their daughter, Elizabeth Maria, nicknamed Lisa Marie, was turning into a younger version of her namesake – smart and studious, with an interest in science. Isabel and Alex silently thanked the Lord that she hadn’t taken after her other namesake – neurotic, endlessly chattering Maria. She’d taken a liking to singing Elvis Presley songs, which was where her nickname came from. Alex had thought of it, Isabel recalled with a laugh. And their son, Mike, was a little angel – the polar opposite to his namesake. Four years old, he was intelligent beyond his years and the perfect gentleman. Isabel and Alex loved to show him off. So far, neither children seemed to display the powers Isabel had, and for that she was glad. She wanted her children to be as normal as possible.

Thankyou for waiting through my lovers
Knowing we could come home to each other

Unfortunately Isabel had overestimated her ability to commit. Sure, she’d been committed to Alex when they were going out, but marriage had made it seem all the more restricting – after the birth of Mike Isabel had started to feel caged in, restricted by monogamy and two children. Kyle Valenti had been there to cheer her up when she felt stuck in a rut – and he had been a great kisser. Even as he lay her down on his bed and began undressing her, Isabel had hated herself for what this would eventually do to Alex, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself, she felt so resentful of the restrictions being a wife and mother had placed on her.

Alex had been devastated when he’d found out – and in the back of her mind, Isabel knew he would find out. When a man loved a woman as much as Alex loved Isabel, he was bound to find out – pick up the scent of another man’s cologne on her jacket, sense how restless she felt, how she no longer wanted to go to bed the moment she got home from whenever she sneaked off to. One night he’d followed her, and waited until they were in the throes of passion, hoping against hope it was something innocent – even though in his heart of hearts he knew what was doing. Isabel could only image how it must have been to walk in on his wife having sex with another man, clawing at his back and screaming in ecstasy.

But my love burns bright as the sun
The clouds may come, the clouds may go
And I’ll still be here at your door

... That had been so true of Alex, Isabel reflected. He’d ranted and raved in private and calmly confronted Isabel later when he’d calmed down. He’d told her he loved her and wanted to stay married – but that he expected monogamy from now on. It had taken seeing Alex, and the look on his face when he saw them together, for Isabel to realize how much she loved him and how much he would take away from her if he should leave – not that he didn’t have any right to. How could she ever have felt so discontent as to sleep with another man ?

Yes, I have waited through these winters
My true one was right here

No, Isabel would never wander again – not her body or her heart. She’d wandered around for so long thinking she only had to find what it was she was looking for, in Kyle, in all the others boys she’d dated and slept with – when all the while it had been right under her nose, in Alex Whitman – her devoted husband, who would never leave her, never cheat on her, never intentionally hurt her. Isabel would never stop being grateful to whatever higher power had decided she deserved a second chance with Alex.

And I believe in love to be the center of all
things
And I believe in love to be the way
And I believe in love to be the center of all
things
And I believe in love to be the way
To find out inner light

Isabel was curled up on the couch, a happy smile on her face when Alex got home. “Hey, babe,” he said, greeting her with a kiss. “What have you been doing ?”

“Reflecting,” Isabel replied. “Thinking what an incredible man you are. Wonderful father, best friend, devoted husband – incredible lover ...”

Alex sat down beside Isabel and wrapped an arm around her. “Was that an invitation?” he asked.

Isabel smiled seductively. “What do you think?” She didn’t get a reply – or at least not a verbal one. She got a good enough reply in Alex’s mouth over hers in a soul-searching kiss. He tightened his hold around her back and snaked his free arm under her legs, lifting her up effortlessly and heading with her in his arms, still kissing her, to the bedroom for a night of long, hot passion ...