Free Life Over Love by Cheryl Seagraves Page A

ok?  She sat down busily putting on her tennis shoes, wishing away the butterflies in her stomach. She smiled at him much like she used to in years gone by “yep, is 9am too early for you? I have to work that day.”
              Mike plucked a rose from the bush and tossed it up to Brianna where it landed on her lap. “I’ll see you Saturday Bri.” She watched him drive off in his little Toyota truck.
                               Since she still had an hour left before she needed to pick up the kids from school she decided to walk to the library. All in all she was feeling pretty good about the day’s events, except for her reaction to his advances.  She was smart enough to realize that a large portion of her reaction was due to the fact that she hadn’t so much as hugged someone of the opposite sex since she had last kissed Mike almost four months ago. 
                  Mike’s and her relationship was such a tumultuous affair that often after bitter fights Mike would use his knowledge of her body and spend the following days making love to her as a form of penitence.
                  For years her eager heart had been fooled by her traitorous body.  It wasn’t until she had grown to hate herself and the predictable pattern of her life that she became numb to his caresses.
                  When their love making represented another reason to hate the woman she had become she’d had no other choice, but to leave.  Brianna honestly didn’t think that she could ever be effected by his touch that way again, and the experience had her questioning her true feelings for him. 
    `               On one hand she was pleased to find that she was indeed still a woman with all the working parts, but on the other hand she didn’t like being manipulated like that.  She found solace just knowing that if the time came she would not let it get that far.
                  She knew in her heart of hearts that she would always love him, but it evolved from that all-consuming love from their youth into a shadow of what it once was, now it seemed more like a feeling of appreciation for making her a mother of two of the most wonderful children on this earth.
                  She saw in them all the good that was in both herself and Mike. Feeling more content with her emotions she went to go pick up the kids and tell them the good news.
     
       
                 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    13
     
      S aturday morning could not have come soon enough when dealing with a six year Old’s and toddlers poor conception of time.   Brianna had gotten really tired of explaining when Saturday would be there every single day since Monday, about twenty times every single day at that, it was definitely enough to where thin on anybody’s nerves.
         She was looking forward to some peace and quiet too. Her plans included a hot bath and some much needed Christmas shopping.
                  The kids practically skipped the entire way to the police station, they were nearly an hour early, but Mike was already there waiting for them.  He bounded out of the truck as soon as he spotted her and the kids turning the corner of the parking lot.
                  Despite the knowing that their divorce was final, ever since skipping off that court house step, Mike had been in a better mood than he’d been in months.  He was looking into AA and hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since the previous Tuesday. 
                  Judging by her physical reaction to him the last time they’d talked. He felt sure that he’d be able to prove to her that it could work out this time, that he had changed, and that he’d get them back. He’d seen that she still wanted him and he planned on doing everything in his power to have them back in his life, with him, where he felt they belonged.
    Chelsea ran as fast as