WE WOKE STILL spooned together in a warm nest of sheets and bodies. It felt so good that I just lay there listening to them breathe, feeling the rise and fall of their bodies against mine. Nathaniel was still deeply asleep, but Micah moved restlessly. If I wasn’t careful I’d wake him on one of the few mornings that we could all sleep in together. I slowed my breathing down, deepened it, and did my best to pretend to sleep while my eyes were still open, so I could see the line of sunlight from the crack in the drapes. We’d have to remember to close them better tonight, but this morning I liked watching the light play in Micah’s curls and along his naked back. If I could have figured out a way to turn over and see the light on Nathaniel, I would have, but I knew that would wake Micah.
I lay sandwiched between them, listening to their breathing, feeling the beat and pulse of their sleeping bodies. I memorized the feel of it all, so that later it could be one of my happy thoughts. I was kissing the back of Micah’s neck and waking us all up with more cuddling and maybe more sex, when there was a knock at the door so loud and authoritative that I knew it was a cop, or someone who had been a cop of some kind. They all had that loud, resounding knock that made your heart beat faster and your pulse jump to your throat for a second, even if you were innocent. The sound alone was sort of scary.