When Saint Goes Marching In by Tiana Laveen Page B

struggled to keep themselves afloat. Saint briefly dropped his head onto her chest before placing her carefully back down on her feet. He looked at her, leaned against the wet shower wall, the water bursting out of the shower head onto his back, blocking most of her temple. He placed his arms around her, pinned her to his body. Water now ran down his face and chest in thick, clear ropes. His long, dark eyelashes separated as the gushing water continued to run between them. He kissed her, an intense kiss, and he wished it could go on forever.
    “Mmm,” Saint smiled as he pulled away from her, kissing her cheek then chin before turning off the water. They stepped out of the shower, dried off and parted ways as Xenia left to dry off and get dressed while Saint stayed in the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He wrapped a towel around his waist and sat on the bed, turned on the television and searched for the weather forecast. Saint picked up his cell phone and called Chantel.
    “Um, hello,” Chantel answered.
    Saint could swear he heard her giggling and her greeting was muffled, as if she were covering her mouth.
    “Hi Chantel, thank you so much for watching the kids. You can leave now. I’ll be out to get them in a few minutes.”
    “OK, no problem.” Chantel abruptly hung-up.
    Xenia pulled a dark green short sleeve shirt over her now bra covered breasts. She slid up her skinny jeans and ran her finger quickly through her wet tresses. They snuggled close together in the bed until they saw someone trying to turn their doorknob to no avail, followed by knocks on the door. Saint laughed as he stood and walked to the door.
    “I’m actually surprised it took them this long,” he whispered to Xenia as he opened the door for the tiny, dynamic duo. The boys burst through, immediately running towards their parent’s bed and jumping onto it. Xenia reached down and hugged Hassani while Dakarai climbed onto Saint’s lap.
    “Your bed is messed up again,” Hassani said as he stared ahead at the television. The weatherman showed a forecast of thirty percent chance of precipitation.
    Xenia stifled a chuckle.
    “Yeah, it is,” Saint yawned as he crossed his ankles, leaned his head back against the headboard and held Dakarai on his lap.
    “It’s messed up a lot, Mommy, but you and Daddy tell me…you tell me to keep my bed made up, but every time Daddy comes home, yours gets messed up,” Hassani said indignantly as he pointed at the disheveled red sheets.
    Xenia burst out laughing and clasped her hands together. She shot a look at Saint who feigned deep thoughts and was not finding much amusement in the situation.
    “And you two make a lot of noise, especially Mommy,” Hassani added, not stopping his inquisition. “And you say bad words. Why?” Hassani looked into his father’s eyes, confusion all over his face.
    Saint looked at Xenia, “We should have paid extra for the sound proof master suite option. That was so long ago though, we didn’t see this coming but I should’ve,” he whispered to Xenia who nodded in agreement. Saint rose from the bed, picking up Dakarai and left bedroom for a few moments. Then he returned and closed the bedroom door behind him.
    “Dakarai is playing in his room for a second. I told him I’d be right back,” Saint said quietly as he looked over at Xenia and Hassani.
    “What did you do that for?” Xenia asked, bewildered.
    “Because we need to have a little chat with Hassani.”
    Saint picked up the remote control and placed the television on mute.
    “Oh no, not that. Saint, he is too young!” Xenia’s embarrassment spread across her face like a veil.
    “No, he isn’t too young, Xenia,” Saint said seriously. “If he is saying these things, making observations and asking questions, then he needs to be told. I can talk to him about it in his terms, for his level of comprehension and understanding,” he assured.
    Xenia covered her face with her hands and looked down at her knees,