Darling Husband goes to be about an hour before me. When I come to bed and scoot under the covers on my side, he might be fast asleep or he might still be awake. He sleeps with his back toward me and has done so for about two years, maybe longer. I can’t remember the last time DH faced me in bed or even slept on his back. His aches and pains of the day are more manageable when he lays on his right side. 

I fall asleep pretty quickly and this night, my back was toward his back. I was dozing off when he moved. He made a quick turn onto his back and then was facing me. He bumped me a little as he moved, which is when I was startled. You need to understand that he has not faced me in bed for years. I jumped a little as he put his arm tentatively over me. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to do. I mean, what was he doing? Should I scoot back and let him pull me close? Not quite understanding, I reached my hand back and patted his hip. 

Then I realized, he wants to cuddle. He snaked his hand over my chest like he used to years ago and held my free hand. We laid like that for several minutes. It was nice. It was unexpected but comforting. Then he gave my hand a squeeze, turned over, and fell asleep.

The next day, I told him that was really nice, although totally unexpected because he hasn’t done that in so long. He agreed and said he was scared. Why? I asked. He said he was afraid I would think he wanted sex, which was often the case when this would happen many years ago. But no, he didn’t want sex. He just wanted to connect with his wife and feel her body and soul close to him. 

I told him that I’d like to do that again. I liked it, too.