by Sienna Skye
“I will think about it. Let me think about it.”
“There’s another thing, Julia. I know I had originally set you up in the house until the end of the summer, but there is no reason for you not to stay there until you find something of your own. I want you to find a place that makes you happy rather than grabbing something because you feel a deadline looming.”
They both saw the expression on my face. A cross between surprise, confusion, and fear. And they both knew why I wore it.
“You are planning on staying Idgit, aren’t you?”
“Jules?”
“I…I hadn’t thought about it. I mean I had no idea on how this was all going to go down, so I just planned for the summer.”
“And now you know.” Both Morgan’s tone and look were challenging.
“Julia, you can write your column from anywhere, correct?”
“Yes, I mean I would have to show up from time to time.”
“That is doable. Even if for some reason, Morgan couldn’t keep Sophia, we would. If you didn’t want to drive, I could arrange a jet. We are your family. We want you here with us.”
“I just met her, Jules. Please. Besides, it’s time to share the responsibility. I am willing to take it on. Let me. You don’t have to do this all alone anymore.”
I sat silently for a long moment. I kept looking back and forth between the two of them. I wish I could say why I was fighting it. It made all the sense in the world for me to stay. Somewhere it registered that it was a wall I was putting up, a defense mechanism, I just wasn’t sure exactly why. It was obvious that Sophia and Morgan adored each other already and it was partially my blame that they had lost all that time. It would be nobody’s fault but mine if I were to deprive them that now. I would be looking out for myself. Much like my mother. That thought is what sealed the deal.
“Okay, I will try it. We will move here and see how it goes.”
Hunter broke out into this big goofy grin. Morgan leaned over the table, grabbed my hands in his and simply whispered, “Thank you.” I tried to ignore the tingling of having his hands on mine and in that moment the realization struck as to why I was so desperately trying to build that wall.
“Well, now that we have that settled. Sarah and I are planning a barbeque next week. A lot of the old friends will be there. It would be a great time for everyone to meet Sophia, too.”
I guess we had to start somewhere.
“Sure, we will be there.”
“Bring bathing suits too.”
“I will call Sarah and see what she wants me to bring.”
“You’ll get to meet some people too. Maybe make some new friends…since you are moving back and all.”
“Wait, how exactly did you know that guy was a Dominant? I thought they don’t go around announcing those things.”
“Holy non sequitur, Morgan. Hunter was just talking about a cook out.”
“Julia knows a Dominant? Wait, are you planning on bringing him to the barbeque?”
“Oh geez. Yes, I know one. He consults on my column from time to time. No, I am not planning on bringing him to the barbeque. ”
“I notice you answered Hunter’s questions, but not mine.”
I spooned some crème brulee in my mouth. It was decadent. I looked down at the small dish and frowned. This one little thing was going to cost me hours of Trey kicking my butt at the gym.
“Morgan, if Ask Nikki was responding to your question, she would wonder why you seem obsessed with this. Her guess would be that you were wondering if he hog tied me then spanked me with a riding crop.” I spooned another mouthful that probably equated to 100 squats and sat back satisfied, a smirk covering my face. Well that sure as hell should stop his line of questioning.
Hunter looked up at me, the forkful of pie in his hand hovering halfway to his mouth. “For the record, I do not want to know. There are some mental images I just do not need.”
Morgan opened and closed his mouth no less than four times, but he never said a word. I smiled and spooned another 100 squats into my mouth.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Morgan
The day of the barbeque, I went to Hunter’s early to help with some of the heavy lifting set up. I had to give it to them, those two planned a great party. They lucked out with the weather too. For me and Jules, it was our coming out party, so to speak. Nobody knew that we had a kid together. It was going to come as a shock to everyone that Jules and I had been a couple. Unless there were others like Hunter who knew and kept their mouth shut, but I doubted it. Nobody knew us better than Hunter and besides, we had all lived under the same roof. He was bound to pick up on things nobody else would.
Some of the guests had already arrived and were hanging out on the deck or in the pool. I wandered into the kitchen where Sarah was working overly hard at arranging fruit into what looked like a palm tree and beach scene.
“Hey sweetness, can I help you with anything?”
“I think everything is under control here.”
The doorbell rang and she hurried off to go answer the door. The woman had non stop energy. I stole a few pieces of kiwi that had not yet been turned into palm fronds. I could hear her as she greeted her guests.
“Hi! You didn’t need to ring the bell. Family doesn’t ring the bell. Come on in!”
Sophia came skipping into the room while holding Sarah’s hand. Perched on her nose was a pair of purple kiddie sunglasses. With Sarah’s assistance, she pushed them up on top of her head. Jules stood behind her, a large beach bag slung over her arm, and in her hands were a pair of swimmies, a kiddie life jacket, and some kind of floaty toy.
“Hi, Daddy!”
“Hi kiddo. Hey there pack mule.”
I walked over and stopped when I saw the very full bag.
“Dang. What do you have in there?”
“Oh…towels, sunblock, a change of clothes for her, her pajamas, a jacket if it gets cool, a change of shoes, oh and a change of clothes for me… and a few other things.”
“She’s going to need all that? Does she have her bathing suit?”
“She has it on under her dress. And yes, she will probably need ‘all that’.”
I took a minute to look Jules over. She was already in her suit and she was rocking it. Jules never just wore any bathing suit. She had a knack of picking something that was perfect for her body. She was wearing this aqua two piece that had black piping. The top had underwire that did a great job showcasing her tits. She wore a short black sarong that tied at her hip.
She was a bit on the fair side, but she tanned easily, and she was already starting to get a nice bit of color. Between her tan and the suit, her eyes were mesmerizing. She had a pair of black sunglasses propped up on her head and it hit me that Sophia probably liked to wear them like that because of her mama. Jules looked like she stepped out of a suntan lotion commercial. A moment too late, I realized that I was probably staring a beat too long.
“There are a bunch of old friends here already if you want to come outside. Drinks are out there and some food too.”
“Gee Morgan, I should keep you in here to direct all the guests,” Sarah teased.
“Nope, sorry. There is a cooler out there calling my name.”
“Why don’t you guys head out? Sophia can hang out in here with me a few minutes and I will bring her out when we are done.”
Jules let me take the bag and then leaned close to my ear and whispered. “She’s really good with her.”
“Yeah, she is. A total natural. Come on, let’s go say hello.”
We walked out onto the deck where Hunter was standing and talking to a bunch of our old friends from high school. I put the bag down on the side, but Jules still held on to the pool toys. She was holding on to those suckers as if she were trying to keep from drowning.
“Hey, Idg. Glad you are here, sweetie.” Hunter leaned over and gave her a kiss. “You know everyone here don’t you?”
Jules nodded. “Sure do.” She gree
ted everyone individually before turning to Kyle. “Nice to see you again, Kyle.”
“Same here. I don’t see you for four years and then I get to see you twice within a few weeks. Gives me another chance to try to make you less impervious to my charms.”
“Then I am in trouble. I am barely impervious to them now.” Her laugh was a little too genuine for my liking.
One of the other guys, Bobby, looked down at everything Jules had in her arms and decided to tease her.
“What’s up, Julia? Never learn to swim? Do we need to keep you in the shallow end?”
Hunter shot a look over to me and Jules. Jules took a deep breath. I doubt anyone else noticed it, but Hunter and I did. The moment had come to jump in the deep end and I could tell she was working up the nerve to take the leap.
“No, you knucklehead. I can swim just fine. These are for my daughter. She’s three and hasn’t learned yet.”
There was a moment of shocked silence. Hunter took a protective step closer to her. “A situation I intend to rectify. No niece of mine is going to do anything but swim like a fish.”
Kyle was the first to address what I’m sure everyone else was thinking. “Wow Julia, I didn’t know that you’re a Mom. Holy crap, you have a daughter. Hunter never said anything.” He turned to Hunter for a moment. “Hunter, why didn’t you say anything, you ass?” And then back to Jules. “Where is your little girl?”
“Actually, we have a daughter. Sophia.” A bunch of eyes gaped at me and then darted between me and Jules. “Jules and I dated for quite some time back when we were both in college.” I wanted to make it clear that Jules and I had been very much involved and our daughter wasn’t the result of a night of drunken fun and impromptu sex.
As if it had been timed purposely, Sarah opened the sliding door, allowing Sophia to walk out with a basket of colorful napkins while Sarah held her topographical beach scene of fruit.
I heard a small gasp from our friend Melanie. “Whoa! That must be Sophia. She is the perfect combination of the two of you. Those eyes, Morgan. They look exactly like yours. Exactly like yours.”
I called Sophia over and scooped her up in my arms. I introduced her as our daughter and within moments the shock and awkwardness were gone. Jules leaned back against Hunter as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her head. Just like that, it was over and the world kept on spinning on its axis. No big deal at all.
A few hours later I sought out Jules and found her chatting on the pool deck. The sun, fresh air, and excitement had worn Sophia out and she was fast asleep on my shoulder.
“I want to go inside and put her down for her nap. Do I need to stay in there with her?”
“Nope. There is a baby monitor in my bag of tricks. Do you need me to help?”
“I think I can handle it.” Baby monitor. Damn the woman thought of everything. I wouldn’t have thought of a monitor. This Daddy stuff was no joke. An idea for a new Daddy app started bouncing around my brain.
I came back out a few minutes later carrying the speaker thing.
“Everything okay?”
“Yep, I put her down in the guest room. She is knocked out cold.”
She nodded and I walked off to go hang out with some of the guys. There was no reason for us to be sitting together if Sophia was napping. I purposely wanted to put some distance between us. I was making an effort to keep things as peaceful as possible so that we could make a go of this co-parenting thing, but I didn’t want her mistaking that for me accepting what she had done.
The thing was, whenever I looked up at her, she certainly wasn’t seeking me out. She was laughing and talking and having a good time. And for some reason, that bothered me. A lot.
Hunter was sitting on a lounge chair on the pool deck. I walked over carrying a beer and my baby monitor and flopped down in the chair next to him. He picked up his beer and clinked his bottle against mine.
“It’s great having everyone here. This might be the best Fourth of July I have ever had.”
It was pretty great, but there was another July Fourth, years ago, that was much, much better.
“It is a great party. You and Sarah did a great job.”
“Eh, she did the great job. I was just the hired muscle and grill master.”
“Don’t forget the purveyor of libations. That is the most important of tasks.”
“I do take my duties seriously.”
“Good man.”
As I went to take another sip of my beer, I looked over at their in-ground pool. A few feet off the end of the pool was a hot tub, which was empty at the moment. I had a feeling that as the night went on, that would change. A small pool house sat a few feet away from the hot tub. The pool was filled with folks trying to shake off the heat of the day and just goofing off. I heard some lighthearted commotion and saw Jules on Trey’s shoulders. She was holding his head and laughing while she threatened him. He was wearing this shit eating grin and then I heard him chuckle and say, “Oh, really now? Was that a threat I just heard?” Jules tried to act tough, but was laughing too hard. She managed to affirm the threat and Trey dumped her into the water. She came up sputtering, a mass of wet hair covering her face. Trey was laughing as he helped her to push her hair back. I waited to see if she was going to get pissed, but she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself. They both swam into the deep end of the pool and I saw them bobbing close to each other.
I put my beer bottle down on the table. I guess a little too hard. Hunter raised an eyebrow, looked at me, and then followed my line of vision.
“I sure hope you are not pissed because she is having a good time and you are on monitor duty. She’s been holding down the fort solo for quite some time. It’s good to see her laugh and enjoy herself.”
“I’m not pissed because of that. I have no intention of not taking my share of responsibility.”
“Good. Then what’s got your drawers in a bunch?”
“I think she should have fun. Just not that kind of fun.”
“Oh really? And why is that?”
“Well, because she is a mother. She should be more…motherly.” Fucking pathetic excuse and an outright lie. I waited a moment to see if my pants were going to spontaneously burst on fire.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Morgan? She should be more ‘motherly’? What the hell does that mean? Anyone can see that she has done a pretty damn fantastic job with that little girl. I don’t think she is lacking in the ‘motherly’ department.”
“She’s cavorting.”
“She’s cavorting?”
Yeah, I honestly couldn’t believe I said that either, but in for an inch, in for a mile.
“She’s half naked and was just riding around on a man’s shoulders. A big massive, used to be a Navy Seal man.”
“You’re a jackass. She is not any less dressed than most of the other women here. Trey is a great guy. If any of our female friends were looking to go out with him, you would sing his praises. Julia is an intelligent, funny, beautiful woman. Men are going to be attracted to her, interested in dating her. She shouldn’t be alone for the rest of her life because she has a child.”
“Well, that’s another thing I need to be careful about. Whoever she is with needs to be someone who Sophia will be safe around.”
“I’m going to punch you in the face. Seriously, right in your damn face. You look me in the eye and tell me that you think Julia would bring someone around Sophia who she didn’t feel entirely comfortable with. Get your head out of your ass, Morgan, and get your act together.” He stood up and I wondered for a second if he was going to fulfill his promise of punching me in the face. But instead, he shook his head and walked off.
I looked over to the pool again. Jules was laying back on a long raft, propped up on her elbows. Trey was floating along holding on to one side of the raft while Kyle did the same on the other. She tossed her head back and laughed at something one of them said. Then I saw Kyle move to the pool’s edge, grab her drink, and bring it
back to her. He made her kiss his cheek before he handed her the drink. For fucks sake. She was in the pool with her damn male harem and I was sitting alone with my beer and my baby monitor. Not that I cared. Nope, not at all. Not really.
✽✽✽
Julia
I’m not going to lie. I had been all sorts of nervous wondering how everything was going to play out. It wasn’t the fact that I had a kid. I mean, it’s not like single moms are a rarity. The whole, I had a baby with my step brother, well that was kind of a different story. Our friends had to first digest the fact that Morgan and I had been dating on the sly. I imagine a few of our closer friends might have played things back in their minds looking for clues. Then, they had to get over the shock that we had a kid together. But it all blew over in a matter of seconds. Neither Morgan nor Hunter let on to the fact that this was all new to them as well. I appreciated that. While I figured it would all come out at some time, I already had my fill for the day.
If I hadn’t been sure of my recent decision to move back, the barbeque changed that. I had made a life and friends in Virginia, but this, this was …home.
Trey and I had made a quick and easy friendship. Our personalities and humor were similar and we each took the other’s teasing good naturedly. The man certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes either. There were few people that could seem bigger and stronger than Hunter and Morgan, but Trey was one of them. It was no hardship sitting up on his shoulders and feeling that muscular back and shoulders underneath me. But, like I said, we were friends and aside from tossing around some sexual innuendos here and there, I didn’t get the feeling it was going anywhere else.
Kyle, on the other hand, was a different story. There had been a few times back when we were in high school and college that I thought I caught him watching me. I wondered if he was interested. Before Morgan and I had gotten together, there were times that I hoped he would ask me out. Kyle had those California surfer boy looks. His dirty blonde hair reached his collar and he had big brown eyes. When he smiled, these cute dimples popped out. He was leaner than Hunter or Morgan, but still cut. He had never been lacking female attention.