Daddy Next Door

by Tina Lee

  The question Luke’s mother asked herself was; why would a girl as young as Amy take on such a responsibility? It had to be something she wanted, physically or financially, rather than emotionally.

  Amy let Luke’s mother know that she was committed to Josh and Luke. It was a carefully made decision and the right one also. “You’ll be seeing more of me for a long time.”

  “For the sake of Josh and Luke, I hope you mean that.”

  The arrival of Brenda and Jake interrupted the tense interview. “Will you excuse me,” Amy said and went to greet her best friend. They didn’t share the same apartment anymore. Amy had chosen to move in with Luke and had adjusted quite nicely there. Jack had moved in with Brenda about a month back, solidifying their relationship.

  “So glad you could make it!” Amy hugged Brenda.

  Luke walked over, gave Jack a handshake, and Brenda a hug. “Follow me,” Luke said to Jack. “I’ll get you a beer in a kiddie’s cup,”

  Amy shared the short interview she had with Luke’s mother. Brenda could easily empathize because, in a couple months, it would be her mother interviewing Jack.

  “Amy! Amy!” Josh hadn’t started calling her mom as yet. Amy didn’t mind. It was never something she was going to force. It was time to cut the cake and Josh wanted her to cut the cake with him. His teeth were grinning on full display.

  Everyone gathered around the main table in an arc with their camera phones out and their flashes on. Everyone sang happy birthday to Josh, Superboy. He was everyone’s hero, especially Amy’s. Hand in hand, they cut the cake together. Everyone clapped. Josh was laughing. Luke was smiling. Amy was happy.

  Luke’s mother was at the front crying and recording. The boy had gone through a lot, more than most boys his age. It warmed her heart to see him happy.

  Josh wanted Amy to have the first slice. Luke’s mother learned she had underestimated how much of an impact Amy had on Luke and Josh. Amy had captured both their hearts. Probably Amy was more than just a young, blonde, city girl. Perhaps she had judged her too quickly.

  At the end of the party, Luke’s mother hugged her and said, “I’ll be seeing you at Thanksgiving?”

  “Yes, you will.” They exchanged a smile.

  Later that night Josh wanted Amy to read him a bedtime story. He didn’t want his father in the room, just some alone time with Amy. His day had been filled with running and shouting and laughing. “Had fun?” Amy asked.

  He nodded, tiredly. “Today was great. I’m happy you were there.”

  “I had a lot of fun.” She pinched his nose. She read chapter one of The Series of Unfortunate Events to Josh. His heavy lids fought the sleep relentlessly.

  “Please never leave me,” Josh said.

  Amy understood the gravity of such a promise. She trusted her heart and knew what she wanted. “I’ll never leave you.”

  He smiled. “Now I know what it feels like to have a mom,” Josh said before he fell asleep.

  The next day Amy and Brenda shopped for books for the new semester. The summer break was over and her final year had begun. They stocked up on highlighters, pens, notebooks, markers etc. Brenda especially was a detailed note taker and looked throughout bookstore for a very specific color coordinated sticky note.

  “Can you believe it’s our final year?” Brenda asked.

  “Where did all the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday I met you.”

  They were proud of their friendship and how far they came together. Brenda was there to witness the rise and fall of David in her life like a once overthrown empire. Amy felt fortunate that Brenda was apart of journey throughout life, and hoped she would always be.

  Amy looked through the section with the parent help books. She was dedicated on becoming a loving and responsible mother to Josh and wanted all the guidance she could get.

  Mrs. Huckleberry had also offered to help in any way she could. It was comforting to know that she was only a couple doors down and a knock away.

  After they left the bookstore they sat inside Starbucks, writing out their schedule for the next month. While Brenda drew her table for different time slots, she told Amy about the adventures she was having with Jack. It was Amy’s turn to listen about Brenda’s relationship. Brenda had a huge smile that only showed itself once in a while, and this was one of those times. Brenda had a lunch date with Jack and had to leave. “Can you take my books to the apartment?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “Later!” Brenda, on the verge of falling in love, took off in a hurry to see her man.

  Amy went to her apartment and placed Brenda’s school supplies on the table. She went into her old bedroom that she hadn’t slept in for over two weeks. Luke’s bed was more comfortable, anyway.

  Amy stood in front of the dresser where a picture of David lay and remembered staring at his picture every morning, wondering when he would ever call. Not anymore. She took the picture of David and David’s jacket in the back of her closet and threw it away, not out of malice or spite, but with the acceptance that she was ready to move on.

  She packed the rest of her stuff and took it to Luke’s house.

  Later that night, Luke came home with Indian food and daffodils. Amy and Josh were in the living room putting together the pieces of a puzzle on the floor. He kissed Amy and handed her the flowers. “Gross,” Josh said. They laughed.

  Luke untied his tie, kicked off his shoes and joined them on the floor. Together, they helped each other find the pieces of the puzzle and fitted the bigger picture. They had turns where each person would talk about their day, starting with Josh.

  The moment felt right. It was exactly where she wanted to be. As Amy spoke about her day, Luke gazed at her with adoration, and Josh smiled with admiration, and she had never been happier.

  I can get used to this, Amy thought.

  College Confessions

  It was late in the evening when Lily finally opened her e-mail. It had been a long and exhausting day at the university and she didn't really want to work on a column right now, but seeing as it was due in less than 24 hours, she really had no choice. Lily was lucky to have her spot on the universities newspaper. It was a confessions column that allowed students to write to her and have their secrets published on the paper under an anonymous name. She’d worked hard for it and it gave her the extra scholarship money she needed so that her education was free.

  Lily sighed and opened up her e-mail. She sorted through e-mail after e-mail, trying to find something the least bit interesting. Most of the e-mails were just stupid stories of someone cheating on a midterm or how they cheated with their best friend’s boyfriend. Nothing too interesting came to her, that is, until Lily opened up an e-mail labeled “This is embarrassing…”. Lily smiled as she read through the words of the writer. This was juicy, this was great material, but it was a too explicit, there was no way she could publish this. Lily smiled and sipped her coffee as she was getting deeper and deeper into the story. It read;

  Dear Confessions,

  I need to get this out and explain to you how this all happened. I’m still in shock of it myself. This is a truly crazy story and to be honest, i never imagined in my wildest dreams that this would happen to me, but I'm so happy it did, I've just been too chicken to really talk about it with anyone.

  It was last Thursday. I sat tiredly in my seat as i listened to my professor ramble on about the Greek Gods. I was finding it hard to focus on any of my classes right now with so much going on in my life. I looked down at my body and sighed quietly. My body was a little tight in the desk; i hadn't been less than 160 pounds since tenth grade. My olive skin made up for the fact that i was a bit heavier, as it seemed men around here loved when girls were tan.

  Ever since high school, I’d always been teased about how i was a bit bigger than the rest of the girls and lately, I’d been feeling a little self-conscious about my size. I was forced to look at the skinny and pretty girls walking on their way to classes on their ways ou
t parties, all dressed up and cheerleader thin. I just felt like i didn't fit in.

  I am a third year student and even though i felt like i didn't fit in a lot of the time, i had really come to love university life. I remember my first week coming here; i was so shy and nervous. I’d never lived on my own, let alone with a stranger i had never met before. Luckily for me, having a roommate turned into something much more.

  I had come from a small town, sheltered life. The town was only a few hours from the university, but the city felt much more comfortable for me. With that being said, on moving day, i had no idea what to expect and i can still recall the shock of seeing the beautiful university campus and walking around it for the first time.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I recall my mother asking “We can always just drive back home and you can attend our college there”

  I rolled my eyes and kept walking, looking around at the passing trees and people. So this is where i will be spending the next four years of my life, i thought to myself. I remember not being as excited to move away from my home town and moving away from my whole family and close friends.

  At 18, i didn't understand how people could expect me to be so excited about leaving everything i knew behind and starting anew. It just seemed so terrifying and although I tried to convince my parents that they didn't need to come with me on moving day, they insisted. I never understood how i could find their watchful and caring eyes so annoying and so comforting at the same time. But, i knew things were about to completely change and I was feeling unprepared for every part of it.

  “You know the University is only two hours away and the college in our town is a community college. You know I've always wanted to go to this university and dad went to this university, right dad?” I asked, hoping i sounded convincing to them.

  My mother had always been a worrier. My father hardly ever showed any emotion and 100% wore the pants in their relationship. I always remembered when i was younger my mother packing lunches for me and my brother. My dad had worked full time and my mother went to work once a week for two hours, lucky for her, my dad made enough to support this “hobby” as he called it.

  My brother had always joked that my dad must be my mother’s “master” because my mother was constantly doing as my father told her. I refused to think about any of the weird and kinky things they chose to do in their own time. I just always chose to ignore him, but i always understood where he was coming from.

  My dad was where i got my skin tone from. He was 6 feet tall and darker than me with hazel eyes. My mother, on the other hand, was pale with big brown eyes like mine and almost reached 5 feet tall. Her hair was the color of midnight (Luckily, id got my father’s dark brown curls). I knew i got my metabolism from my mother, as she was bigger than me in every aspect. I secretly loved that i got her butt though, it gave me something to show off at the club when i wanted to take someone home.

  “Stop worrying so much, Lily! She's only going to be two hours away. It’s time to let go, you already had to do it with Jake” My father said in a husky tone.

  “You’re right” My mother said, looking at the ground and my father wrapped an arm around her “She’s just our baby girl”

  The rest of the trip went smoother than i expected. When we arrived at my shared dorm, it looked more like a hotel suite. I had my own personal bedroom and bathroom and i just had to share a kitchen and a rather small living room with my roommate, who i had yet to meet.

  My mom, dad and i unpacked all my things and started to put together my room. I knew it was going to take a while for me to settle in already, seeing as this dorm was twice as large as my bedroom and newly renovated, it seemed like a palace to me.

  After that, my mom suggested that we go out somewhere to eat before they started their journey back to, what my mother now called, their empty nest. We went to a small diner right off campus and ordered something to eat. My mother almost cried throughout the entire meal every time my father brought up something that had to do with me at university.

  I watched as they both slipped into the car and my father gave my mother a quick kiss on the cheek as the tears rolled. They both gave a quick wave and then, they were gone. I could only imagine what they were going to do when they got back to their newly empty home. When i walked back into my dorm, i looked around to see a couple piles of boxes lying around the living room area and i could hear one of the showers running. Well, i guess my roommate has arrived. Luckily, the university picked people based on compatibility and i knew her name was, well, let’s call her Sarah.

  From what i saw on her Facebook profile earlier that week, she had a pretty pale skin color and long blond hair that cascaded down her back and reached right above her ass. She had bright blue eyes and pretty lips, to say the least, she was beautiful. I’d messaged her a few times, but other than that, we’d had no contact and i didn't really know her at all. There were a lot of things i liked about Sarah’s looks, but one thing i couldn't stop looking at on Facebook, was her ass. It was so round and perky, just perfect.

  When she got out of the shower, we talked for a while and got to know each other, and ever since then, we’d been close. We did everything together. We went to movies, meetings, parties and anything else together. We were the best of friends.

  Chapter Two

  After class one night, I returned back to our apartment to find that Sarah wasn't home yet. After grabbing a glass of Coke, i turned down the hall and into my room. I made myself comfortable on my bed, turned on my laptop and after looking on Google for about twenty minutes, i found myself back on Facebook looking at Sarah’s ass all over again. It was just so round and full and just so perky, it was hard not to stare at it. Although my ass was large, it wasn't smooth or perky like hers, it was bumpy and barley round. I had to admit, i was a little jealous of her. She always had guys coming home with her, or wanting to. She had more sex in the three years id known her than anyone else i knew and even though she ate like food was going out of style, she somehow looked hotter than the first time i saw her.

  I sighed and closed my laptop again and went back to the kitchen to refill my glass. I made my way to the living room and turned on the TV. I didn't know how long it had been, but a while later, i heard the door open and i looked over my shoulder to see Sarah. I looked up quickly and my eyes met her big blue ones and she gave me her signature pretty smile.

  I blushed a little to myself and sat up, swinging my legs off the couch and attempting to make it in to a sitting position. In my effort, i managed to hit my glass of coke that was sat on the oak coffee table, spilling it all over the white Crate and Barrel carpet, turning the fine snow colored material brown.

  “Crap!” I yelled, jumping up quickly and running in to the kitchen to grab some paper towel

  “I’m sorry!” Sarah said loudly, grabbing some paper towel and getting down on her knees to help me dab the floor “I didn't mean to scare you!”

  “You didn’t." I said, laughing a little “I just didn't expect you to be home yet.”

  “I was only at the library” Sarah shrugged and we both worked at the rug. After a few minutes of dabbing i quickly returned to the kitchen and grabbed some fabric cleaning spray and went back to the living room and sprayed it on the now light brown spot. As soon as i sprayed, the material started to return to the clean white and i breathed a breath of relief. We dabbed for a few more moments and then i gathered all the dirty paper towels and threw them out in the garbage pail.

  When I turned around again, Sarah was on the opposite side of the room, staring at me. My eyes met her big, blue ones again and she smiled. I smiled back and quickly glanced down at the low cut top she was wearing. The small ‘v’ cut out of the material created just enough space to show her breasts that were magnificently pushed together.

  “I really am sorry” She said, letting out a light laugh “Other than spilling your pop, how was your day?”

  “It was good” I smiled “Classes were boring as u
sual, but other than that it was a decent day. How was yours?”

  “It was okay. I hate switching semesters. Right when you think you're about to get a break from having a million projects and start fresh, the professors throw even more work at you”

  I nodded my head and let out a small giggle. I couldn't manage to say anything as i watched Sarah walk around the room and over to lean against the counter closer to me. I watched as she reached in to one of the various drawers and took out a few take-out menus, looking at each one quickly. I inhaled deeply and quietly, taking in the scent of her perfume. She smelled like a mixture of sweet and spicy, a mixture that basically said “Want to fuck?”

  I watched as she read and continued thinking. I had never wanted or had sexual thoughts or feelings for another woman but there was just something about her; the way she walked or smelled or maybe the dimple above the right corner of her mouth that really just set me off, making me want her more than anyone else on this planet.

  I shook my head and took a small breath. It’s probably just all the sugar talking, i thought to myself. I had managed to eat two bags of gummy worms between classes and now three glasses of Coke, i was clearly in some sort of sugar high. I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head, but i couldn't stop thinking about stripping Sarah naked and tasting her right here in our kitchen.

  “Are you hungry?” Sarah asked, gazing at me

  “Um, n-not really” I stuttered and something in the back of my mind said ‘at least not for food’.

  “Me either, I just want to nibble on something” She smiled and i internally groaned

  She re-opened the drawer and placed the takeout menus back into it. I smiled at her and she walked past me to the refrigerator. As she did, her skin brushed mine and i bit my lip to stifle a light moan. I watched as she grabbed an apple from the fridge and bit in to it, her juicy lips touching the skin of the apple in the most delicate of fashions.