A Twist of Fate

by Donna Raider

  “ So whipped,” Mika grinned.

  ##

  They materialized under the tree where the priest’s tools were. Mika buckled on her tool belt and looked around for Richie.

  “Oh, good,” Mika laughed, as she spied her son and Amber walking toward them, “I beat Richie here.”

  “Mika, where were you? We were looking for you and Mom,” Richie hailed his parents. “How late are we working? I promised Amber we’d go to the movies. There’s a new chick flick at the theater,” he grinned.

  “We should probably work as long as we have daylight,” the priest answered. “That should be around seven-thirty.

  “The show starts at seven” Richie frowned then looked questioningly at Amber.

  “Why don’t you leave at five-thirty? We did get here two hours before anyone else this morning,” Mika offered.

  “You sure it’s okay?” Richie worried, not wanting to let down Mika.

  “I promise,” Mika assured him. “Maybe I can get your mom to work a little magic on our side of the building.”

  Richie nodded in agreement. He loved it when his mom kicked in with her magic. She didn’t do it often, but when she did, it was always for a good cause.

  Leah watched her wife and son as they framed out one long side of the building. She was pleased to see that the two were working twice as fast as any other group of workers.

  Ruth, Mary, and Emily carried a huge iced tea dispenser. Delilah and Amber carried an equally large ice chest. Grace and Mary followed with plastic cups. The workers took a break.

  The mayor watched as Max shyly approached his wife and kissed her gently. Leah considered Max and Mary one of their success stories. With Dr. David’s help, they had resolved Max’s jealousy, and the two now had a beautiful baby boy. It was obvious they were very happy.

  Leah noticed that the other workers had already removed their sweat-stained shirts. Only Mika and Richie still wore their shirts. She knew her wife had relayed her wishes to her son.

  “I have to go home and tend to the twins,” Leah informed Mika. “I’ll be back right after sundown. I believe we can move this construction along. Do you have the blueprints?”

  “I do,” Mika nodded. “Any help you can give us will be deeply appreciated.”

  Legion watched the couple. They were so much in love. It almost made him wish the Queen could have her happy ending. Almost!

  CHAPTER 16 - Playing Horsey with Mommy

  “Quick, run to Bubba,” Richie laughed as Sara and Adam ran crooked paths to him, their little legs moving as fast as possible for a two-year-old. Mika was crawling on her hands and knees pretending to chase them.

  The twins squealed as Richie swept them up from the floor and turned to keep Mika from getting them. He sat down on the floor with a baby on each leg. “Once again, Bubba has saved his babies from the dreaded tickle monster.” Richie hugged them tightly and kissed each of them on the cheek as they climbed his chest to perch on his shoulders.

  Mika fell over on her back, arms and legs outstretched, pretending to be asleep.

  “Get her,” Richie encouraged the two, as they slowly climbed out of his lap and crawled toward their mother. Approaching Mika cautiously, they giggled as they stood up and threw themselves onto the priest’s stomach.

  “Humph,” Mika groaned as she swept them up in her arms and made slurping noises on their necks. They squealed and laughed, reaching to Richie for help.

  “Bubbie, Bubbie, help us,” they giggled, holding out their little arms to Richie.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Mika laughed. “Mommy has you now.”

  Leah watched her family from the doorway. She had never dreamed her heart was capable of so much love. She caught her breath as the twins simultaneously leaped from Mika’s arms into Richie’s arms.

  “Horsey, Mommy,” they pleaded as Richie sat them down on the carpet.

  “Okay,” Mika laughed. “Whose horse am I tonight?”

  “Mine,” squealed Adam, climbing onto Mika’s back.

  “Oh, I get to be the steed for the White Princess,” Richie smiled as he hoisted Sara onto his back.

  Leah laughed out loud, as she watched her wife chase her son around the family room.

  “Faster, Bubbie, run faster,” Sara shrieked kicking her heels into Richie’s sides as if her actions would spur him ahead of her mother.

  “Run, Mommy, faster,” Adam urged his mother to catch his brother and sister. “They get away.”

  Richie crawled into the dining room and skidded around the table, hiding behind the buffet. “Shush,” he whispered to Sara.

  Mika and Adam crawled into the dining room. “Do you see them?” The priest asked Adam in a whisper.

  “No,” Adam’s big blue eyes searched the dining room. “Go in there.” He pointed toward the kitchen. Mika cautiously crawled toward the kitchen.

  “Not here,” Adam observed.

  “Oh, no!” Mika exclaimed. “We’ve left the castle unprotected.” She whirled and crawled toward the foyer and circled into the family room.

  Both make believe horses crawled into the family room at the same time clashing and carefully spilling their riders. Mika and Richie rolled over on their backs, laughing, as two cherubs bounced on their stomachs.

  “Where is Queen Mommy,” Mika asked, searching for her wife. “Find Queen Mommy.”

  Sara and Adam ran as fast as their little legs would carry them. They tackled their mother around the knees, squealing, “Queen Mommy, Queen Mommy.”

  “You are just in time,” Leah laughed as she picked up the twins. “Dinner is ready.”

  Mika and Richie set the table and placed Sara and Adam in their highchairs.

  “Amber called,” Leah informed Richie. “She’s running a little late.”

  The doorbell rang, and the eighteen-year-old sprinted toward the door.

  “Let me take this opportunity to tell my girl that I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world,” Mika smiled, kissing her wife gently.

  “And the luckiest,” Leah kissed her again. “I never dreamed I could be so happy. Thank you.”

  “Thank you for marrying me,” her wife whispered in her ear as Richie and Amber entered the room. “You made all this possible.”

  “Something smells delicious,” Nana joined them. The twins called out for her as soon as they saw her.

  After dinner, Richie and Amber went to the bowling alley, and Nana took the babies upstairs.

  Mika carried the dishes to the sink as Leah put them in the dishwasher. “What is happening in your world tomorrow?” She asked.

  “I am all yours,” Leah tilted her head, inviting Mika to kiss down the side of her neck.

  “Want to take out the boat?” Mika murmured in her ear.

  “Oh, yes, darling.” Leah turned in Mika’s arms and kissed her hungrily. “I would love to have a day alone with you.”

  ##

  Mika put away the last of the dishes. “Want to watch a movie,” she asked.

  “We can, if that is what you would like to do,” Leah smiled sensuously. “Or we could go to bed early.”

  “I’m not sleepy,” Mika teased.

  “Who said anything about sleeping,” dark eyes looked up at her through long lashes and full red lips parted as she ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip. “Guess who’s horsey you are tonight, Mommy,” she chuckled, a deep throaty sound that made a tremor run through Mika’s body.

  ##

  Leah could hear the squealing and laughter as Sara and Adam woke their brother. She steeled herself for the attack she knew was coming. “Do you have on your pajama bottoms,” she whispered to her wife as she checked to make certain she had on a full pair of pajamas. After one embarrassing occasion when all three of their children had attacked their bed with them naked, they had learned never to fall asleep without clothing themselves decently.

  “Yes,” a sleepy Mika grunted; her eyes still closed. “Someone wore me out last night.”

>   “I hear our little Tasmanian devils tearing down the hall,” Leah laughed as Richie threw the door open and two little towheads appeared at the side of their bed. After much scrambling and pulling, they managed to crawl into the bed and throw themselves onto their parents who were pretending to be sleeping.

  “Queen Mommy, wake up,” Sara kissed her mother on the cheeks and poked her eyelids with her index finger.

  Mika had disappeared under the cover, and Adam was trying to find a place to crawl underneath the covers with her. “Bubbie, help me. Mommy gone,” he giggled.

  Leah’s hands searched under the covers for the spot where her wife was most ticklish and began to tickle her. “Yeow!” Mika yelled, scooting away from her wife.

  “We are hungry,” Richie laughed, sitting down on his parents’ bed.

  “Yes, hungry,” the twins yelled in unison, as they burrowed down between their mothers. Leah hugged both against her.

  Mika’s head popped out from under the cover. “Ask Richie to give you a piggy-back ride to Nana so you can get dressed, and we’ll go see Aunt Ruth.”

  All three of their children clamored down the hall toward the nursery in search of Nana.

  Mika rolled over and pinned her wife beneath her leg and arm. “Think we could get Richie to take them to breakfast and we can stay here?”

  Leah turned in Mika’s arms and kissed her slowly, savoring the feel of her lips and the faint taste of her in Mika’s mouth. “Since we’re going to steal away for the day, I suppose the least we can do is take them to breakfast.”

  “Um, you really should not have kissed me like that, Your Majesty.” Mika whimpered. “Want to save time and shower together?”

  “Of course,” Leah kissed her once more.

  ##

  The Cross family entered the diner on their best behavior. Sara and Adam had insisted on walking, holding their mother’s hand. With Sara on her left, Adam on her right, and Richie right behind her, Leah felt like she was the queen of the world. Mika and Nana brought up the rear as the family made their way to the new, larger booth Naomi had installed for them at the back of the diner. It was big enough for eight. Amber was already there.

  Leah noticed how her eldest son’s face lit up at the sight of the blonde beauty.

  The sheriff and Ruth watched as the family quietly settled into the booth. “They have to be the most well-behaved children I’ve ever seen,” Ruth grinned.

  “Of course, they are,” the sheriff growled. “They’re Leah’s.”

  “They are the perfect family,” the tall brunette added. “They call her Queen Mommy. They are precious.”

  “This is my personal hell on earth,” Emily whined, as she watched Mika and Richie place the children in booster seats. “And what’s the deal? Have they adopted Amber?”

  “I think she just likes to hang with them,” Ruth noted. “I’ve tried to date her, but she always has plans with Richie or the family. She and Richie are practically connected at the hip.”

  “What?” Emily’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Purely platonic,” Ruth assured her.

  “That’s good to know,” Emily frowned. “I can’t get her to go out with me either. Maybe we just aren’t her type.”

  “We are women,” Ruth noted. “Maybe she just prefers men.”

  “I don’t know. All the eligible guys in town have tried to take her out,” Emily noted. “They haven’t had any luck either. Maybe she still has a crush on Mika.”

  “I don’t think so,” Ruth spoke authoritatively.

  Emily shrugged then sauntered over to the table where Richie was laughing and telling Amber a story about the twins.

  “…and Mom felt around under the covers until she found Mika’s ticklish spot,” Richie laughed. “You should have heard her squeal.”

  Yeah, as if I want to hear about Leah feeling around under the covers for Mika , Emily thought, the taste of bile rising into her mouth.

  “So, Richie, who are you taking to the prom,” Emily asked her son. He had grown up so fast and even though she had been there for the last eight years, she felt like she had missed it somewhere.

  Richie locked eyes with Amber and blushed slightly. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.”

  “Don’t you have a girlfriend,” Emily pushed. When he turned sixteen, he had opted to live at Leah’s full time, so she didn’t see much of him. He was too busy with ‘his babies’ as he called them.

  “Nothing serious,” he shrugged, wishing she would talk about something else.

  “Sheriff,” the mayor stepped in to save her son, “did you catch the culprits who graffitied City Hall?”

  “Nah,” Emily huffed. “I doubt it will happen again. I made Levi wash it off as part of his public service. He will find them.”

  “If you could come to my office Monday morning around ten,” Leah smiled, “we need to discuss your budget for next year. It won’t be long until budget meetings start.”

  The priest groaned as if she had a sudden pain. I hate budget meetings. Even with Kathryn, they still consume Leah’s time.

  “I’ll be there,” Emily bowed slightly, delighted with the prospect of working with the mayor alone in her office. God, she’s gorgeous! Devastatingly gorgeous! Emily thought.

  Ruth brought their breakfast as the sheriff returned to the counter.

  “Your mom and I thought we would take the boat out after breakfast,” the priest could feel the slight blush spreading up her neck. I can’t keep from thinking about why I want alone time with his mom , Mika thought. “Will you be around today to keep an eye on Sara and Adam?”

  “You bet,” Richie held a fork with scrambled egg on it up to his brother’s mouth. “Want to hang out with us,” he asked Amber.

  “Of course,” Amber smiled, feeding Sara her scrambled eggs.

  ##

  The family walked to the boat. Richie had Adam on his shoulders, and Mika had Sara on hers. Leah had her fingers laced through Mika’s and noticed that Amber was holding Richie’s hand the same way.

  As they left the harbor behind them, the couple shed their swim shirts to allow the warm breeze to caress their bodies. Mika set the sails and was steering the boat toward open water as her wife leaned against her back, gently kissing between her shoulders.

  “Mercy, Your Majesty,” Mika laughed as Leah gently nibbled at her back. “Let me get this thing out of the shipping lanes.”

  “Give me your take on Richie and Amber,” Leah leaned against the wheelhouse, admiring Mika from head to toe.

  “I believe our son thinks he is in love with her,” the priest shrugged, “but there is nothing going on there. There is no way Amber will get involved with an eighteen-year-old.”

  “Richie isn’t one to have crushes,” Leah frowned. “I think he is serious. Has he discussed it with you?”

  “When he was thirteen or fourteen, he mentioned that he might be in love with Amber,” Mika answered. “I pointed out that she was your age, a good twenty years older than he and he admitted it was just a passing phase.”

  “At least his crush has kept him from fooling around with the other girls in town,” Leah mused. “Not that they don’t crawl all over him. Thank God he has your morals.”

  “So does Amber,” Mika smiled slightly. “If she waits long enough, Richie will be her age. I can vouch for the woman’s determination. She waited for me for three thousand years. If she loves him, she’ll wait for him.”

  “He may be beginning to wonder,” Leah wrinkled her brow, trying to recall their conversation. “He told me the other day that neither you nor Amber had aged a day in the past eight years. It won’t be long before he realizes that you and Amber are like me.”

  “That is something they will have to work out,” Mika frowned. “Just as you and I did.” She leaned down and kissed Leah eagerly.

  “Umm,” Leah ran her hands down Mika’s body, to rest on her waist. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”

  “As long
as I appeal to you,” Mika murmured, “that’s all that matters to me.”

  “Oh, you definitely appeal to me,” Leah whispered in Mika’s ear, letting her warm breath slowly envelope the priest. “Let’s play horsey, Mommy.”

  “You truly are evil,” Mika laughed as she swept Leah into her arms and carried her below deck.

  “What about the shipping lanes,” Leah giggled.

  “I just moved us out of them,” Mika grinned. “Time to ride Mommy.”

  ##

  They loved being alone with no one within a hundred miles. They were completely uninhibited: screaming, moaning, begging, pleading, and taking each other higher and higher.

  “Want to play with Magic Mika?” Mika grinned mischievously, as she sent a tingling sensation throughout her body. Leah was still straddling her, as Mika gradually brought her down from the high both had just experienced.

  “I would love to,” Leah said wide-eyed with wonder. “Why am I just now finding out about Magic Mika?”

  Mika held up her hands and nodded for her to place her palms on them. As Leah closed the distance between their hands, she saw a white light emanate from Mika’s hand and meet the purple light she always exuded. When Leah was within millimeters of Mika’s hand, the colors began to mix and create the most beautiful magenta and blue patterns. She watched in wonder as the aura around them began to grow and mingle, encompassing their bodies.

  Leah wasn’t aware of when Mika slowly levitated them and gently laid her down on her back, kissing her breasts and down to her thighs. As Leah begged for more, Mika slowly kissed her way back up her body then captured her lips demanding a response as she slowly melded with her. Leah screamed out Mika’s name. They both thrilled to the moans and pleadings of the other, calling each other’s name as if it were their only anchor to reality. Their heads filled with incredible light shows and fireworks. Shooting stars, bright reds, yellows, and blues exploded in their minds’ eye as they made love, their powers colliding, producing a breathtaking reality that was the essence of them. Leah briefly thought It rivals the Aurora Borealis . She let down all her defenses and held back nothing from Mika, giving her everything she was demanding all of her .