by M T Stone
“I’m actually excited to have young kids around again. I’ll get to be a grandfather and a new daddy all at the same time,” I said trying to reassure her. After all, I had been the one who encouraged her to go off the pill. It seemed pointless to be taking them at the time.
“Everyone is going to think that both Jayne and I are your daughters.”
“Let them think whatever they want. I don’t really care.”
I just sat there holding her tight.
“We better do it a lot right now, while I still have this firm little body,” she said giving me a hormone fueled look. If she’s like most pregnant women, she’ll get even hornier in a couple of months. I’ll need a little extra juice to be able to keep up with her.
That afternoon as we made love in the Jacuzzi at the St. Regis one last time and I consciously focused on how incredibly beautiful she was. Her jet black hair, gorgeous eyes and beautiful smile. Those muscular legs, that tight ass and flat stomach. I put my arms around her from behind and cupped those perky little breasts that had always made her feel self-conscious.
“At least you won’t have to worry about small breasts for much longer,” I teased as I slid around her pulling one nipple into my mouth before moving to the other.
“Yeah, Mom always told me that I was the one who finally made her boobs grow.”
That’s funny.
So much had changed so quickly and yet I was completely ready for whatever came next. Over the coming year we would launch a new business, welcome new life into the family and settle into a completely different routine than what we had been expecting. I found myself looking forward to every bit of it.
~~~
Kate
After a couple more days at the St Regis, we flew back out to meet the yacht. So many things had changed that it actually felt odd to be out there all by ourselves. My mother was checking up on me every day. Jayne and I were comparing notes. Even Nancy was calling to see how things were going. I began to realize that we really were becoming one big family and I actually found myself missing all of them. At first I thought it must’ve been caused by a change in my hormones or something.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked after sitting through several minutes of silence.
“I don’t know. I’m kind of missing everyone.”
“Yeah, I’m sitting here wondering if Mom’s alright and how Jayne is doing. Once you start having regular doctor appointments, we should probably spend more time in the city,” he said in a fatherly tone.
“I agree. The weather will be getting nice by then anyway. We can always come back out here in October when it starts to get cold. Hopefully the waves won’t make me sick like they did to Jayne.”
“Then about Christmas time we’ll have a third wheel. Are you going to want to bring him out on a yacht?” Jack asked, not so subtly projecting that it was going to be a baby boy.
“We’ll give it a try. If she doesn’t like it, we’ll have to spend more time on land. I still want to get out of the cold though.” Two can play the gender game.
“Good. At least that’s one thing we both agree on.”
That was the last time we spent aboard My Two Loves until after the kids were born. Yes, I said kids. At my first ultrasound I found out that I was actually pregnant with twins. We both got our wish when it came to gender; it was one boy and one girl. With my little frame, I was so pregnant by October that I had no desire whatsoever to leave the city. After two weeks of bed rest in late November, I delivered them nearly a month early. Our son was a gentleman and used his unusually large head to blaze the trail for his little sister. I definitely should’ve gone for the epidural when I had the chance.
Since Austin Franklin and Ashley Kate were born early, they are only a few days younger than their uncle Brady. Jayne went full term, so they get to celebrate their birthdays together. I hope they will all remain close friends as they get older.
After learning of the twins, Jack promptly had another vasectomy which paved the way for lots of teasing from his friends and relatives. Even Dr. Salvatore was shocked when he heard of our immediate pregnancy. “I would’ve lost a lot of money betting against your little swimmers in Las Vegas,” he joked when Jack told him what had happened.
After that, Jack always warned Brandon, “You better be careful, you’ve got the Ryker genes.”
“No worries dad, I’ll double up on the condoms,” he would counter in his normal witty style.
Chapter 23
May 9, 2014
Kate
That brings us to today. The kids are almost eighteen months old, the business is doing well and everything seems to have worked out about as well as one could’ve ever hoped. Jack and I have worked out a routine that works well for both of us. The average day starts with me getting the kids up and getting them ready for the day while Jack does his workout. After breakfast, Jack takes the kids while I work out and get my work done. I try to be done by noon, so then Jack has a chance to catch up on anything he wants to get done. It’s a much different routine than the one we had while cruising through the Caribbean, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Having those two little rays of sunshine in my life makes total freedom seems much less important. I can’t imagine our lives without them.
I’m proud of Jack. He has taken everything in stride and has kept up with his intense fitness regimen. At his latest appointment, Dr. Salvatore actually recommended that he have his pacemaker removed. Jack declined for the time being. He still likes to push the envelope in the bedroom, so I think he’s more comfortable with the reassurance of having the pacemaker as a backup. Even though he is 27 years older than me, it rarely feels that way. The only time it strikes me is when he talks about bands, movies or tv shows from his youth. However, we do make almost unbeatable trivia partners.
~~~
Brandon continued to date the girls throughout the rest of 2012. At Christmas time that year they all went away together and when he returned it was over. “Ellie chose Sasha,” was all he would tell us. He licked his wounds for several months before meeting a fashion buyer named Meredith, during a business trip to Chicago. They both agree that it was love at first sight.
In December of 2013 after dating only seven months, they were married in a huge, old church on Michigan Ave. It was a beautiful wedding, but I was honestly glad that Jack and I had been married in a simple ceremony on the beach. Besides, their reception was nothing compared to being serenaded by Coldplay. After the wedding Meredith moved to New York City and they have been literally inseparable ever since. They bought a house just down the street from us and announced this past Easter that they are expecting a child of their own. After giving his father a scare, Brandon appears to be setting into a more conventional lifestyle than all the rest of us. He will be a great father, just like his dad.
~~~
Jack’s mom, Nancy, is busier than ever since moving in next door to Jayne and Brady. She takes care of him while Jayne is at work and travels with them when Jayne has to go out of town. At least once a week she brings him over for the afternoon to visit the twins and me. We have completely remodeled Jack’s house, so I was able to make it feel like home. Everyone loves coming over to our place on Sundays to hang out and have a big dinner together. It seems that we have successfully combined the two families and we each brought along our own traditions. Mom and Belinda usually show up early in the afternoon to bake or cook with me, while all the Rykers show up about 4:30 just in time to share a nice meal together. Nancy, Jayne and Brandon always do the dishes afterwards, so everyone does their part. Brandon and Jayne seem to really like the tradition of the Sunday night meal, so I’m glad we are able to keep it alive.
~~~
Mom continues to date Anthony, but it doesn’t seem like either is in a hurry to take their relationship to the next level. They both seem to be perfectly content with sharing each other’s company when they have time off. Mom definitely seems happy, so I guess it works for her. She was also very
pleased when Belinda transferred back to NYU after one semester in Chicago. She won’t admit it, but I know she missed us!
Dad has managed to keep a steady job for nearly two years and is back together with his second wife. He now sends birthday cards and Christmas presents to all of us and seems to be doing much better in general. We had him and his wife over for dinner one night not long after the twins were born and they have visited us ever few months ever since. He and Jack are cordial to one another and Dad understands that he needs to keep his shit together in order to be part of our lives. We will never be as close as a father and daughter probably should be, but our relationship is better than it has been in years.
~~~
Every once in a while, I still pull out the list that I made during our first month together.
- I want to design and sell a clothing line for working women
- I want to build the business with Jack
- I want to spend less time in New York
- I want to see the world with Jack
- I want Jack to become more health conscious
- I want to marry Jack
- I want to have three or four children with him
- I want Jack to be 100% healthy
Everything on my list has come true. Our Beautiful clothing line did over $50 million in sales in the first full year on the market. Mom and Brandon have penetrated three of the top five department store chains and have dozens of smaller retailers onboard. Jack and I are working from home most days and are really building the business together. As an added bonus I get to work with Mom, Brandon and Jayne as well. I’m hoping that Belinda will gain an interest in fashion by the time she graduates from college as well.
Even though we spent the majority of the past year in the city, we are going on a long Caribbean cruise as soon as the weather turns cold next fall. Hopefully both kids will adapt well to the water. I would love for them to see the world with Jack and me.
Jack has definitely become much more health conscious than when I met him. He still loves red meat and crème brulee, but he has become a stickler for controlling his portions. Since starting Sprint 8, all of his follow up tests and reports from the cardiologist have been excellent. I know Jack still wishes that Frank would’ve tried stem cell therapy, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be.
My list said that I wanted to have three or four kids, because it always seems to take several tries to get a boy as well as a girl. I always missed not having a brother. When we found out that I was pregnant with twins and that one was male and the other female, I changed my mind. Jack will be in his seventies when they graduate from college, so we made a mutual decision to stop at two.
I always have to smile when I see that marrying Jack was the sixth item on my list. It reminds me of how uncertain things were in the beginning and how the odds seemed to be highly stacked against us. Looking back, I vividly remember the emotions that were running through my mind at the time. The heart ache that I was feeling, knowing that Jack was trying to figure out how to best end things without hurting me, was overwhelming. I remember making love to Jack that last morning at the St. Regis and feeling as if I would be willing to give up my entire life for him, if only he would have me. Now it seems foolish that I thought I would have to give up anything.
I have always kept the letter that Jack left in my mailbox after dropping me off that day. As I read through the words, I am always astounded by how much he loved me even though we had only been together for a few short weeks. He was so concerned about my well-being and so afraid that I would be left alone to raise our children. I thank God every day that Jayne called him that night when he got back to the yacht. If she hadn’t done so, who knows where we would’ve ended up.
We would probably be two lost souls who never took a chance and missed out on the love of a lifetime. In fact, whenever I’m having a bad day or feeling frustrated, I bring myself back to that time and within minutes I feel grateful for all that I have in my life.
Epilogue
August 18, 2031
Kate
As I stood in the living room looking out the window, I was having a hard time accepting it. The house was way too quiet and my heart hadn’t felt so heavy in the past twenty years. In recent months I had cried several times in anticipation; knowing that the day was drawing near. In fact, I had known for nearly two decades that it was going to be something that I would eventually have to deal with. I guess I had always hoped that somehow it could be avoided. It hurts so badly when someone you love so much suddenly disappears from your daily life. Time always seems to slip away way too fast. It seemed like only yesterday that Jack and I were on our honeymoon.
“Are you still sulking? Everything will be fine,” Jack whispered as he slipped his arms around me from behind.
“I know, but I already miss them so much.”
“Ashley is just across town and it’s only an hour flight to Ithaca whenever you want to see Austin,” he said trying to console me.
“I know, but I’m so used to seeing them every day. What am I going to do with all my time?”
“We are going to relive our youth.”
“I think you already did that once. Are you sure you have enough left for another go-around?” I teased.
“Hey, I’ve shaved twenty years off my biological age. Even Dr. Salvatore finally agrees with me. Maybe it’s you who doesn’t have what it takes to do it again,” he countered raising an eyebrow.
“Now that the kids are off to college, I’m going to get back in shape. If you want me to relive my youth, I’ll need to fit back into a bikini.”
“You are still every bit as beautiful as the day I met you,” he said pulling me close.
“You obviously need glasses,” I replied in disbelief. “Either that or it’s the start of dementia.”
“I’m serious Kate. You may choose to focus on some minor flaws or imperfections, but when I look into your eyes you are actually more beautiful today than you were back then.”
“Oh stop. Do you want a blow job or something?”
“You’re hilarious,” he said pulling me to the sofa. “I’ve watched you interact with the kids and our families for the past twenty years and it has been amazing. You go out of your way to do things for everyone else and never ask for anything in return. I’ve never known anyone as giving and generous as you,” he said with a look of pride crossing his face.
“Well, you do nice things for me too.”
“That’s because I love you. And you seem to be determined to take care of everyone else, so somebody has to take care of you.”
“I love you too. I thank God every day that Jackie talked me into posting those pictures on that ridiculous web site. Otherwise, I never would’ve had this wonderful life with you.”
“That’s one thing I’m glad Jackie talked you into as well. How is Jackie anyway?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to her much since she married that Saudi Sheikh. I think he keeps her on a pretty short leash.”
“As he should,” Jack concurred leaning in to give me a kiss. “Ever since that trip to Paris with her, I’ve never had the slightest desire to be with anyone other than you.”
“I’m glad, because I wouldn’t be able to handle the thought of you being with another woman.”
“I can’t imagine you with anyone else either,” he replied brushing the hair away from my face.
“Isn’t it weird that the house is so quiet? It’s almost eerie.”
“You know, there was a time when all you wanted was to get me alone.”
“Yeah, like our first trip through the Caribbean. I think you need to remind me why I was so obsessed with being alone with you back then.” That should get him going.
Jack
Even after twenty years, it still gets me going when she gives me that sultry look. Contrary to the popular saying, beauty is not skin deep. Real beauty goes much deeper than having a pretty face or the perfect body. Everything about her is bea
utiful. The way she looks at me, the natural scent of her skin and especially the way she tastes against my lips. I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could.
I turned slightly to lay her down on the couch. My hand slid under her sundress and my fingers followed the edge of her panties until they sensed familiar warmth. I kissed her passionately as I trailed my fingers along her panty covered slit.
“Once a tease, always a tease,” she whispered as my lips left her mouth and moved to her neck.
With all the time in the world, there was no need to rush. My fingers slowly moved down one inner thigh, before gliding back up the other. The moist heat that greeted my returning finger tips was a sign that my teasing was still capable of producing the desired results. I began to stroke her bottom with more firmness as I suckled the sensitive area behind her ear. I love it when she giggles like that.
As I slid her panties down with one hand Kate used the opportunity to catch me off balance, tipping me off the couch and onto the floor.
“Enough teasing,” she said as she popped the button on my shorts and tugged them down exposing my hardness. “This is what I need,” she said teasing my rigid cock with her lips and tongue.
Mmm, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen her frisky like this. It wasn’t due to a lack of attraction to one another, but it seemed as if life had gotten in the way once again. There were just too many commitments and not enough time to get it all done. This time though, it was Kate who had too much on her plate. I honestly had learned my lesson the first time around. But now with the kids going off to college and an executive team running the company, we would have plenty of time to reconnect.