Building the Home (The Dancing Wolf Book 2)

by Amy DeMeritt

  As she breaks through the crowd, she throws her arms around me and kisses me firmly on my lips for a moment. She looks in my eyes and giggles.

  “Hey, superstar. You were incredible up there. You had us in tears all night.”

  She looks at Shannon with a huge smile and pulls her into the hug and kisses both of us on the lips a few times, making us laugh.

  “I can’t tell you how happy I am. It gave me such a rush knowing both of you were in the audience and that Sam was here through the video chat. Can we go home? I want to dance with you both and then snuggle and kiss.”

  We smile really big and hug her tighter for a moment before we start making our way through the crowd to go home.

  Chapter Four

  We were lucky to be able to get tickets on the same flight, but we weren’t lucky enough to get seats near each other. Shannon is first off of the plane and as I come out of the tunnel, I spot her nervously playing with her bookbag strap and looking around herself. It makes me smile. Before I reach her, I feel a hand slip in mine. Madison kisses my cheek and smiles. Shannon spots us, but her nervousness doesn’t fade. I gently caress her cheek and take her hand in mine.

  “You ok?”

  “Nervous.”

  “Baby, my parents already know who you are and what you are to us.” She visibly swallows and nods once. “I know. They know I’m older than you?” I laugh a little and kiss her lips. “Yes, baby. They know how old you are. They also know that Maddi and I had started the family lifestyle before we met you, so they can’t blame you for us living this way. Not that they would.”

  “Ok. I’m ready.”

  Madison takes her hand and we walk through the crowd to follow the signs down to baggage claim to meet our families. As we’re descending the escalator, Madison looks at each of us longingly and releases our hands.

  We have to pretend to just be friends in front of her parents while we’re at the airport. We don’t want to risk a scene here, so we’re saving the “gay” and “girlfriend” reveals for her house.

  I spot my family immediately and practically run and jump in my dad’s arms. He laughs and scoops me up in a big hug and spins me around a few times. When he releases me, I throw my arms around my mom. She kisses my head several times and then pulls my face back to look at her.

  “Hello, my sweet angel. Welcome home.” I smile and kiss her lips. “Hey, Mom. I missed you like crazy.” She laughs and squeezes me closer. “I missed you too, baby girl.”

  After she lets me go, I turn to Sam, who is watching me with an amused smile. I drop my bookbag on the floor and scoop my petite, golden haired, beautiful girl up in my arms. She laughs and wraps her legs around my waist. She gives me a short kiss and then climbs off of me and pulls back to greet Shannon and Madison.

  She bites her lip a moment and quietly asks, “Is the coast clear to kiss you?”

  Madison looks around us nervously. She hasn’t spotted her parents yet. She leans in and wraps her arms around Sam and presses her lips to hers. They share a short kiss and then Madison pulls back and gently caresses her cheek.

  “I missed you.” Sam smiles and pecks her lips. “I missed you too.”

  Suddenly, Madison is gripped by the arm and spun around by a tall man that I recognize from pictures as being Madison’s dad. He’s staring down at her like that evil woman starred at me in the grocery store. It seems to happen in slow motion, but I see his other arm raise and I quickly pull Madison back and trade places with her, just in time for the flat of his hand to land hard on the left side of my face. It’s such a hard blow that my vision goes white and I fall to my knees for a moment. My eyes burn with tears, but I quickly stand up and face him, having to shake my head for a moment to clear my blurry eyes.

  My dad is quick to step up next to me and puff his chest out, but he doesn’t say anything. My dad knows these girls are my family and I need to protect them, but I am his daughter and he will be by my side if I need him. Madison’s dad reaches for her, but I catch his hand and push him away.

  “Touch her again, and not a single act of God will be able to save you from my wrath.” He stares down at me with so much hatred that I can feel it seeping into me like acid. “Who the hell are you and how dare you speak to me that way?”

  “Dad, stop. We need to go home and talk.”

  “You don’t talk, Madison.” He looks back at me and moves closer to me. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Kayla.”

  “What is your relationship to my daughter?”

  “I’m her girlfriend.”

  He inhales deeply and looks at Madison with disgust. He tries to grab for her again, but I step forward, pushing him backwards, and I get in his face.

  “I warned you once. Do not try that again. I can’t believe you would hit your daughter like that. Especially, when you know the reason she is so passionate about being a child psychologist.”

  He stares down at me hard, but then his eyes soften and they fill with pain. His shoulders slump some and he shakes his head.

  “Let’s go, Madison. We’ll talk at home.” Madison doesn’t move and his face contorts in anger again. “I said, let’s go.”

  He thrusts his finger down at the ground next to him as if he’s talking to a disobedient child. I feel Madison shift slightly behind me, but I hold my arm up, barring her.

  “She’s not going home with you, not like this. You need to go home and cool off. We’ll come visit later so we can talk.”

  “I am her father and she will do what I say. Madison, let’s go.” He reaches for her again and I grab his hand and twist his thumb back, making him groan and bend in pain. I release his hand after a few moments and he pulls it back and shakes it out. “That is your last warning. You need to leave, now.”

  He stares down at me and then looks at my dad, who still hasn’t said anything, but has taken a step forward and has his fists clenched. Madison’s dad rubs his hand that I twisted back and looks at me again. His stare is cold and angry. His jaw tenses and he inhales deeply. His fingers curl into a fist and his shoulders slightly tilt forward.

  “Hit me as many times as you want, as long as you never touch Madison, I don’t give a shit.”

  His eyebrows pinch in confusion and his jaw relaxes some. His fist unclenches and he takes a deep breath. He looks between me and Madison a few times and then relaxes his body and nods once.

  “We’ll talk later.”

  We watch him leave and then my dad turns to examine my face. He looks in my eyes and gives me a small proud smile. He playfully ruffles my hair and then kisses my forehead.

  “Your face is bruising. We need to get you home and get some ice on that.”

  He lets go of me and I turn to face my girls. Shannon and Sam have their arms looped through Madison’s, holding her close. She’s crying and trembling. I step up to her and gently caress her face with both of my hands and she immediately throws her arms around me and sobs into my neck. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly. Sam and Shannon place a hand on her back and rub her soothingly while I keep my arms strong and firm around her.

  After a few minutes, Madison is composed enough that she can lift her face and look at me. She gently touches my cheek and kisses it a few times.

  “Kayla, I’m sorry. I don’t know how you reacted so quickly. I didn’t even realize what was happening till you hit the floor. I can’t believe I have to say thank you for protecting me from my own father, but thank you.” Her eyes tear up again and she lays in my neck again. “I’m sorry that happened, Maddi. We’ll talk to him together and we’ll clear it all up.” She sniffles a few times and pulls back wiping her eyes. “Ok. Thank you. I love you, Kayla.”

  “I love you too, Maddi. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  When we get to my dad’s SUV, Madison and I sit on the back bench together alone so she can lay her head in my lap and try to relax. Sam and Shannon sit together on the center bench, but keep glancing over their shoulders with concerned lo
oks. My eyes meet my dad’s as he’s pulling out of the parking space and he also looks concerned.

  We knew the news wouldn’t go over well, but we definitely weren’t expecting this. I just can’t believe he became physical. Madison had told me that her dad was always against physical discipline. Her mom would spank her sometimes as a child, but her dad never would and he even got in arguments with her mom over it.

  The drive from Philadelphia to Rising Sun is a little over an hour, and Madison remains in my lap the entire trip. She cries and sniffles occasionally, but is mostly quiet. While we drive, I gently run my fingers through her hair and stroke her arm and back. When we pull down our long driveway, I gently lift her up. I wipe her eyes and kiss her lips.

  We live in a five-bedroom home that sits on two acres of land with a bunch of trees in the yard and woods surrounding the property. My mom had the wood paneling painted a cute pale daisy yellow last summer, and it still glows like a giant flower. It’s a very welcoming cozy sight.

  We get our bookbags out of the backend of the SUV and I lead all of my babies to my bedroom. I inhale deeply and feel a wave of emotion rush over me as I enter my bedroom for the first time in months. Sam plops down on my bed, feeling completely at home, because we’ve spent so much time in here together, but Madison and Shannon stand in the middle of the room looking around, unsure what to do.

  I smile and take their bags and set them aside. Shannon and Madison slowly move over to a wall I have plastered with pictures of friends, family, Sam and I, pictures from pow wows and clan gatherings at the house, and pictures from school. There’s random movie or concert ticket stubs mixed in and the occasional note that Sam wrote me. Madison is currently reading one of those notes and looks over at us smiling. Sam stands up and wraps her arms around Madison from behind and looks at the wall with them. I just lean against my desk and watch them explore my room.

  “Now I understand why you were so surprised by how bare Kayla’s dorm is.” Madison and Sam laugh a little and look over at me grinning. “Kayla is a sentimental and likes to horde little treasures from things that make her happy. Do you still have my treasure box, baby?” I blush and look down. Sam walks over and wraps her arms around my waist. “I won’t be upset if you threw it out after I broke up with you.” I shake my head. “I didn’t. It’s still in there.” Sam smiles and kisses my lips. “Can I show our babies?” I shrug my shoulders. “I guess.”

  Sam smiles and gives me a soft kiss on the lips before turning to open my closet. She tries to reach the shoe box on my top shelf, but she can’t reach. She always tries to get it by herself, but she can never reach it alone. It makes me laugh a little and I walk over and wrap my arms around her waist and boost her up. She grabs the box and when I set her down, she turns with an adorable smile and kisses me.

  “Thanks.”

  Sam sits down on the bed and pats the bed next to her for Shannon and Madison to join her. I continue to lean against my desk, but they look over at me with a grin.

  “Baby, get over here.”

  I groan and obey Sam. I crawl on the bed behind them and sit against the wall. Sam smiles and taps my legs open. She scoots between them and wraps my arms around her waist, kisses my cheek, and then pulls the box over. She lifts the lid and holds the box out to the Madison and Shannon. They take the box and Sam leans back, resting against me, while they look at the contents.

  “I wasn’t supposed to know that box existed. Kayla forgot she had left it out and asked me to come in here and get something for her. The box was sitting out open on her desk. I was taking too long and she came to find me sitting on the bed looking though the box – she was mortified. It was adorable. You should have seen her face.” Sam looks over her shoulder and giggles. “That’s close, but you were brighter red and slightly shaking.” I squeeze her and bend down to bite her neck and she laughs. “Sorry. I know I always teased you about your sentimental tendencies, but I actually really love it. Anyway, I just wanted to show you both so you can see what a big softy our hero is. She’s so damn tough in protecting us all the time, but she’s such a soft cuddly teddy bear inside.”

  Shannon and Madison look over at me and giggle a little. They lean forward and give me a soft kiss on the lips and then kiss Sam. They start going through piece by piece asking us what the significance is of everything. There’s not much in the box, but it’s mostly stuff from things we’ve done together. There’s a paper drink umbrella from the party we danced together for the first time and the same night we hooked up and started our relationship. There’s logo napkins from places we’ve eaten together, a racing bib from a charity run, playbills from a couple shows we went to in Wilmington, Delaware, a dried flower from prom that she made me wear on my shirt pocket, and a few other random things.

  After we go through the whole box, Madison places the lid on it and sets it on my desk with a cute grin. She pulls Shannon over closer to her and leans back into her like Sam is sitting with me and entwines her fingers with Shannon’s, while holding her hand in her lap.

  “So, I guess that’s why you have an empty root beer bottle on your desk in your dorm?” I smile and laugh a little as my cheeks blush. “You noticed that, huh?” Madison laughs and nods. “It makes me smile every time I see it.”

  There’s a quick soft knock on the door and my dad pokes his head in.

  “Kayla, I just wanted to let you know, Sara will be here soon. You really should put some ice on that cheek.”

  “Ok, I’ll come get some soon. Hey, where’s Talia and Joey?” He smiles and steps inside the room some. “They’ll be here tonight. They’re both at a friend’s house. Joey has a surprise for you.”

  “Oh yeah? The last surprise he gave me was a frog he caught in the woods. Is it a living surprise.” Everyone laughs and my dad shakes his head. “I can’t tell you. Ok, make sure you ice that soon.” He smiles and walks out of the room.

  I tickle Sam’s sides and she laughs and leans forward, trying to get away from me. I start to scoot out from behind her, but she holds on tightly to me and won’t let me up. I laugh and try to tickle her again, but she quickly turns over and pins me down. I smile up at her and she looks down with an adorable grin.

  “I didn’t say you can get up yet.” I lick my lips and buck my hips, testing out her grip, which is firm. “I need ice. And I’d like to offer my babies something to eat and drink.”

  Sam grins and bends down to kiss me. She teases at my lips with her tongue, but I don’t allow her access. She laughs and bites my lip.

  “Let me in, Kayla.”

  I shake my head and she laughs. She sucks my bottom lip in hard and nurses it several times, making me inhale and almost break down and open my mouth. She looks down at me with a challenging grin. She presses her whole body against mine, and barely touching my lips with hers, she quietly coos against my lips, “Kiss me, Daddy.” I release a small moan and immediate start kissing her.

  “Always with the door wide open.”

  Sam pulls back and we look towards the doorway. Sara is leaning against the doorframe with her hands in her pockets and an amused grin on her face. She runs her fingers through her short hair and steps inside. As is typical, Sam’s not concerned about being caught, because she hasn’t moved an inch to get off of me. Sara stops a few feet in front of the bed and looks between all of us with a smile.

  “Sam, you going to get off of my baby sister now so I can have a hug from your crazy ass?”

  Sam laughs and quickly hops off of me and throws her arms around Sara. Sara laughs and gives her a kiss on the cheek and squeezes her tightly, making Sam groan.

  “Ok, next.”

  She playfully pushes Sam away and opens her arms up at Madison and Shannon. They laugh and get up to give her a hug. When she hugs Shannon, she lingers a little and lets her hand glide down her back some towards her ass, while she grins at me. Shannon quickly grabs her hand and pulls back looking at Sara shocked. Sara lets out a loud bellowing laugh and shakes her head.


  “I was just trying to mess with Kayla. You should have seen the evil glare she gave me.”

  Shannon blushes and looks at me with a cute smile. I pull her down to sit on my lap and I wrap my arms around her.

  “My baby gave up a trip to Hawaii to have a family Thanksgiving and you come in here and try to grope her up. What kind of family is she going to think she’s marrying into?”

  Shannon’s head spins around quickly to look at me and Sara tries to choke back a loud laugh again. My cheeks blush a deep red, but Shannon’s look of surprise softens and she gives me a small kiss on the lips.

  “What happened to your face? Did you fall getting off the plane or something?”

  Everyone’s smiles disappear and I shake my head. Sara’s jaw tenses and she pulls the chair out from my desk. She sits down in front of us and leans forward with her elbows on her knees.

  “I had a disagreement with Madison’s dad.”

  “Kayla, don’t protect him like that.” Madison looks at me with sad anger in her eyes and turns to Sara. “My dad saw me kiss Sam, and Kayla stepped in just in time to take a slap that was meant for me.”

  Sara’s eyes narrow and she sits forward more and hangs on every word as Madison explains what happened. When she finishes, Sara stands up and heads to my bedroom door. We look at each other confused, thinking she’s leaving, but then she closes the door and locks it.

  “It’s time we have a talk.”

  Shannon gets up off my lap and sits down on the bed next to me. We share a nervous look as Sara just stands in front of us.