Building the Nursery

by Amy DeMeritt

  I hear a vehicle coming up the driveway, and I jump up, expecting it to be the delivery van, but it’s just Sara and Keira, so I sit back down. They park in front of the garage and walk over with smiles on their faces. Keira bends down to kiss my forehead and then walks past me to go in the house. Sara sits down next to me with a brown paper bag and sets it down in front of me.

  “What’s this? It better not be a bottle of liquor.” Sara laughs and roughly bumps my shoulder, making me almost fall over. “It’s not. Open it.”

  I open the bag and pull out a glossy black gift box. I lift the lid and emotion wells up in my chest and stings my eyes. It’s a custom-made family album with solid wood covers and a thick leather spine. The cover has a beautiful etching of a tree with “The Johann Family” burned in fancy calligraphy under the tree. Each of our totem animals are etched around the base of the tree. I run my fingers over the details, tracing every line. I open the front cover, and a lump forms in my throat. Sara has hand written a note on the first page.

  Kayla,

  Although this is a gift to your family, I’m writing this note to you, because you are my little sister and I know how much family and children mean to you. I’m very proud of you. You are the best human being I’ve ever known and it’s a great honor to be able to say you are my sister.

  The values you live by, the determination you have to always do what is right and to protect and provide for those you love and care for, and your ability to open your heart and love people like family really inspires me every day.

  I’m so excited that you’re starting to have children. You’re an incredible friend, sister, daughter, wife, and dance partner to those who call you by those titles. And I know you’re going to be an even more incredible mother.

  Congratulations on growing your family. I can’t wait to see how big it gets. I’m looking forward to having so many nieces and nephews to love and spoil.

  With all of my love,

  Your big sister - Sara

  I set the book down next to me and wrap my arms around Sara. This is probably the best gift she could give us for the baby. The craftsmanship is gorgeous, but the note and her love and total support is the best part of this gift. She’s given us such a beautiful book to record the progress of our growing family. Sara has always been my best friend, and even when I decided to try this family of women and have four wives, she never once said anything negative about my choices and fully supported me.

  “Thank you. This book is beautiful. It’s not often that you say something so mushy, but I love the note. Thank you.” Sara laughs a little and squeezes me tighter. “You’re welcome, baby sister. I meant every word.”

  “How did Keira feel about you calling me the ‘best human being you’ve ever known’?” Sara laughs and pulls back, running her fingers through her hair. “It earned me an adorable stern pouty look. But I kissed her and she got over it. Since you stopped at the note, finish looking through the book. It has sections for up to ten children. You’ll be able to record all of their major moments till they’re eighteen and there’s lots of spots for pictures of your kids as the grow up. And the last section of the book is for all of your updated family portraits.”

  “This is really amazing. I’ve never seen one like this before. It really has everything I would want in in a book like this. I hope no one else bought one though.”

  “I told the entire family I was doing this for you. Some of the mothers tried to fight me on it, even after telling them I was having it custom made. You may still end up with a few more.” I laugh and run my fingers over the cover again. “It would be pretty damn hard to compete with this.”

  “I’m taking the squad out tonight so you’ll have the house to yourselves in a few hours. We’re going to leave around three when Jaime gets home from the studio. We’re going to go shopping, get dinner out, and go see a movie. We probably won’t be home till after eleven tonight.”

  “Ok, thank you.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Excited. I’m a little nervous about the whole process, but the idea of helping to create a new life is a huge rush. My adrenaline is pumping like crazy.”

  “Well, don’t stop breathing, but it looks like your special delivery is here.”

  I jump up and look at the approaching van like it’s going to deliver me an actual infant that I can hold right now. Sara stands up next to me and tugs on my hand, pulling me back when I attempt to walk out to meet the driver next to his vehicle.

  “Good afternoon. Are either of you Kayla Johann?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Great. Do you have your ID on you?” I nod and pull my wallet out. He checks it against his tablet, and then turns the tablet towards me. “I just need you to sign here.”

  I sign the screen and he quickly turns back to his van. As he hands me the box, I cradle it against my chest, as if it’s very fragile and at risk of being destroyed at any second.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

  While he drives away, I stand staring at the box from the sperm bank in my hands.

  “Are you freaking out?” I look up with a big smile and Sara laughs. “No, I’m just a little in disbelief that we’re finally doing this. Can you grab the book for me?”

  We walk in the house and my already big smile spreads into a huge goofy grin. My wives are standing in the foyer, waiting for me with beautiful loving smiles on their faces. Each of them leans in, giving me a half hug around the box I’m holding and kisses my lips.

  “The garden seeds are here. Oh, and look at this amazing album that Sara had made for us.”

  Sara holds the book out to them and Awenasa takes it in her hands. Our wives lean in and look at it with her. They read Sara’s note and look up with beautiful loving smiles. When they look back at the book to continue looking through the pages, I can feel Sara looking at me, so I steal my eyes away from my wives and meet her eyes. She gives me a proud motherly smile, ruffles my hair, and starts to walk away.

  “Wait.” Sara stops and looks back at my wives. Awenasa closes the album and gives Sara a tight hug. “Thank you. This is beautiful.”

  “You’re welcome.” After each of my wives give Sara a hug, she asks, “Did you already start on lunch? Keira and I want to cook for you today.”

  “No, we haven’t started on anything.” Sara smiles and starts to walk away. “I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

  My wives and I go upstairs to our bedroom so we can have some privacy. We sit down on the bed with the box and album between us, just looking down at them for a moment, before looking up at each other.

  I don’t know why, but I start laughing hard and fall over on my side. My wives laugh and watch me have my fit for several moments before I can get composed.

  “That was random.” I look at Sam and start laughing again. “Oh, my god, I have no idea why I’m laughing.”

  They laugh again, but Shannon pulls on my arm, and pulls me over to lay my head on her lap. She runs her fingers through my hair for a minute, and her gentle touch helps me to calm down.

  I sit up quickly and reach for the box. Its taped up really good, and I don’t have anything on me or next to me that I can use to cut it open. I jump up off of the bed and get one of my throwing knives from the closet.

  We sit close together and pull out the contents. The box has a special canister holding several frozen straws of the semen, several insemination kits that include a plastic syringe, and lots of paperwork and instructions on how to do this. There’s enough straws in the box for five attempts. We decided if we don’t receive a positive on a home pregnancy test after two attempts that we’re going to seek the help of a fertility clinic so we’re not wasting the sperm.

  “We should put these in our cryogenic tank till we’re ready.”

  “Ok. Sara said she’s going to take everyone out around three and stay out till at least eleven so we can have some privacy while we try to get ou
r wife pregnant.”

  All of them laugh a little in a happy way, and Awenasa smiles really big before she gives each of us a passionate kiss.

  “Shannon, are you sure you don’t want to do this with me?” Shannon smiles and gives Awenasa a soft kiss on the lips. “I’m sure. I want to be able to help you through your pregnancy and help take care of the house while Madison and Sam are in school and Kayla is working. After you’ve given birth and we’re in a good rhythm, then I’d like to have a baby.”

  “Ok. I love you.” Shannon smiles really big and gives Awenasa a slow soft kiss. “I love you too.”

  After storing the semen in the cryogenic tank, we go downstairs. The squad is sitting around the informal dining room talking and laughing while Sara and Keira work in the kitchen on lunch.

  “So, what’s for lunch?”

  “Steak, chicken, and shrimp fajitas.”

  “Oh, man, that sounds amazing.”

  “Don’t we get to see this special family album Sara had made for you?” I smile at Tonya, and turn to go back upstairs to get it, but Madison places a hand on my shoulder as she turns around. “I’ll get it.”

  “Kayla, can you go get a couple of peaches out of the fruit orchard? I want to make a peach salsa.”

  “Sure.”

  I grab a basket off of the top of the fridge and walk out the back door. Aura comes running over to me from the side of the deck where she was laying out. I pet her head and she gets in step with me to walk across the lawn to the small fruit orchard we have on the side of the house near the woods. It’s a hot day and the closer we get to the trees, the more fragrant the air becomes with the smell of freshly sunned pears, and peaches. Our apples are still tiny and won’t be ready till early autumn, so their scent hasn’t graced the air yet.

  We didn’t want to use pesticides on the trees, so we have each fleshy fragrant globe wrapped in a stretchy soft foam mesh sleeve that helps deter insects from feasting on the fruit. I gently squeeze and inspect the dressed peaches, trying to find some that are ripe. It’s still early in the season, so we haven’t had many to harvest yet.

  “Need help?” I look over my shoulder and meet Jaime’s smiling golden eyes. “Hey. You’re home early.” I turn and pull her into a tight hug. She places her hand on the side of my neck, pulling back just enough to look at me. “Sara sent me a text that we’re having a big celebration lunch with you before we go out later. How are you doing?”

  “Great. I’m mostly excited, but also a little scared.” Jaime smiles and gently kisses my forehead. She brushes her thumb across my cheekbone, and asks, “Why are you scared?”

  “I’m a little worried I’m going to mess up. When we opened the box, and were looking at all of the instructions, there were all of these warnings about how to thaw the semen. If we don’t do it right, like we get it too hot or something, we can destroy the sperm. And if we rough handle it too much, we can damage the sperm and make it ineffective. Then there were the warnings about getting it on us and the possibility of accidentally impregnating someone else.”

  “Try not to worry about any of that. Follow the instructions and take all necessary precautions, but just try to enjoy the miracle of what you’re going to be doing. It may not work the first time or even the tenth time, but each time you try should be a joyful experience.”

  “I know. I’m trying not to think about it too much.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Well, I need to find some peaches for Sara to make salsa. The ones on this branch aren’t ready yet.”

  Jaime nods and releases her arms around me, but I squeeze her closer for a moment, and lay in her neck. She wraps her arms around me again and runs her hand over the side of my face and through my hair. Jaime kisses the top of my head, making me smile. I lift my head to look at her and her beautiful golden eyes make me feel warm and safe inside.

  I place a hand on her cheek and gently press my lips to hers. Jaime smiles against my lips and closes her eyes. I give her a few soft lingering nipping kisses on her lips, gently enveloping her bottom lip with mine, before laying back down on her shoulder. She inhales deeply, while pulling me in closer, and wraps her hand in my hair.

  “I missed you so much when we were in California. I was really hoping you’d be with Sara when she and Keira flew out for those meetings for the next movie and with Mia Chang. I actually thought all of you would be coming out.”

  “We were going to, but I had meetings with my realtor and building inspectors for the new locations I was looking at. I wasn’t able to rearrange them. The squad didn’t want me to be left out, so they stayed behind with me.”

  “That was thoughtful of them. I’m glad you weren’t left alone.”

  We’ve only been home for a little over a week, and every time I see Jaime and Symone, I feel like I need to have them in my arms and I don’t want to let them go. The first few nights we were home, Jaime and Symone slept in bed with us.

  Jaime has slept with my wives and I a lot more than Symone has. Symone and I have slept together a lot, but the only times she has slept with my wives and I was on accident when we were just sitting around talking and fell asleep together. The first time it happened, I was surprised when I woke up and saw Sam laying on Symone.

  “I guess I should look for those peaches now.”

  We release each other and Jaime and I move around the peach tree, gently feeling the peaches to find a few that aren’t still rock hard.

  “Kayla, there’s a few big ones up there out of reach. Come give me a boost so I can see if they’re ready to pick.”

  I hunch down by the trunk of the tree and Jaime sits on my shoulders. While I hold the tops of her knees, and she has one hand on my head, I carefully stand up so I don’t accidently send her head into a branch. She points where she wants me to go, and I get her into position.

  “Damn, I still can’t reach it. I’m going to pull up on this branch a little bit.”

  Jaime lifts up off of my shoulders and she’s now hovering just above them.

  “Hey, still looking for peaches?”

  I turn to look over my shoulder, but end up landing my face right in Jaime’s groin. She gasps, and her grip on the tree branch slips.

  “Shit, sorry.”

  My voice is muffled in her center, as she lands back on my shoulders with me fully facing her groin. I reach up, grabbing her back to steady her and Jaime grabs my head.

  “Kayla, what are you doing? Oh, my god, put me down.”

  I carefully kneel down, and Jaime steps down off of my shoulders. The instant I look over at them, my wives burst out laughing hard. I fall forward, hiding my face in the ground and groan in embarrassment. Aura comes over whining and licks my arm and ear, as if she’s worried I’m not well. I smile and turn over to pull her down into hug. She releases one excited bark and lays down on my chest.

  “So, I guess you found a peach?” I look up at Sam confused. She has a naughty grin on her face, and my face instantly blushes fire engine red as I realize her meaning. “I didn’t mean to do that. Jaime, I’m sorry I put my face in your happy town.”

  “It’s fine. You just startled me.” Her cheeks are blushing, but she has a happy smile on her face. “Boost me back up. I almost had the actual peach in my hand.”

  I lift Jaime back up on my shoulders, and she pulls herself up to grab the peach. She plops back down on my shoulders, and I have to grab her hips to steady her.

  “I got it. This one feels good. Here.” Jaime holds the peach out and Awenasa takes it from her. “Kayla, walk over to the other side of that branch. I see a couple more.”

  I follow Jaime’s instruction and she plucks a few more peaches from the tree, handing them to Awenasa as she finds them.

  “Can you pick some pears while you’re up there?”

  Jaime pats my head, as if to say, “Get moving,” so I walk over to the pear tree next. Jaime plucks about a dozen plump pears, before she’s ready for me to let her down.

&n
bsp; As Jaime steps off of my shoulders, Awenasa leans in and gives her a soft kiss on the lips.

  “Thank you.” Jaime smiles and pulls her into a hug. “You’re welcome. I’m so happy for you. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Not that I can think of at the moment, but thank you.”

  “Well, if you think of something, anything at all, just let me know.” Awenasa gently caresses her cheek and gives Jaime another kiss on the lips. “I will.”

  When we get back to the deck, Sara and Keira are working on putting some meats, peppers, onions, and pineapple on the grill, while Symone, Tonya, and Jade are sitting on the built-in deck benches drinking bottles of beer or glasses of fruity looking mixed drinks.

  “Here are your peaches.”

  “Oh, we changed our minds about those. It won’t go with the flavor profile we’re creating.”

  “Excuse me? We just spent like fifteen minutes with Jaime on my shoulders searching the entire tree for these! I accidentally violated her to get these damn peaches!”

  Everyone starts laughing at me, and Sara roughly shoves my shoulder with a big grin.

  “I was only joking. What the hell did you do to Jaime?” I blush and try to walk away, but Sara grabs my arm, laughing again. Since I won’t, Sam answers, “She accidentally face-planted in Jaime’s happy town.”

  Everyone laughs really hard again, and I plop down on the bench with my arms crossed, sulking. Jaime sits next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek.

  “Relax. It’s ok, really.”

  I adjust to lay my head on her shoulder, and Jaime wraps both arms around me. Everyone is giving me amused smiles, but thankfully, no one says anything else about it.

  Symone grins at me over her glass as she takes a sip and licks her lips. I watch her tongue slowly glide between her lips to lick the drink off of her bottom lip, and it causes arousal to flare inside me. I blink hard and look away.

  My eyes meet Awenasa’s and she suppresses a small laugh. Awenasa is clairvoyant, so I know she knows what just happened. My wives know I’m in love with Jaime and Symone, but they don’t care. Actually, all of my wives also love Jaime and Symone. It’s definitely a complicated friendship, and things like accidently face-planting in Jaime’s groin only makes it more complicated and confusing.