Chapter 76: Those Lazy Days of Summer
Two Weeks Later FPOV
It’s been two weeks since I got back from that other dimension. Things have been just peachy, as B would put it. I’m not bein sarcastic or anything. It hasn’t just been breakfast in bed, and hot sex with B. I’ve been going in to the shop and helping my dad build that bike. The dead line is comin up and if we don’t have it ready then we won’t be getting paid, and if we don’t get paid then a lot of our plans are gonna be ruined. If I don’t get paid then we won’t be goin to Hawaii for two weeks, and we won’t be gettin a new car. It’s gonna be bitchin ‘cause I’m not getting a car I’m gettin a truck. A big one too. I need one ‘cause I’m gonna start buying cheap cars and fixin ‘em up. This way I can haul ‘em myself.
I’ve also been goin over to the apartment building and fixin some stuff up. The new school year starts next week, so we’re gettin a new group of girls. Giles said if we wanna hold off on it we could but I turned it down. I want things to get back to normal so we can get on with our lives. B thinks we should take some extra time, but we don’t need it. We had a little talk last night and I promised her that things are gonna change around here. I’m gonna spend more time with my family and less time at the shop, and Sky is gonna help me and B out at the apartments so we can spend more time just the two of us. A big part of the problem is we don’t spend enough time doing couple stuff. I think we should get a new babysitter so that we can go out on dates every once in a while.
It’s been a long time since B and I have gone out and done something romantic, or whatever. She loves doing stuff like that. Getting all dressed up and goin out to a fancy place. It’s not really my style, but I love seein her happy, and doing stuff like that together always puts a smile on her face. I remember the last time we went out to dinner we went to this little French restaurant, and she was wearing this little white dress that made her look like an angel or somethin. She had her hair pulled back, and she was wearing the diamond earrings I bought her for her birthday and they were kinda sparkling in the light. She definitely wasn’t acting very angel like though, that’s for sure. We were out in public and in a fancy-shmancy place so of course she was all polite smiles and proper manners and all that. But as soon as we sat down she slipped off her right shoe and teased me all through dinner.
I was wearing this killer red dress that I’m totally hot in, and she was runnin her barefoot up and down my legs, and lightly rubbing the backs of her toes against the inside of my right thigh. Then when the waiter came over to ask if we needed anything else she lifted her foot up and pressed her toes against my pussy and started moving ‘em back and forth. I could’ve killed her for doin that because it was really fuckin unexpected and as soon as it happened I let out this little squeak. I don’t normally get embarrassed that easy, but I had to try and keep it cool and act like my wife wasn’t molesting me with her toes or else we would’ve been thrown out and banned for life or something. I got my revenge later that night though. We stayed a hotel ‘cause when you’ve got kids you have no privacy. And when she was ordering some room service I started fuckin her with my fingers.
She could barely concentrate on what she was sayin and for a minute or two she forgot she was on the phone and started moanin. She was definitely embarrassed about it, but she didn’t really care too much. Anyway, that’s something I wanna do again. Not fuckin her while she’s on the phone. I mean, getting all dressed up, and goin out to a nice place, and then goin to a nice hotel after. We can’t really afford it now though, ‘cause neither of us was workin while I was in that weird dimension, and we gotta a lot of bills to pay. Well, not really a lot, but the normal amount, and this month we’re gonna be a little short on cash. We’re really tryin to break the habit of runnin to Giles whenever we hit a small bump in the road, money wise. If we ever get into some serious debt then we’ll consider givin him a call, but other then that we need to learn to budget and act like adults, or whatever.
I’m at the shop right now, and it’s been a pretty relaxed day so far. We’re almost done with the bike, we’re just waiting on a part that we had to special order. It should be here tomorrow, and once we get that put in we’ll be all finished. The delivery company kinda sucks though, so it’ll be more like three or four days until it gets here. But after that we’ll be all done, and the guy is comin by next week to pick it up so it’ll be just in time. That bike isn’t the only thing we’ve been workin on. When I was in that other dimension my dad took on a couple more clients. One is in here right now to check up on her bike and make sure we’re doin things the way she wants ‘em. She’s a cute little thing too. Bright blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a rockin body. If I weren’t tied down I’d definitely take her for a ride. And she’s definitely into me. We’ve been kinda flirting for a little while, but it’s totally innocent.
“Awww, he’s such a little cutie,” Shawna says and I smile a little bit. I’m showin her pictures of the kids that I keep in my wallet. Yeah, yeah I know. I’m kinda using my kids as a way to score points with a chick I’m never gonna get with. I guess I haven’t changed much since my days of trollin the mall with Mattie to get chicks’ phone numbers. But that’s alright. It’s not like I’m the only married person to ever flirt. Fuck, B went out on a lunch date with a guy so I she has no right to complain if I flirt a little bit. “And he looks just like you.” I smile a little more to show off my dimples just like Joey’s showin off his dimples in the picture. “You have very beautiful children. You and your husband must be very proud.” Ok, so I haven’t told her that I’m married to a chick, so what?
“Actually I don’t have a husband.” She raises an eyebrow and gets a little smirk on her face. I know that look very well. That’s the ‘but you’re so hot, how can you not be taken?’ I’ve given that look many times in the past, and I’ve gotten that look from people before they find out about B. I give her a sort of challenging look, and the smirk gets a little bigger. I don’t know exactly what it is about flirting that I like so much. It’s more then just the fact that I think the person is hot. I think lots of people are hot, but most of the time I won’t do anything about it. There’s just somethin about seein the look on a girl’s face when I make her blush by sayin an innuendo that always puts a smile on my face. You remember how I was with B back in Sunnydale. That was a little more intense ‘cause I really liked her.
“Boyfriend?” her voice is a little higher pitched then before. She’s definitely skeptical but again I can safely say that I don’t have a boyfriend. It’s not like I’m lying or anything. B may try to act all tough but she doesn’t have any man parts. I shake my head no and she looks down at the picture again. I can’t really tell if she’s just takin another look or if she’s just trying to think of something to say. And for those of you who might be a little confused, I’m not wearing my rings right now. I always take ‘em off when I get to the shop so they won’t get all dirty from the oil and stuff. She starts flippin through the pictures again, and then looks up at me through her eyelashes. “So you’re raising all three kids on your own?” Before I can answer the door opens and in walks Buffy and Joey. Crap. She has the day off so she’s out for a little stroll. She likes taking Joey for little walks around town that’s always been their thing.
“Hey, baby,” she says and I nod a little bit. I glance over at Shawna and she doesn’t look too surprised to see Buffy. Huh, that’s a little weird. Most women look a little more upset then that when they find out I’m already taken. This one looks…almost like she was expectin B to come walkin through the door. “Hey Shawna, what are you doing here?” What the fuck? They know each other? Well, it isn’t too surprising, this is a pretty small town. I’ve never seen Shawna before but I’m not as social as Buffy. I get to spend a lot of my time here so I’m always talkin to people that just wander in wonderin exactly what it is we do here. And most of those people are guys. Buffy teaches a women’s self defense class so that’s probably where they met.
“Hi, Buffy. I’m just making sure your wife is taking good care of my baby.” I hate it when people call their bikes their babies. I felt the same way about mine before I crashed it, but there’s just somethin that bugs me when people say it out loud. I guess it’s because I have kids and the love you have for a baby is different then the love you have for your bike. “She’s a lot cuter in person then in the pictures.” What pictures? And I am not cute. Dead sexy, and smokin hot yes, but not cute. “I think it’s the little oil smudge that’s doing it for me.” I have oil on my face? I hate it when I get oil on my face. It’s so obvious that she wants me, but does Buffy get jealous? Nooo, all she does is kind of giggle as she sits Joey down on the counter.
“What have you been doin today, babe?” I ask and give her a little kiss on the lips. I want to change the subject before they start talking about me like I’m not in the room. That happens more then you’d think especially whenever B starts talkin to Red. B and Red and best friends so by proxy Red and I are sorta friends, but that doesn’t stop them from talkin about me. B will tell Red all kinds of dirty details about us when I’m right there. I get a little embarrassed sometimes like when B tells her about the couple of times I’ve passed out. Anyway, my baby boy scoots over to me and wraps his arms around my neck. I give him a big hug while I wait for Buffy to talk.
“Not much really. I dropped the mail off at the post office, got a little grocery shopping done. I was going to get it all done today but the store was way too crowded. So after Joey helped unload everything we decided to take a little stroll, and stop by to see you in action.” She gives me a little playful smirk and I roll my eyes. I know exactly what she’s not saying with words just by that little smirk. “So, working on anything interesting?” That could be a trick question, but I know it’s not. Buffy kind of likes it when I talk about the bikes. Apparently I get all excited and ‘cute’. I hate that she throws that word around when she’s talkin about me. I mean, the kids are cute, puppies are cute, baby rabbits are cute. I am not cute. “Is Shawna’s bike really cool?” I give Joey a little kiss but he pushes me away. Little brat.
“Yeah, it is. Coolest bike I’ve seen in a while.” I glance over at her and give her a little wink. She giggles and rolls her eyes. Her bike isn’t that great. The only original thing about it is the paintjob, but we’re lookin to change that. I’m puttin in a new engine, and new rims. It’ll be totally badass when I get done with it. I gotta say I’m pretty jealous of Shawna. She gets a Ninja and I don’t. If I really wanted to I’d go out and get one, but B would pitch a fit. It would start a huge fight, and I’d end up sleepin on the couch for about a year, and we wouldn’t have sex for the rest of our lives. She doesn’t care that I work on other peoples’ bikes, but ever since I had that accident a few years ago she’s dead set against me getting another one.
“You’re such a sweet talker. No, mine’s not very cool. At least not yet. I’m hoping your wife can do something about that,” she says with a cheeky smile. I kind of hate the fact that they know each other. They probably talk about me a lot at the class. I’ll have to talk to B about this later. Maybe if I beg enough she’ll stop talking about me to her friends. Or I could just threaten to withhold. No, that never turns out good. B can hold out way longer then I can. She’s a freak like that. Shawna looks down at her watch and frowns a little bit. “Well, my lunch break is over so I need to get back to work. Hopefully my boss won’t mind I’m a few minutes late. I’ll see you guys later.” We say our goodbyes and watch her leave. Well, I watch her ass as she leaves, and B talks to Joey.
“Alright,” I say and wrap my arms around Buffy’s waist. “Why don’t you get over here so I can say hello the right way?” I raise an eyebrow and she gets a little smile on her face. I pull her close to me and kiss her very gently on the lips. Almost instantly our mouths open a little and I slowly rub the tip of my tongue against her. I just wanna tease her a little bit. I love teasin her ‘cause she gets a little frustrated and it’s cute. Whenever she gets frustrated her eyebrows wrinkle up, and she gets a ‘you better quit messin with me’ look in her eyes, but she’s so small and sweet that it’s hard to take her seriously. Either that or it’s the pout that makes her look adorable when she’s tryin to look tough.
“Mommy, I want love too,” Joey whines and we both pull back from the kiss. I guess we kinda forgot he was there. Well, I didn’t forget, but I just didn’t care. I wanted to kiss my wife and I shouldn’t not do it just because he’s right there. If we don’t show affection in front of our kids how are they supposed to know how to act in a relationship? It’s not like I’m gonna leave it up to them to figure it out, or have them rely on their friends. If I do that then Addy will probably be barefoot and pregnant at thirteen, and Mattie will have a couple kids runnin around by the time he’s fifteen. And God knows what’ll happen to Joey. I’m jokin if you didn’t catch that by the way.
“You do, huh?” B says with a little smile on her face. He nods his head yes and holds his arms out. She doesn’t pick him up though. Instead she leans down and gives him a kiss. Little brat stole my kisses. Those lips should be pressed up against me not him. Ok, Faith, chill out. You’re gettin jealous of your own son. Your three-year-old son, I should add. I smile a little as Buffy plants a bunch of little kisses all over his face. When she pulls back he has a big smile on his face, and he looks over at me and he glares. That little shit. He totally played her, and we both know it. He stole her away from me on purpose because Buffy is his mommy, and he doesn’t want anyone else to touch her.
“You told your dad about tomorrow right?” Buffy asks and picks Joey up. She props him on her hip and instantly his head is on her shoulder. He loves it when Buffy holds him like that. His jealousy issues are getting a little better. Now that he isn’t sleepin in our bed at all, except for the night I got home, things have calmed down. He still has his moments though, but I think they’ll go away with time. It’s all gonna take time. It’s not like I can flip a switch and have everything be perfect. How badass would that be?
“Yeah, he knows I’m takin tomorrow off.” Tomorrow we’re takin the kids to the Adventure Dome. It’s gonna kick ass. I think I always have more fun then the kids do. “The day after I’m gonna work a little later to make up for the time. And don’t give me that look.” She was gonna glare at me, I know she was. She hates it when I work late because then I miss out on helping her keep the kids out of the kitchen while she cooks. I mostly do the cooking, but every once in a while she’ll take a stab at it. She’s gotten better over the years since I’ve been teachin her how to cook, but there’s definite room for improvement. “That bike needs to be done and very soon or all the plans we made we’re not gonna be able to do.” She sighs a little and rolls her eyes all melodramatic.
“Alright, alright. Make enough money so we can go to Hawaii, see if I care,” she says and she sounds kinda serious, but I know she’s joking. “I need to go pick my rings up from the cleaners.” She has her wedding rings cleaned like every couple of months or something. I’ve never seen someone so obsessed with keeping their rings cleaned as she is. Sometimes I think she’s a little crazy. But she’s my crazy wife, and I love her more then she’ll ever know. “I’ll see you at home, baby.” She leans over and gives me a little kiss on the lips. I give Joey a goodbye kiss too, but he doesn’t like it very much. He’s jealous ‘cause I kissed B again. I watch her ass as they leave and I can’t help but get a big smile on my face. Back and Sunnyhell when we were still teens I used to watch her ass all the time and pray that one day she’d be mine. Sometimes I still can’t believe how fuckin happy I am that she is.
BPOV
Faith has been back for two whole weeks now. Well, two weeks and a day, and right now we’re doing one of my favorite things. We’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. I know we did it once or twice before we moved in together. She was a little weirded out by it because she never did it with anyone before. But now she likes it just as much as I do. It isn’t sexual, so get your mind out of the gutter. We’re taking a bath together. Faith is reclined against the white porcelain, and I’m practically lying on top of her. She has one arm wrapped around me, and her hand is resting on my stomach. She’s drawing little circles around my bellybutton with the tips of her fingers and it feels like heaven. The other hand is holding the glass of wine that we’ve been sharing. There isn’t much left and we’ve pretty much forgotten about it.
Today was a little stressful so we’re unwinding. We took the kids to the Adventure Dome because we haven’t been there in a very long time, and now that Joseph is big enough to ride some of the rides we figured we would go as a family. It was fun but taking your kids to a place like that can be stressful, especially when you have kids who aren’t afraid to walk up to a complete stranger and ask them if they have any extra money so they can buy some candy. I swear, one of these days Addison is going to give me a heart attack. I know I’m a slayer so you’re probably thinking that I should just calm down because I can fight off a normal person very easy. Well, it’s kind of hard to hurt something when you don’t know where it is, or what it looks like. There are people out there who do sick, twisted things to little girls, and if one of them ever touched my daughter I’d rip their arms off.
Anyway, we did have fun, even though my little girl scared the hell out of me. She never used to be like this. She was always more reserved with strangers, and Matthew was the one we had to really watch because he would wander off and start talking to random people. Now that he’s older we don’t have to worry too much about him because he knows not to just talk off. Addison on the other hand can’t grasp that concept. She sees something she wants and she’ll run off after it even if we’ve already told her a hundred times she needs to stay with us and not just leave. But it’s fine now. The kids are all asleep and in their own beds, and I’m relaxing against my beautiful wife. Life right now, at this very moment is perfect. And yes I am bragging.
I know you’re extremely aware of the situation. Our marriage has never been perfect. We’ve always had our problems, but we’ve always been able to work through them. Now we’re going to be doing that more then ever. I have to let go of the past and keep my mind focused on what I want to happen in the future. We can’t go back to the way we used to be because we’re not those people anymore. We have kids, and work and training a group of slayers to think about now too. And we’ve been through so much in the last eight years and we’ve changed in different ways. I’ve definitely grown up a lot and become more mature. I don’t let little things bother me as much as they used to, and Faith has changed a lot too. She can actually sit down and have a serious conversation without us getting into a big fight. It’s definitely been like a roller coaster ride, and I’m glad we’re finally getting off of that.
“Stop it,” I’m startled out of my thoughts by Faith’s voice. What is she talking about? Stop what? She leaves a little kiss on my temple and takes a sip of the wine. “You’re doing that whole thinking thing again. We’re not supposed to be thinking. We’re supposed to be relaxing.” I can’t help the very happy grin that slowly breaks out on my face. I turn just a little bit so I can look up at her face. She looks so relaxed right now, and really happy. I’m glad that she’s happy because trust me when I say the last two weeks have been some very emotional ones. She felt so guilty about everything that happened in that other world. But things are better now. She’s accepted that there’s nothing she could’ve done and she’s trying her best to move on.
“I wasn’t thinking anything bad. I was just thinking about how happy I am.” She kisses me on the forehead and I scrunch up my nose a little bit. Why I did that, I don’t know, but it made her chuckle a little so I’m glad I did. “When you were gone it felt like the world was ending. I hated that feeling more then I hate white chocolate.” White chocolate is disgusting, and it breaks the rules of nature. Chocolate is brown, not white. Ask any little kid what color chocolate is and only the color blind ones will tell you white. “I hated it more then I hate hammer head sharks.” They’re freaks of nature, and they give me the creeps. “I just want things to stay good, you know? It seems like whenever something like this happens things are good for a little while, but then they start to go bad. It’s like we’re only happy right after something really bad happens.” I carefully take the glass out of her hand and swallow the last of the wine. There was only a mouth full left.
“I know, B. I hate that it’s like that too. But we’ll get better. Now that we both know there’s a problem to be fixed we can fix it. We just need to start talking to each other more, and being honest and all of that good communication stuff.” I can tell she wanted to say ‘communication shit’. Now the old me would have been bothered by this. She would have thought that Faith wasn’t going to take this seriously and gotten all upset and started a fight over nothing. But the improved me knows when she’s about to make a mountain out of a mole hole, or whatever it’s called, and it doesn’t bother me. She didn’t say shit, and that’s all that matters. “We should probably work on it tomorrow though, ‘cause I’ve had enough wine to shut down the good communication part of my brain.” I can’t help but laugh a little bit.
“You had two glasses. What, are you turning into a light weight or something?” I smile up at her and she just smiles and closes her eyes. She rests her head against the wall and lets out a big happy sounding sigh. “And you didn’t even have two whole glasses. We’ve been sharing.” And I think I drank most of it. What can I say? I really like red wine. Especially when I’m pressed up against my beautiful wife and we’re taking a bubble bath together. “I’ve been thinking….” I hear her groan a little after I say that and I can’t help but giggle like a school girl. Maybe I have had too much wine. I don’t get mad because she always does that whenever I say ‘I’ve been thinking’. It’s like a natural reflex or something. “That maybe for our trip it could just be the two of us. I mean, there will always be vacations in the future with the kids, and I think every once in a while a couple needs to go on a vacation to remind each other that they’re still in love.” That came out wrong. I hope she doesn’t take it the wrong way.
“Took you long enough, but you’re finally comin around to my way of thinkin.” What’s that supposed to mean? “I wanted it to be just the two of us, but you said you wanted to take the kids. But, I dunno, I think we need this. We need a little break from parenthood to just be us, you know?” Yes I do know. I nod my head a little and run my hand softly over the bubbles. I don’t want to pop them, I just want to move them around a little bit. “And you’re right, with the way things are goin at the shop we’ll definitely be able to afford more vacations in the future.” Hmm, I know that tone of voice. That’s her ‘I have a secret and I’m not gonna tell you’ voice. I hate it when she uses that voice.
“What are you planning?” I ask in my ‘cop voice’. At least that’s what Faith calls it. I guess it reminds her of some cop movie she watched, I don’t know. She ever really explains those kinds of things to me. Anyway, I turn a little more so I can see her face perfectly and she has a little smirk. Now I know she’s planning something but she wants to keep me in the dark about it. I hate surprises, and she knows it. She likes surprising me with romantic things, but for the most part I don’t like it. Ok, so I’ve always liked her surprises, but it’s the…oh, what’s the word? Ummm……….anticipation, that’s it. It’s the anticipation that I can’t stand. She knows I can’t stand it. I think that’s part of why she does it.
“I’m not plannin anything. You’re just bein paranoid. Careful, B, or some guys in white outfits are gonna come and haul you away in a straightjacket.” She laughs at her own stupid joke and I just roll my eyes. I pinch her, right on the ribs, and she flinches. She’s very ticklish right there. It took me a while to find that exact spot, but once I found it I definitely use it against her. Especially when we’re in playful moods, like we are right now. “B, don’t you dare.” The look in her eyes is serious, but she has a smile on her face, and her dimples are starting to peek out. I love her dimples, and I don’t think that’s ever gonna change.
“Out with it, Lehane. What do you have up your sleeve?” I raise an eyebrow, and tickle her again. She squirms a little more, and the water sloshes around in the tub. We better be careful or it’ll go over the edge and onto the floor. I really don’t want to have to pay a bunch of money to repair water damage because we decided to have some fun in the tub. “You know I’ll do it. Just tell me what you’re planning and no one gets hurt.” I’m still using my ‘cop voice’. Now that I’m thinking about it I do sound kind of like a cop in a melodramatic movie or TV show or something. It could be something like: Buffy Summers is a renegade cop on the edge, in Renegade Cop 4, don’t miss it. And there could be car chases, and bus crashes, and bombs going off. It would be bad ass.
“You’ll never take me alive,” she says in an overdramatic voice. “Whacha gonna do about it, copper?” Great, now she’s talking like one of those fake 1950s mobsters from Chicago. The smile on her face just got way bigger and her stomach muscles are all tensed up. Oh, that was the wrong thing to say. Only I’m not going to tickle her like she thinks I’m going to. No, that would be the expected thing to do. And everyone knows that to outwit your enemy you have to do the unexpected, unless they’re expecting that. Then the unexpected thing to do is the expected thing. Ow, my head hurts. I think I popped something in there. Anyway, before she knows what’s happening, I move my hand down from her stomach and in between her slick folds. The look on her face is telling me that was definitely unexpected.
“Tease you to death if you don’t tell me what I wanna know,” I say, and give her the most innocent smile I can conjure up. She mouth drops open for a second when I run my finger slowly over her clit, but then she snaps it shut. “I can do this all night, it doesn’t bother me.” Actually that’s a little bit of a lie. Touching her like this always gets me worked up, and eventually I will give in, but I’ll try to hold out as best as I can since I’m on a mission to get information. I very slowly lower my finger down until it’s at her entrance. I run little circles over it and her hips are moving out, trying to get me to enter her but I keep pulling back. “What are you planning?” She shakes her head no, and I can tell she’s trying to stay still. “Alright, baby, if that’s how you want it.”
I enter her with just my middle finger. Inside she’s hot, and wet, and her muscles clamp down around me. It’s been a while since we’ve made love, and by a while I mean two days. We’ve been going at it almost every night since she got home, and sometimes during the day too. I hear her breathing become a little labored as she gets really turned on. She was turned on before because I’ve been teasing her a little bit for a while now. But now that I’m actually doing something about it she’s getting really turned on. I look up at her face, and smile as she flushes. I love seeing her face like that. Her cheeks get a dark pink, and she gets a little sweat around her hairline, and her lips swell up.
“You’re getting really worked up,” I purr in her ear. I use the tip of my tongue to wiggle her earlobe a little. She loves it when I do that. I feel her suck in a deep breath. Poor baby is trying so hard not to react to this I think she’s going to accidentally asphyxiate. “You know what would be so much easier?” I take her earlobe into my mouth and gently suck on it. I feel her shiver. It’s small, and barely noticeable, but still there. “Tell me what you’re planning, and I’ll kiss it all better. How does that sound?” She groans a little in the back of her throat, but she doesn’t say anything. I take my finger out of her, and run it up and down her very slick lips. I’m not touching anything that’ll get her off, and she’s starting to get a little frustrated. “What do you say, baby? Tell me, and I’ll give you some release. Does that sound fair?” Before she can say anything I start kissing the tops of her breasts, and nipping at the sweet skin.
“I’ll never tell,” she says in her best Brittany Murphy impression. It could be better but she’s a little distracted right now. “You might as well give it up, ‘cause I’m not tellin you B. It’s a surprise and you’re not gonna ruin it for yourself.” Her voice is very breathy, and I know she’s probably right. I always do ruin things for myself when I’m able to get them out of her. And this isn’t really all that fair because I know exactly what to do to torture her sexually. But too bad. I wanna know what she has planned, and I’m going to find out even if I have to do this all damn night. I enter her with two fingers. It’s a little awkward because of my position, but it still feels good for her. I can tell because she gasped, and now she’s trying really hard to keep her hips still.
“Oh God,” she moans, and then bites her bottom lip. That’s right baby, moan for me. I start circling her clit with my thumb, and she moves her head from side to side. Her whole face is turning red, even her ears, and her neck are starting to flush. It won’t be long before she gets a lover’s flush. I love it when that happens. Her chest gets all pink, and her breasts swell up a little bit. Every time I thrust into her she moans, and every time I pull out she sighs. I just need to be patient because Faith has a very important ‘quiet time’ during sex. When she’s really close to orgasm she gets really quiet, and right before she comes she squeaks. That’s important information to know because I’m going to use it against her. I accidentally brush against her g spot and her mouth drops open.
“That’s it, B, right there,” she says and grips onto the sides of the bathtub. She better be careful or she’ll break it and we can’t really afford to have another bathtub put in here. But whatever. I shouldn’t be thinking about that kind of stuff when I have more important things to be thinking about right now. I rub against her g spot again, and her eyes slide shut. She tries to speed her hips up but I’m on top of her and in total control. I can tell she’s getting really close. And I know this is really mean, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I pull my fingers out of her and rest my hand on her thigh. Her eyes fly open, and her breathing is really labored. There’s so much desire in her eyes that it makes me shiver. “Come on, don’t do that. Please baby, put your fingers back. I’m so close, B.”
“I know, baby.” I gently kiss her lips, but pull back before she can reciprocate. She tries to follow my mouth, but I pull back to far for her to reach. “And I’ll finish, I promise, all you gotta do is tell me what I wanna know. That’s it, baby.” I kiss her again, and this time I use tongue. I gently rub the tip of my tongue against hers, but she doesn’t take the bait. I feel her shift around a little, and then she shoves her arm in between us. What the hell is going on? I pull back to see for myself. First I look at her face, but then I glance down. Oh God, she’s getting herself off, that’s what’s going on. I look up at her face again, and her eyebrows are burrowed like she’s deep in concentration. Before I can even think to try and stop her, her back arches and she lets out a loud squeak. Then she goes completely limp.
“Damn,” she says in a breathy voice. She gets a big smile on her face and she laughs a very throaty laugh. I know that laugh. I love that laugh because I’m usually the cause of it. “That was fuckin hella good. Thanks baby.” Except I’m not the one who did that. She did. I guess I can’t take the credit. “Aw, come on, B. Don’t look like that. You’ll find out really soon what we’re gonna do, ok?” I nod my head a little and just look at her face. She looks so…happy. And not just because she had an orgasm. Everything about her is just completely relaxed, inside and out. She’s back again, and we’re not fighting, and the kids are ok. Our marriage isn’t in trouble anymore, and soon we’re going to be going to Hawaii just the two of us. I’d say those reasons are good enough to just sit back and relax. You won this round, Faith, but soon I’ll have my revenge.
FPOV
I’ve been workin at the shop all fuckin day. I wanted to make up for the time I lost while we were at the Adventure Dome, and I kind of regret it. I finished that bike like I wanted, but we got three new customers, and I couldn’t wait to see what they wanted us to do. One of ‘em was just a paint job, and it only took about fifteen minutes to get it all done. But the others want some new parts put in to make their bikes go just a little faster. One of the benefits of working at a place like that is you get to ride the bikes. Not for fun, well it is fun I’m not gonna lie, but we like to test ‘em out and make sure everything is runnin smooth before we start workin on ‘em. That way we know if they have a crappy bike, and they won’t be able to blame us if it breaks down after we get done customizing it. We do tell ‘em if we think it needs some work, but sometimes they just shrug it off.
I got so caught up in what I was doin that I didn’t stop to look at the time. It’s almost nine, and that’s a big problem. The kids are probably in bed already, and if that’s true I’m going to be hearin about it in the morning. They hate it when I’m not here to give them hugs and kisses goodnight. Addy is the worst, and I have no idea why. She’s such a little drama queen about everything, so I can see it. But all she ever does is fight with me all the fuckin time so you’d thin she wouldn’t make that big of a deal about it. Anyway, I pull into the driveway, and shut off my car. It took me a while to get it as soon as new, but I did. There wasn’t as much damage as I thought there was gonna be. I grab my purse, and head into the house. I can hear B talkin to someone in the kitchen. Good, she’s distracted. Hopefully I’ll be able to jump in the shower without her noticing.
I glance into the living room as I walk by and what I see makes me stop because it’s too damn funny. Joey is sittin on the couch in nothing but his underwear. The Batman not the Spiderman. He’s going through a Batman phase right now, and who can blame him? Although if you think about it Batman is kind of a pervert. A grown man running around in a rubber suit with a young boy. Doesn’t take x-ray vision to see through that. Anyway, he’s slouched down, and his legs are sticking over the edge. He’s watching some cartoon, I don’t know what one, and he’s holding his sippy cup in one hand. The other hand is down his underwear. Now that right there is the definition of relaxation. In fact, after I get a shower and I’m gonna get a bottle of beer and sit down n the couch and do the same thing he’s doin.
“Hey Moose,” I say and sit down next to him. He looks over at me and takes a drink from his cup. Hmmm, he’s watching Ahhh Real Monsters. This show is so fuckin awesome. I love the little rabbit thing. I can’t remember his name, but he looks like a rabbit and that’s all that matters. Anyway, I put my feet up on the coffee table and I look down at the floor. Great, his pajamas are on the floor when he’s supposed to be wearing them. I would have him put them on, but I’m too tired for that fight. Buffy can do it when she’s done doin…whatever it is she’s doin. Tonight I just wanna lay back and relax. After the kids go to bed I’ll grab a beer, turn on the TV, and have B all cuddled up to me. I know it sounds all girly or whatever, but I like it when she does that.
I kick my shoes off and they fall to the floor with a little thud. Awww, that’s much better. These boots always make my feet all sweaty and gross. They don’t smell too bad, but they get all sticky and I hate that feeling. That’s why I gotta let ‘em air out for a little while. But you really didn’t need to know that, did you? Man, I really want a beer. I know B will be pissed if I have Joey get one for me ‘cause he’s still just a baby. At least he is in her eyes. I don’t know where the other two are and I don’t wanna yell out their names ‘cause then B will hear me, and she’ll get all pissed off for yellin when it’s late. Yeah, around here nine o’ clock is late. I guess I’ll just have to go get one myself. When I walk into the kitchen I’m definitely not expecting to see Mattie sitting down at the table looking very uncomfortable. Buffy is sitting across from him and she looks just as tense.
“Look, I know it’s normal for you to want to…do stuff like this. Alright? I get it. I’ve been there before, so I totally understand.” What the fuck is she talking about? I grab a beer from the fridge and twist the cap off. I take a little sip as I turn around and lean against the counter. I look at Buffy and she gives me a weird look. It’s kind of like she’s asking for help with just her eyes. But I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about so I can’t help. “I know because you’re young that it seems like you and Ashley have been dating for a long time.” Oh, it’s one of those talks. Ha, I definitely do not envy either of them. She gives me a little ‘help me’ look again, and I laugh a little bit. Mattie looks over at me and he looks like he’s gonna die of embarrassment.
“Matt, wait for me out back, ok?” He practically jumps from the chair and runs outside. I’ve talked to him about the sex stuff before. It’s totally fuckin awkward for both of us, but when it comes to talking to your kids about sex you gotta just grit your teeth and get it done. I’ve always been open about this kind of stuff, you remember when I first showed up in SunnyD, right? Well, it’s different but it’s kind of the same. I don’t get that uncomfortable talking about it with him. And it’s less embarrassing for him ‘cause I’m not like B. I don’t try to relate as much as she does. Like what she said just now. The whole ‘I’ve been there before, so I totally understand’. Like any kid wants to know what their mom has done. Seriously, how disturbing is that?
“So, what did he do this time?” I ask and take another swig. Buffy stands up and messes with a loose string on her shirt. Hmm, it must’ve been pretty bad if she doesn’t want to tell me. I guess she’s really pissed off about it. She tries not to get mad at him especially when it comes to his girlfriend because we both know that if we get pissed off at him for dating then it’ll just make him want to do it more. Then he’ll probably do something he’s not ready for and catch a disease. I definitely don’t want that to happen.
“They, being him and Ashley, were hanging out in his room. I told them to leave the door open but they didn’t listen. When I went upstairs to check on them they were…well she was…she was going down on him.” Really? I can’t help but smile a big fuckin smile. Buffy gives me a little glare, and smacks me on the arm. Ow, that hurt. “Don’t be proud, ok? He’s only thirteen for God’s sake. Isn’t this not supposed to happen until he’s fifteen, or sixteen?” My zen non-answer is taking a sip of beer. Buffy rubs her face with both hands and rests her forehead on my shoulder. Poor baby. I probably would’ve freaked if I walked in on that. “I didn’t think boys were really this bad. I mean, he didn’t force her or anything but she’s a little hussy. Are all boys really this bad as soon as they’re teenagers?”
“Joey’s sittin on the couch playin with himself.” I smile a little when I hear her groan. “I know, they’re just a couple a dirty boys.” I give her a little kiss on the temple and she chuckles a little bit. “You go take care of Joey, and I’ll talk to Mattie. Ok?” She nods her head and I leave another little kiss on her temple. She stands up straight and leaves the room. Damn, she looks really tired. I wonder if she had a bad day or something? Then again, walkin in on your son getting head doesn’t exactly a good mood make. Did that make sense? Oh well. Anyway, I go outside onto the deck and Mattie’s leaning against the rail lookin out at the backyard. Tucker’s out there probably sleeping. I had to build him a dog house because he’s too old to walk up the stairs. So now he stays outside at night just in case.
“So, your mom told me what happened.” I lean against the rail with my elbows and glace over at him. He’s getting tall, and I don’t like it. He’ll always be my little boy or whatever, but now he doesn’t look like it. What happened to the little kid that used to play with little green soldiers in the house plants? What happened to my little buddy that I’d steal chocolate with and eat it all before Buffy got home? He’s growin up, and I don’t like it. Ok, silver lining? When he moves out of the house I can turn his bedroom into a game room. Yeah, that’ll be sweet. “I know she already said this, but it’s normal to want to do stuff like that. But you’re not old enough yet, alright? You’re only thirteen.” He sighs and starts pickin at the rail.
“Ok, I said what I’m supposed to say, now listen to this: the next time you do somethin like that with a girl, do it somewhere else. Not some place where your mom can walk in on you. And don’t expect a girl to do that just because you want her to. If things get a little…heated then suggest it, but if she says no then you drop it, ok? Don’t turn into some fuckin perv.” He nods his head and lets out a little sigh. See? I am so the cooler mom. “I’m not givin you permission or anything, just a little advice for when you’re older. Keep the kissin, above the neck and the touchin above the waist, ‘cause if I find out you were doin anything else your ass will be grounded for three months. You got that?” He nods his head and his shoulders still look a little tense. If he were just a couple years older I’d let him have a drink of my beer. But he’s too young for that shit.
“Good, now get to bed. We’re going grocery shopping tomorrow and I wanna leave early. If we get it done before I get a headache then we’ll get something to eat at PJ’s.” I give his shoulders a little squeeze and he doesn’t look as tense now. Probably because we’re off a very uncomfortable subject. I take deep breath and just stare up at the sky. There’re a lot of stars out tonight. I think I’ll stay out here. It gets pretty cool here at night, and I like the feeling. It’s always so fuckin hot in the day, and sometimes it’s so hot you’re just mad ‘cause there’s nothing you can do about it, you know? I don’t think I’m makin any damn sense, and I’ve only had one of these. Maybe I should lay off ‘em tonight. I don’t wanna get drunk or anything. Maybe get a nice buzz goin, but definitely not drunk. I have to go shopping with B and the kids ‘cause she can’t handle all three of ‘em on her own in public. They can be monsters, you have no idea.
I hear the door open and I smile a little bit. I was wonderin how long it was gonna take her to come out here with me. I sigh a little when I feel her wrap her arms around me, and she rests her hands on my stomach. She puts her chin on my shoulder, and this feels really fuckin nice. I told you, I love just having her against me. Her head on my shoulder, putting little kisses on my neck. She’s doin that now, in case you were wondering. It probably won’t lead to anything. It rarely ever does. This is just what we do at night after the kids go to bed. Sometimes we talk, but mostly we just sit either in the quiet, or watchin TV. Doesn’t really matter if the TV is on ‘cause we don’t really pay attention to it. We’re too busy just…baskin, I guess is the word. Yeah, just baskin in each other, or whatever. I know that sounds a little girly but whatever.
“So, what did you tell him?” she asks and puts a little kiss on my ear. Yeah, ‘cause that’s what I really want to talk about right now. I guess it doesn’t really matter. I don’t want to talk about anything else either. I was kinda liking the silence. It’s pretty out here, all nice and quiet and it feels like we’re completely alone. Like there aren’t three kids in the house and a bunch of nosey neighbors surroundin us. Words will definitely ruin that. But she wants to know so I’ll tell her. I take another swig of beer first, and flex my fingers a little bit. I like the cool feeling against my hand. I don’t know what it is exactly about it that I like, but I like it. Guess it’s hard to explain. Alright, enough stallin. I’ll talk now since she wants to.
“Told him to keep the kissin above the neck or he’ll be grounded for three months. It’s kinda crazy, right? I mean, when I was his age all I wanted was be a grown up. I wanted to be older so I could do what the cool kids were doing. Now here they are doin the same thing. ‘Cept I never went down on thirteen-year-old. That was totally lame. If she’s gonna go down on a guy he should at least be a year older then she is. That’s what all the cool girls do, right?” I was just bein sarcastic. Well, mostly. There are a lot of girls out there who think if they fool around with older boys it makes them cool. They’re totally fuckin wrong though. All it’s gonna do is make the other girls hate ‘em, and the boys will just use ‘em.
“She’s a bad influence on him. She should really be dating someone her own age.” Oh God, not this shit again. I hate it when Buffy brings this up. She’s so fuckin insane when it comes to Ashley. She’s only a year older then him, she needs to get a grip. She’s two years older then I am, and you don’t see her complaining. But then again when you’re older two years doesn’t really make that much of a difference. In high school it means something. Juniors don’t hang out with freshmen. At least not on purpose. Every once in a while there’ll be a freshmen who’s all mature and seems older then they are, and the older kids will hang out with them.
“She is not. Buffy, he’s a thirteen-year-old boy. Now that he’s hit puberty he’s gonna fool around with any girl who’s willing to. Are you forgetting about what happened at that hotel in Monterey? He looks older then thirteen and he has my genes so girls think he’s a total hottie.” I hear her chuckle a little bit. I can feel it too since her body is pressed right against mine. “Once he gets in high school he’s probably gonna be dating girls older then him just because he looks a little older. And he does act older, you know, he’s more mature then kids his age. I think this whole ‘him being a slayer’ thing has really changed him. I think him not havin a dad has something to do with it.” This has been bothering me for a while. I feel B gently rub my stomach and I know that’s her silent way of askin me to continue. “It’s like he wants to be the man of the house ‘cause he’s the oldest boy. Maybe Sunday I should talk to him about it. Let him know who’s boss.”
“He knows that we’re in charge. But I think you’re right about him wanting to be the man of the house. He’s always been more mature, and I think that’s why. Maybe being a slayer has something to do with it. That primal side of us is always telling us to be the dominate one. The dominating boys definitely get all of the girls.” I chuckle a little bit ‘cause I know it’s true. I think Mattie’s basketball skills have somethin to do with it too. When he plays he doesn’t just win he wipes the floor with the other team. When he gets in high school that’s going to really mean something. Especially now that he’s playin football. Yeah, it’s September already. The kids started school while I was in that other world, which totally fuckin sucks. I missed their first days. Addy’s in first grade now, and Mattie’s an eighth grader. Only one more year and he’ll be in high school. That’s a fuckin scary thought.
“So how bad did you react when you walked in and saw Ashley goin down on him?” I ask with a playful little grin on my face. I hear her groan and she shakes her head a little bit. “That bad, huh? So will she be comin around here any time soon or did you scare her off for good?” Ashley knows that Buffy doesn’t like her. She would be completely stupid if she didn’t pick up on the vibes that B sends out whenever she’s around. Plus Buffy has this whole glaring thing that she does and it’s a little creepy. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Ashley’s in high school now. I’m sure their relationship will end soon. When you’re in school lunch and recess are really the only times you get to hang out. “Let’s just look at it this way: by the time we have to worry about Addy’s teenage hormones Matt will already be in college. It’s not like we have to deal with two at the same time.” I take another long drink of beer.
“Well, at least not until Joseph turns thirteen.” Fuck, I forgot all about him. Damn, that’s really going to suck. Living in the same house with two hormonal teenage slayers. Not only that but one’s a boy and the other’s a girl. We’ll be dealing with bitchiness because she doesn’t have the right clothes, or because her hair won’t do what she wants it too. And then we’ll be dealin with Joey chasin after every girl in Lincoln, just like I know Mattie is going to. Both of them will be moody, and freaking out because they can’t get dates for the dance, or just because it’s a Friday night. I have a serious feeling Addy is gonna be one of those girls who has to go out every Friday night with her friends. Buffy was the same way, and Addy definitely takes after her. And both kids are half her. My God. We’ll be lucky if we make it out alive.
BPOV
The kids were surprisingly good today while we were grocery shopping. They normally hate doing that. Joseph gets bored and then he gets cranky, Matthew is a brat because he hates shopping for anything but CDs and video games, but Addison is always a little angel because she’s just like me. She loves to shop. I know she’d rather be shopping for toys, but she likes the attention of being my little helper. I always make a list of what we need and I’ll stand by the cart and point to the thing on the self that I need, and Addy will run get it. She definitely loves the attention. I think she gets that part from Faith. Ok, so she probably gets it from both of us since I’m pretty guilty when it comes to that. I got a lot better once I became the slayer because I wasn’t allowed to have friends, but until then I was a major drama queen.
Right now we’re at Lee’s Chinese Palace. We already unloaded all our food at home so nothing is rotting in the car. I know Faith promised the kids PJ’s but they were so good that I thought it would be better if we went to the more expensive and definitely more liked Chinese place. We don’t go here much because of the price so it makes it that much better when we decide to indulge a little. And what better way to indulge then to get almost two of everything on the menu? ‘Cause I really can’t think of a better way. The people here know us pretty well, and they know that we’re going to eat almost everything. The Chow Mein sometimes doesn’t get eaten all the way but once you run out of noodles to mix it in with it’s pretty pointless and gross looking. Anyway, like I was saying, since the people know us and they know we’re going to eat everything they don’t charge us full price. They’re pretty awesome like that.
“So Addy,” Faith says around a big bite of fried rice. I really wish she wouldn’t eat with her mouth full. I give her a little glare and she knows exactly what I’m not saying. She just rolls her eyes and focuses her attention on our girl. And she wonders why the kids have such bad table manners. All they have to do is look at Faith and see her doing it. And kids mimic their parents when it comes to stuff like this. “Do you like bein in the first grade?” Oh, that’s right, I forgot to mention that. I’ve been freaking out a lot about Matthew getting older and growing up that I forgot that my little girl is getting older. Back in August, on the 26th to be exact, the kids started school. Matthew’s in the eighth grade now, and Addison is in first grade. They’re growing up just a little too fast for me.
“Yeah,” Addison says and then swallows the chewed up bite of egg roll. You see, what did I say? She’s acting just like Faith right now. If we weren’t out in public I would scold them both. But we are in public and people would definitely be able to hear me. Especially since there’s a couple sitting in the booth behind us. They haven’t said anything in a long time and I’m sure they can hear every word we’re saying right now. “I get to go on the swings now ‘cause I’m a first grader. Kindergarteners don’t get ta do that ‘cause they’re too small. They have to play in the little playground, but I get to play in the big playground now. With all the big kids an’ everything.” Yep, it’s just like a Pampers commercial. She’s a big kid now.
“That’s cool,” Faith says and takes a sip of her soda. “Do you like your teacher?” I didn’t like her teacher last year. That woman was so fucking patronizing. And I’m not talking about to the kids. I’m talking about to me. At the back to school night, and the parent teacher meetings she was such a bitch right to my face. I wanted to smack her, but I couldn’t because I would’ve gotten arrested. I understood what she was saying. Addison was being a little bit of a bully to some of the other kids because they wanted to play with Brad when she was playing with Brad, but the way she said it….She made it sound like my daughter is some crazy psycho girlfriend who never leaves Brad alone. But it doesn’t matter now because Addison’s going to be in a different class with a different teacher.
“I don’t know. She’s not as nice as Mrs. West was. She was really nice.” Ok so it was just me who thought she was mean. Hey, she acted like my baby girl is some jealous psycho girlfriend, and she’s not. She’s not even old enough to date yet. She just wanted to play with Brad, and they were playing a game that only two people can play. The last time I checked that doesn’t make someone a jealous psycho. “An’ Monica’s in my class too.” Aw, I forgot to mention her. Last year Monica was Addison’s best friend. Apparently they did almost everything together. When Addison wasn’t playing with Brad then she was playing with Monica, and all three of them usually played together. Kind of like in school when Willow and I were best friends with Xander. Only we’re talking about five year olds who don’t kill demons in their spare time.
“Mommy, I go to school too,” Joseph says and takes a bite of shrimp. He’s the youngest and out of all of us, even me, he has the best table manners. He doesn’t even wipe his hands on his clothes like all little kids do. If he doesn’t have a napkin to wipe them on then he asks for one very nicely. I don’t know how I lucked out with this one but I did and I’m very grateful for that. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get sweet and sour sauce out of clothes? Yeah, now you know why I get a little irritated when they don’t use their napkins. Anyway, Joseph is in daycare because there’s no way Faith and I could both work the way we do and have him not be in daycare. But we don’t call it daycare, we call it school. That way when he starts kindergarten things won’t be too different.
“I know you do,” I say and give him a little smile. Even though he’s way better when it comes to being a brat, he still wants my approval on almost everything. Faith was totally right, things are better since I stopped babying him. He actually plays with Addison instead of constantly whining for my attention, and instead of coming into my bedroom to cuddle with me he stays in his room. I actually get to sleep all through the night now, without him waking me up because he’s needy. Not only that but I get to have sex with my wife without being interrupted. Trust me, it sucks being interrupted by a three-year-old. It makes me feel like a perv. I have no idea why, it just does. It’s not like we’re having sex in his room while he’s in there. That would be wrong on so many levels.
“You guys are comin to my next game, right?” Matthew asks and I can’t help but get a little sad. We missed his very first game. It was during the whole crazy time when Faith was in that other dimension. My mind got so one tracked I forgot about everything else. I don’t even remember signing the papers saying he could play. He wants to play football so bad, but I don’t think it’s safe. He could really hurt someone. When you play sports it’s just like slaying. You get into it and everything else just kind of fades away, and all you can focus on is not letting the vamp get away. Or in this case the receiver who’s trying to make a touchdown. Yes, I know what that is. I’ve been with Faith for many years now so I know a little about sports. Anyway, he could be running after the receiver and get all focusey just like slayers do when they’re chasing after a vampire and he could really hurt him. But he’s my son, and I’ll support him if this is what he really wanted to do.
“Of course we are,” I say a little more seriously then I wanted to. I don’t want to turn this into a tearjerker moment. Even though it kind of is in my mind. “We’re not going to miss another game, I promise. We wouldn’t have missed your first one if things weren’t so crazy at the time.” I’m seriously starting to think he got one of the girls to forge my signature. Don’t you have to fill out medical insurance papers when your kid signs up for a sport? Because I think you do, and there’s no way I wouldn’t remember doing that. And he would’ve had to get a physical, so when did he go to the doctor? All of this is bothering me but I’m not going to bring it up now. I give him a sweet smile but he just rolls his eyes a little bit. Ok, so I think I overdid it just a little bit.
“Mom, don’t get all after-school-special, ok? It was just a question.” Faith nudges him with her shoulder, and she glares at him when he looks at her. I guess her mouth is too full for her to even try to talk. Wow, it’s a miracle, I never thought I’d see the day Faith’s mouth was too stuffed for her to eat and talk at the same time. Anyway, he gets a little bashful look on his face and he looks over at me. Awww, even if he’s starting to get all grown up he’s still my little baby. “Sorry. It’s just not a big deal.” He looks down at his place and he looks a little embarrassed. To him it’s a huge fucking deal. He doesn’t want to show it though, and he’s embarrassed that he got a little mean trying to cover it up.
“‘Course it’s a big deal,” Faith says when she finally swallows that bite. I heard it go down her throat too. She put way too much in her mouth. I’m surprised she didn’t choke. She looks over at him with a smile on her face. She doesn’t get this smile a lot in front of a bunch of other people just because we’re usually never around a lot of people when she gets them. Anyway, it’s one of those proud smiles that only a parent can get. She’s so crazy proud of him you have no idea. He’s a better man already then most of the guys she’s known, and that’s mostly because of her. I’m his mother, it’s my job to baby him, and treat him like a little prince. But Faith is different. Faith is his mama. She took it upon herself to raise him to be a good man. Someone who will make a great husband one day, and we can already tell she’s doing a good job. “I wanna see my boy kick some ass.” Addison gasps, and Joseph laughs a little.
“Mama, you said ass,” Addison says and I can’t help but laugh. She’s just so funny sometimes. It’s not so much what she said, but the way she said it and the look on her face. I swear, Addison thinks swearing is like the biggest sin ever. Every time she hears someone say a cuss word she makes a big deal about it. Even if she doesn’t know them. She’s not as shy as she used to be and that scares the hell out of me. I never know if she’s going to walk up to someone and tell them off for saying shit when they drop something and then that person will lose their temper and hurt her or something. Or maybe even kidnap her. There are a lot of sick men out there who do twisted things to little girls. I don’t even want to imagine any of it so I’m going to stop thinking about it now.
“We need more batteries for the camera. And maybe while we’re at the store we should get another memory card. The one we have only holds seven hundred. I don’t think that’s going to be enough.” I know I said that him playing football scares the hell out of me, but whenever we see him play any kind of sport we get really into it. We cheer on as loud as we can from the bleachers, and we take lots of pictures and Faith holds the camcorder. Apparently she’s better at jumping up and down and still keeping the camcorder somewhat still. If I jump up and down while I’m trying to record it looks like there’s an earthquake. Anyway, Faith gives me a little look because she knows I was being dead serious. You should see how many pictures we have of his baseball and basketball games. He started playing those in the fifth grade so we have albums full of him. I like the basketball ones the best because you can really see the determination to win.
“Ok, ok we’ll just stop and get batteries,” I say when Faith gives me another little look. I guess she actually wanted a response and not just a roll of the eyes. “But as your mother I reserve my right to tell everyone I come into contact with at the game that my son’s the quarterback.” Anyway, like I was saying, I liked going to the basketball games better. Much faster paced, a way better vibe from the crowd, and they actually had cheerleaders for halftime. In baseball all you do is stand around and wait for stuff to happen. But in basketball they have to do all the work. And Matthew was the start player on every team. In fifth and sixth grade they didn’t have captains or anything and all of the kids were given the chance to play to make it fair, because that’s how it should be. But in seventh grade my son was the captain of the team. I don’t know if baseball has captains but if they do then he was that too. “But don’t forget my rule, alright?”
“Ok,” he says and starts shoveling more food on his plate. He’s going back for seconds, which is not surprising. He’ll probably eat more then all of us. Anyway, I have a rule when it comes to the sports. Because he’s so good at athletics because of the slayer strength, and speed, and stamina I have a rule that he can’t be the absolute best at everything he does. He can be better by a little bit, and just so it’s noticeable but if he starts showing off and doing way better then everyone else where people start to suspect something then he has to quit. That’s the rule, and he knows I’ll make him quit the team if he breaks it even once. I don’t want any of this going to his head. But I’m not worried. Faith and I have done a pretty good job raising him and he knows not to get cocky.
“Can I go to Brother’s game too?” Addison asks and takes another bite of sweet and sour chicken. Aww, crap. The sauce just dripped from her chin to her shirt. Great. It’s going to be hell getting that stain out. Good thing she’s not in her school clothes or I’d be having a panic attack right now. I think it’s a little weird that Addison still calls Matthew ‘brother’ instead of calling him by his name. Joseph used to call Addison ‘sister’ but that was before he learned her name. Before that we would tell him ‘that’s your sister’ or ‘go give the toy to sissy’. But a little after he turned three he started calling her Addison. Well, he pronounces it Ad-ee-sun. And it’s the cutest damn thing to hear when he’s irritated with her.
“No, Addison, you can’t.” She looks so sad now. I hate saying no to her when she just wants to see how cool her big brother is. “I’m sorry, baby, but there’s going to be too many adults and teenagers. There’s no place for first graders at a football game. Maybe when you’re a little older you can go, ok?” She nods her head yes and I’m very surprised that she’s not arguing with me right now. “Mama’s going to record the game, and we’ll play it on the big screen and watch it. All of us. And we’ll have a little pizza party if Matthew’s team wins.” Oh yeah, that cheered her up. I can already see the little wheels inside her head turning as she thinks…whatever it is that she’s thinking right now.
“Can we have balloons?” Great, so she wants to plan it all herself. I should’ve guessed that. She likes planning things out, which is a little weird since both Faith and I hate it. But sit Addison down with some paper and a pen and she’ll have a list of things that need to be done around the house. And no I’m not kidding. She helps me write the grocery list, which is pretty sad. When you need your six-year-old to help you stay focused on making a list you definitely have some type of mental disorder. I call it chronic-boredom-syndrome.
“Well, maybe. I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see if Matthew’s team wins or not.” I give him a little wink and he just smiles. We have a deal that we made when he first started playing sports. Two or three games out of the season Matthew will play like he’s just a normal kid. He pulls way back in his performance and even if it’s a little frustrating for him he does it. I have him do this because the coaches can get a little…greedy, I guess is a good word for it. They expect my son to take their teams to victory when all of that pressure shouldn’t be placed on him because he’s just a kid. So every once in a while I’ll have him hold back, and it definitely shows.
“Mom, we shouldn’t wait ta plan it. Brother might win, and if he wins then we need to be ready.” I guess she’s sort of right. Ok, she’s very right. But I never said we were going to have the pizza party the same night as Matthew’s game. He might want to relax a little bit. Nah, he’ll probably just hang out with Lucas and celebrate by playing video games and watching R rated movies. “Ok, we need balloons, and pizza, and soda, and chips, and dip, and can we have a cake?” I give her a little ‘hell no’ type of look. “Ok no cake. Can we have ice cream?” Hmm, ice cream sounds like a good idea. I nod my head and take another bite of Chow Mein and noodles. “We should fast forward the half time part ‘cause it’s boring. Who likes watching girls jump up and down?” Faith and I instantly lock eyes and we’re giving each other some little smirks. Apparently before she dropped out of school Faith ate out almost the entire cheerleading team at her school. Not all at the same time though.
“Addy, why don’t you finish your lunch? It’s probably gettin cold. We’ll make a list of stuff when we get home, ok?” Aw, yes why didn’t I think of that? Probably because I was too busy trying not to laugh. Faith has a thing for cheerleaders. There’s no doubt about that. It’s one of the main reasons why she watches basketball on the big screen. At halftime she likes to watch the hotties come out and strut their stuff. And sometimes I do it too. Come on, I’m only human, right? And that’s why they’re there for sexual appeal. “I’ll have to ask my dad to watch the kids for us that day.” The game is this coming Thursday. Yeah, all of his games are on Thursdays which is totally retarded. It’s going to be a little hard to keep the promise I made to not miss any games, but I’m going to keep it. Anyway, I know what Faith means by ‘ask my dad to watch the kids’. That’s code for ‘I’m going to go over to my dad’s for five hours and get drunk on whiskey’.
“Ok, just don’t be gone a really long time like you did last time.” The last time she asked her dad a favor she was gone for seven hours and the kids almost tore apart the house while I was making dinner. And I was making a special dinner because I felt like it. No real reason, I just felt like doing something special for my family, special for Faith. And she didn’t get home until ten at night when the house was destroyed, and the food was cold and mostly gone. I saved her a plate but it definitely wasn’t good heated up in the microwave. I heard her complaining but one glare shut her up real quick. Anyway, I don’t mind that Faith spends a lot of time with her dad because they missed out on a lot. Thinking about it almost makes me determined to not let anything slip by me, you know? I don’t want to miss any games, or any school functions like plays, or back to school nights or science fairs. Seeing them doing stuff like that makes me even prouder then I normally am.
