The Prodigal
Forty-eight
WE TOOK THE BOYS BACK to Seattle with us as Jack headed to Boston with Lexi to help her prepare to move west. We also took an entire extra suitcase filled with baby clothes. I had no idea Mom had kept so many of mine. Lexi promised to bring all Melody’s baby clothes with her from Boston.
“Kate? Where are you going?” Lissa asked as Kate headed downstairs.
“Uh… to my room?”
“Are you going to go back there now? Didn’t we resolve this?”
“Can I? May I?”
“Kitten,” I said softly, “won’t you come back to our bed?”
“Yes! I wasn’t sure. I mean in Nebraska it was a big room and we were all in it and I didn’t know if I’d be welcome back into the big bed here when we got home and I was so worried but I didn’t want to just barge in and make myself at home because I didn’t know if it was okay and I didn’t want to push anyone into anything that…”
There was only one way to cut that stream off and I used it. Kate was still talking non-stop as my tongue probed her mouth and I carried her to the master bedroom. Wendy pounced onto the bed next to us.
“Didn’t you promise you’d make love to me tonight?” she growled.
“Yes, Tiger. I so want to make love with you.”
“Well, I sleep up here. And I want our lovers and my master to be with us while we make love.”
“I love you, Wendy. I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”
Getting five of us into the big bed wasn’t as challenging as it sounds. We had lots of experience with it. I was happy to have Melody and Lissa lying half on top of me with Kate and Wendy entwined next to us as we wound down after making love. I reached my hand out and touched both Wendy and Kate as I drifted off.
Getting closets arranged was considerably more difficult. As a temporary solution, Kate and Wendy maintained Wendy’s bedroom as a closet and slept in the big bed unless they—or we—wanted a little special time together. Mostly that worked, but there was often a little confusion as we split up among the three baths in the house to get ready in the morning. It was pure chaos.
Something would have to be done before long.
“Family meeting,” Lissa said on New Year’s Eve. We were having a few people over later, but nothing like we’d had in the past. We all settled in the living room. The boys crawled into my lap in the big chair and Wendy and Kate joined Lissa and Melody on the sofa. “It has come to my attention that our house is getting smaller. Five of us are sharing one room. Another is being used for a closet. Damon and Drew are getting to be big boys and if they want, they should each have their own room. And then there is a baby coming. We need a nursery.”
“Or two,” I snickered. I’d been teasing about having twins ever since the weekend I planted a baby in Lissa.
“Or three,” Melody grinned. She could hardly wait to start.
“Yes, beloved,” Lissa continued. “But the truth is, I’m already gaining weight and certain positions are less comfortable than they used to be. Even our big bed is getting crowded.
“And let’s not forget guests,” Wendy said. “Sometimes it gets so crowded in the big bed we have to spread out to another room. Or two.”
“How about if we turn the guest room into a nursery, the boy’s room into a closet, and give the boys the two bedrooms downstairs. It would be like you have your own apartment,” I chuckled to the guys.
“Do we get a kitchen?” Damon asked.
“Just an efficiency apartment. You’ll have to share the kitchen.”
“We could remodel,” Melody suggested. “Make the master bigger, with a bigger bed and a bigger closet…”
“And a bigger bathroom,” Kate suggested.
“…and bathroom,” Melody continued. “Then we could have a connecting nursery, give the boys their own rooms and still have room.”
“That works,” Lissa said. “Or we could shop for a new house.”
There was stunned silence. My mind was racing. A new baby. A new house. A new… relationship. How to manage it all. Who would get what? Pay for what? My god, it was overwhelming!
“I move that the first order of business be to expand the partnership,” Melody said. “I want Kate and Wendy to become full partners. Then we can legally buy and inhabit any home we want to.”
“Wait a minute. That’s not fair,” I said. “Between art sales and Ice Queen, the three of us contribute more or less equally and agreed to hold everything in common. But Kate is making a ton more money off of her art than I ever will from mine. It’s not fair to ask her to contribute on the same terms as the rest of us.”
Kate got up and came to me. She asked the boys if she could borrow their spot and they gladly jumped up to go play. They were bored with the meeting already and all they wanted was to get their own ‘apartment’. Kate settled into my lap and kissed me.
“Tony, my love,” she said softly, “did you really mean to say Wendy couldn’t be a partner because she doesn’t have as much money to contribute?” Oh shit! I looked at Wendy and saw the tears running down her cheeks. Melody and Lissa moved to either side and hugged her.
“No! I mean… I was just… If there is a god in heaven, please teach me to keep my mouth shut!”
“I think she just did, darling,” Kate whispered.
“Wendy—Tiger, that’s not what I meant,” I said.
“But it’s true. I don’t have anything. How could I be part of the partnership?” she cried.
“It’s not true that you don’t have anything,” Lissa said gently. “When we started the partnership two-and-a-half years ago, I was the only one who had money. And I had this house. Tony had talent, but had yet to sell a painting. Melody had a talent for fabric design but no concept of how to make a living. Tony made the same objections then that he’s still spouting now. Each person is free to bring what they want into our partnership and if either of you want, we can sign an agreement to exclude whatever part of your current assets you want to hold back. But there is no one who is worth less than the others. We are equal partners. Wendy, you have shown us more talent, love, and determination than any of us can even grasp. You inspire us to be better people. Do not ever say you don’t bring anything to the partnership. We love you and want you to be with us.”
“That’s right. I’m just as stupid now as I was then. Kate, you never wanted to be a part of the partnership. We always understood that. Do you want to be part of it now?”
“Seven nights ago, I came back,” Kate said. “I know I’ve been living here for four months, but I only came back on Christmas Eve. I thought long and hard about what it would mean if I stopped holding back. I’ve thought of nothing else since I stood on your doorstep in the rain in September. I told you on Christmas Eve: I’m all in. No reservations. There is nothing you could ask of me that I would deny.” She leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Nothing.” I looked at Kate and she smiled at me. All the dark spots in my soul were illuminated. I felt love washing over me in waves. I looked at the sofa and Wendy, Lissa, and Melody were all grinning at me equally.
“I’ll test that,” I whispered to Kate.
“Please do.” I squirmed a little.
“Before you ask another question, Tony, I think it’s important that Lissa and I do this,” Melody said. I raised an eyebrow. “Wendy, we all love you and we accept you for who you are just like you are. Tony will agree to whatever we say about this, so you don’t have to consult him. Will you please join our family partnership?”
“Melody, I never had a home before I came here. I lived with my parents and dreamed of escaping one day. I lived with Rafe and lost hope. I lived in a tent and even that was taken away from me. Tony is my hero. He loved me and without asking anything in return, he reached in and saved me. You and Lissa and Kate loved me without demand or expectation. And I fell in love with all of you—Kate first, but all of you. I would love to be part of the family partnership.”
Kate and I jumped up joined the three on the sofa in a group hug, each of us kissing on Wendy and Kate to welcome them.
“What a great way to start the New Year,” Lissa said. “Motion carried. I’ll call John MacDonald on Thursday and ask him to draw up the new partnership agreement.”
“I need to use the bathroom.” I said. I left the four on the sofa.
I’d hidden it carefully when we got back from Nebraska. I dug into my sports bag and beneath my racquet found the box. I took a deep breath, washed my hands, and shoved the box in my pocket before returning to the living room. Nothing you could ask of me that I would deny. Nothing, she’d whispered. I hoped she meant it because otherwise I was going to make an incredible ass of myself… again. They were all right where I left them—Kate next to Lissa, Wendy sandwiched between Melody and Lissa on the sofa. I bent over Lissa and kissed her on the cheek. She turned her lips toward me and I kissed her there as well.
“Lissa, my mentor, coach, partner, mother of my child, I love you, I honor you, and I cherish you. You are my anchor to reality.” I touched her tummy, hardly pushing against me, and then lowered my face to put my cheek against her. “I love you, my baby Ames. Before you ever come into the world, know that your daddy loves you and will always be here for you.” I moved over to Melody and whispered in her ear, also putting my hand on her belly.
“Melody, you are my strength, my defender, my insatiable lover. I’m going to plant our children in this tiny tummy of yours. You have been my love since the moment we met. You should go off birth control in March so that the day you graduate in May we can start our next child together.” I’m pretty good at recognizing the physical arousal of my lovers and I know for a fact that Melody came just from my hand on her tummy and my words in her ears. She grabbed me and smothered me with a kiss that left me dizzy.
I moved back to Wendy and saw her hand start to rise to her throat as I knee-walked toward her. I caught it before she could touch the tiger eye stone there. I brought her hands together and held them between my own as I leaned in to her.
“You are mine, Tiger. You will always be mine. I need you as much as you need me, and I will never let you go. You love us all, but you will serve me.” Wendy was shaking when I brought my lips first to her fingertips and then to her lips. I heard her breathe the word “Master” as our lips came together and could feel her bliss. We didn’t often show the master-servant relationship to our lovers. It still made them a little uncomfortable. But as I looked at each of them, I saw acceptance. At last, I continued my knee-walk to Kate.
“I love your little rituals, Tony,” Kate giggled. She held her arms out to me. I held up my hand and leaned back just out of her reach.
“I had to think about this, too,” I said. “About you becoming part of our family again. It wasn’t enough to forgive you or you to forgive me. I had to forgive myself as well, and that was a lot harder. You are my teacher in love, forgiveness, and patience.
“Kitten, you knew that Melody and Lissa and I were together from the beginning. You watched me paint the mural and saw it there. You knew all this and fell in love with us anyway—with all us all. And you let me fall in love with you. And you discovered that you could love Wendy just as much. Your capacity for love is a hundred times anyone I’ve ever met, and I know some intense lovers,” I laughed. Melody, Lissa, and Wendy were all preening dramatically. “And in case you didn’t know before, now you’ve just heard me declare to each of them my undying love and devotion.”
“I don’t know how to describe us,” I continued. “When I’m not with you, I have an inconsolable longing. I have a hurt that can’t be soothed. I feel like—I felt like I’d lost my soul when you left. When we are together, or even when I know I’ll be with you soon, I’m at peace. I feel like everything is right. I feel calm. When you were gone, there was a hole in my life that I filled daily with hope. When you returned, you filled that hole with love.” I was being long-winded, but it was important to me to get this all out in the open.
“And I lust for you. When I’m with you—even when I think about you—every nerve in my body comes alive. I tingle with new sensations. I get so hard I feel like I’ll burst. I salivate to taste your lips, your skin, your pussy.” Three quiet voices next to us moaned, but they let me have my say. “I want to bury my nose in your hair and memorize you all over again. I feel about you like I feel about painting. Without it, the world would be flat, colorless, and bleak. With it, my soul finds release.” I kissed her lightly. She moved to pull me deeper, but I sank back to my knee in front of her and slipped the box from my pocket.
“I think of you, Kitten, as my mate, my life’s partner, my soul mate, my wife. Katarina Mirela Holsinger, will you marry me?” I held the box open to her. Her mouth dropped open. She looked toward the others.
“Melody? Lissa? Wendy?” All three were vigorously nodding. Kate held out her hand to me. “Yes, Tony. With all my heart, yes.”
“Seriously?” Allie asked. “I wish I had been here.”
“It was so… moving to see Melody propose to Lissa last year. Will you do it again and let us watch?” Whitney begged.
“It’s so pretty,” Bree said, examining Kate’s ring. “I swear, if Tony hadn’t finally bought that on Christmas Eve, none of us would have received a single present.”
“You saw it?” Kate asked.
“No. But every time we passed the jewelry store, Tony just stopped and stared in the window. I finally told him to go buy it or we’d never get any Christmas shopping done.”
“That sounds like Tony. Gets something in his head and he can’t do anything else until he takes care of it,” Rio said.
“Hey, Rio,” I said, trying to get the conversation off my reenacting the proposal. “Where’s Matt tonight?”
“Apparently New Year’s Eve brings out all the world’s junior hackers to try and breach major security systems. Obviously, Google is a prime target. So, he’s in the office doing battle with the computer hordes who are threatening your personal information.”
“That sounds so exciting.”
“He says it’s kind of boring. Bunch of geeks playing games. So, they get together and bring a couple of phishing sites down while they’re waiting for something to happen.”
“Kate,” Allison said, softly. “I just want to know so I don’t go off making a mess of things. I’m awfully fond of both you and Tony—not to mention the rest of the family. Will you guys be exclusive now or will we still be able to play sometimes?”
“Allison! You are more of a slut than I am!” Rio exclaimed.
“Family dynamics change,” Allie said. “I just want to make sure I don’t do something to mess things up.”
“I’d kind of like to know, too,” Whitney said. “I like being with you all and even though I’ve never been with anybody but Tony and Lissa, it doesn’t mean I’m not interested.”
“Girls,” Kate said, huddling up with them. “Except for tonight when I expect to go fuck my fiancé senseless, you will always be welcome to share our bed. Remember the Dominican Republic, Allie? And Whitney, next time you are in the big bed, don’t be surprised if there are more tongues and fingers on you than you can count.”
“I can count pretty high,” she laughed.
“You won’t be able to count with your brain turned to mush.”
“Oh gawd!”
“Bree…”
“Don’t worry, Kate. I’ve got your number and a bottle of oil.”
“I feel so left out,” Rio sighed.
“I don’t know, Rio. I hear I could learn some interesting things from you. It gives a whole new meaning to Ice Queen.”
“Let’s have a toast to the New Year,” Wendy said. “It’s almost midnight.” She poured fresh glasses of champagne for everyone, carefully switching to Catawba for Lissa. “To the New Year and old friends.”
END PART IV
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