Page 18 of Dared
“I’ll put on my clothes until we get home, but then we’re going to spend the entire weekend naked.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s cute the way you think you’re in charge.”
Epilogue – Luisa
Three years later...
“Aaahhh!”
I flinched as a piercing scream came from the other room. Our daughters had two volumes: loud and louder. Apparently, my girls had woken up from their nap and they were already getting in trouble.
“Are you going to check that out?” Angela asked, taking a gulp of her drink.
I smirked at her nervousness around kids. Despite the fact that several people in our friend group had kids now, Angela still seemed ill at ease around them. It cracked us all up the way the youngsters seemed to sense her discomfort and want to torture her the same way that cats liked to rub against the one person in the room who was afraid of them.
“Auntie!” a tiny voice shrilled.
We both looked down to see my two-year-old daughter Keeley running towards Angela with her arms wide open. She had a sucker in one hand and what looked like mud on the other. She’d probably been digging in one of my plants again. I swooped in and grabbed her before she could stain Angela’s expensive outfit. Even dressed in casual clothes, the owner of Club Surrender looked impeccable.
Paula and I adopted Keeley and her sister shortly after we got married. Keeley was six months old, and Latoya was eighteen months old when they came to live with us. They’d both gone into foster care after their mother started a twenty year prison sentence for killing someone while high on drugs. With no father on record for either of the girls, the state convinced their mother to sign over her rights, and the girls were put up for adoption.
The social worker had stressed how hard it was to find parents to take two kids at once, especially when they were different races and came from particularly challenging circumstances. We hadn’t cared about any of that. Both Paula and I knew they’d been meant to be with us from the minute we saw their tiny little faces.
Just like when we’d first met, it had been love at first sight.
Having two kids under the age of four was not easy, but we were making it work. They might have had a hard start, but the girls had thrived under our care. Paula and I loved being parents, and our marriage was stronger every day we were together.
It helped our relationship that we were committed to having regular ‘couple time’, including a date night at Club Surrender at least twice a month. Over the years, Paula had become more skilled and confident as a dominatrix, although she still refused to scene with anyone but me. I was fine with that. Turns out I was a jealous wife.
“What’s the screaming about?” Mariah asked, coming into the kitchen with baby Belinda in her arms.
Mariah and Zelda had finally had a baby after several unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination. We couldn’t be happier for them. I’d gotten to know Mariah pretty well over the last couple of years. Since Paula and Zelda were good friends, we all spent a lot of time together.
“Why were you screaming, sweetie?” I asked Keeley.
She just laughed and gave me a sticky kiss. My heart melted.
“Hey baby.”
Paula came in from the living room wearing running clothes and carrying Latoya on her hip, Zelda and Tracie following behind her. Tracie had decided that she wanted to run a marathon for her fortieth birthday, so Paula and Zelda were helping her train. The three of them were planning to run the Seattle marathon together this November.
As their runs got longer, it left me, Mariah, and Angela in charge of the kids on Saturday mornings. Angela looked visibly relieved as Tracie walked in, red faced and sweaty. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was happy to see her wife, or if Angela had met her quota of ‘being around kids’ time. Maybe a bit of both.
“I need carbs, lots and lots of carbs,” Tracie announced dramatically. “We ran eighteen miles today and I’m so hungry! Let’s order some pizzas!”
She rubbed Angela’s shoulder before flopping down into a chair like she couldn’t stand upright anymore.
“You’re going to eat more calories than you just ran off,” Zelda teased. “This is why people gain weight training for marathons.”
“Shh, no calorie or weight talk around the kids,” I reminded her.
We were all committed to raising our girls to not be focused on their weight or appearance. They’d have plenty of time to hear negative messages about their bodies when they got older. They would only hear body positivity from their parents.
Zelda turned her attention to the baby in her wife’s arms, walking over to press a kiss on the baby’s forehead.
“You will be beautiful inside and out no matter what you look like Belinda,” Zelda said solemnly. “Just like your momma.”
She gave Mariah a kiss on the cheek before heading to the refrigerator for a bottle of water. “Now what was that about pizza?”
