I never wanted her to feel one moment of despair or hurt because of my relationship with the others. She’d assured me that she was fine that she’d always known it would be like this and as long as she knew she had my love she could deal. But true to form she’d stipulated that I better never make her feel left out or there would be hell to pay. Since there was no danger of that ever happening I guess we will be fine.
Arlene was now acting like a wife and not like a shadow of herself. She had new confidence now that her neglectful husband had got his head out of his ass and was treating her the way she deserved. It wasn’t taking away from the other to show one love and appreciation. This is something I’d never grasped before. No one could teach you how to be a man. I had to learn that for myself. Hopefully I’d get it right this time.
I won't think of such things anymore today though. Today was a happy day. I knew the others had decorated the house with a welcome back theme. Her girlfriends had wanted to have a full on party but I had convinced them that she would be too tired for that, maybe in a few months or so for the babies' christenings. They'd moaned and groaned but had had to be satisfied with decorating and leaving it at that.
They rushed out of the house when we pulled up, followed by the grandpas who had somehow been shanghaied into helping out. “You ready Wildflower?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Chapter 21
Alana
Six weeks check up. I can't believe that much time has gone by already, but we're at docs to check up on me and the babies to make sure everything is coming along as it should. It has been the most amazing six weeks. My girls went back to L.A. like four weeks ago, but we Skype or FaceTime at least twice a week. We have a video log of the babies, poor things will face some embarrassing moments as either teens or adults, their every moment is pretty much being documented.
Cody's here with me of course, Cody's always with me. We won't be going back to work for at least another month, though he sometimes goes into the office for half a day. It is his company after all, but he is never too far from us. All the angst about taking care of multiples has lessened considerably, due mostly to Cody. The man worries enough for both of us. I swear I had to start hiding those books that the specialist recommended because my crazy husband would read that shit and take it as gospel. If you ask me, yes, some of those books held very good information. But then there were some that were just full of don'ts. My hubby tended to gravitate towards those.
I had talked him into hiring only one nanny instead of two. I did want to raise my kids myself after all. The first one was some young thing named Victoria. I hated that bitch from day one, but not to seem too controlling or more like insecure I gave her a shot. When I noticed that she spent more time worrying about Cody's whereabouts than my children I told Cody how I felt. He didn't even question it; she was gone when I woke up the next day.
Arlene was...she was coming along. I know some days were harder for her than others, especially with Cody being so attentive to our babies and I. I even brought it up to him once and his answer had been that he'd already had a talk with her about it. And aside from that he’d lived his life for others for too long, now he was doing what he wanted. And apparently what he wanted was to shower his kids and I, all his kids, with as much love and devotion as we could stand.
Don't get me wrong, he still spent time with Arlene, private time. I too was getting better at accepting that part of my life. The babies kept me grounded somehow. So that now if he passed his hand through her hair or something equally sweet I only wanted to maim him not kill. And those times when I was held tight in Cody's arms when the lights were off and the house was quiet. I knew I wouldn't have it any other way. If my only option was this life or a life without him, I choose this one.
"So, you're fine, the babies are fine. What do you say we leave the kids with our moms and the babysitter and run away for the afternoon, just you and me? We haven't really been away from them since we brought them home, a.........n.........d."
I smirked at him, yeah right. "Who're you trying to kid? The doctor just gave the okay and you wanna get your freak on." I laughed out loud when he blushed and made it even worst by planting my hand in his lap.
I rubbed him as he drew in breath. When he turned his head to look at me I was biting my lip, and giving him the sexy eyes. He pushed his hips up and I felt his growing hard on, which I'd missed like crazy. Even though I had stopped bleeding like two weeks ago he still refused to touch me intimately until after the doctor gave the go ahead. I missed the dick.
We were two rushing parents when we reached the house. Darlene and Margo were smiling rather knowingly at us when we told them we were gonna run off for a little drive in the country.
When we reached my meadow, that place I had found and fallen in love with on my long walks when I first arrived. There was some sort of log cabin sitting on it, right by the water.
"Shit, somebody took over my meadow." I could hear the tears in my voice. I really loved this place. Cody and I had shared some great moments here.
"Come on let's go see." I waited for him to get my door but I wasn't really interested in meeting whoever it was that stole my space. He held my hand and led me to the little porch before opening the door.
"Cody..." I was about to tell him we shouldn't just barge in to someone else's place but one look told me all I needed to know. And then I really started to cry.
He folded me in his arms and kissed my head. "I take it you like it then?"
I could only nod my head. The crazy man had bought the land and built me a log cabin. It wasn't even a ten minute drive from home. "You're insane, we live right down the street." I was sniffling into his chest.
"Driving, maybe, but walking it's a lot longer than that, and besides you love it here. I wanted you to have it. Consider it another one of your mommy gifts."
"Uh, I think you already went above and beyond on that one babe."
"It'll never be enough." He'd gotten me a suite of Jewelry fit for a queen literally. It was something Cartier had made back in the eighteen hundreds for some Indian Raja for his favorite wife. It was made of diamonds and rubies in this huge ass necklace that weighed almost as much as the babies, with matching bracelet and earrings. I had no idea where he thought I could wear that thing but it was fucking gorgeous. Maybe if some royal invited us to a state dinner I could break it out. For now I had taken to wearing the bracelet, which was of significant size but still not as cumbersome as the necklace, on an almost daily basis. I do like my bling and this was the best of the best. I'm not the type to lock shit away and peek at it. I'll wear that shit to Costco if I want.
He’d built a one-room cabin, but that room was huge and there was a loft with a skylight. I knew exactly want I wanted it to be. Our getaway pad, no matter that it wasn't that far away. I don't think either of us would ever want to be too far away from the children anyway.
I put all those thoughts aside. I was healthy, clean and my hubby was hard against my tummy. Tears forgotten, I started kissing on him; his neck, his square jawline, my hands running over his a chest under his shirt.
"I missed having you inside me."
"I missed being there." He was kissing me and picking me up at the same time. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he sucked on my tongue so forcefully I felt the pull in my womb.
My kitty was already soaked, no need for foreplay. I had missed him so much, missed the closeness, the sharing. We stumbled up the stairs to the loft, neither of us wanting to let go. I felt a warm cloud under my back as he laid me down on the bed and covered me with his body. I could barely make out a carved headboard at one end of it; who cared? We tore each other's clothes off, mouths still attached, my legs riding high on his hips trying to push his pants off with my feet.
"Wait baby, I have to leave you long enough to take our clothes off."
"No, get back here, I miss feeling your weight on top of me." There was laughter and playfulness as we hurried to
take off the rest of our clothes. As his chest was bared I bit, licked and sucked on his beautiful flesh, my heart swollen with the knowledge that this amazing man loved me.
His hands and mouth on me made me hot. The thought of his love, made me burn. He kissed his way down my body taking me into his mouth. I wanted to tell him I didn't want that just him this first time, but the words got stuck in my throat. He wasn't just eating my pussy he was feasting. Tongue, fingers, teeth, even his chin came into play.
My legs were spread to almost breaking point but I didn't care, he needed all the room he could get. I don't remember my husband being this ravenous for my body. For a woman who had just had four babies this was a heady feeling.
"Please, please, please..." He didn't make me beg too long, but glided up my body and slipped into me on a sigh.
"Wildflower..." I looked up at his face as he breathed my name, his eyes closed, head thrown back, and the most beautiful look on his face.
We started out nice and slow, his strokes into me filling everything. He took both my hands and held them under his above my head as he sucked my nipple into his mouth. My milk came down and I came so hard I lifted us both off the bed. He slammed into me then taking us down once more. His arm went under the crook of one knee as he drove home time and again, and still he didn't release my tit.
Hands in his hair I pulled him off one and led him to the other, all while still cumming. Truth; this was the best loving we'd ever shared. The emotion alone was off the charts.
"I love the way you feel around my cock. So perfect, so soft and warm. I could stay inside you forever. Fuck I love you."
Shit, I was never gonna stop cumming at his rate. I pulled his mouth down to mine as my hips met his thrust for thrust.
The headboard banged against the wall as he went from love making to all out fucking. I wrapped both legs around his hips as he once again clasped both my hands in his. Why did that feel so intimate? Our moans and groans filled the air as he pounded into me, his chest raised eyes locked on mine. That look in his eyes, he owned me in that moment. I felt tears cloud my vision as he mouthed the words 'I love you.' I felt him twitch and jerk inside me as he rocked into me and we came together, our fingers clenched tightly together, my walls tightening around him, milking him.
"You will always own my heart my Wildflower." He slid part way out of me as he leaned down to kiss my heart. I couldn't form words as my throat was too clogged with emotion. Yes, I am loved.
Epilogue
Sharon
Five years have gone by. Five years of ups and downs, hardships, trials and tribulations. Years of hate and despair, at least in the beginning. I remember how much I hated her, the little usurper from L.A. with her crass manners and her top of the line everything. Things had been so good before she came along. Not perfect mind you. After all a woman knows when her husband was losing interest. But I was sure that with time I could've won him over. And then she came and everything changed.
I saw the change in him, it was gradual, subtle, but it was there. Especially after they came home from the hospital with her litter; yes that's what I thought of her and them. I hated her with my every breath. Would that I could do away with her for good. But he watched her like a hawk her and them, his precious sons.
From the glimpses I was allowed since I'd been banished from my own home. I saw a new Cody; this wasn't my husband the man I had come to know. No, this man was jovial, animated. Alive in a way I had always hoped for but could never achieve. That she was the one responsible for this new him only served to make my hatred grow. And Arlene that spineless goat, I watched her as she followed the whore around like a lost sheep. She always was a gullible fool.
And then he came to see me. It was two months or so after the babies were home. He seemed so far removed, so distant. "How are you Sharon?"
"How do you think I am? Separated from my family, thrown out of my home?"
"Do you really want to start this conversation off like this?"
I preferred it when he was indifferent. When he paid no heed to things around him, when I could lead him where I wanted. This new Cody would not be so easily led. I took a deep breath and calmed my raging anger hoping to keep it well hidden. I couldn't forget what he had threatened, total and complete exile. I wanted to curl my lips in a sneer at the very thought.
"Is there no hope for me then? You don't love me not even just a little bit?"
"No. Not this you, the girl I met and fell for, maybe. But she isn't here, hasn't been for a very long time."
I wanted to rail against him for that. Wanted to hit and bite and scream until the pain in my heart disappeared.
"I just came to let you know that I've made an appointment for you with a specialist. If there's any change in the next three months then I'll join you for couple's counseling. If that goes well then the four of us will go to family counseling together. But know this, this is your one and only chance. If you screw this up nothing and no one will save you. And don't think to fool me by pretending, there's too much at stake for me to take chances. I will be keeping my eyes on you."
"I can't believe that you will treat me this way because of..."
"Drop it, we've been all over this already and this behavior isn't making me very hopeful. You keep blaming others for your actions, but no one's to blame but you. Remember, if you choose to stay in this family, you have to accept it as it is, not as you would like it to be. Alana is here to stay, know that. I wouldn't have thrown you out for her, but I will throw you out because of you. My family will be happy. If you continue to be a deterrent to that happiness, believe me, I have no qualms about casting you aside. And not just from my home, but from our community. Do not forget who's heir to our little kingdom and who will have the last say. Pose a threat to my wife and my kids and I promise you, you'll live to regret it."
And with that he had left. I don't think I'd ever seen him so angry and yet so dispassionate. It was as though we were strangers. Not a man and his wife who had once been intimate, who shared a child. Of course my first recourse was anger. I fed on it for days, plotting all kinds of scenarios in my head. In all of them the interloper died a horrible death. If Cody had been privy to my thoughts he would've had me locked away somewhere for sure.
Arlene
It sure has been crazy around here let me tell you. Crazy, but kind of good, even with all the drama. I'm a quiet person by nature. It takes a lot to get me started; I was raised to be that way. Not that the women in my home were mistreated or anything, there was no seen and not heard. It's just that my three moms had that same disposition. I guess my dad lucked out. Cody is my world, has always been since I was old enough to know who he was and what he would mean to me one day.
We have a good life together, but it's the life I've always expected to live. I don't make waves. That's not me but I watch. I observe from the sidelines. When Alana first came I knew there was going to be trouble. Not only was she young, beautiful and spirited, she just didn't seem like one to fit in. She was more the type to break the mold and reshape it. I didn't want to be reshaped. I liked things just as they were.
Sharon was a leader; at least that's how I saw her. I had no problem following her lead, that's what she needed. As long as my daughter and I were taken care of, I saw no reason to speak out about anything. It could be because by the time Sharon came along I had already accepted the fact that I was not the great love of Cody’s life. Not that he wasn't a kind and loving husband he was that and more, but a woman knows these things. He felt warm and affectionate towards me, but he wasn't in love with me. The women of our community have been getting married for duty for generations this is nothing new.
I was also raised to expect this possibility. From some of the stories I’ve heard, I think I had still done better than some. After Sharon came along I thought for sure she would be it for him. That had stung a little I am a woman after all. But within months it was obvious to me if not her, that that wasn't the case. He was still searc
hing, maybe not actively, but there was something missing.
Life changed after that. Sharon started getting more and more...bossy, I would say. She called the moves and I went along. Cody seemed even more distant in those days, like he was just going through the motions, it was sad. Then Alana was here, and boy did things really change. I saw a new Cody.
He was, alive, whole. I didn't know how to deal with that in the beginning, knowing that this new person had finally done in such a short time what I couldn't achieve in all the time we were together. It was easy to follow in Sharon's hatred of her. And when Sharon planted the seed of doubt in my ear, the idea that this Alana will one day steal our husband away with her worldly ways. I was ready to do anything to get rid of her.
After the way Cody spoke to Sharon that night after the party, and I saw in him that he really would put us all aside, it jolted me. Just as I would do anything for the man I loved, that man would do anything for the woman he loved. That had hurt a little as well. It was like something withering and dying. That something was my hope that even after all that had gone, he would one day look at me and realize I was his great love.
After the babies came home things really changed for me. I thought I would be envious that Alana had the boys and I had only one girl in almost seven years, one girl and then nothing. I would've kept my distance and been the dutiful wife but no more had it not been for that Victoria girl.
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