Turn for Home

by Lara Zielinsky

  "Mom, I fell on my ass in front of everybody."

  "But you prevented her from falling, too."

  Thomas cocked his head in thought. "You're right." His dust-covered face split into a wide grin.

  Brenna patted his shoulder and straightened up. "Well, you rest that ankle. I'll start dinner."

  "Need some help?" Cassidy asked.

  "No. I just thought I'd put together a casserole."

  Cassidy pushed to her feet with her uninjured right arm. "Doctor says I have to move around some."

  "But you spent all day out."

  "You did?" Thomas asked.

  "A little sunshine goes a long way," Cassidy said with a smile. To Brenna she added, "I promise I'll sit down if I get tired."

  "I'll put a stool from the breakfast bar in the kitchen."

  Cassidy sighed. "All right."

  After collecting the ingredients, Brenna took down a cutting board. "I'll chop."

  Working the can opener for the soup stock, Cassidy sat on the breakfast stool next to Brenna. From their position, they could see Thomas settling back, lifting his foot onto the tabletop. His gaze turned to Ryan, and he was soon lightly rubbing the back of the five-year-old's calf.

  Apparently smelling the aromas of the cooking vegetables when Brenna seared them in a wok, James appeared, smiling at his brother until he noted Thomas' injury with some alarm. "What happened to you?"

  "Snake hole," Thomas said. "How's your weekend been?"

  Flopping down on the couch, James blurted, "A damn sight better than yours. Mom's agreed to let me sell my paintings."

  "That's great!"

  Obviously, Thomas was not surprised by the revelation about the gallery showing. Brenna frowned. What else am I going to be the last to know?

  Cassidy nudged her. When Brenna met her gaze, Cassidy asked quietly, "Are you mad that Thomas already knew?"

  "I just thought I knew my sons a little better than I apparently do," she whispered back.

  "Well, maybe my convalescence can give you some down time, too."

  Ryan woke and Cassidy watched Thomas begin wrestling with the boy on the couch. Leapfrogging over Thomas' waist, Ryan slammed into James, and Cassidy held her breath.

  "Squirt, I am not a trampoline," James said, easily picking Ryan up. But he only gently tossed him in the air toward his brother. "Here, catch."

  Thomas caught Ryan, who laughed. "Wanna go hit some balls outside 'til dinner's ready?"

  "I'm not very good," Ryan said.

  "We'll teach you."

  "Chance says Daddies do that."

  "Well," Thomas said, "dads and...almost big brothers."

  "Brothers?" Ryan asked.

  "Yeah. C'mon, Slugger." James urged Ryan out ahead of them, and Thomas followed after them relying heavily on his crutches.

  James picked up the bat and glove from just outside the door, while Ryan grabbed a ball.

  Brenna stopped Thomas. "Almost big brothers?"

  "Yeah."

  Nothing else needed to be said. Brenna stepped back as Thomas shifted his weight on the crutches, then her gaze followed Thomas outside.

  Turning back to the kitchen, Brenna's saw Cassidy leaning on the kitchen wall, her mouth open in surprise. Brenna reached out and caressed Cassidy's chin, then slipped her arm behind Cassidy's head and gently pulled her down for a kiss. Drawing back, Brenna said with a smile, "Hi, Mom."

  Cassidy responded happily, "Hi, Mom."

  Epilogue

  It was a beautiful Saturday, and Cassidy was sitting on the swing by the pool deck in Brenna's backyard. Two weeks had passed, two weeks of Brenna taking Ryan with her to the set while Cassidy continued to recuperate. Today Brenna was out running some errands, and Ryan was working on his batting. Since Thomas and James had taught him how to swing at the baseball while it was resting on a batting tee, Ryan had been practicing diligently ever since.

  Gently swaying to and fro, Cassidy sighed deeply. She hadn't heard anything from her parents, not to follow up on her recovery or to pursue the legal trouble her father had threatened. Obviously her words had had an impact on him. She suspected it would be some time before she could expect her father's civility, or want to give it to him in return.

  As she watched Ryan with pride, occasionally calling out her approval, she felt a surge of relief that Mitch's custody of Ryan would never again be an issue. Her ex-husband had been arraigned on attempted murder charges, for his attack on her and the flower deliveryman he had assaulted and robbed of his clothing and ID in order to camouflage his presence on the set. The battered man had been found unconscious in a bathroom stall near the prop room. Charges for battery on the reporter, Don Deering, hadn't been completed yet. The man was trying to convince them to tell him their story exclusively instead of worrying about being beaten. She shook her head in disbelief at the disordered priorities of a member of the press.

  Then Cassidy shivered at the realization of how close she had come to losing Ryan. She watched him protectively as he ran after another batted ball. He looked stronger to her now. And he was less dependent on her. She realized that in the fall, he would be starting kindergarten and, she suspected, he would be physically and emotionally ready.

  Looking into the clear sky, Cassidy realized it was quickly turning into evening. Brenna had said she would be gone only a short while, but had been gone for more than three hours, missing Cassidy's physical therapy session. That was worrying. She usually made it a point to be available during PT in case the therapist had instructions for follow up.

  As if on cue, Cassidy heard the sound of an engine cutting off out front. She could hear the door of the SUV opening, and suddenly there was barking.

  The side gate to the back yard clattered and opened. Ryan ran to it as Ranger, Cassidy's Dalmatian, bounded inside, pulling Brenna behind him. He stopped as soon as he spotted Ryan, eagerly licking the boy as Brenna released the clip of the leash and secured the backyard gate.

  Brenna coiled the leash around her fist and walked across the garden path toward Cassidy. "I'm back," she called.

  "I can see that. Are you sure you want to have Ranger here?"

  "If my begonias survive, I'll live. But I thought it would be good for Ryan." Brenna sat down on the swing as Cassidy shifted to make room.

  "You didn't have to do this."

  "I did." Brenna wrapped her arm around Cassidy's shoulders and they melded together. "Ryan was miserable here with all his things at your house."

  "After you get off work, you've been stopping there with him and letting him pick something to bring over here every day for a week."

  "But it wasn't anything that he really wanted."

  Cassidy nodded her recognition of Brenna's perception, and then Brenna kissed her. "And, I have something for you."

  "Something for me? You brought over half my closet last week."

  Brenna handed over a pamphlet. "It's a birthday present for you."

  "My birthday?" Cassidy rubbed her forehead as she considered the revelation for a moment. "I'd forgotten."

  "You've been sort of...distracted. Then again, that's what a lover's supposed to remember, right? Birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions."

  Cassidy looked at the pamphlet. "So, what's this?"

  "A weekend vacation package for your birthday. I haven't booked it yet, I wanted to talk to you first, but...I was remembering back...in January, when we were talking about our plans after Time Trails. I was thinking about a ski weekend."

  "Kind of out of the question," Cassidy said, indicating her wrapped ribs.

  Brenna kissed her then, indulging them both in the taste and feel of their rising passion. "I don't ski either," she admitted, "but I thought...snowed in in a luxurious lodge...Irish coffees...curled up by a fireplace..." She punctuated her description with breathy kisses down Cassidy's throat.

  Cassidy cleared her throat. "Sounds...warm."

  "I thought so."

  "The doctor did clear me to return to work
in another week."

  "So, no snuggling by a fireplace until after we're done shooting?"

  Cassidy shook her head then kissed Brenna's nose before moving on to taste her lips. "How about when Time Trails is over, we plan another family camping trip?" she suggested.

  "Every day will be a vacation with you here," Brenna said, "but going away together would be really nice."

  The noise of feet thrashing through flowers caught both women's attention, and they looked over in time to see Ryan go sprawling in a flower bed along the far side of the pool while Ranger bounced enthusiastically around him.

  "I'm sorry about the flowers," Cassidy said. She called out to Ryan, "Ryan, bring Ranger out—"

  Brenna's hand on her arm stopped her.

  Brenna teared up. "It's...not important. Please?"

  "It is important, Bren. I told you—"

  Brenna swallowed and shook her head. "He's just a boy."

  "With a big dog!" Cassidy winced as her sharp tone caused Brenna to recoil. "My place is Ranger-proofed. Yours isn't."

  "Maybe we can find a doggie daycare—"

  "Brenna!"

  Brenna burst to her feet and turned around. "I need this to work out!"

  Clasping Brenna's hands between her own, Cassidy pulled Brenna back down into the swing. "It will. Be patient. A lot has changed in such a short while; we all need time to adjust. Thomas starts college. Ryan starts kindergarten. We can find a way. Together. But you can't just make the choices, or assume all the responsibility, or suffer quietly when something you love is being trampled." She gestured toward the flowers. "We'll take Ranger back to Gwen and Lou tomorrow." She cupped Brenna's cheek as her lover wiped her eyes.

  "Everything's moving so quickly," Brenna said wistfully. "I can't believe Ryan starts school in the fall. Have you decided where you'll enroll him?"

  "The school where Gwen teaches serves my neighborhood."

  "But that's all the way across town."

  Cassidy saw Brenna's hesitation. "It's where we live," Cassidy said quietly, knowing where the conversation was going. "I should go home soon."

  "Just because you are able to go doesn't mean you have to move out. I thought we were doing well. We love waking up together. We get Ryan ready together..." With a wince, Brenna resigned herself.

  Cassidy rubbed Brenna's shoulder. "It'll be spring soon. I have things I need to do."

  Brenna sighed. "It's more practical for you to stay—"

  Kissing Brenna's forehead, Cassidy feathered her fingertips through the delicate auburn hairs at Brenna's temple. "Not very romantic, I know." She eased back, drawing Brenna's gaze to her with the earnestness in her tone. "I want to stay with you. Part of me loves how it's been these last weeks, too. We're already a family, Bren." Cassidy shook her head. "But I feel...we missed out. This wasn't what either of us planned. I missed out on courting you. I want to have all the romance, all the dating, all the time together that has nothing to do with being practical."

  She lifted Brenna's chin. "We'll make all the plans — camping, what our next jobs will be, where Ranger will live — we'll decide those things together. Then..." She kissed Brenna, tasting her mouth with leisurely sweetness. Brenna's soft moan of arousal made her smile against the bow-like lips and Cassidy eased away. "When the time is right, we'll move in together, and I'll make you mine officially."

  She softly growled the last words, feeling the shiver of pleasure course through her lover and the pulse pounding in Brenna's throat. Her smile deepened as Brenna's cheeks turned pink and she closed her deep blue eyes, struggling against her emotions. Cassidy wrapped her arms around Brenna's back and tucked her closely against her body.

  "I'm already yours," Brenna murmured, her voice husky and her breath brushing Cassidy's collarbone. "Everything about you makes me fall in love a little more deeply each day." Brenna traced the small dimple in Cassidy's chin.

  "Talking with Kevin about your divorce today got me thinking about marriage, Bren." Cassidy looked up at the sky. The sunset was beginning to paint the cloud-dotted sky in deepening blues, pinks, and purples. She cupped her hand over Brenna's in her lap. "I intend to have your whole family around you when we marry, and I haven't even met most of them yet."

  Brenna's expression, uncertain and briefly panicked, suggested she wasn't as keen as Cassidy on the idea of having a formal ceremony. Cassidy knew she'd guessed right: Brenna had been letting her take the messages from Kevin in order to avoid facing her family.

  True to form, Brenna shifted the focus away from herself. "What about your family?"

  Cassidy's eyes stung with tears. She closed her eyes and felt Brenna's fingertips brushing the tears away from her cheeks. "That's not fair," she murmured. "You and our sons are the only family that matters to me," Cassidy said earnestly when she opened her eyes.

  Brenna moved out of Cassidy's embrace and clasped her hands between her own smaller ones. Planting gentle kisses on the knuckles and into the palms as she gently opened the fists, she said, "And you and Ryan are the only other family that matters to me." The words were spoken like a vow. "So..." Brenna's inhalation pushed her chest against Cassidy's briefly. She exhaled. "If you want to meet my extended family, we'll plan it..."

  "...together." Cassidy smiled. "We can accomplish anything together."

  "Together sounds just perfect to me," Brenna sighed. "If I have to wait a little while before we're together all the time, I can do that. I love you, Cass."

  "I love you, too, Bren."

  Cassidy returned Brenna's kiss and then coaxed her head onto her shoulder as Brenna started the swing moving with a gentle push of her foot against the ground. Facing westward, they swung and snuggled, watching the sun slowly set.

  About the Author

  Lara Zielinsky's first novel, Turning Point, received the 2007 Lesbian Fiction Readers Choice Award. She was also a finalist for the 2008 Debut Author award from the Golden Crown Literary Society.

  Half a dozen of her short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies. Several book reviews and articles have appeared in the Boston Bisexual Women's Network (BBWN) newsletter as well as a Canadian bisexuals newsletter. She hosts the bi-weekly show "Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women's Fiction" on Blog Talk Radio.

  She is a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, and Florida Writers Association, and a regular participant at Saints & Sinners each year. Happily bisexual, she lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband and son, two of the many reasons family figures in nearly every story she writes.