“Oh, I wish you would,” she moaned, eager to be one with him.
Benji slid them down, his nose in her belly as he proceeded to her feet. She held onto the back of his head as she stepped out of her panties, part of her wanting him to continue the kissing that was getting closer and closer to her female parts, the other part wanting to hold his man part that felt so right in her hand. And, she was sure it would feel so right inside her, too.
Benji stood up halfway, stopping his belly kissing to hold her full breasts. “I did hear Bibb say that Mac had a bottle tonight…” The tone of his voice asked the rest of his question without saying the words.
“Aye, they’re yours for tonight—yours again. Oh, please, though, let’s lie down…”
The two naked bodies lay on the bed, her legs thrashing in ecstasy as Benji suckled his favorite part, and Jane received her virginal climaxes. “Now?” Benji asked, as he scooted up to be face to face.
“Oh, aye, now, please.” She knew she sounded as if she was begging, but she didn’t care.
Benji rolled on top of her, one elbow supporting his weight as he felt for his target. He slid his thumb up to make sure she was moist and ready. He brought it back down, intentionally tickling her clit. “Ooh!” she squealed. “Wha, what’s that?”
“Jest the beginnin’, darlin’, jest the beginnin’.” He gently eased his way in, using considerable self-control to keep from pushing in all at once.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Janie moaned.
“Am I hurtin’ ye?” he asked, stopping in mid-stroke, afraid that he was hurting her.
“Whoa, as in this is good, great, greatest! Don’t stop. If it hurts, you and everyone else in this house will probably know, but, ah, that’s it…”
Ж
“I think I’m going to like this too much,” Jane said after they finished their second round of lovemaking.
“I dinna think that’s possible.” He noticed her frown of confusion and explained. “Ye see, I like it too much, too. And since we’re marrit and can be together, weel, jest about anytime we want…”
He paused and gave his glowing bride another passionate kiss, not feeling rushed to finish the act. “Now, see what ye went and did?” He rolled onto his back and showed her the result of their late night smooching.
“Aye, and now I know how to take care of it, jest about anytime we want.” She purred as she rolled over on top of him. “How about if we give your elbows and shoulders a rest? I think this will still work with me on top. At least, I’d like to try and see.”
“Ye can try anything ye want darlin’; I’m all yers, inside and out, but especially here, inside.” Benji thumped his heart. “Thank ye fer comin’ back with me.”
“And thank you for bringing me. I would have stayed with you as your slave at your Grandpa’s farm with him and his family, but Bibb and Billy and your family here, are nice, too.”
Benji winced at the word family. He didn’t try to hide his emotions around Janie. Or hadn’t yet. He’d have to rethink that decision.
Jane saw his grimace, but misread it. “Maybe we’ve made more family tonight,” she said, then giggled. “But, just in case we haven’t, let’s see if my being on top helps. I don’t think it could hurt.”
Benji sighed in appreciation at her mood brightening words. “Aye, and if it does, weel jest try another position.”
47 Return to Barden Hall
November 1, 2014
“Y ou have family?” Jane asked. She didn’t know whether to be happy that they were alive, or angry that he hadn’t told her, but she was definitely shocked at the news. “I thought you were all alone, that they died years ago.”
Benji shook his head in shame. “I was kidnapped, stolen from them, when I was a lad. I let it be kent that I was deid so they wouldna try to find me. Some verra bad men woulda kilt them if they tried to get me back. Aye, my parents are still alive, but dinna ken that I am.”
“Benji, you need to go see your family. I care for you deeply. You know how much I love you, but I would give you up if I could see my mother just one more time. I can’t say that I’d do that for my father because I never knew him. That’s a whole different kind of hurt. But you, and only you, can mend this. Once they’re dead, you can’t let them know how much you loved them.”
“Aye, yer right, Janie. I’ve missed too much time with them already and there isna a reason to delay seein’ them. All the bad guys are in prison, last I heard. Besides, I have someone fer them to meet. I couldna keep ye from them. I mean, I ken I dinna own ye, but ye are my greatest treasure.”
Ж
“Bibb, I havena said anythin’ to Billy yet, but do ye think it would be okay if we left fer a few days? I mean, the lad, can he go back to the bottle while I take my wife to meet my family in Scotland?”
“Of course; he’ll be fine. That’s all he had for the first four and a half months. He might get a bit fussy, but I don’t think it will be because of the milk or formula. I think he’s fond of Janie. We all are. Just make sure you both come back, at least for a while. It’s your life to do as you both see fit, but know that you’ll always have a place in our home and in our hearts.”
Ж
Benji was apprehensive about coming out to the house unannounced. He should have called ahead. All he had told her on the phone was that he’d try to get to Scotland ‘one of these days.’ And now he was almost there.
He could have kicked Billy for making the call two days ago, and then just handing him the phone. Hell, he didn’t even know who he was talking to! How could he have known, or even suspected, that it was his sister on the other end? He hadn’t seen her in five years or talked to her or anyone else in the family for over twenty.
“I knew you weren’t dead!” she squealed through the phone line. “Mom and Dad knew it, too. But, they still wouldn’t look for you. All they would say was that there was a good reason, a verra good reason, for it. They promised me over and over again that one day you’d come back; come back when we’d least expect it. Well, they were sure right! Then again, they usually are. But, don’t tell them I said that: I don’t want them to get swelled heads.”
He let her babble on for a few minutes. The tears were flowing down his face and throat. He tried to answer her questions, but she was pretty sharp and picked up on his inability to speak. When she told him that she was married and had two children, it was too much for him to fathom. He felt rude when he told her that he had to go. He didn’t want to admit to her, or even to himself, that he couldn’t handle it. She was gracious about it, but made him promise to come see her and her family at Barden Hall sometime. “You do remember how to get home, don’t you?”
“Um, hmm,” he mumbled, then listened to her tell him that she loved him. There was a long pause as she waited for him to respond, but he was in shock. He went ahead and pushed the end button on the phone rather than make her wait for the words he couldn’t cough up. He wished with all his heart that he could take back that moment, but that was impossible. Hmph! He could go back 230 years, but couldn’t reverse time one minute. But, he would do what was second best: he’d go to tell her in person.
Ж
“This is where I grew up,” he told Jane as they drove down the dirt road from the main highway. “I mean, not all the time. I was born there in North Carolina near where my Grandpa and Grannie lived. We came back to Scotland when I was six and lived here until I was kidnapped at twelve. But those were six great years,” he said, trying to hide his fear of meeting his sister and his past.
Jane reached over and patted his leg in reassurance. She could see he was frightened. “Weel, I try to not hide anythin’ from ye, but, aye, I am slightly scarrit,” Benji admitted.
Jane chuckled and asked, “Slightly?”
“Aye, slightly,” he said, then amended his statement, “slightly terrified.”
“They’re your family and they love you. Be glad you have them to go back to,” she said, then added softly, “and that
you know who they are.”
“Aye, I’m sorry I’m actin’ like such a ninny. I ken ye miss yer mother and ye dinna ken if ye ever had any brothers or sisters, but now ye have my family, back in North Carolina both in the now and then times, and also here in Barden Hall. And voila! We’re here,” he announced with a newfound confidence.
“This is a verra old property. It’s been in the family fer centuries.” He pointed to the remnants of the long, white rock wall, eager to share his family’s heritage. “That’s part of the garden wall. The property once had grand flower gardens. That’s all that’s left of it. It was old when my Grandpa Jody was born here. The house was fairly new when he was born. Two centuries later, when I was a wee lad, my parents returned to live here. They added or upgraded plumbing and electricity. I guess ye woulda been more comfortable without the changes, aye?”
Jane exhaled and said, “Aye,” and did her best not to show the fear she felt—she was going to meet the sister he cherished and her family.
Benji parked the rental car next to the black Mercedes minivan. He looked at the house and noticed the change in shadows as the kitchen door opened behind the screen door. There was a two-second pause, then the screen door burst open, and a dark haired female spitfire dashed out.
“Benji!” Becky screamed as she shot past the bushes, an ecstatic running back racing toward her fraternal goalpost, a young child rather than a football clutched close to her shoulder.
Benji didn’t know how either of them would react when they first saw each other. Would they be shy and uncomfortable in each other’s presence? Would she be mad that he hadn’t called earlier, or even worse, would she be aloof?
He grinned from the bottom of his size 16 boots to the top of his short cropped red hair when he saw her flying toward him, totally uninhibited, squealing with a high pitched, irrepressible excitement. Becky jumped up into his open arms. He lifted her and the now squalling baby, holding them close, swinging them around until he was dizzy. He stopped the twirling, but didn’t want to let go. “You’re back, you’re back,” she kept repeating as she painted kisses all over his cheek, ears, and neck, her tears mixing with his.
He finally set her down when he realized that the baby probably needed tending to. “Yours?” he asked, although he knew he had to be. She had told him on the phone that she was married and had two children.
“This is Jim. Jim, this is your Uncle Benji,” she said as she introduced her six-month-old son to his uncle, multitasking by wiping her face on her shoulder. The boy had settled down now that his mother’s squealing had stopped. “I know, I know; there’re already so many ‘J’ names in the family, but since he was his father’s first son, I felt like I should honor him… Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized to the woman standing ten feet away, next to the rental car. “I was distracted, I mean, you must be Jane.”
Jane didn’t know how to react and looked to Benji for direction. Evidently, he was as stunned as she was. “How did you ken her name,” Benji asked. “Did Billy tell ye?” Billy had promised not to tell anyone about anything. Dialing his sister and handing him the phone was not breaking the promise but was a sneaky and very clever way around it.
Becky’s attention was drawn to a screeching noise behind the house. “Here,” she said as she thrust the child with the curly dark hair into her brother’s arms. “I’ll be right back.” She turned away and ran toward the strangled animal sounding squeal. “Bibb Elizabeth Melbourne, you put down that squirrel, right now!”
Benji’s arms went slack in shock at hearing the name, inadvertently dropping the baby. “Oops,” he said, as he caught the bundle of boy slipping past his belly. Little Jim started laughing—evidently he thought they were playing a game. “Ye like that, do ye?” Benji recreated the same movement, this time on purpose. “Come on, lad,” he said to the bright-eyed boy, “let’s go meet yer Aunt Janie.”
Benji carried the cheerful boy child over to his pensive wife. “Here, meet yer nephew, Jim.” He turned the child around in his arms to face her. The baby stuck his hand out to reach for his aunt just as Benji moved in to close the gap between the three of them. The boy’s hand touched her nose gently, then suddenly grabbed a fistful of face, his tiny thumb shoved up her nostril, fingers clutching to get a better hold. Benji put his index finger in the middle of the grasp, trying to break apart the boy’s fist before Jane was scratched. Young Jim protested and started wailing in distress at his uncle’s attempt, holding on even tighter.
“Okay, okay; I’ll let yer Aunt Janie free herself,” he said, as he handed the child to her, still attached fist to nose.
As soon as Benji let go, Jim released the nose grip and buried his head into Janie’s neck, taking that same grasping fist, and shoving its thumb into his mouth. He looked sheepishly over at his uncle, then up at his new companion, patting her shoulder with his free hand. He wanted to be held by a woman.
“Ach, a ladies’ man already, aye?”
As if in answer, Jim smiled around the thumb stuck in his mouth, drool slipping past his chin onto his shirt, and buried his head back into Jane’s neck.
“Bibb Elizabeth Melbourne, meet your Uncle Benji and his wife, Jane,” Becky said to her daughter, who appeared to be four or five.
“I told you they were coming,” she said to her mother, then turned to greet the two visitors. “Glad to meet you,” she said with perfect poise. “And it’s about time!” she added with unbridled frustration. “I’ve been hearin’ about you all my life!”
“Ye have?” Benji asked, totally baffled. He looked to Jane, then Becky, and then back to the little girl. “And yer name’s Bibb? Bibb Elizabeth Melbourne?”
“Yes, sir, and it’s not Vivian either. It’s a good name, and I like it,” she bragged. “I’m named after my great-great-great-great, oh, shoot; I keep forgetting how many greats, but there’re lots of them. She was born in America, but we still love her. My Mommy was born in America, too.”
“I was, too,” Benji said. “And that’s where I’ve been fer a long time. I’m sorry I dinna get to meet ye sooner…”
“That’s okay,” young Bibby said soothingly, “you’re here today, and that’s better than having to wait until tomorrow. Were you born in America, too?” she asked Jane.
“No, I was born somewhere in Africa, but I don’t remember where. I was about his age when I moved to America, though,” she said as she hoisted her curly haired nephew.
Bibby neared Jane cautiously, clearing her throat to get the tall lady’s attention. "I got you a present," she said boldly, then added softly, "Mama said you probably wouldn't want it, but I said you would. She made me promise to tell you that,” Bibby sighed and recited the words dispassionately, “you don't have to take it if you don't want it." Bibby finished her oral presentation, ending it with her mother's mandated escape clause and a smile of confidence. She was sure that Aunt Janie would like her gift.
Jane didn't know if she was supposed to ask for the present or just be patient and wait for it to be given to her. She still wasn't used to speaking with people. As a slave, she was supposed to be quiet around the masters and all white folk. But, she had been shy with the other slaves, too. Most of them were afraid of her because of her size, and shunned her even though she had never—or would even think to ever—hurt anyone. She hadn’t been close to anyone, black or white, after she was separated from her mother. She had moved from one owner to another more times than she could count. The only memories she had of those years were bad ones that she hadn’t been able to bury, although she never did quit trying to get rid of them.
"Well, aren't you going to ask me what it is?" asked Bibby as she performed a little hop, step, hop, shuffle, trying to contain her excitement.
Jane squatted down so she was at Bibby's eye level. "Okay, what is it?" Receiving gifts was still new to her.
Bibby turned around and picked up the cardboard shoebox behind her. She had wrapped it in the colorful Sunday comics section of the newspaper and p
oked holes in the shape of a heart in the top cover. "Here, you can just lift the lid off. I didn't want her to suffocate. You can use this for her home until we get her a bigger cage. I call her a her, but she might be a boy. I don't know how to tell on squirrels, just dogs, and since I don't see a penis, it must be a girl."
"Bibb Elizabeth!" screeched Becky at her daughter's frankness about gender checking an animal.
"Well, I can't see a penis, and if it's a boy, then his balls are real small, so small that I can't see them. Daddy told me how to check."
"She's beautiful," Jane said as she held the pale little squirrel with the pink ribbon leash close to her chest. "Thank you," she said as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"You don't have to keep it," Becky explained, once again giving her an opportunity to back out of keeping the squirrel. "We have lots of them around here, but this is the only white one I’ve seen. She just happened to be a little too slow for our little Miss Safari Hunter. Bibby wouldn't name her. She said that you got that honor. But, you really don't..." Becky stopped talking when she saw the huge black woman bonding with the itty-bitty white squirrel.
"I had one when I was about your age," she told Bibby. "But she wasn't white on the front like this one. Their tails look just the same, though. Or will; this one is pretty young."
"See, Mom; I told you she had one before!" Bibby boasted, then stuck out her chest in pride.
"How did you know?" Jane asked as she stroked her new pet that had decided that her neck was a great nesting site.
"I know lots of stuff!" Bibby said, once again with pride. "But, I'm not supposed to talk about it, except with family," she added softly. "But, Jane is family, huh?" she asked her mother boldly.
The Great Big Fairy Page 39
