Perfect

by Dani Wyatt

  “Derrick texted me to confirm he and Amanda are coming. Oh, and they’re bringing Katie as well. And Mom and Dad are leaving in an hour with your mom—or that’s what they say, but knowing my mom it will be more like two. They’ll get there though. It’s going to be a fun weekend.”

  We rented rooms at the Savoy, and took them for a couple of extra days as well. Derrick thought it would be fun to spend the weekend in Chicago, the whole group of us, see a few sights. Amanda will be there too, and I’m okay with that. She and I have become tentative friends. I wouldn’t say I’ve forgotten what happened that night at the restaurant, but I kind of understand what was going on with her. After it happened, while she was still in her drunken state, she spilled some history to Derrick. He promptly put her mother on notice that her daughter needed her—and needed help.

  Seems she’s had issues with one of her mom’s boyfriends in the past. That led to her having some self-destructive behaviors. She started cutting herself and there was some drug use, too. Her mom knew all about it and did nothing, but I guess she had problems of her own. Anyway, Derrick sort of took the reins, pushed the issue and Amanda went to an inpatient center and sorted a lot of that stuff out. In the last couple months, I don’t know what to call it, but we’ve formed a new bond. My childhood may have been odd, but hers was harmful and wrong. I was overprotected, but no one protected her when they should.

  I’ll take my upbringing over hers any day.

  “It was perfect.” Griffin kisses me as I step around and off the stage, the roar of applause still ringing in my ears. I can’t believe it, I’m still glowing from how well my set was received. I’ve spent so many years writing songs, but I never dreamed anyone would ever hear them, let alone love them. It feels unreal.

  He guides me by the hand, taking my ukulele from me with the other, and we find the back room where I got ready. The silence of the backstage area is such a contrast to the noise of the crowd, but once we’re inside all I can hear are the cheers from all the family and friends that have come to see me.

  Me. They’ve come to see me. I’m almost in tears.

  If I didn’t have Griffin to hold onto, I think I’d just be a pile of clothes on the floor right now. As it is, I just look around at all their faces, and my eyes settle on someone I didn’t expect to see.

  “Oh my gosh, Rodrick.” I pull away from Griffin and open my arms to give his business partner a hug. That’s right, his business partner. Last month they launched their own private consulting firm, with a whole waiting list of clients eager to pay for their services. Rodrick works out of Chicago, and has visions of a whole office building under his command, but Griffin is content to work out of a little rented office near home. “I’m so happy you’re here. Griffin said you were in Hong Kong?”

  “I sort of still am. Landed at O’hare about two hours ago. Caught an earlier flight and I knew you were here tonight and I didn’t want to miss it. That was absolutely incredible.” He lets me go, then turns to Griffin. “You must be so proud of her.”

  Griffin’s arm is over my shoulder a moment later. He trusts Rodrick with his life, but he still has to let everyone know that I’m his. “Wasn’t she perfect?”

  I hear steps behind me and turn around just as Katie throws her arms around my neck. “You and that damn ukulele.” She shakes her head as she lets me go. “Who the hell woulda thought?”

  We both giggle, and as I bring her around to introduce her to Rodrick, I swear there is a shift in the universe. I feel it like a tiny earthquake under our feet.

  “Hi.” Rodrick steps forward, hand extended, eyes wide. Pinned on Katie’s face, and Griffin and I turn to give each other a knowing glance. “I’m Rodrick, I work with Griffin. And you are...”

  “Katie. Katie Welsy. Talia’s friend.” Katie’s giving him the squinty eye, but as she does, one hand comes up to twist in a wave of her pink hair around her fingers.

  Rodrick’s eyebrows knit together in thought for a moment before he says, “No.” He shakes his head, pinching his lips together, holding back a smirking smile, “that’s not who you are.”

  Katie laughs and looks at me, then back at Rodrick, her hands turn to tiny fists which settle on her hips. “What?”

  Her indignation can’t hide her curiosity. She’s a wild mess. Two rainbow colored pigtails rise up on each side of her head. A few loose pink strands frame her face. The contrast of her hair with the high neck, pin-up girl dress and red high heels enough to draw most men’s eye. But Katie seems oblivious to her draw and she’s clearly cast a spell on Rodrick.

  “Sorry.” He pulls her hand closer as he steps into her personal space, a glow in his eyes as he looks at Katie like he’s just won the lottery. “I just... something else was going through my mind. You may be Katie, and you may be Talia’s friend, but you are also going to be mine.”

  He corrals her as Griffin and I step away, his arm draped over my shoulder, and I’m smiling right down to my core. About time I saw Katie have someone special in her life.

  Amanda’s sitting at the table and gives me a wave as Derrick sits by her side. Griffin and I aren’t sure, but we have our suspicions about those two. Derrick sure has taken an overwhelming interest in Amanda, and if it weren’t for him, who knows if she would have ever gotten any help.

  They may be step siblings, but to my thinking that doesn’t really matter. Clearly he cares for her, and from what Griffin’s said, as he looked back, Derrick hasn’t had a girlfriend or even a date with anyone else since his dad and Amanda’s mom got married a couple years ago. He said they met for the first time at the wedding, only Amanda was only fifteen at the time, but maybe Derrick was smitten then, just needed to wait a few years.

  If they find what they want with each other, well... maybe it’s taboo in the eyes of some people, but to me, love is love. They’re not breaking any laws, of nature or otherwise, and it’s nice to see Amanda smiling. She’s going to start classes at University of Michigan next semester as well. Pre-med. She may have been troubled, but she’s also wildly intelligent and I’m happy to see her find a focus.

  We head toward Mom. She’s really changing since we convinced her to move back to Ann Arbor, away from my dad’s family. We gave her the choice to live with us, but when we introduced her to Griffin’s parents they offered her the guesthouse right there and then. She and Griffin’s mom were friends from the moment they met, and my mom took to helping take care of her.

  And that has meant that Griffin’s dad has been able to go back to work part time. Just small projects, and helping us out at the house, but it’s given him that sense of freedom again. You can see in the way he holds himself just how much good it’s done him.

  “Twelve dollars,” my mom says as we get close to her. She sees my raised eyebrows and laughs. “Twelve dollars for that crazy ukulele at the thrift shop. Now look at you. It was all I could afford to get you, I never once thought it would make such a difference to your life.” Her eyes well with tears as Griffin and I trade hugs with her. “I talked to your father before I came. He said to give you a hug and say he’s proud of you.”

  “Thank you, Mom. I’m supposed to talk to him Monday. I’m on the schedule and Griffin and I are going to go to visiting hours next Saturday. You’re coming with us right?”

  My mom nods, and a moment later Griffin’s parents come over, and it’s more congratulations and warm hugs. We’re all going out to a dinner after this and I’m so looking forward to sitting around the table and listening to the laughter and chatter of this band of folks that have filled my life with such hope and love.

  After Mom moved down with us, she and I started visiting my father. He’s changed. He was angry at first when I told him Griffin and I went to the justice of the peace and got married. We didn’t care much about a wedding, we just wanted to be bound to each other in every way. But, overall, my father, or “Dad” as he’s started letting me call him, has softened since he’s been in the prison. He’s even been going to therap
y there, seeing a doctor who’s prescribed some medication. From what I can tell, that has been helping.

  I mean, he’s still my dad of course, still has his opinions on everything and thinks the government is the enemy. I don’t know if that will ever change. I’m not even sure I’d want it to—it’s a part of him. But in other ways, he’s changed. He hugged me the day we visited and I told him I was expecting. An actual hug. It was the warmest gesture he’s ever made toward me, and it brought a tear to my eye. Then he gave Griffin a hearty handshake and said he hoped we’d be happy together. Even when we told him where we met—at that party where I ended up with torn clothes and smeared makeup—he accepted it without a comment. Then Griffin asked me to give them a couple minutes alone, and I did just that. He wanted to talk to my dad man to man, let him know he would always protect me and take care of me.

  Dad has twenty-two months left on his sentence. We ended up paying most of his fines off after he told Griffin to dig a hole in the back yard next to the chicken coop. He’d been burying most of his income since he and mom moved in there. Thirty-seven years I think. There was over seven hundred thousand dollars back there. I couldn’t believe it, I’d never seen so much cash in all my life. We claimed the money on our taxes and paid what he owed as well. It still left enough to put away for a rainy day. Even though money has been abundant and neither of us are big spenders, I still like to know that there’s a cushion if we ever need it.

  Even with Griffin and Rodrick going out on their own, it’s turned out well. I was prepared for hard times, but it never really happened. Griffin doesn’t travel anymore, which is great. He and Rodrick scored three lucrative contracts right out of the gate. Their findings at the D.O.D. earned them a reputation, and even though they couldn’t talk about it specifically, word got around that there were a couple new golden boys on the street. Even the D.O.D. hired them for some contract work. They left on good terms, finished the now famous project and a few more, but it was time and they made the transition with professionalism and friendly handshakes.

  Of course, Griffin had to pay back his signing bonus, but it wasn’t a problem. The independent consulting and bonuses they received from the D.O.D. have paid more than enough to make up for anything he lost by breaking his employment with the government.

  “Babe, you ready?” Griffin’s behind me, wrapping his arms around my belly and kissing my neck with a sigh. Public shows of affection aren’t a problem for us, and our families and friends have learned to accept it.

  “Definitely. That concert has given me quite an appetite.”

  “Everyone ready?”

  A moment later, everyone is chatting and laughing as they head toward the door that leads around to the back parking lot.

  “We’re so lucky.” Griffin moves to my side, kissing my hair and reaching down for my hand. “I can’t wait until this little one is here. Then we can get to work on another one.” He gives my bottom a playful spank and I shake my head.

  I have a moment of panic when I realize that he doesn’t have my ukulele, but Katie must have seen me looking around. “I’ve got your stuff.” She calls, and winks at me as I meet her eyes. Her eyebrows bob up and down, and it’s not difficult to see why. Rodrick is looking at her like a little puppy, hanging on her every word.

  I nod back, and then turn away, leaving them to get on with their flirting. Griffin’s husky laugh next to my ear sends a shiver through my spine. His warm body is always there to keep me grounded.

  “And I’ve got you, babe. I’ll always have you.”

  E P I L O G U E T W O

  GRIFFIN

  Ten Years Later

  “Don’t you find it a bit unusual that this is our Sunday morning pre-church ritual?” Talia’s lusty voice is still my muse.

  Along with her magical pussy and her mouth. Her eyes. Her ass. I could go on.

  She’s wearing pearls, and she knows how much I love to fuck her hard and fast when she’s wearing pearls. Which is what I’ve just done, her skirt flipped up over her ass, bent over the bed. My fingers dripping with her slick cum as I finger her clit and bring her down from a few orgasms.

  “No. I think it’s exactly what God would want us to do on this holy morning. Show how much we still love each other.”

  I pull back, my dick slick with us both and I reach down and pull her pink panties back up over her ass and into place.

  “It’s just a bit odd to walk into church with five kids and my panties full of your cum every Sunday.”

  I smack her gorgeous ass and smooth her dress back down as she stands up and turns around right into my waiting kiss.

  Swooping my tongue between her lips, I share her flavor with her. I eat her pussy until she cums a couple times before we fuck every Sunday. I don’t know when it became a ritual, maybe after Annabelle was born, our second daughter who turns eight in a few months.

  Five kids and an amazing life later, I want her as much as I ever have. I travel very little still, and next month I sell out my part of the business to Rodrick. Our bank accounts are full and all I want to do is make a few more babies with my wife and enjoy my family.

  Our house is full of chaos. Twenty-four seven and I’ve slept about an hour a night for the last nine or so years since Ethan was born, but I don’t care.

  Like Derrick pointed out to me the first night I came back from Germany, I am happier than a pig in shit.

  I’ve got my wife. My family. My mom is holding on, although she has her days. Dad is great, playing golf and playing online poker with Talia. Those two are trouble.

  “Ready?” I slick my hand down Talia’s black hair.

  “Yep. Let’s get this show on the road. I need to get there a little early, get set up for my solo.”

  “We’ll be in the front row.” I guide her out of the bedroom, my hand in my favorite spot in the small of her back. I’m nearly always touching her, I can’t help myself.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Talia’s pink lips curve up in a mischievous smile.

  “What babe?” We’re down the hall and on the steps. The sounds of five children impatiently waiting bouncing off the walls of the old farmhouse we bought just after Ethan as born.

  “My period is officially late.”

  “Hold shit. Wildflower, that’s the best news.” At the bottom of the steps I spin her around, then dip her in an impromptu dance. She giggling and the kids are moaning when I kiss her hard and deep. My cock already growing from the thought of her being bred again.

  We’ve been trying, but it’s been over a year and we were losing hope. Talia wants two more kiddos, and I let her make that decision since it’s her body and the last birth was hard on her.

  “I didn’t tell the kids yet.” She whispers as Ethan steps over and hands over baby Brittney who’s sleeping like an angel.

  Talia brings her to her chest and I reach down and kiss Brittney’s head. Baby head smell. It’s a drug.

  “Okay sports fans!” I clap loudly trying to focus our rowdy bunch. “Last one buckled in is a rotten fish carcass. Go!” I swing open the front door, the spring breeze catches the voices of the kids as they run for the car. The youngest holding Ethan’s hand as he helps Bethany do her best to run with the older kids.

  “Mom is coming over to cook while we’re at church. She’ll bring your mom and your dad will be along after he’s played eighteen holes.” Talia steps out onto the porch as I close the door behind us.

  “And your Dad?”

  “He’s coming with my Dad later. Seems golf isn’t the devil’s waste of time after all.” We both chuckle as we walk to the car. Talia’s father has done a lot of changing. It’s been a slow road, but I’m so happy we’ve got such an incredible life and Talia’s been able to build a new relationship with her parents.

  Inside the car, the kids are all bucked in and I grab Talia’s hand, bring it to my lips and kiss the ring that shows the word she’s mine.

  “We’ll stop at the drug store on the way home. I want
to see those two pink lines babe.” I’m so excited I need to know for sure.

  “You sure put in the effort Mr. Stanford. Never say die when it comes to...” her voice trails off as she looks back at our carful of ears. “Well, you know. You did your part. And then some.’

  “If showing my wife how much I love her several times a day is a sin, they send me to hell babe, because that’s never going to stop. We’ll be a hundred and I’ll still be there humping your leg while you try to make yourself a cup of tea.”

  “I love you.” Talia’s face lights up, her other hand going to her belly.

  “I love you too Wildflower. Always have, always will.”

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  BABY

  CHAPTER ONE

  RYDER

  I felt like I was going to puke. The way they treated my Chloe was nauseating. What a fucked up family, sitting there, slobbering all over themselves. If they thought that their little princess—Chloe’s older sister— was about to snag me like a little bitch and use me to turn them into some kind of second rate, trailer trash royalty they’d be wrong. If they only knew what they had coming, they’d be running as fast as they could for the tin can where they came from.

  Don’t get me wrong; I grew up in that same trash heap down at the bottom of Eight Mile. Yeah, there was a movie about it. Don’t make a big deal about it, but that’s where I grew up, and that’s where Chloe and her family still live. Only, they don’t have any fucking idea what I know about their precious Theresa, a.k.a. Trixie. And it’s about to go viral.