Domesticated

by Jettie Woodruff

  I knew Rita never told Sam, and if she did, he didn’t care. He never called. My cell phone rang once or twice a day. It was always the same person, Olivia. Sam never called.

  Olivia did spend the week before Christmas with me, and we decorated a tree on the massive front porch. The whole town was doing it, and I loved the tradition. I loved it even more when darkness fell and the whole town was transformed into Christmas. Olivia and I drank eggnog at my favorite little bookstore and listened to the jolly carolers.

  “I can’t wait for my little guy to see this next year,” I told Olivia, sipping my eggnog.

  “Are you ever going to pick a name and stop calling him that?”

  “I will eventually. I still have three months,” I said, taking my phone from my purse. I wondered who could be texting me. Olivia was with me.

  S—Happy Birthday.

  It took me a minute to say anything. I didn’t know what to say.

  “Who is it?” Olivia asked.

  “Sam. He just said happy birthday.”

  “What? When is your birthday?”

  “Right now. Today.”

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me? I would have bought you something.”

  “I don’t need anything. What do I say back?”

  “How about, thanks?”

  Kendra—Random, but thanks.

  S—How are you?

  Kendra—I’m fine. WTH? Do you know how long it’s been since you’ve talked to me? How do you even know it’s my birthday?

  S—I listen. You told me your birthday was December fourteenth. The same night I told you mine. Do you remember when that is?

  Kendra—Yes. March 16th.

  S—When are you due?

  Well, he knows. That’s for sure.

  Kendra—March 10th.

  S—2015?

  I laughed out loud.

  Kendra—God I hope so.

  S—We need to talk.

  Kendra—No. You’re going to try to take him from me. I’m not telling you where I am.

  S—Stop acting like you’re the hurt and wounded one here.

  Kendra—I am.

  “So am I, and I know where you live.” I heard his voice. I’m sure my face looked like it did when Olivia saw Jackson. I looked right at her wearing a smirk.

  “You did this,” I instantly accused, fighting everything in me not do what she did when Jackson surprised her. I wanted to wrap my entire body up in Sam’s—forever.

  “Guilty, now I have a plane to catch. I’ll call you when I’m the ground. No. Wait. I’ll call you tomorrow. Have fun… Sam,” Olivia nodded a hello and a goodbye all at the same time.

  “Olivia, where are you going? You don’t have to leave. We were going to exchange gifts.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” she said, sliding on her thin jacket and darting off into the crowd.

  “You look pretty.”

  “Um, thanks. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Can we get out of here?”

  “Yes, I live right down this road, but I’m afraid to talk to you. You can’t take him from me, Sam. I love him so much already.”

  “I’m not going to take anything, Kendra, but regardless of where we stand, I will see him. He’ll know I’m his daddy and Savannah is his sister. You do know that, right?”

  “I’m okay with that,” I admitted. I was more than okay with that. Sam was the best dad this baby could have hoped for, and my first candidate as well. I could shop for a baby daddy for years and never find one better than him.

  Sam and I walked and talked, looking at all the decorated homes. They truly were beautiful. We stayed on the front porch and swung back and forth on the wooden swing.

  “Did your mom tell you?” I asked, wishing he would move closer or take my hand, or something. Anything. I just wanted to touch him, and for the first time since I met him, it wasn’t a sexual kind of touch, I longed for him. I wanted him to hold me and let me fall asleep in his arms.

  “No. Olivia told me.”

  “I didn’t do this on purpose. I swear Sam. I never lied to you.”

  “I believe you.”

  “Why?”

  “Olivia told me everything. I’m glad you’re the one pregnant and not her,” he said. I could hardly see the smile in the dark, but certainly heard it in his voice.

  “I was stupid. I was willing to do anything to have a little person to love and who would love me back. The only thing I wasn’t willing to do was watch you touch her. I hated it.”

  “Where do we go from here, Kendra?”

  “Where do you want to go, Sam? I can’t answer that.”

  “Do you love me?”

  “More than you’ll ever know.”

  “Then come back to Baylortown with me. Let me take care of you.”

  “I don’t need taken care of, Sam. I need for you to trust me. I have never in my life been aroused by little girls or boys. I don’t understand how anyone could be, and it makes me sick to think about everything that is stripped from a little girl when it happens. What happened to me as a child may have played a role on my sexual habits, but they never made me want to do it to another child.”

  “I’m sorry I did that to you. I’m sorry I made you feel like that, and I didn’t mean that kind of taken care of it. You’re the strongest person I know, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need taken care of. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be happy.”

  “What about you? What do you deserve?”

  “Not you. I know I fucked up, but you hurt me, too. I don’t deserve you, but I want you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, Kendra. I do. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t think, and I can’t stop loving you. I don’t want to try anymore.”

  “But what do we do? I love it here. I love my doctor here.”

  “We can’t live here.”

  “Why? Can’t you teach here?”

  “Kendra, I can’t be ten hours away from Savannah. Can’t we come here for vacations or weekend getaways?”

  “I’m going to have to think about it, Sam. You just left. You wouldn’t even give me time to explain.”

  “You dropped a bomb on me, Kendra. People don’t do what you did.”

  “Yes they do. I watched it on a Lifetime movie,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m sorry I did that to you, but I don’t know if we can work past it. We were both hurt.”

  “And we can both heal together. We’re having a baby, Kendra. Can we try? Come home with me for a couple weeks and see how it goes.”

  “I have a baby appointment Monday.”

  “We’ll leave right after that. I can take Monday off.”

  “Can I sleep on it?”

  “You could, but I was hoping not to do much sleeping.”

  “I don’t want to do that, Sam.”

  Sam grabbed his shirt, imitating a heart attack. “You’re joking,” he teased.

  “No, not really. Our whole relationship is based off sex. I don’t need that right now.”

  “Okay, if that’s really what you want. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

  “You don’t have to sleep on the sofa. This house is huge. I have five bedrooms.”

  After showering, I showed Sam to his little girl bedroom. He complained about his masculinity, but played with the dollhouse like a six-year-old little girl. “This is freaking amazing, Kendra. You did all this?”

  “Well, the carpenter split the rooms and ran the electric for me, but I did the rest.”

  “I’m working on a little girl’s bedroom right now in one of the stores. I’m so going to do this. You should decorate it for me. Let’s do this in Savannah’s room, too. I’ll build the window seat if you turn it into this.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, feeling proud for the first time in my life for something I did all on my own. Sam loved it, and that made me happy.

  Holding my breath, I watched Sam cl
ose the distance between us. I didn’t protest when he wrapped me in his arms, but I didn’t do the same. I kept my arms to my sides and let Sam do the talking.

  “We’re going to be okay, Kendra.”

  “Promise?”

  “With all my heart.”

  Sam knew what he was doing, he also knew I couldn’t take being this close to him and not acting on it. I felt his kiss go straight to my groin, but then it was gone. It was gone the second Sam dropped to his knees and lifted my shirt. He held my round belly in his hands like he was getting ready to shoot a three pointer, and kissed it, whispering how much he loved him. My heart melted and I knew at that moment I wanted everything he was promising. I wanted the family, but I didn’t want to shop for it. I wanted Sam.

  Sam didn’t sleep in the pink little girl’s room. He slept in my bed, and just like he’d predicted, we did little sleeping, and my pussy thanked me for giving in. Sam brought me to my first O with his delectable tongue and lips. The next one came in the form of his fingers while his other hand left burning red handprints across my ass. Last but not least, Sam made me come while holding my legs up, and staring down at me while, pumping in and out. I was in total love with this man.

  Sam held true to his word, and went with me to my doctor’s appointment Monday morning. That was another sign that this was right. He was so excited to see that little baby on the screen. Sam was getting his little boy. I was the one protesting my word after that.

  “You never said a word about driving back to North Carolina. How far is that?” I whined. “You flew here. That’s not fair.”

  “I flew so I could drive your car back with me. Are you planning on just staying inside and never going anywhere?”

  “I’ll walk. Please don’t make me do this.”

  “It’s not that bad, ten hours, that’s it.”

  “Ten hours? Are you serious? I have to pee all the time.”

  “I’ll stop.”

  “This does not make me happy. It makes me hate you.”

  Sam laughed and kissed me. “Get in this car, so we can get on the road. I have to go to work tomorrow.”

  “I’m masturbating, going eighty, just so you know,” I threatened, sliding into the passenger seat.

  “You can do that,” Sam teased, wrapping my seatbelt around our baby and, kissing my lips. Ten hours….UGH. I would be dead before we got there.

  That Christmas was the best Christmas I ever had in my entire life. Sam’s family really did Christmas. The whole family got together at Sam’s. We had the biggest area with the downstairs still being unfinished. I was going to change that. We hung out down there a lot, just because it was so open and Savannah could run and play.

  I wanted a little reading area, a fenced in area for when the baby started crawling, swings, a swirly slide, and a window seat with a dollhouse. Savannah was more excited about that than anything. I loved planning it with her. She had very good taste. She would spend hours on my lap, picking out furniture, wallpaper, carpet, all of it, you name it, she took her time choosing it.

  I couldn’t wait for her to come on Wednesday’s and every other weekend. I even liked Sierra and although I’m sure we would never be best friends, we talked about kids, and Savannah. I think she was happy Sam finally found someone. She told me she felt guilty when she got engaged. She felt bad because he didn’t have someone. Now he did. Sam had me, and we had each other. Life couldn’t have been better.

  I was home. I was finally home.

  Simon Flint Wesley was born on March twelfth, 2014. I was in love the moment the seven pound little guy was placed in my arms. He was so tiny and I couldn’t have been happier that he came out a little boy and not the little girl I had planned. We already had one awesome little girl, and I loved her so much.

  Savannah called my cell phone over and over while Sam and I were at the hospital delivering her baby brother. He finally held the phone up to little Simon, letting her know that, yes, he was there, high pitched lungs and all. That didn’t stop the phone calls though. She still called every few minutes, wanting Sam to come get and her, so she could see her brother. Sierra ended up, bringing her to shut her up.

  There was no doubt in my mind that Savanna was going to be the best big sister she could be. She held him until the rest of the family showed up, insisting on holding him, too. She had to hold him again, before Sierra finally told her it was time to go. I promised her I would make her dad come and get her when we got to take him home. She called again at seven. I loved her so much.

  I was in love with my life. If someone told me I had to go through everything that I did, just to get to this point, I would have gone through it again. Ten times over. This right here was what it was all about. This right here made it all worthwhile and I would have done it again in a heartbeat. There was only one thing that could have made me happier, and she was waiting at my door when I arrived home.

  Olivia.

  The End…