by Gayle Keo
“Morning,” Lee said, and she opened one eye to peek at him.
He looked worse than she felt but he was smiling at her. He flipped a heavy arm across her ribs and she groaned, feeling nauseous again. She opened the other eye and looked at her surroundings. She was in bed and Lee was next to her but she couldn’t see Frankie. That had to be a good sign; maybe it hadn’t even happened.
“What we did last night was fun but waking up with a hangover isn’t,” Frankie said and she lifted her head to see him sprawled across the bottom of the bed, naked.
“Oh,” she groaned.
Dana checked under the covers and both her and Lee were naked. She pulled the sheet up trying to cover more of her chest, but Frankie’s weight was holding it down. Lee was grinning at her and she realized that he was happy, happy even though he obviously had just as much of a hangover as her and Frankie’s bare bottom was just inches away.
“Chill,” Lee said patting her arm before burying his head into the pillow.
“It’s your fault that my head hurts,” Frankie moaned but he didn’t look like he was about to move anytime soon.
“I want to get up now so can I have some privacy,” she said tugging at the sheet once more.
“Shy?” Frankie laughed and then rubbed his head frowning. “I’ve never had a hangover before, I don’t like it.”
He dropped back onto the bed and Dana made her move. She slid from the covers and dashed to the bathroom. She needed a shower and then coffee and hopefully by the time she’d had both the situation wouldn’t be so awkward.
She thought it was odd that Lee was so relaxed. He’d never told her he was attracted to men before and she couldn’t help but feel weird about that. Not that she had been bothered at all when the vodka was flowing. No, she had been totally turned on by her husband and his newfound sexual experience.
Once she’d made three cups of coffee, she went back to the bedroom to find them both in the bed spooning. She put their cups on the bedside table and hoped the aroma would wake them. She had hens to attend to and she wanted to finish the goat enclosure and she didn’t anticipate any help today.
The day was just as beautiful as the previous days had been, but she felt different. She didn’t know how that night would affect their relationship.
“Don’t look so worried, Dana. Everything is the same between you two,” Frankie said having appeared behind her in the coop.
“How can it be?” She asked.
“Lee loves you more than anything and he will look on our time together as a rare treat. He isn’t gay, he’s bisexual but he won’t be chasing other men. What we have is different and I can’t explain how but trust me, I would never do anything to hurt either of you,” Frankie said and his arms had found their way around her body, soothing it. “I have to go, but I’ll be back in a few weeks and we don’t need the vodka next time. I never want to drink again.”
Dana laughed and he kissed her slowly. She felt it throughout her whole body and it seemed to lift the hangover that was shadowing her. When he pulled back, he pulled lightly on her ponytail and grinned before walking away. She stood surrounded by happy hens and watched him disappear into the trees on the edge of their property.
*****
Lee had been disappointed when Frankie left, but he had promised to be back soon. Lee hoped he didn’t lose the writing buzz he’d gotten used to. He still didn’t understand how he could accept him into his life and bed so easily having never even thought about men like that before. When he’d woken up that morning with Frankie’s arm around him, it had felt so natural. Frankie’s kiss goodbye had been as exciting as the ones the previous night and he’d risen to the occasion but the man had left and Lee had a book to write.
His flow was still strong and the words came easy. He spent his days writing, helping Dana with the farm and making love to her wherever and whenever they felt the urge. Their relationship felt stronger and their love was sweeter in a way he couldn’t have described despite the flow of creative juices that ran through him.
It was raining that afternoon and Dana had gone into town to do the food shopping and he’d stopped for coffee. When he saw her park outside and run in, his first thought was that she’d had an accident or the that Frankie was back. Neither was true. She placed a small plastic stick in his palm and he turned it over. A little screen announced in bold writing that she was pregnant.
“We’re having a baby?”
She squealed, and he had to grasp the table as the world turned a little fuzzy. Once the news had sunk in, she told him she’d booked an appointment at the clinic while she was in town and there were a few things she would have to give up like coffee and alcohol. As she talked, he remembered that night with Frankie and wondered if the baby was his. He decided it didn’t matter, she was his wife, and he still hadn’t mustered up an ounce of jealousy where Frankie was concerned. Frankie was theirs, their special friend and if the baby was his, then it was theirs.
They began to plan for the baby and Lee took on the heavy jobs around the farm. Dana’s plants were beginning to shoot and they would be eating home-grown organic food in just a few weeks. As Dana’s bump began to show they both wondered when Frankie would be back. They had looked for his home of course, but there was no dwelling at the end of the lane, just trees and the brook that Frankie had taken him too on that afternoon.
****
“Lee, come quickly,” Dana said bursting into his office.
He ran after her wishing she would slow down but when he saw the large form limping across the field, he overtook her. Frankie was beaten and battered and close to collapse when he reached him. Something awful had happened to him and he had found his way across the countryside to their farm.
Lee supported him and half carried him back to the house with Dana. Frankie had cuts, bruises and terrible grazes on his body and his clothes were shredded. His usual tanned coloring was covered with blood and dirt, but Lee could tell he was a sickly pale tone underneath.
They moved him to the bed and Dana cleaned his wounds while Lee gave him sips of water. He fell into an uncomfortable sleep leaving them to wonder what on earth had happened. They took turns to care for him for the next couple of days, bathing his wounds and feeding him soup but he remained silent and barely conscious most of the time.
When he finally woke up, they were both exhausted. Dana was sleeping on the sofa while Lee was sitting on the other side of the bed reading a book. He felt Frankie stir and his hand reached out and rested on Lee’s knee. Lee was about to call Dana but Frankie put his hand to his bruised lips and Lee took the hint.
“I can only heal by drinking the water from the brook,” Frankie said and his voice was raspy and more of a whisper.
“You want me to get water from the brook, are you sure?” Lee asked.
“If you can do that for me I promise I will tell you everything but only you,” Frankie said his voice still barely there. “Dana doesn’t need to know right now.”
“Okay,” Lee said.
He took a bottle and ran down the hill and across the rocks thankful that he’d put boots on this time. When he got to the large rock where he’d first kissed Frankie, he wondered if the man had brought him down there that day to tell him something but the kiss had distracted them. He filled the bottle and made his way back, creeping into the house to avoid waking Dana who needed more sleep now the child within her was growing.
He helped Frankie to drink the entire contents of the bottle and was amazed at how quickly his abrasions began to heal. He’d never seen anything like it and somewhere deep down he knew that Frankie was different. He’d always known. Frankie sat up and reached for his hand silencing his thoughts.
“I’m not like you,” he said. “I come from a long line of beings who are not human but used to live side by side with humans. We are called fairies and we are dying out. We need to interact with humans to survive and we need to breed with them to keep our species going. The world is not kind to m
y species and there are plenty of those who wish to destroy us.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Lee said gaping like a fish but unable to stop himself.
“I was caught and held but I escaped and I managed to come back here but I didn’t have the strength to reach the brook,” Frankie said looking healthier and less pained.
“Why can’t Dana know?”
“She is carrying my child,” Frankie said placing his hand over Lee’s.
“I know,” Lee replied because he had been sure that the other man’s sperm trumped his in the race.
“I don’t want her to be frightened, the child may be very human like her or more like me,” Frankie said. “Either way, you will make fantastic parents for my offspring and their abilities will help you as will mine.”
“You really were my muse,” Lee said. “I knew something was different about you, I just didn’t understand what it was.”
*****
All throughout her pregnancy Frankie had been coming and going. She knew he didn’t live at the end of the lane and she knew he didn’t have a car. When he arrived, he always seemed to appear from the tree line or he just arrived in the middle of the night and they would find him in their bed in the morning. He’d persuaded her to drink the water from the little brook because of the nutrients it contained and she had to admit she’d had a healthy pregnancy.
She knew that morning that she was in labor, but Frankie had insisted on being at the birth and he wasn’t around which meant that she was keeping her legs closed and the baby inside. She fed the hens and the goats who were also heavy with babies of their own and then went to check on the crops. From that vantage point, she could see most of the way to the brook and the row of trees where Frankie always seemed to appear from. There was no sight of him.
Another pain enveloped her and she buckled slightly under the pressure. She was breathing through it but only just and when she felt a snap inside of her she let out a yell. Water was trickling down her legs and she seemed to have lost the ability to move. She managed to walk to the old apple tree which was halfway to the house but the next pain came on so suddenly that she was stuck once more. This time, it was more intense and everything faded away leaving just her and the pain.
She couldn’t seem to get the breath to call Lee and his office being at the back of the property didn’t help. She was stuck on the gravel drive now not close enough and wracked with pain. She could barely stand and her vision had narrowed. Knowing she might faint, she sank to her knees but before she reached the gravel, she was lifted by strong arms.
“I heard your call, I’m here,” Frankie said as he took her inside.
“Good timing,” she said.
****
The baby girl was born just twenty minutes after Frankie had arrived. She was healthy, alert and had curly dark hair, just like Frankie’s. Dana didn’t say anything, both men fussed over her and the baby and they seemed to know who the biological daddy was. Dana was given plenty of water from the brook and she felt pretty good considering her labor happened so fast.
“What are we going to call her?” Lee asked.
“Laurel,” Dana said, and both men nodded their head with approval. “I thought she had better have a natural name, given that she isn’t fully human.”
“What?” both men said, and she had to laugh, men were no good at keeping secrets.
“Oh come on,” she moaned. “I didn’t miss my pill, you don’t appear to live anywhere nearby and you always pop out of the trees like a shadow. What are you and what is my daughter?”
Both men looked at each other and then back at her as she sat with her arms folded across her chest. She waited while they made eyeballs at each other obviously trying to decide what to say to her. Lee put Laurel into her cot and sat on the bed. Both men waited for the other to speak and she felt like she was back at school.
“Fairy,” Frankie said after the silence had become too uncomfortable for him.
“Fine, why didn’t you tell me before. I knew you were different,” she said pulling him closer to kiss him.
“I didn’t want you to freak out,” he said.
“I didn’t,” she said leaning back against the headboard. “Well, I’m out of action but you two may as well celebrate.”
Frankie kissed her and then pulled a bottle of champagne from under the bed. Lee got three glasses and Dana had a few sips before putting it down. The men drank the champagne and then kissed while she watched sleepily. Lee’s confidence had grown in the bedroom and she had Frankie to thank for that. He stood up and slowly undressed the man, caressing his muscles as he did so, lingering to kiss the newly freed skin. Dana could watch them all day.
When her husband stripped, he did so with style and she had to laugh. Frankie wasn’t always there but when he was, it was like getting a boost of energy. Lee’s writing and editing went well, the animals on the farm became more contented, and she felt more relaxed. She would even swear to the plants growing quicker if it didn’t make her sound crazy. Their lives had become entwined with Frankie’s in a way that they could never have foreseen. Now with little Laurel it had grown complete.
When Lee had signed the deal with his publisher, he had attributed it to his family and he had included Frankie. They’d celebrated together until Dana had sent them away so she could sleep. Now she had Laurel they were intricately tied together, and she welcomed that. She curled up on the bed while her two naked men made her favorite snacks and brought her drinks. Nursing the baby might have put her out of action for a while but she still found pleasure in watching.
Lee was putty under Frankie’s magic touch and she loved the look of bliss that he wore when Frankie’s hands caressed his skin. She would never tire of watching Frankie’s sculpted body and the way the muscles rippled when he moved. He might not have been a god, but his fairy blood made him beautiful and strong just like the ancient Greek works of art. Whoever said that women were the fairer sex had never met Frankie.
“When you’re feeling stronger in a week or two would, you like to meet my friend, Klara,” Frankie said lazily stroking Lee’s thigh. “She’s in the area for a few weeks and would like to meet you all and she’s great with babies.”
“Is she like you?” Dana asked. “A horny fairy with a hot body.”
“Of course, and she wants to come around to play but no vodka this time,” Frankie said laughing.
“Game on,” Dana said.
Maybe her life wasn’t complete yet after all. There’s always room for more pleasure, she thought.
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 5 of 36
Egyptian Secrets
“So this place,” William began, “it actually exists? Or is it just a figment of your imagination like the last ancient town you had us searching for?”
Haji, an old man with wrinkled, tan skin and deep brown eyes that held both mystery and wisdom, cracked a smile. He no longer had any teeth and his lips were chapped from the harsh Egyptian sun. “It exists,” he said. “Hisyut exists. It is a magical place far off in the desert. The pharaohs from the past buried many treasures there because they knew the city would never be found.”
“So what makes you think we’ll find it if the pharaohs knew no one would?” William’s wife, Anna, asked. She stood beside her husband in a white, lace-trimmed gown and wide-brimmed hat. She was perfectly dressed for the Egyptian summer, light colors and light dress material. Or so she had been told. But Anna still felt incredibly hot and uncomfortable and didn’t know whether she should attribute it to the Egyptian weather or Haji’s stuffy apartment.
“You’re different,” Haji croaked out before he erupted into a fit of coughing.
William poured the old man a cup of water and sat beside him. “Have you ever seen Hisyut?”
Haji shook his head. “I have not. But my brother Jabir has. He even drew a map that I still have.”
Haji used his large stick to bal
ance himself as he slowly lifted out of his chair and shuffled to the other side of the room. He removed a book from his large collection and opened it to the middle, removing an old, ripped sheet of parchment. “Come, look,” he said over his shoulder to William and Anna.
The crowded around Haji as he carefully unfolded the map. It was faded, hard to read, and written in Arabic. Luckily for William, Anna read and spoke perfect Arabic.
“What year did your brother visit Hisyut?” Anna asked. She squinted at the map, trying to make out the words as best as she could.
“Uh,” Haji said, “1296.”
Anna shook her head. “No, Haji. In the Gregorian calendar.”
“The what? I’m not sure. It was 1296. I remember because it is also the year he died.”
William froze. “He died? From what?”
Haji sighed. Grief masked his face. “They said a heart condition but my brother, Jabir, never had a heart condition. He was a strong man. When he came back from Hisyut, he was sick all of a sudden. He thought he was cursed.”
William didn’t believe in curses but he didn’t want to further upset his friend by saying as much. He believed Jabir probably died from exhaustion after being in the desert for so long. Without the proper medical care, Jabir’s heart most likely just stopped beating.
“This city is along the Nile?” Anna asked. She still studied the map and had taken it from Haji’s hands and held it carefully in her palms.
“Somewhat,” Haji replied. “You can stay along the Nile. It will be safer. But eventually you will have to travel away from it.”
The Nile River, longest river in the world, played such a crucial role in Egypt. It had been regarded as sacred by the pharaohs and made Egypt the country it was today.
Anna reached over and hugged Haji. “I’m sorry about your brother.”
