by Amy DeMeritt
“Drink it.”
It’s all my mom says as she takes the blanket she had wrapped me in and puts it on the bed where I’m to lay down. I just stare at the glass with disgust. Awenasa comes over and takes my hand, pulling me over to sit down on the bed.
“Drink up, love. You’re still losing too much blood. You need to let your mom get started.” I take a deep breath and I look at Awenasa. “This shit makes me ramble. Sorry in advance for being annoying.”
She smiles and kisses my lips for a moment. I look back at the glass and swish the contents around, trying to gauge how much is actually here. It looks like at least three shots, which is probably less than when my mom had to stitch up my foot last November. It takes four big gulps to get it all down, and my head instantly starts to swim and I feel light headed. I hand Sara the glass and groan.
“Damn firewater. Nasty shit. Throat is on fire.” My mom smiles and lays a couple towels at the foot of the bed and pats it. “Lay your head here.”
Before I lay my head down, I look back at Awenasa and pat the space next to me. She smiles and moves to join me, laying down in front of me. I look up at my girls and wave them over.
“Come on, babies, sit with us. I’m going to start rambling like a drunken fool soon.”
They smile, but they still look very in shock and stressed. After they’re sitting on the other side of Awenasa, I lay my head back down.
My mom carefully parts my hair and her hand touches something that sends a sharp stabbing pain through my head. I scream out and clench my eyes shut tight. The alcohol is already making my brain fuzzy, but hasn’t dulled the pain yet. Awenasa takes my hand and kisses it.
“Kayla, you have a piece of wood in your head.” I groan and Awenasa leans forward to kiss my lips, making me smile. “Can you get that wood out, so I don’t sprout branches or something? Wow, could you imagine? What if that could happen? Why do people tell children that watermelons will grow in their belly if they eat the seeds? That’s just dumb” My mom laughs and Sara says, “I’ll get a refill. She’ll probably need it soon.”
“Ok, sweetie, hold still.”
My mom tugs at the piece of wood in my head, but I scream out and try to roll away. Awenasa places a hand on my shoulder to keep me still and my mom stops.
“I didn’t get it. Sit up and drink this.”
I look over and she’s holding out a fresh glass of firewater. I don’t even hesitate or complain. I lift up on my elbow enough that I can swish back the large glass and I sway some as it instantly goes to my head.
“Damn firewater.” I lay back down and Awenasa wipes a drop off my bottom lip. “Do you say that every time you have to drink?”
“Say what?”
“Damn firewater.” She does an impersonation of me and everyone laughs, including myself. She made me sound like a grouchy old man and the voice was really good. “Yes, she does.”
I’m staring at Awenasa lying next to me, only a few inches away and I can’t stop smiling. She smiles affectionately and caresses my cheek and brushes her thumb across my bottom lip. I smile wider and pucker my lips at her. She leans forward and gives me a soft kiss on the lips for a moment.
“Thank you for looking after my babies. How were they?” Awenasa’s smile fades some. “Very scared. All of us were very worried about you.”
“I was worried about me too. I almost didn’t make it. After something hit me in the back of the head, I went down with Jasper in my arms and almost blacked out. He looked terrified and asked me if we were going to die. I think that’s the only thing that kept me conscious. The winds were too strong to stand and I was fighting against them, digging my hands into the ground to get to the house. Then something smashed against my back. I don’t know how I made it to that door, because my body was giving out and the storm was just too damn strong. I was terrified I was going to lose all of you.”
“Your fearless protective nature has always amazed me. It’s both terrifying and inspiring to watch. Thank you for finding the strength to come back to us. You are not allowed to make me a widow. We are all going to make you lots of babies and grow old and wrinkly together.” I smile and caress her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“How are you feeling, Kayla?” I startle a little bit, and look over my shoulder. “Hey, I forgot you were here.” My mom smiles and pats my shoulder. “Well, that means you’re ready. Turn back over and keep talking to Awenasa.”
My mom starts to adjust my hair again and I freeze. I feel a sharp tug and pinch in the gash, making me wince and moan in pain.
“I got the wood out. I’m going to clean this and then start the stitches. You’ll probably need at least six.”
“I’m starting to feel like a rag doll that’s always having to be sewn and mended all the damn time. Are you sure you want a rag doll that’s always falling apart?” Awenasa smiles and caresses my cheek. “Yes.”
“Hey, do you remember that time we came to visit the reservation and we went canoeing down the Uncle Left Feet River?” She laughs hard. “You mean the Oconaluftee River?”
“That’s what I said.” She laughs and everyone else laughs too. “No, you said ‘Uncle Left Feet’.” I laugh and squeeze her hand. “That firewater is swizzle twisting my words. So, look, do you remember when we were going down that river and we came around a corner and the whole thing was full of, wait, what were they? Fuzziness up there. Oh yeah, elks.” She laughs and nods. “I remember. You were so excited that you jumped out of the canoe to get to them.”
“I wanted to ride on one, but they ran away. Why didn’t they want to play with me? Were my wolf fangs showing?” She laughs and caresses my cheek. “You don’t have wolf fangs, my love.”
“Yes, huh, look.” I bare my teeth at her and she laughs. “You’re silly. Do you remember what you did next, after they ran away?”
“I went fishing. They didn’t want to play with me either.” She laughs. “You call that fishing? It was more like belly flops. I was impressed though. I don’t know how you did it, but you did catch one with your wild jumping technique.”
“It was slippery though and it got away.”
“What did we do after that?” I smile and caress her cheek. “You’re really beautiful.” She smiles and kisses my lips for a moment. “You showed me how to fish the right way with a basket you quickly made from river canes. Why do rivers need canes? They don’t walk.” She laughs hard and covers her mouth in an amused way. “Did we go fishing? I feel like I have a fish hook in my head.” I lift my hand to feel my head, but she pulls it back down. “Don’t touch it. Did we catch any?”
“What? Heads? God, I hope not.” She laughs. “No, silly, fish.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, we got a big pretty mopey faced fish.” She laughs and kisses my lips. “You mean a trout?”
“Yeah. Why do they look sad all the time? Is it because they know we’re going to eat them?” She laughs and pinches my chin between her thumb and forefinger. “You’re adorable. What did we do after we caught the trout?”
“We made a fire by the river and you cleaned it and skewered it to roast over the fire. We found a wild blackberry bush nearby and ate almost the whole bush while we waited for the sad trout to cook.” She laughs and touches my nose. “Your tongue was dark purple the whole rest of the day.”
“So was yours. You left out the best part.”
“Remind me.” I scrunch my face and pout. “You don’t remember?” She laughs and wiggles my nose. “I remember, but I like listening to you talk.” I smile really big and she giggles. “After we ate, we laid next to the fire and talked for hours. The fire died before we got up to go home because neither us wanted to move to feed it. Feed it, that’s funny. I held you on my chest while we talked about our dreams and how many kids we want and what we would name them. I wanted to kiss you, but I was scared because you’re just so beautiful and amazing.” She caresses my cheek and leans in to kiss my lips. “I wanted to kiss you too. Do you
remember how many kids we said we want?” I smile really big. “At least four. Can you take this fish hook out of my head? It’s really bothering me. Why did we go fishing with poles?”
“We didn’t go fishing and you don’t have a fish hook in your head. You’re getting stitches.”
“Oh, right, rag roll.” She laughs and squeezes my hand. “How many kids do you want now?”
“Probably like ten.” Her eyes get really big and she laughs hard. “That’s a lot of kids.”
“Well, I have four women that want to make me babies, so you know, that’s going to add up quickly.” She laughs hard and kisses my lips. “We could just have one each.”
“But you wouldn’t be happy with making just one baby.”
“True. I’d like to have a few of my own. Not that I won’t love the others just as much.”
“See, that’s why I said ten. You’ll probably want three to four of your own. Then Sam and Shannon will probably want one each. And Maddi will probably want two to three. They say they’re going to make me have one, but I don’t know.”
“You are having at least one.” I pout and touch my stomach. “But, my abs. Wait, when you move with me, are you going to have to give up your priestess title?”
“No, I just won’t be as active in the tribe any more. Same as how your mom is with her medicine woman title. She is called when her expertise is needed, but she can live off of the reservation.”
“My mom’s the best. I hope I’m a good mom like her.”
“You will be.”
“What’s your favorite memory from us visiting the reservation?”
“That’s hard because I loved every second of each visit. I had you mostly to myself nearly the entire visit and we just did whatever we wanted and talked all day and night, or slept in each other’s arms. The summer before last, when we were seventeen, really was amazing though.”
“Why, because you slept on my naked body?” She laughs and shakes her head. “No, we were at a feast and a boy I grew up with challenged you to a fight to win my hand in marriage. He was considered the best fighter on the reservation at the time, but you agreed to the fight, even though he is twice your size. It was ridiculous because I wouldn’t have married him, even if he won.”
“Yeah, but I whooped his ass.” She laughs and nods. “Yes, you did. It was best three out of five rounds and you won three rounds in a row. It was like you were toying with him.”
“He may have been the best on the reservation, but my dad is one of the best in the tribe, and I’ve been learning from him since I could walk.”
“I loved what you said after the match was over and he was in complete disbelief that you beat him.” I smile and rub my thumb across her jawline. “So beautiful.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
“Don’t you?” She giggles. “Yes. You told him that you fought with love in your heart, while he fought with envy in his, so he never stood a chance. I loved that so much. I wanted to kiss you so badly right then.”
“You can kiss me now to make up for it.”
She smiles and leans in to kiss my lips. She tries to pull back, but I hold her close and slip my tongue along hers and melt into her. I inhale deeply and try to move closer to her, but hands grab my shoulder and hip, making me startle and pull back.
“Who just touched me?” Awenasa giggles and places a hand on my face. “Silly, puppy. Your mom is stitching up your head.”
“Oh, right, I wrestled with a tornado. Do you think I caused that? Why was the shed the only thing destroyed after I danced on it last night? Did I accidentally do some kind of shamanic storm dance or something?”
“No, puppy, you didn’t call a storm with your dance. If it wasn’t for your weird storm detection ability, a lot more would have been lost and destroyed.”
“How did you know that was coming?” I startle again. “Who was that?” Awenasa laughs and pats my cheek. “Madison. They’re all still here with us.” I smile and kiss her hand. “That’s good. I love my babies.”
“Are you going to answer her?”
“Answer what?”
“How did you know the storm was coming?”
“Oh, that. When Joey ran out of the tipi, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled and my fight or flight reaction kicked in. Then I smelled the ozone in the air. Couldn’t you smell it?”
“No, I don’t have your insanely heightened sense of smell.”
“I feel sleepy.”
“Then take a nap.”
“But if I close my eyes, I can’t see your beautiful face anymore.”
“I’ll be right here when you wake up. I won’t move.”
I smile and entwine my fingers with hers. She gently kisses my lips and I give into the heaviness of my eyelids and allow them to close.
Chapter Seven
After the storm, we decided not to set Awenasa’s tipi back up and we’ve all just slept in my room together for the past several nights. It’s been really nice having Awenasa on one side with all of my girls on the other side and all of us snuggled up together. It’s our last day here and then we fly back home early tomorrow morning.
I currently have Awenasa laying on my chest on one side, with Madison laying on the other, and Sam is laying on my stomach. I don’t know when Sam moved in the night, but I can’t stop smiling. Sam loves laying between my legs with her head on my stomach. She’d rather lay on me than on a pillow, but since we’ve been in town, she hasn’t been able to lay on me like this. She must not have been able to resist anymore and just crawled over in the middle of the night.
Awenasa stirs and slowly lifts her head off my chest. She looks at Sam and Madison and smiles as she turns to look at me, before bending down to kiss me, gently nipping my bottom lip. She starts to pull back, but I grab her shoulder and pull her back. She smiles and allows me access to fully kiss her.
Our mouths move in a slow passionate dance that makes me inhale deeply and I pull her closer to myself. I feel Madison lift her head off of my chest and start to move, but I tighten my grip on her shoulder, keeping her close. She softly kisses my neck before laying back down on my chest.
Awenasa’s hand rides up my side and palms over my breast, making me release a small moan and she smiles against my mouth. She slides her hand up my chest and caresses my neck before gliding back over my breast again. I’m panting for air and hot arousal is filling my body, making my whole body hum. Sam lifts her head off my stomach and starts to move, but I hook a leg around her, not allowing her to leave.
Awenasa’s hand firmly glides down my chest and stomach, only to rise back up under my shirt. I moan and arch against her touch as she massages my breast and kneads my nipple. She pinches and tugs my nipple, making me release a sharp moan. She suddenly pulls back, breathing hard and rests her forehead against mine and rests her hand on the center of my chest.
“Kissing you is dangerous.” I smile and reach up to run my hand through her hair. With her parted lips hovering above mine, she quietly says, “I need to be with you.”
“Then be with me.” She nervously bites her bottom lip and stares in my eyes. “There’s too many people.”
“In the room?” She smiles and slowly shakes her head side to side while her head is still pressed against mine. “In the house.”
“Perhaps we should go for a hike in the woods.” She smiles really big and laughs a little. “Is that really any safer? Doesn’t Sara go running in the woods every morning?”
“Good point. The family tends to live half of the day in the woods most days. Hey, how about you do that sexy priestess commanding thing you do when you speak in Cherokee and make everyone leave the house?” She laughs hard and kisses my lips. “Oh, wait, I’ve got it! The basement. Its soundproofed.” I try to sit up in excitement and all of my girls quickly lift off of me and laugh at me with big happy smiles on their faces. “Come on, babies. Oh, wait, uh, are we all…” Awenasa smiles and kisses my lips. “Take us to the basement, puppy. We’ll
figure it out when we get there.”
I smile really big and scramble to get up, pulling her up with me. I peek my head outside the door to see if anyone is in the hall or in the kitchen area where the basement door is. Damn, there’s people in the kitchen and dining room. We walk to the basement door and I just casually wave as I open the basement door. When all of them are on the stairs with me, I start to lock the door, but I hear voices below us and I freeze. I look at my girls and my head falls in defeat. I start down the stairs and my girls follow.
Our eyes lock in the mirror and she smiles really big before she turns to face me with her hands on her hips. Symone is dressed in a pair of short cut-off black jean shorts, a tux-style charcoal gray vest, and only a black lace bra underneath. Her long straight black hair is up in a ponytail and her chocolate milk complexion skin is glowing with a light shine, probably from her moisturizer.
Sara and Keira are standing next to her. Sara is dressed similar to me in long shorts and a tank top. Keira is dressed in short shorts with a cute top that ties around the back of her neck. Her long black hair is in a nice Dutch braid. Her light cocoa complexion looks really nice next to Sara’s light copper. They make a really beautiful couple.
Keira walks over to me smiling really big and wraps her arms around me.
“Hey, sweetie. I heard we almost lost you to the tornado. You are one crazy brave girl. How’s your head and back?”
“Getting better. I should be able to have the stitches taken out in a few days. Shannon will do that for me when we get home. The back still hurts, but it doesn’t slow me down. So, what’s going on?”
“Sara received the MP3 for the Giz Anderson song we need to create choreography for. We were going to listen to it and play with some ideas. Sara was just about to come wake you up.”
Symone walks over with a mischievous grin on her face and gently pushes Keira aside. She looks me up and down with her beautiful green eyes and laughs a little.
“Is that how you plan on dancing, baby?”
