Deserved

by Victoria Johns

  So yeah, today she could cause me to piss my pants and cry all at the same time. What a sneak peek of old age that would be for me.

  “Man up, Sevens. I doubt she’s about to wet herself back stage. Sophia, no!”

  That was reasons two and three and a half combined.

  Sophia was my daughter, who was just approaching four. The kid was hell on wheels and spoiled rotten. At this moment in time, she was racing up and down the bleachers dressed in a T-rex costume, growling at people and unfortunately that was all down to me. I had a real problem saying no to that little beauty. She was supposed to be wearing a pretty dress, but Sophia had other ideas after I’d left her watching a cartoon about some kid with a bucketful of dinosaur toys that came to life. Apparently ‘Sophiasaurusrex’ was only prepared to come if I agreed to her wearing a full dinosaur costume, and because her mom hadn’t been around to put us both back in our place… well let’s just say Carly was less than impressed to arrive for the most important day of her school life with her baby sister dressed like an extra from Jurassic Park. So far, the little animal had managed to knock over a table full of programs on her way in, scare some grandma half to death and now she was busy terrorizing the crowds.

  “Honestly, I can’t leave you alone with her for five minutes, Tommy.”

  “Soph, sweetheart, come and sit down.”

  “GRRRRR,” she roared at me from eight rows away, spitting all over some unfortunate person she happened to be stalking like a velociraptor.

  “She can’t sit down. The tail on that costume is ridiculous. She’ll have to take it off.”

  “Uh…”I began, starting to fear for my own life. This was not going to go down well.

  “Please tell me she’s got clothes on under that?”

  “Uh…” And then I got the death stare from reason number three. My wife, Lacey. “You had one job, Tommy, one job. Get our daughters fed, dressed and here on time.”

  “That’s three,” I protested, and my hot as fuck wife did not look impressed with my comeback. Even though I was ten years older than her, I could give her a run for her money. “Baby, don’t glare at me like that. You know what that look does to me.”

  The death stare turned to a shy smile and I swear she thought I was playing with her. But honestly, the minute she got fiery and Little Lacey came out to play, I went from semi to full on stiff in a nanosecond. You’ll note I started at semi and that was because my pretty wife had me in a constant state of arousal.

  I was one lucky bastard.

  “Don’t look at her like that in front of me,” Oli warned and pushed past me with Sopiasaurusrex hanging off him. “Sorry. How you doing, Mrs. Diaz? Can I just squeeze past? Only a Sevens kid would turn up to a graduation wearing an animal costume,” he grumbled and plonked himself down a couple of seats along from me. Oli and Lottie had come to share in the graduation joy. We had an understanding in our relationship; he still thought he had to protect Lacey and I did everything possible to push his buttons. Sophia treated them like grandparents and I couldn’t have been happier to have them take that role in her life. We were all lucky to have each other.

  “How you feeling, baby?” I asked Lacey.

  “Fat.”

  “I didn’t ask how you were looking,” I said completely by accident and felt her eyes piercing mine. “You know I’m only joking.” I grinned, rubbing the half reason cooking in her stomach. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.” I kissed her softly until I heard Oli grumbling again.

  When we’d first got together, it had been based on passion and our feelings had tried to poke their way in and let us know that it could be something more. When we really got together, it was because our feelings knew there was definitely something more between us and that moved the passion up to a whole new level. When I looked at my wife and knew I was the only person who had ever been intimate with her, it did things to me that I couldn’t explain. It was like I had a primal urge to keep stamping my ownership foot down, just in case her body forgot who it belonged to. Mind you, there was not much chance of that. She only had to bend over and I’d wind up working out ways to sneak a few minutes with her. There was never any possibility that we wouldn’t have a child. It was just a matter of timing. Oven cooking baby number two, though, that was a bit of a shocker. We were protected or so we thought, and apparently, it’s not a joke when they say contraception is only ninety-nine point something percent effective.

  Still, we’d happily moved along with fate. Any baby Lacey and I created would be loved and cherished, although this one had better be a boy. My success rate at disciplining Sophia wasn’t great. Another daughter would kill me off for sure.

  “Ladies and gentleman, please welcome our Valedictorian, Miss Carly Sevens,” a voice announced over the P.A.

  “Oh fuck,” I said.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the dinosaur repeated in a sing-song voice, garnering me death stares from absolutely everyone near us with working ears. The little hell raiser was only singing it because she knew it would get me in trouble.

  “Thank you, Principal Weathers,” Carly began and I felt my heart stutter and the urgent need to breathe deeply in order calm myself down. Lacey put her hand on my knee and squeezed. She couldn’t even look at me, which meant she was already crying. I was fucked.

  “Thank you for choosing me to speak today. It’s an honor and a privilege to be this year’s Valedictorian. It’s difficult to summarize the last year. I’m sure we all had different expectations when we set out for our final year and most of us are probably in different places than we thought we would be. That’s okay. We’re individuals, and as individuals, we each have an element of greatness that contributes to us having a successful senior year. When I first came to Hawkstown, my only goal was to be someone who could find the normal things any girl of twelve could want. Of course, back then I really only wanted to work in a real American diner, serving food on roller skates and listening to jive music. It was all about the simple things in life, but really, who doesn’t love fifties music?” The audience laughed, but I heard Carly clear her throat, using the time to gather herself because she was emotional. Every goal she’d had had been smashed to pieces because she knew she was capable of more and deserved to strive to be the best she could be.

  I heard that in her voice as she talked. It was loud and clear in her silence as I saw her face searching the crowd for us—that and a dinosaur roaring, but what the hell?

  “I was lucky enough to come to a town with some truly wonderful people, and I was lucky enough to be part of a loving family who wanted nothing more than to help me grow up to be whatever I wanted to be. It didn’t take long for those people to show me that I deserved the best the world had to offer, and with a little bit of hard work and dedication, it was all within my grasp. Life is never easy, whether you’re just starting school or just finishing. It’s always tough but that’s the best part of it, because you appreciate what’s happening around you and every win, no matter how small, is a victory that you can claim as your own. They say that your years at high school are the best days of your life and I can’t disagree so far, because those days are when we find our feet and discover who we really want to be. Everything I’m saying will mean something different to each of you, and I know this speech feels personal for me, but I want everyone to know that whether you go to college and become the world’s leading brain surgeon or a kick ass attorney, it doesn’t matter because you earned it and it’s your victory. You can stay local and choose to put back into the community, you can become a cab driver, a business mogul, help kids who need it the most or be a roller skate waitress. It doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that you do it with your heart and soul every day. Every day you should feel blessed to be alive and thankful for what you have, and if you want more, work for it, earn it and know that you deserve your victories. I know we all measure our success in different ways, so remember this as you take the next step in your lives. Success is exactly
that, success, no matter how big or small. Thank you for listening.”

  The audience were on their feet clapping, the only dinosaur amongst us was roaring and growling, and Lacey was trying to wipe tears and snot from her face while she clapped. I was still in my seat. My legs wouldn’t stand up, no matter how much I needed them to. I couldn’t for the fucking life of me remember what she’d just said. The words were crashing in my head and making no sense, but I knew that they were all perfect and every one of them mattered because they were all said from the heart. Carly Sevens loved hard, felt deep and cared with everything within her, and Lacey, my beautiful fucking wife had taught her that.

  She’d taught us both that.

  “Stand up, Tommy. She’s looking for you,” Lacey hissed, grabbing my arm to try to pull me up.

  “I can’t,” I cried to myself. “Anyway, if she can see you, she’ll know I’m here. Wherever you are, baby, is where I’ll always be.”

  THE END

  The best way to show an author what you think of their hard work is to leave a review at the site where you purchased it.

  It would mean a lot to me if you could take a few seconds to do this… pretty please!

  There are always tons of people to thank.

  The amount of help and hard work that goes into these works of fiction never ceases to amaze me. Huge thanks as always.

  Nikki Ashton, my story sound board and Nicky Hearson, as beta readers and proofers, you keep me sane, well… as sane as possible!

  H.A. Robinson, what can I say, you’re a hoot with your that red editor’s pen. I adore your little side notes and look forward to them with each page… hugs for my ‘sister from another mister.’

  J.C. Clarke from The Graphics Shed, you are a graphics Goddess! Beautiful covers, lush designs and a formatting wizard. I am so glad I found you!

  My family, as always, are very patient as I hive myself away to plough on with the words and without them it wouldn’t be possible… either that or my kid would starve!

  Mr. Johns, you rock my world constantly... In more ways than one :)

  Victoria Johns is a writer who enjoys sharing a happily ever after and believes that it’s every good girl’s dream to experience a steamy one. Growing up in North West England in a large family surrounded by love and support she found her Prince Charming many years ago and enjoys living the life they’ve made with their son.

  She’s always had a creative imagination and decided that some of the stories bubbling in her head need to be given life and shared.

  This pen name gives them the freedom to be loved by others.

  When she’s not writing, she’s sewing, cycling or chomping on crisps in front of the TV.

  Follow my blog/Website on:

  Instagram: Victoriajohnsbooks

  @victoriajohns75

  @victoriajohnsauthor

  www.victoriajohnsbooks.com

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