Emily's Home - Ginger's Out Ch. 12

If you're wondering, we didn't do the hot tub naked. Yes, it was tempting. But with our rather homophobic neighbor, it didn't seem like a good idea to wander from the house and back with nothing on. Sure, we could have all worn bath towels and nothing else. Did we? Smile. You decide!

Candy said to Reenie, "Jenny kissed you on the lips when the two of you said goodbye."

"Yeah, she did. I surprised her though; I opened my mouth." We laughed.

I kissed my girl and said, "That's why she pulled away so quickly."

Reenie's smile was the sly smirk I love. "You noticed that huh?"

"Uh huh, you bet." I had a funny thought. "Hey, did we ever have makeup sex after you stormed out of the club?" All three of them were hysterical. I laughed as well. I know it was pretty ridiculous ... but what the hell.

Four friends chatted comfortably on a warm June evening. Lover paired with her lover. Like ducks, all was calm above the water, not so much beneath. Wink!

Reenie was the one who mentioned Kathy and my sister. "Ginger and her sister were talking when I brought Kathy out here. Jenny's eyes locked on to Kathy like lasers." She turned to me. "You noticed right?" I nodded.

Georgia added, "We saw the two of them getting something to eat. If someone didn't know she is your sister, you'd think they had something going on." It was speculation, plain and simple.

"Jenny and David go home tomorrow. That'll be the end of that." Reenie gave me an odd look but I dismissed it.

"When are you having us over for dinner?" Georgia asked.

Reenie spat, "Bitch, you had your dinner tonight!" I was startled. Candy and Georgia both laughed. Was I missing something? She looked at me. "I'm off next Sunday, and Tammy and her husband are coming the following Saturday. These two will whine for decades if we don't have them here first." The other two stopped laughing and glared.

"That's fine." I looked at our friends and said, "You two bring the food."

Two voices shrieked, "What?"

Reenie laughed. "She's kidding, you goofballs." Turning to me, she said, "That was pretty damn funny Ginger."

Georgia looked at her honey and asked, "We saw the kiss when we came in. What were the two of you talking about that led to it?" Candy looked at me, as if to ask permission. A bit surprised, I nodded.

She cleared her throat and began. "I talked about the Friday night when Reenie left Ginger at the club." She looked at Reenie. "Course I left some things out. Mostly it was about how happy we both were that she'd finally found someone special, someone who loved her the way she'd never been loved before. We'd seen her go through her share of maybes, never woulds, and shouldn't haves." We laughed at the descriptions and knew exactly what she meant. She continued, "Now that you know why she left that night, you understand her reluctance to share something so ugly." We all nodded.

Reenie added, "There were a lot of tears that night. Some of them were shed about you not sleeping with Candy that day at the crash pad." My lover kissed me tenderly. I saw the sheen of tears that she bit back. "It meant so much to me to know that you love me enough not to give in." I was losing my battle. "We all knew Candy had a major crush on you. It was obvious that there was interest on your part." Yeah, tears won! "I admitted to dumb and dumber that I would have been okay with it, as I told you that morning." The sly smile came back. "You ready for that make up sex?"

Perfect!! We all laughed, even as we brushed away our tears. The four of us kissed each other, friends loving friends.

As we wrapped ourselves in towels before heading in, Reenie said, "Make sure the doors are locked when you go to bed."

Subject: An Update

From: Ginger Butler

To: Julia Simpson-Williams

Date: November 25, 2012

Dear Julia,

First off, let me explain my name. You knew me as Emily Rogers. That was married me, pre-Julia me, pre-Dallas, pre-life-changing-weekend me. I got divorced from asshole. I'll tell you more about that in a minute. Part of the divorce included taking back my maiden name, and the nickname you gave me that weekend. Thank you for that!! It's my legal name. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles said so. Well, I did have to show them the paperwork the attorney prepared.

Julia, I was such a mess when I came home. I was living in a furnished studio, my world turned upside down, and my ... um, everything turned upside down. The next day I seduced, or let myself be seduced, by a realtor who I wanted ... eyeroll ... who was supposed to find me an apartment. Her name was Lily. That went well, until it didn't.

I had a date with a guy – Mark was his name. He was cute and really nice! After a second date, I had a scare, thinking I was pregnant. Uh huh, I ... um ... shrug. Did I ever mention my BFF Nora? Probably not – that weekend, especially now, is something of distant blur. Well, kinda!!!

I think I'd hate myself until I die if I don't tell you this Julia. And I'm crying as I write. I had a moment, early on, when I remembered slapping you. I'll regret that as long as I live, so you know!! Please forgive me.

I hope you and Sheri are well. I'm sure she's flying up the corporate ladder!! Which reminds me – I got one hell of a shock not long ago when George, my way cool boss, told me he'd been promoted and he'd recommended me to take his job. How cool is that!! It's had its ups and downs, like any job, especially when you're suddenly in charge of people who used to be your peers. I think they think I'm doing okay – um, that's both management and my ... people.

Julia, there was a time early on when a friend of mine called me Gin-slut. Laughing! She was right. You turned something loose in me I never dreamed I ... had? Wanted? Whatever – thank you! Again!

You probably guessed – I made some mistakes along the way. My best friend Nora was among them. You told me (I think) 'Feel good for an hour and miserable for the rest of the day.' Well, she ... never mind. That was a mistake!

Oh! I know I'm jumping around a lot – but one little thing I did for me was buy a 2013 Ford Mustang convertible. It's white and I love it. So does Reenie. Guess I'd better tell you about my honey, huh!

Reenie is a Dayton police officer. She's looking over my shoulder and wants ... um, told me ... to say hello and thank you. She pulled me over one morning while I was ... being blonde, which I'm not! That wasn't long after I'd ventured into a lesbian club after work, where she saw me, and told me that morning, after she'd given me a warning notice.

Yeah, you're probably wondering ... Lily, Nora, Reenie (who's name is Maureen and used to be nicknamed Mo until, um, me.) Confused? You're not the only one!!! Her ex-roommates and bestest friends were too – my nickname, not their friendship. That's way too long a story ... I think! Their names are Candy and Georgia. Uh huh, I thought that was funny too!!! How are Sue and Georgia doing??

Work – it's a small group. There were twelve of us until I got promoted. Our 'everything,' Jodi, got herself pregnant, god bless her. She and hubby Kerry had a little girl not long after (grin!) Labor Day. She's so cute!! Reenie and I went to visit her in the hospital. She told us they'd decided to name the baby Ginger. I told her that was crazy. The baby cried. Reenie said, "Nice goin' Ginger, you made a baby cry!" Jodi and Kerry laughed. Reenie and I didn't speak for a couple of weeks. Ow! I lied! I love her. She told me that I do. Grin!

I took a week and went to California, Julia. Shrug. I needed ... oh! Did I tell you about my sister Jenny? Probably not. She's the best! She could have killed me when I called and told her about you, me, the new me. Understand?? Am I all over the map with this? You okay with that?

California – yeah, I needed that trip a lot. There was you, Lily, Nora, and Reenie. Anyway, it got so messed up that I needed time away. To sett... no, to ... um ... I needed to get away cuz I knew I was in love with Reenie. Stop it you! Julia, I'll be back ... soon.

Smile! Julia, you taught me how to love a woman. I love my woman, and she loves me, like I dreamt that you and Sheri love each other. I'm sorry, I have tears. That's how much my redhead is a part of every last fiber of my being. Yeah, like I once wished asshole (AH) might have been. Oh, about him – there had been some back and forth about the divorce. Since there were no kids, I wanted a financial settlement. He balked; it got ugly for a while. Long story short – I yelled at him and apologized later. When I did, a voice in the background said, "Come back to bed Billy." Um, 'she' had been dubbed 'Bambi.' They became Bambi and Billy. Reenie came up with a hilarious sweater thing – Rogers? Fred? Shrug.

My cop has had her ups and downs on the job. It's taken me some time to get used to being a cop's wife! Wink. The worst of it was in May when she got shot. No, don't panic. She's fine. Long story; it was real scary till I got to the hospital and saw her. Thankfully, her recovery went pretty smoothly.

This is so random I laughed when I thought about it. Didn't you tell me Sheri went to Northwestern? Softball wasn't it? Well my sister's daughter is going there – to play on their lacrosse team! How cool is that! She's so excited. I told Jenny and David we'd come to Chicago to see her play, or maybe somewhere on the road. It would be pretty fun to see you and Sheri too. We'll see.

I've been going on and on and haven't told you about our house. It started the Monday I got back from Dallas. I was in a little furnished apartment, hated it, and my boss gave me a referral to a realtor, who turned out to be Lily. Moving ahead a bit, she suggested I could rent a house and buy it later if I wanted. Reenie and I were still kinda new, so that sounded good. And there was the relationship thing, Lily, Nora, and Mo/Reenie. Sounds like a train smash right? And it was. It started as a rental with an option to buy, which we did earlier this month.

Julia, it's two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gorgeous kitchen, a fab living room, a patio, and a hot tub!! And a dog!! Yup, a dog. Boss is an American Boxer mix, with white feet (I know, they're paws) and brown fur, except for around his face. So cute, the white is all around his mouth and goes between his eyes, over the top of his head. A shelter dog, Reenie cried when we saw him. Cute little guy just about licked her to death. He loves the fenced in back yard – and Reenie. We'll be sitting together on the couch, and Boss will come and lay on her lap, looking at me as if to say, 'Got a problem with this?'

We had a housewarming party in June, which was wonderful. Our home isn't small, but the summer was so hot. It meant a lot of the guests stayed inside, which was fine. Anyway, oh my god, we – geez, when I say 'we,' I mean Reenie, me, Candy and Georgia. They're her ex-roommates and her (our!) best friends. I may have mentioned that before. Whatever! There were almost forty people and it was great. Mind if I share? I thought about inviting the two of you. Really I did!!

Julia, my bad ass cop was the one who suggested, no asked, if we could get promise rings. Shaking my head. Damn leaky eyes! I was so surprised. We'd been shopping, and were walking and chatting when she sprang the question – totally out of the blue. I got even though. I'd looked online and found what I wanted. I surprised Reenie one Sunday afternoon. I had parked on the other side of the mall from the jewelry store and we walked for what felt like forever, especially since she was ribboned. I don't know if you and Sheri know what that is – but damn, it's beyond delicious!!!

I'm going to close with the reason for this ridiculously long email. Reenie and I were married last Saturday, November 17th!!! Am I too much of a girl to admit I'm crying as I type that? Hope not!

We looked and looked and decided on Niagara Falls. Neither of us had been there, we both agreed it was a place we'd like to visit, and it seemed to be a popular spot for couples like us. The only out of town people we had to worry about were my sister Jenny and David. Yup, Jen would stand for me, and Candy and Georgia would be Reenie's co-maidens of honor. It just felt like the right combination.

The four of us left Thursday morning. We talked about driving versus flying. It's not like the two of us are better than Candy and Georgia, but it was nearly three hundred dollars apiece for a round trip flight. Seeing as how they would leave on Sunday and we planned on staying several days longer, we decided to take their car to New York.

The girls teased us about getting one big suite for the four of us. Reenie shocked them by saying, "That's exactly what we did." I picked up the cue right away and nodded. "Ginger booked a suite, complete with two king size beds, although I told her that with a king, we'd only need one bed for all of us." Georgia turned and looked, mouth hanging open in disbelief. "What? Blondie has always wanted the four of us to spend a night together. So why not have one big bang before we get married."

"Will you shut the hell up, big mouth?" Candy screeched.

It's always fun being with those two!!

It seems like a lot of detail, but you have to wait twenty four hours after getting your license to get married. Fairly early (wink!) on Friday morning we hustled over to the Niagara Falls City Clerk's office. Having read the requirements online, I'd brought my divorce and name change documents with me. We'd made reservations for the bridal suite at the Hillcrest Inn, but that was for Saturday, after the wedding.

Jenny and David arrived late Friday night, but that wasn't a problem – we were to be married Saturday afternoon. They'd flown to Buffalo and taken a cab to Niagara Falls. They did not take a cab back Sunday!

Anyway, we had the ceremony at the small but gorgeous Hillcrest Inn. A very lovely woman named Candace Sheeran was our wedding officiant. (I didn't know what it was either Julia, till I saw it on the Niagara Falls website.)

Our vows.

Me: "I love you Maureen. I didn't know what real love was until we met. I want to be your wife till I draw my last breath. I'm yours, yesterday, today, forever."

Reenie: "I'm not sure I know how to tell you just how much I love you, Ginger. From the beginning, there was this odd something, a pull that I couldn't resist. We both have our pasts. It doesn't matter now." She held up my hand as 'proof.' "You're mine, and I'm yours. We'll grow old together. I love you, my wife."

All of us were crying, including David.

Candace said the magic words, "By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce Ginger and Maureen united as one." We were married!! We kissed, softly and sweetly. There were lots of kisses, hugs and tears between the six of us.

We went for a celebratory brunch/dinner at a lovely restaurant, Fortuna's. David, the sneak, had found it online, made a reservation, and we were among the first seated just after they opened at four that afternoon. The menu was out of this world. If you went away hungry, it was your fault. We shared hot and cold appetizers. David had a steak; the rest of us chose from fish, pasta, and chicken. David insisted on paying, even with Reenie's threat of handcuffs – which none of us took seriously.

We had given Jenny and David grief about not renting a car and taking a cab. We all squeezed into Candy's car for the ride from the restaurant to the Hillcrest Inn. We took our luggage from the trunk and said our goodbyes. Jenny whispered something in my ear, to Reenie's amusement. The four of them were heading back to the Holiday Inn.

Reenie and I spent our wedding night in a beautifully appointed Master Suite overlooking the Niagara River. Without going into detail, all I can say is oh my god, talk about romantic! Big smile! It didn't feel that much different than Friday night, and it felt completely different. Did you and Sheri feel that way? I'm guessing you know just what I mean!

We said goodbye to Jenny, David and the girls Sunday. Candy and Georgia drove the other two to the Buffalo airport before heading home. It was too late in the year to take the famous 'Maid of the Mist' under the falls. That wasn't a bad thing, given how cold it was. It did mean we got to spend more time in the room, which we hated!

After an out of this world breakfast Monday morning we rented a car, put our luggage in the trunk, and headed to do some shopping. The hotel had given us a voucher worth $800 in savings at the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. We had some fun. Enough said!

The drive to Niagara on Thursday had taken six hours. Reenie had to work on Thanksgiving (we'd both taken a weeks vacation). There was no hurry to get home. We took back roads, wandered from town to town, found motels in out of the way places, and had a wonderful couple of days doing nothing but being together. I guess that's why we're married.

I've written this email with Reenie at work and me in our home. When I looked at my email yesterday, there was a note from my trainer, Kathy. She told me she was moving to St. Louis. That was what my sister had whispered in my ear and what I'd told Reenie later, in our room. I guess Jenny and Kathy had found each other!!!

I thought you might want to hear how we happened to be married. Meaning – the proposal. On a lovely Labor Day weekend, as we lounged in the hot tub late Saturday night, Reenie asked me, very much out of the blue, "So you wanna get married or something?"

Startled out of my lust-induced haze, I replied, "Yeah okay." I know right; shockingly romantic!! So very Reenie!!

Thank you Julia, for everything. You may have saved my life!! I have tears – of joy, of gratitude, of happiness. I love my redhead, my wife, and I thank you for making us possible!!

Affectionately,

Ginger

Author's Note: As ever, this is a flight of fantasy; completely fictitious. If there is any resemblance to anyone walking among us my apologies. I hope you've enjoyed the final chapter of a rather long tale!!

Another author put it so well: "The site is free. The author is 'paid' in comments and votes."

This story has been dedicated to someone very special – the 'other' AVL. Without her prodding, teasing and assistance I wouldn't have found my muse. She saw talent I had no clue I possessed. She saw growth while I struggled to find the right words as I wrote. I'm still in awe and amazed at it all. This story lay unfinished for quite some time. I had to come back to it, finish it, and publish it as a tribute to her.

Writing is a very solitary avocation. I absolutely adore it and it drives me nuts! I've had some invaluable assistance with this story. Every chapter has been proofed by a dear friend. She found little nits here and there that my writer's eyes miss. Plus, she asked questions when something didn't feel right and/or sound right. This story is better because of her. Thank you Ria!!

About 'date night' – The February 2013 edition of 'AARP The Magazine' states that 32% of couples say they 'never' or 'hardly ever' have date nights. But 88% of couples who say they're 'extremely happy' plan time alone together!

One last note: Your Vixen needs to take some time away from writing. I've been going hard since early last August. I have all kinds of thoughts about what to do next – we'll see what catches my attention when I come back to write. Sincere thanks to all for your comments and emails. I've made so many new friends in the last year since I've begun to post on this wonderful site. It's made the joy of writing all the more fulfilling and rewarding. See you soon!! AVL