Game Night Pt. 09

"Am I the only one who hurts all over?" Jessica asked, biting into another strip of bacon.

"Oh, thank God!" Sarah replied, "I thought it was just me."

"Me, too." Rachel laughed.

Samantha and Katerina entered next. Samantha, like Rachel, had stolen one of Owen's shirts (a t-shirt) which barely covered her bare ass, and, no surprise, Kat was completely naked.

"Geez, Kat!" Sarah exclaimed. "Where is your shame?"

Katerina looked at Sarah, her face twisted by a look of bewilderment, her head tilted to the side. "What's shame?" She made her way over to Rachel, Samantha in tow, without waiting for a response.

"Good morning." Rachel beamed for her friend.

Katerina replied in kind, giving her raven-haired friend a lingering kiss on the lips, her tongue entering Rachel's mouth tasting, drinking deeply.

"Mmmm, smells good." Samantha purred, her lips close to Rachel's ear.

"Thank you, I know my way around eggs and bacon." Rachel replied breathlessly.

Samantha leaned in close to Rachel's neck and breathed deeply. When Rachel shivered, Samantha giggled. "I wasn't talking about the eggs and bacon."

Katerina leaned in on the opposite side and repeated the action, mirroring Samantha. "You know something, Sexy, she's right it does smell good over here." She made a point of leaning closer to Rachel and breathed her in deeply.

Rachel sighed and shivered again. She shook her head, her black-hair heavy and oily. The last thing she felt was sexy. Still, she appreciated the effort and attention.

"Why don't you undo a few of those buttons?" Katerina taunted.

"No way, Kitty Kat, not until I've had breakfast." Rachel shook her spatula menacingly at Katerina.

Kat harrumphed, but placed another kiss on Rachel's lips. "Okay, that seems like a reasonable request."

"I don't know how any of you can be thinking of sex this morning." Jessica groused. "After last night, I might become a nun."

"I don't know," Sarah said around a mouthful of eggs, "still seems like a lot of time on your knees."

"And waaaay less fun." Kat admonished.

They all laughed and settled around the table. Kat helped Rachel with setting the food on the table and soon they were happily munching away.

Rachel, cooking completed, sitting facing the entranceway, was the first to notice Owen enter the room. His hair was still damp, the sandy brown color was dark and earthy, the kind of soil her mother had told her was very fertile. Rachel cast her eyes down as her cheeks started to pinken. Maybe fertile wasn't the best word to be thinking of while looking at this boy. Owen entered the room wearing a baggy pair of khaki pants and a t-shirt (one of the few that hadn't yet been pilfered by his guests...lovers?).

By happenstance, as she looked down she noticed that the plate of eggs was looking sparse. She'd used everything he had in making breakfast.

Looking up at him she spoke, "I don't think we have enough eggs for you."

Sarah choked on her orange juice as she started to laugh.

Katerina covered her mouth to hide a chortle.

Jessica wasted no time in her response, "Oh yes we have." She smirked at Rachel, "I just think he might want to start with breakfast first."

Rachel's cheeks pinkened further.

"Don't forget," Jessica added looking at Owen, "to kiss the cook." She winked at Rachel.

He sat down beside her and greeted everyone with a still sleepy sounding, "Morning." Then he turned, and tilted Rachel's face toward his own. As he leaned in to kiss her, she panicked in fear of her morning breath [thanks a lot, Jessica]. He, however, didn't give her a chance to pull away and before she knew it his lips were on hers.

When they broke from their kiss, all-too-soon in her opinion, Owen looked at Katerina and practically leapt from his skin.

"Katerina! Where are your clothes?" His cheeks were that cute ruddy red that was so him.

"I don't know." Kat pouted. "My brother took them from me and just left me like this, can you believe it?" She affected a downcast look.

"Kat!" Owen exclaimed once more.

It was like she'd been waiting for it. "Meow." Was her succinct reply.

In no time plates were filled, depleted, washed and put away. The ease with which they fit together was unexpected, but welcome. Rachel had had misgivings that things were going to be awkward in the aftermath of their night of fun and passion, but it seemed that she had nothing to worry about in the immediate future.

But, there were worries about the future overall. Rachel knew that it was too soon to really talk about how things might look for the unconventional family they were building, but the worries gnawed at her relentlessly. She stuffed them down as the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months. Really, the friends/lovers only seemed to grow closer as time passed. Instead of easing her misgivings, this only fueled the fire of concern within her. And this was only the logistical concerns, there were other things to discuss, but that wasn't immediately apparent.

She shared her thoughts with Katerina at first and felt slightly relieved when her best friend echoed similar concerns and worries. Soon, they talked with Samantha, Sarah, and Jessica in turn forming an ever-larger council of worriers.

Finally, it was time to talk to Owen.

What began in the Summer as a night of fun and appreciation had blossomed even as the sky turned to gray and snowflakes began to form a blanket upon the ground. School was well and truly over for everyone, and life loomed ahead beyond the stretch of the winter season.

They'd found a comfortable rhythm of taking turns with household activities, even though they were not, definitely not, all living together. Just because they spent time together, didn't mean that they were living together. It was just, sometimes, one (or more) of them would stop by the house and clean a room, or do some dishes, sweep and mop a floor...spend the night. Nothing major.

Nothing major at all. At least not until a certain young lady's stomach began to swell a bit.

Then, there was quite a bit that fit the "major" bill to a T.

Their makeshift family would soon fit the hard definition of family and, though there was quite a bit of anxiety, none of them could've been happier.

Samantha, Rachel, and Sarah had all been accepted to an out of state University. Each of the women were quite good students and had their pick of University, but it was quite a coincidence that they had all been accepted to the same school as their first-choice.

Owen, due to certain global economic issues, was afforded the option of taking remote work. He happily accepted the remote position working from home. It didn't hurt that he had quite a sizeable savings account, but it wasn't exactly necessary. Each of the women had no intention of abandoning their professional goals. They were adamant that they all share financial responsibility for the household. As a family [felt so good to say], they decided to move.

It actually made a lot of sense to Rachel. In a university city, no one would question a bunch of people all living in the same house. Easy to explain away when someone asked why they all lived together. Saving money of course!

Rachel, Sarah, and Samantha all started in the Spring semester, the move having been completed the previous December. They had closed on a house, more bathrooms than bedrooms obviously, a home office, and, of course, a nursery.

They'd made a day of painting the nursery. It was a cold, blustery day outside, but the house was warm as the fire burned merrily in the fireplace. A stonework hearth adorned with a hand-hewn stone heart. Together they dressed the walls in yellow as the Sun shone through the double-pane bay window. They laughed and chattered happily as they worked, each taking a turn when she wasn't looking, to swipe a swath of paint over the mother-to-be's painting attire until she was as yellow as the walls.

By the time there was nothing left to do but wait, classes were in full-swing, Owen had been promoted to a project leader within his company. Katerina began to design and sew clothing and was exceptionally skilled. In the course of a few months she'd managed to sell a few of her designs. Jessica found a job with a local farrier as an apprentice and seemed to truly love the work. Owen worried over the potential danger of the job, but knew that Jessica could take care of herself. Sarah, Samantha, and Rachel brought home straight A's without fail, spending long nights at the dining room table pouring over books and scratching words on pages and into their memories. No one missed work unexpectedly, until March.

The pregnancy progressed perfectly and though they tried not to overdo it, each in the household made sure to make time to pamper momma. They cooed and giggled together when the baby kicked and every night someone read a book aloud, doing the voices of the characters, on their knees reading to the ever-growing belly and had their hair lovingly stroked for their efforts as they read.

To say that Owen's father had been upset about the news would be to understate the event. It had been a difficult task to face but Owen had not bowed under the pressure. He'd even been prepared with financial statements and, by the end, ultrasound photos that seemed to finally win his father over. His mother had happily cried as she held him in her arms, asking for copies of the ultrasound photos to hang on the fridge.

They were in the hospital and well-situated before Rachel could even allow herself to absorb all that had happened in such a short time. The monitors were beeping softly, and doctors and nurses made regular stops to check on progress. It was a long process, but they never left her side, not physically at least. In her mind, Rachel was still catching up.

"Owen!" Katerina had called from her design studio. "I think it's time!"

She'd called for Owen, but it was one of those rare occasions when everyone had been home, and therefore, all had gone running.

Sure enough, Katerina was standing, one hand on her lower-back supporting herself, standing above a large wet spot on the floor around her bare feet.

Everyone had burst into a frenzy of action and in record-time they were all travelling, in a few different cars, to the hospital.

They'd been sent back home, of course, and instructed that they shouldn't return until Kat's contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour. It had been a nerve-wracking wait, but they were finally here. Through everything. Through the night they'd first played together, through the fight and resolution with Owen's father, with the steadfast acceptance of his mother [who had only cared that her children truly loved one another], the move, the painting, the morning sickness, the small arguments, the HORMONES, and now, the hospital...at last.

They video-taped the birth. Owen holding Kat's hand as she pushed, wiping her brow and giving her praise and encouragement as she cried and fought through the pain. He kissed her brow as she struggled and when Kat thought she couldn't go on, her eyes sought his and she found the strength she needed. Rachel watched and absorbed all the details, committing everything to her memory, her heart, her very soul.

When the baby's first cries filled the room they all cried together. Owen kissed Kat on the lips and pulled Samantha close for a hug, discreetly kissing her as she nuzzled against him.

The baby had received a normal functional assessment, and they each took turns counting fingers and toes and giving soft kisses on her little, brand-new nose.

They named her Aurora and each agreed she was about the most perfect, beautiful thing they'd ever seen.

Rachel knew that things wouldn't be perfect. Never could be. There would be difficulties. But, for now, they were all happy, all together, and she knew that the bonds between them would never be broken.

She was pulled into a tight hug and smiled as happy tears trailed down her cheeks.

Thank you for reading. This concludes Game Night... for now.