McKayla's Miracle Ch. 02

"They were dorks," I didn't mean that in the bad way. "They liked to read almost as much as you do. They used to play dress-up, too, and they'd make us go along. They belonged to a group called SCA: the Society for Creative Anachronism. Ever heard of them?"

"I have," McKayla grinned broadly. "Don't tell me they used to put you in costumes and take you to Renaissance Fairs?"

"They did!"

"Got any pictures?" she asked teasingly.

"Not that I'm going to show you," I retorted playfully.

She leaned in and kissed me again.

"They loved fantasy books and all that stuff." Talking about my parents brought back a flood of happy memories. "When other kids parents belonged to bowling leagues or had poker games, my folks were making my little brother chainmail armour out of paper clips or playing Dungeons & Dragons with their equally dorky friends."

"It's a wonder you turned out as normal as you did," McKayla said and there was something in her voice that sounded like she was about to burst out laughing.

"Well . . ." I started and my voice dropped. "Dad gave all that up right after Mom died. He was never the same. There's a storage building full of their stuff that used to belong to them out at my uncle's place, but I haven't gone out there in years."

McKayla's hand was under my chin. I lifted my gaze to meet her eyes and tried to smile. "Amberle . . . my little Elven princess . . . you know what?"

I shook my head.

"I used to belong to SCA," she admitted sheepishly. "I haven't gone to any events in a while . . . but if you'd like me to take you to one . . ."

My eyes got real wide. A thousand things to say raced through my mind, but I couldn't process any of them.

"I'll show you pictures if you want." McKayla was grinning from ear to ear. "We're not all that dorky."

"Not now, my lady," I said, trying to remember how my parents used to talk to each other when at these things. We shared a hungry kiss. I felt her hands reach down, cupping my ass. "Thank you for my book. You don't know how much that means to me."

"You're very welcome, my love." My heart leapt when she said that word. "Now do I have to slay a dragon to win your favour?"

"You have it, McKayla," I whispered. "You had it the first day I met you. Now make me yours."

"With pleasure."

***********************

The next two months passed in a blur. We settled into a comfortable domestic routine. For someone who said she didn't have much experience in relationships, McKayla was very easy to live with. We spent most weeknights at my place, the weekends at her house.

The sex was great, but our relationship wasn't about that. Around her, I felt free. She wasThe One. Being out in public with her was still awkward and I started to notice that I became snippy with the guys at work whenever they'd make an off-hand remark about lesbians or homosexuals.

Even in this day and time, some of the folks I worked with still had old-fashioned, Bible Belt attitudes towards gay people. Except, of course, when it involved some hot girl-on-girl action that inevitably ended up with a guy in the middle.

To me, the worst part about what some of my co-workers believed wasn't that they believed the things they did, but that they were just parroting back what their preachers or their parents had told them. It seemed more of a knee-jerk reaction to gays than anything that was thought-out or deliberate. So I kept my mouth shut as best I could.

I did my best not to give myself away as being in a lesbian relationship, but I'm sure some of the guys figured it out. I didn't know what my boss would do if he found out; would he fire me? He was a good guy and seemed to have a lot of typical guy attitudes about gays, but I didn't want to chance it.

Allyson and Bretlynn knew for sure, and both of them were nothing but happy for us. The four of us continued to go out on a regular basis and Bretlynn even joked that we were her guy magnets. Allyson told us that her boyfriend wanted to go on a double date with us and then wanted to see us try and seduce her. I mischievously told her that might try that anyway, but he couldn't watch.

In the back of my mind, I didn't want to rush McKayla. She gradually became my best friend in addition to being my lover. She handled everything better than I expected. On a couple of occasions, she warned me that sometimes she pushed those around her away, but I never got that feeling from her.

Life was good until one day, our relationship changed.

I got back to my apartment before she did. Even though she worked right next door to me, we often drove separately because she had lots of meetings with clients or had to go to the main branch or had some other reason not to carpool. Plus, riding to work together all the time would have been rather obvious.

Sitting on the couch, I tried to figure out the best way to break the news to her.

A little after 5:00, she came through the door and set her briefcase down on the end table like she usually did.

"What's wrong?" McKayla asked, seeing me there fidgeting.

Nearly in tears, I couldn't bring myself to speak. Then she noticed a couple of boxes on the floor next to me. I had put all of her things in the boxes, figuring that she would leave me.

Her face paled, the blood draining out. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No!" I exclaimed. Breaking up was the last thing I wanted. "No . . . it's not that . . ."

"What is it, sweetie?" she sat down next to me and took my trembling hands.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my voice. "I went to the doctor today. You know where I haven't been feeling well lately . . ."

There was a medical report folded up on my lap. I handed it to her.

My voice was hoarse with fear. "I'm pregnant."

"What? . . . How? . . . Who?" On her face, I could see a range of emotions. Anger. Disbelief. Betrayal. Hurt.

"Travis," I whispered. "He's the only one it could be."

Her lip curled up and I saw her bite back a stinging reply. Her fingers clenched around the paper. Her knuckles turned white.

"When?" I expected her to explode and call me every name in the book. It was no less than I deserved.

"Right before my birthday," I had done the math and there was only one occasion when I could have gotten knocked up. "We used a condom, but I guess it broke or something."

She got up and started pacing around my living room. I could see the indecision in her eyes as the gears turned in her head.

"Have you told him?" McKayla asked. Her voice was curt, but I expected that.

I shook my head.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," I said quietly. All of this was information overload for me, too. "I missed my period last month. But that's not unusual. When I missed this month, I went out and got one of those home pregnancy tests. It came up positive so I went to the doctor's today. It's too late for the morning after pill. I can either have the baby or get an abortion."

"You can't have an abortion," McKayla said suddenly. Not that it was her decision to make, but I knew that's not something she would not even put into the mix.

"What areyougoing to do?" I dared to ask, the tears coming to my eyes. I expected her to be pissed off and storm out. That's why I gathered up her things. Our relationship had been going so well, but I couldn't ask her to stay with me. Not like this.

She didn't reply immediately. She chewed on her lip nervously. All I could do was hope for the best.

"So this didn't happen after our first date?"

"No, sweetheart." That was my one hope to keep our relationship alive. "I swear to you . . . I haven't even spoken to him since you and I went out that first time."

It seemed like an eternity before she moved. McKayla surprised me by turning and heading back into my bedroom. I started to get up off the couch.

"Your stuff is all—" I called, but she was ignoring me.

I heard her throwing some things around. Not angrily, but like she was looking for something. A few minutes later, she came back out. Some of my clothes were stuffed into a duffel bag over her shoulder along with a kit of makeup and some other things.

She dropped the bag on the floor next to the boxes I had packed up.

Then she reached for me. I burst into tears as her embrace enveloped me. All the day's emotions came pouring out. Confusion. Helplessness. Bewilderment.

I thought my life had been going pretty well lately. I had a good job, a steady relationship and new friends in a strange town. But now . . . now things were different. I was going to be a mommy. And I wasn't sure how my girlfriend was going to take the news.

It seems I need not have worried.

McKayla's arms steadied me as I sobbed. "I'm sorry, baby . . . I'm so sorry . . . I didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know," she whispered over and over in my ear. "It's okay . . . Everything is going to be alright."

Eventually, the crying fit was over. I still struggled for breath, but now that it was done, I began to think a little more clearly. "I can't ask you to . . ."

"To what, Amberle?" she said. "Stay? You can't raise a child on your own right now, honey. You're living month to month as it is . . . and then to take six weeks off? You don't have enough vacation time to cover that. And then you'll have daycare and another mouth to feed."

I knew all this already. I didn't need to be lectured by her. I was not in a good position, financially or otherwise, to be a single mother. I could make it work. Somehow.

Couldn't I?

"How good is your insurance?" she said, barraging me with questions. "How much does it pay? What's your deductible? When does your lease end?"

"Why are you asking me this?" I cried out and pulled away from her. "I don't know!"

"Because I love you!" she shouted, sounding just as afraid as I was. There were tears in her eyes, too. "I love you, Amberle. And I'm not going to let you get away or kick me out of your life!"

We fell into each other's arms.

For the past two months, I had waited to hear those words from her. Some days it was all I could do not to shout my love for this woman from a hilltop somewhere, but I thought it would only scare her away. To hear her tell me that she loved me was the final piece. It told me she was truly and completely ready for whatever the future held.

"I love you, too, McKayla," I couldn't keep it in any longer.

Burying my head in her shoulder, I started to cry again, but she grabbed me by the hair and brought my mouth to hers. It was a few minutes before she let me up for air.

"Now come on, honey. Let's go home," McKayla pulled me to my feet and picked up the duffel bag. "We'll cancel your lease and get the rest of your stuff moved later."

"You don't have to do all this," I said. She was taking control and for that I was grateful. The past six hours had left me dazed. How McKayla could have been blindsided and keep a cool head was beyond me.

"You're right," she replied. "I don't have to. But I want to. And the first thing we're going to do is move you and that baby of yours out of this apartment and into a clean house that's away from noisy neighbours and moldy cabinets."

She took my hands in hers. "Amberle, I don't know what to do. I'm faking it right now. But I know that I want you in my life. These past two months . . . this is as happy as I've ever been, and it's all because of you. We'll . . . we'll figure the rest out later. Together."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," McKayla whispered. "As long as you want me, I'm yours. Baby or no baby. I need you."

"I can't ask you to raise my child," I told her.

"I won't," her reply made my blood run cold. For just a second. "I'll raiseourchild. I've always wanted a baby . . . And I've always wanted that one person in my life who was my soulmate. It looks like now I've got both."

"What about Travis?" I asked, hesitant to even say his name. "What if he wants—"

"Don't tell him," McKayla said sharply. "Not unless you want him to know. That's up to you, though."

In truth, what my lover had told me earlier was true. I couldn't afford to raise this child on my own. My fuck buddy, for all his faults, had a good job and the child support he could pay would help me out immensely. It would only mean being connected with him for the rest of my life.

McKayla must have seen my brain working on this when she spoke. "If it's only about the money, he doesn't need to know. I'll support you if I have to. I make more than enough for both of us."

"That's asking too much of you," I said softly.

She squeezed my hands. "Everything I have is yours, Elven Princess. All you have to do is ask."

"I can't," I muttered. This was overwhelming. The room started to spin. McKayla sat me down on the couch again.

"Here's what we're going to do right now," she said once the dizziness passed. "We're going to my house. I'm going to draw you a nice hot bath and fix you something good to eat. Then we're both going to call off work tomorrow, move some of your stuff and get everything straightened out on my insurance."

"Your insurance?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Yes, I'm sure it's better than yours," McKayla replied. It probably was.

"Don't you have to be . . . um, you know?" I stammered.

She smiled, as if to let me in on a secret. "Our company covers same-sex partners."

"But do they cover pre-existing conditions?" My head was swimming. "After all, this baby isn't exactly—"

"I had you added to my insurance last month," she said as my jaw dropped. "I, um . . . didn't want to tell you because I thought it might scare you . . . I've been waiting for the right time . . ."

"McKayla . . ." That was all I could get out before the words failed me.

"I love hearing you say my name." She kissed me tenderly.

"I love saying it," I told her. "And I love you."

"Let's go home," my lover—my soulmate—said. Then she took my hand and led me to my new life.

***********************

"I'm going to be late tonight," she said. "I hope that doesn't ruin our plans."

"That's okay," I told her. "We don't have to be anywhere until later. Have you had any dinner?"

"Not yet, but I think they're having something brought in."

"We're going to go ahead and eat then. Call me when you get out."

"Okay, honey. Love you."

"Love you, too," I closed the cellphone and then went to find Bretlynn, Allyson and her beau, Taylor. The three of them were waiting by the host station. I flashed a thumbs-up and then followed them through the crowded restaurant. Bretlynn's new boyfriend joined us a few minutes later from the bar.

This was supposed to be a triple date night out for the six of us, and it would have been the three month anniversary of my first date with McKayla. But I also knew she was trying to land a new account and that was okay. I had bigger plans for the two of us than dinner.

The five of us were seated at the hibachi tables and we were soon enjoying atmosphere and food provided by the Japanese steakhouse. After having our fill of chicken, shrimp, veggies, fried rice and a little bit of sushi, we got up to go, but not before McKayla called. She was just leaving work and was on her way over to meet is.

I checked my watch. I had more than enough time. Allyson and I went out to her car and I changed. It's a good thing she had tinted windows. Then the other four left and I waited for my lover.

When McKayla pulled up to the curb, I was standing outside Ten Thousand Villages. We were at one of those touristy places just off the beach. There were restaurants, retail shops and some other entertainment venues that made it one big outdoor mall. It was the kind of place out-of-towners liked to go to do a bunch of stuff all at once.

As people walked by, many stopped to stare. The guys gawked. The women shot me ugly looks. I didn't care. I wasn't dressed up for them. A few guys asked if I was busy. I ignored them or told them they couldn't afford me.

She didn't recognise me until I saddled up to the passenger's side. The convertible top and the window were both down.

I bent over and leaned against the door, both to give her a nice view of my pushed-up cleavage and the people behind me a good look at my backside.

"Hey, there, sugah," I said in my best slutty southern drawl. "Whatcha doin' tonight?"

It seemed that my outfit had taken her breath away. I smiled innocently.

"Lookin' for a good time, sweetie?" It was difficult for me to stay in character and not burst out laughing.

"Um. . . yeah," McKayla stammered. It took her a second, but she was quick to play along. "Listen . . . I don't have a lot of money and I'm supposed to meet someone."

"That's okay, angel. You're a cute one; we'll work something out." I smacked the gum in my mouth and winked. "And I don't think your friend will mind."

I opened the door and got in. As I put one foot in, my micro-mini rode up enough to show McKayla (and anyone else who looked close enough) that I wasn't wearing any panties.

She stared admiringly at my legs and the breasts that were doing their best to spill out of my spaghetti-strapped halter top. I cuddled up next to her and stuck my tongue in her ear, much to the delight of several young men standing nearby. "Let's go, baby. I've got something special planned for you tonight."

"I can see that," McKayla said, once she found her voice. She put the car in gear. I kissed her, smearing some of my bright red lipstick on to her lips. Then we were off.

Resting my head against her shoulder, I ran my hands up the length of her leg. She was wearing a pink cami under a nice blue pants suit. Her hair was pulled back to keep it from blowing around too much. She had kicked her shoes off and was driving barefoot.

"Did you ever get any dinner?" I asked. "You're going to need lots of energy tonight, love."

"Not really," she made a face. "We had something from Pedro's and you know what that does to me."

I giggled. We certainly didn't want that tonight. "Pull in to Publix. I'll go in and get you something."

"Dressed like that?" McKayla asked incredulously.

"Of course," I replied with a wink. "I'm yours tonight 'sugah'."

She parked in the loading zone at the front of the store. As I got out, I flipped up my skirt to teasingly flash my bare ass. Once inside, the stares I got were at the same time embarrassing and exciting. I hoped I didn't see anyone I knew, but I secretly liked the attention.

I went back to the small sushi section and picked up a couple packages that had some of McKayla's favourite things in it. It wasn't high-class sushi, but I didn't want her to go all night on an empty stomach and it would do. I also got her a bottle of Diet Pepsi and then went to check out.

After paying, I smiled sweetly at the bagboys who were staring at me and blew a kiss at a random old man who couldn't keep his eyes off my chest. Then I went back outside and got in the car.

She took off, my arm hooked in to hers, so that there was no question about what we were up to for anyone who happened to be watching.

We were headed north, up the US highway that ran parallel to the coast. It was a divided four-lane highway that cleared of traffic after a few minutes. There were a few subdivisions and some stores and houses along the road, but soon we were well past the built-up section of the beach. I didn't tell McKayla where we were going, but just told her to take US 17 and keep going.

Along the way, I opened up the sushi and began feeding it to my love one piece at a time. She made a big deal out of sucking on my fingertips and I was eager to give her the opportunity. I also snuck my hand inside her jacket a few times and flashed her my freshly-shaved pussy a couple of times, too.

"What brought this on?" she asked once she was done eating.