Introduction:

Jeremy's two wives are driving him insane with passion

[[[-RECOLLECTIONS14.TXT-]]]


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Recollections
Written by: Kaadorix

M/F, F/F and a whole lot more
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Chapter 14: "Arcadia"
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-*- Sunday, May 14, 2017 -*-
-*- Lawrence, Kansas -*-


"There are two types of people in this world, Jeremy."
Alexa shrugged off her knapsack and loaded it into the back
of our minivan, a 2017 _Chrysler Pacifica_, with the rest of
the trip's souvenirs and supplies closeby. She then took a
sip of her hot, steaming coffee and elaborated, "There are
people like me, whose brains never need sleep, and then there
are people like you, whose brains need to sleep." Giggling,
Alexa pulled the lid of the Royals' baseball cap atop my head
beneath my eyes and then fluffed the back of my hair.

"Did you just insult me?" I asked, straightening the hat.

Alexa laughed again; as always, in one of her patented,
jovial moods. "Did you just insult me?" my wife repeated,
imitating my voice with a deep, overly dramatic whine. Not
to mention, one of her 1,005 unique facial expressions to go
along with it. She had the snotty, little brat routine down
to a science, and enjoyed teasing me with that persona from
time to time (even though it truly wasn't her at all).

Yet Alexa turned serious an instant later, taking a quick
inventory. "Hmmmmm... can't forget the bikes. Bikes are
loaded and strapped on top of the minivan." She went over to
the sliding door on the passenger side as I followed close
behind. "Kids are all situated and ready to go." Inside,
three-year-old Cooper and 23-month-old Madison were in their
respective toddler safety seats. "Snacks are in their bag...
this is like, the best bag I have ever purchased by the way,
Jeremy. Our equipment bags are in the back of the van, too.
I think it is time to go home. Today has been awesome, yes,
but we still have time to make dinner back at the house.
Merissa texted me and says she is fixing salad and lasagna."

Alexa turned and focused on Cooper. "I can tell that
you got some sun today. Your hair looks so much lighter."

"Snow shoes!" Cooper blurted out.

Alexa laughed at him. "Snow shoes? You wild, crazy man!
It's just a few days away from the official start of summer,
there's no snow!" She tilted her head back-and-forth at him
several times in succession. "You're cray-cray, Coop-Coop!
Craaaaazy! I'm gonna call you Mr. Crazy Pants McGee!"

On this warm and beautiful Sunday afternoon - Mother's Day,
by the way - Alexa and I had taken the two young children,
Cooper and Madison, to the city of Lawrence, Kansas, which was
a half-hour or so's drive away from our home in Lake Quivira.
We brought our bicycles, and puttered around a small portion
of the 8.4 mile _Blue Trail_ located in Clinton State Park.

Merissa, being less than two weeks from her due date,
insisted that Alexa and I take the kids out and do something
fun with them today. Merissa opted to stay home - obviously
not equipped for a bicycle ride at 38 weeks pregnant - and
hang out with an old friend of hers from college, Sarah.
Alexa and I had been texting and talking to Merissa all day.

As for the bicycle outing, Alexa and I, along with the
kids, had fun bouncing along the well worn hiking and biking
path that the Blue Trail provided. The forest surrounding
us was absolutely gorgeous. We saw lots of squirrels, ducks
along the water, colorful songbirds, and plenty of hikers,
joggers and bikers alike.

Not too far from here, of course, was the little farming
community where I had grown up, Pleasant Grove. I spent a
great deal of time here at Clinton State Park as a youngster
back in the day. Whatever my interest was at the time -
hiking, camping, wildlife watching, fishing, bike riding,
horseback riding, swimming, golfing or just plain relaxing,
this quaint, little Kansas state park had it all. I hoped
that our kids would one day appreciate local parka and what
they had to offer, and nature in general, as much as I did.

"Are you ready for another road trip?" I asked Alexa
moments later, as she and I buckled our seat belts in the
front of our _Chrysler Pacifica_.

"I am!" she responded with zest.

"Let's do it," I nodded, before looking back at our son.
"How about you, Cooper? Ready to go home?"

"Uh huh."

"Today was so fun!" Alexa swooned. "And I like it that we
did something totally unique - you and me, and the kids - yet
we're still relatively close to home. Lake Quivira is only
30 miles over the expressway. I love it."

"You and I haven't gone on a bike ride together like this,
Lexi, since long before you were ever pregnant with Cooper."
I took a deep breath and smiled. "I used to go on bike rides
with my dad to this very park when I was a kid. 30, 35 years
ago. We used to go to the park every weekend. My dad, my
brother, Carl. Good times. Good memories."

Alexa glanced all around from her vantage point in the
passenger seat. "The sun is shining. It's so pretty outside.
Tomorrow night, Jeremy, you and I have to go to the hospital
in Kansas City and speak at the support group."

"Not tomorrow," I corrected her, "but Tuesday night."

"OH!" Indeed, Alexa and I volunteered twice a month to
be guest speakers at the university hospital in Kansas City
at a support group for parents who had been through difficult
childbirths. We would relay the story (in exacting detail) of
Cooper's precipitous birth from January 2014 and how Alexa
went into shock immediately afterward, being forced to give
birth in our very bedroom with no medications, and lost a
tremendous amount of blood due to postpartum hemorrhaging and a
torn perineal muscle that almost required surgery. Basically,
give these new parents hope for a better tomorrow, and show
them that they were not alone in their struggles. There were
other parents undergoing the same challenges, and were more
than happy to offer them their help and support.

"Uhh... SWEET!" Alexa then piped up. "Free day tomorrow
night." Her eyes studied me. "I need to cut your hair."

For the past year or so, Alexa had been enrolled in
cosmetology school and was learning how to become a certified
hairstylist. She did not want to pursue a full- or part-time
job, however, as Alexa already worked six days a week as a
fitness instructor at a local health club, and actually had a
degree in Physical Therapy (but had yet to put it to use).
Rather, Alexa simply looked at being a hairstylist as a hobby
and something that she would do for the family in the coming
months and years. This woman had so many countless interests.

No one, for example, was ever allowed to cut my hair again
except for Alexa. Just ask her.

"I need to cut Cooper's hair, too," Alexa chuckled, "but
I don't want to. Yet I have to. He'll probably throw a fit.
I suppose I can do it tonight, maybe, before he goes to bed."

"Good luck with that," I mused.

"I really enjoyed sitting and watching Cooper and Madi play
while we were having lunch," Alexa grinned, turning and
looking back at my daughter with Merissa as I set forth,
driving along the road. "Oh, little Miss Madi is out. She's
sleeping away, without a care in the world. I guess bike
riding with you, Jeremy, being pulled along in her little
buggy, totally wore her out. Poor, poor girl."

"Life can be really rough as a toddler," I smirked.

Once we merged onto U.S. Interstate 70, Cooper was mostly
quiet and well-behaved, enjoying snacks in the back seat, while
Madison continued to snooze next to him. This allowed Alexa
and I to drift into a pretty serious and insightful discussion.

"So you know how several weeks ago," my wife mused, "we were
in the kitchen, and I said that my stomach was in butterflies
and knots? We were having that really long, deep talk." When
I nodded at her, she continued, "It feels like that right now.
Like it's coming out of my throat."

"Do you think that's because... of what we're planning?"

"Yeah. Like... it's so intense." Alexa laughed. "And
so bad. I love it, but I hate it. It feels so intense."

"Well, yeah," I countered. "When you come up with an idea,
you want it to work out. Follow through with it."

She looked at me strangely. "An idea?"

"Like a plan."

"Yeah..." Alexa still seemed somewhat mystified.

"I guess plan is better than idea." But soon, I went on,
"Wait. Just so we're on the same page, you're talking about
the possibility of having another baby with me?"

"Yeah!" Alexa giggled. "We were talking about the future,
things we wanted to do, wanted to strive for. And I've been
thinking a lot of having another baby with you, my second one
but fourth overall, for the family along with Merissa, and
sometimes I feel so intense about it."

"Well it's life-changing," I offered. "You know, making
that decision. Making the decision... to plan."

Alexa and I had spoken in recent weeks, very openly, about
the possibility of having another child together. I remember
one day, after Merissa had just gotten home from her four
month prenatal examination, I took a quick shower and stepped
out, and found Alexa in the bedroom. And my immediate words
to her, without any prior thought beforehand, was that she
and I should have another baby.

And Alexa was like, "Uhh... hell no. Merissa is four months
pregnant. That annoys me, Jeremy. Don't even bring that up
with me. Let's get through Merissa's pregnancy first."

I suppose it was a bad point in our lives to approach that
possibility. Madison was having issues sleeping, which did
not help at all, either. Merissa becoming pregnant for the
second time was a major shock, and something that was not
planned. But things were better now and we (and especially
Alexa) were in a much more stable frame of mind.

"Two, three weeks ago," Alexa said in the minivan, "I came
to the conclusion that yes, we should have another baby. I
want to grow our family. I love the idea having a big family,
and I also want more kids of my own. It has been my dream
since I was a little girl to have four or five kids, maybe
even more. I cannot say the same thing about Merissa, though.
I think once Asher is born, a week or two from now, he will be
it for her. I don't think she wants to become pregnant again."

"My original idea," Alexa added, "was to start thinking about
having another baby when Cooper was four. That will not be 'til
next winter, obviously, but I think I've changed my mind. But
at the same time, this has been a really hard decision on my
part, and maybe even a selfish one. Do I really, necessarily
need to get pregnant again so soon after Merissa gives birth?
Do I want to miss out on things to do with Cooper, Madi, Asher?"

"Like, Merissa is about to give birth. She's ready to blow.
One thing I would really like to do, once Asher becomes old
enough to travel and fly, I want us to go back to California
and Napa Valley, and finally have our second honeymoon. Take
a vacation, have some fun in the sun. Merissa never did get
to go on a honeymoon because she was seven months pregnant
with Madi when you and I married her. We did not want to risk
anything. Asher will have to be five, six months old? Maybe
after the New Year? It will be freezing cold here, and snowing,
but the weather will be considerably nicer in California. Or
we could go to Hawaii, like you have been suggesting. Either
way, the kids would have an absolute blast."

I patted her on the knee. "You can become pregnant in the
next few months, and we could easily take a second honeymoon
in December or January. That won't be a problem. You could
be four, five months pregnant... no problem."

"But I wouldn't be able to go four-wheeling with Cooper,"
she reminded me. "Not if I'm pregnant. I won't be able to
go into the ocean and give Madi beginner surfing lessons.
I wouldn't be able to go on vacation like we have in the
past, and just let loose, have all wild, sorts of fun. I
couldn't lay in the sun and not worry about getting sick."

"Since Cooper was born," I countered, "we haven't really
been able to do those things anyway. I mean, it's been one
monumental event after another for us these past three years.
That's what our lives have evolved into, Lexi. And I, for
one, could not be any happier. Being with my kids, OUR
kids... it's fun to me. I love it. I enjoy it. I would not
trade our lives for anything in the whole, world right now."

"We still go on trips and adventures," I said. "We all
do. We still go out and have fun as a family. It's just...
the physical, exerting things we want to do, we really can't.
But I'm glad we were able to do this today. Take the two
kids out, Lexi, and go on a bike ride. Maybe one day,
Cooper will want to go on long, massive bike trips with me. I
would love that so much. It would make me so happy. That
park we just visited has a 25 mile bike trail, too."

"Merissa's mom, her birthday is next month," Alexa mused.
"There's something really special that Merissa and I want to
do for her, because she will be driving up from Georgia for a
visit. I want to get my mom and dad involved too, Jeremy, and
your mom, as well. Show all of them how important they are,
how much we love them. I'm hoping we can make all of that work
and come together next month when Michelle is visiting from
Georgia. It's something we've been planning on for a very long
time, especially with you and your mom patching things up.
Merissa and I have something really special in mind for them."

"But... instead of just talking and thinking about it,
definitely, you and I will start working on baby number two
later in the summer, Jeremy. August, probably."

I smiled at her. "I want to have another baby with you."
I remember what my father told me in that dream/vision I had
of him following his funeral a few weeks ago. I still truly
believe that was some sort of supernatural visit, and NOT a
dream. Dad informed me that Alexa would become pregnant later
this summer, and then give birth to a daughter next year. The
daughter's name, Dad said, would be Brooklyn.

"And this... it's been one of the hardest decisions of my
life," Alexa murmured. "It was so easy with Cooper. I knew
from the moment you and I got engaged that I wanted to have a
baby with you. And then, eventually, Merissa joins our lives
and becomes pregnant, and gives birth to Madi in March 2015.
Cooper and Madi, it's the best thing. They are best friends.
Cooper is so good to her. He has always been so good to her."

"The decision to HAVE a baby for you is not difficult," I
clarified for her, "but it's WHEN. That's the difficult part.
I don't think that you should force yourself to wait. There
will always be things that you can do with the kids, whether
you are pregnant or not. But some, you won't be able to."

"Exactly," she nodded. "Like I said, I want to do all of
these things with Cooper and Madi. Asher, too. I want to
have fun with the family. I don't want to be pregnant and
sick, and miss out. It's like... just this morning, Madi
made a mess in her bedroom, and I was in there with Merissa
cleaning it up. I didn't feel good, and I was asking myself,
do I really want to feel this way nonstop again? Sick?
Merissa actually made me sit down and drink a bottled water."

"The nausea, the morning sickness... I do not really
remember any of that being a serious issue for you."

"I had a good pregnancy," Alexa told me. "Yet I was still
tired, and sick. Well... I had a good pregnancy with Cooper
until it was time for him to be born. But that's a whole
other story. But that's the thing with pregnancies. Each
baby treats you differently. Look at all of the troubles
and struggles Merissa is going through nowadays, at the tail
end of her pregnancy with Asher. She is so tired and cranky
all of the time. I lost so much blood when Cooper was born,
you were... fearful for my life, at one point..."

"I was," I frowned.

"But I have no idea, Jeremy. I mean, this baby... could
throw me for a total loop. What if I have complications
during the pregnancy this time, instead of just childbirth?"
She paused and seemed overcome with emotion for a brief moment.
"And I think, even though I badly want a second baby, with
Cooper... those first few weeks and months were SO HARD. All
that time I had to spend in the hospital, the reflux, the
refusal to sleep later on... just, other issues, that was
really draining for me. For us. It was even hard on our
relationship, Jeremy, our marriage. How could we balance
and keep our relationship strong and healthy, when we had
this little, tiny infant boy to worry about? I was not in
the best frame of mind at all, at the time."

"I think though, because of that..."

She scoffed. "My stomach is in knots just thinking about it."

"We have that experience now," I said. "I mean, that's a big
thing. You and I personally, but we also have two other kids
with Merissa. Well, we will once Asher is born here shortly.
Each childbirth is unique and special, yet also challenging.
Each pregnancy had its own issues and problems. Knowing all of
that is only going to help us in the future. I think with each
newborn we've had, I've become a better - a stronger - parent."

"I think Madi may have had a little bit of reflux when she
was young, too," Alexa pouted. "I remember when she was at
two or three months old and Merissa was in the rocking chair
with her, trying to nurse, yet she was crying that one night...
saying what is wrong. I had to stop nursing Cooper completely
long before that. It was not as pronounced with Madi, mostly
because we were able to get her the help that she needed."

"I remember that was a very hard decision for you to stop
breastfeeding Cooper." There was a long stretch of silence.
Cooper had actually fallen asleep in his toddler safety seat
in the back of the minivan as well, it seemed. Eventually, I
suppressed a chuckle and offered, "What if we have twins?"

She laughed as well. "That would be awesome! I want to
have twins so much. Yet it would be so incredibly difficult,
and hard. Think of all the laundry! Twins' clothes are so
teensy-weensy. And we have enough laundry as it is. A
husband, two wives, three kids... wow. Add two more kids!"

"Big family," I agreed. "But I hope you're not worried
about possibly going through precipitous labor again. Common
medical practice is that any woman who has a precipitous labor
and delivery, from that point forward, every child she has
thereafter will be born via cesarean section... C-section.
The doctor will not want to run the risk of precipitous labor
happening to you again. They won't let that happen to you."

"I'm not worried about that at all, Jeremy," Alexa said.
"I trust you and your word. I still say, though, whenever I
become pregnant and give birth again, I want YOU to deliver
the baby." She tilted her head and shot me a playful frown.
"Just in the hospital this time, and not our bedroom, okay?
C-section, I don't care; you just do whatever you think is
best for me. I trust you completely, Jeremy. I know if I
am with you, I'll be in the best hands possible."

I smiled at those words. But I did not want to deliver
our next child at all. I wanted to enjoy the simple role of
expectant father, and be by Alexa's side when she gave birth.
I did not get to experience that with Cooper, unfortunately.
But no matter; I could discuss this with Alexa at a different
time. There was no need to talk about it now.

"I'm so happy, Lexi, that you and I are ready," I told her
instead. "We're ready. We have put a lot of time and thought
into this, but we are ready to have another baby." I brought
her hand to my lips and kissed it. "I love you."

"When I agreed to our group marriage, our arrangement, I
made a promise to you and Merissa that I would never deny
either of you the opportunity to become a mother, no matter
how many times you wanted it. Merissa seems happy putting
the cap at two for her. You want four or five, Lexi? Six,
seven? I promised you when I married you... whatever you
want. Tell me what you want, and it will be yours. I think
I have done a pretty good job of keeping that promise to you."

"It's remarkable, Jeremy, how considerate you are of both
of us... how you make each one of us feel special, unique,
cherished. But what is even more remarkable is that you are
everywhere for both of your children. You spend plenty of
time with each of them. They know Daddy loves them."

"I love our family."

"Oh, I do too!" Alexa squealed.

"I cannot wait to... add onto it, even after Asher is born.
To have another little Lexi running around!"

"Our little Jeremy is awfully cute, too! Even though
Cooper looks more like me than he does you."

"That's why Cooper is so awfully cute."

Alexa chuckled and gave me a playful shove on the shoulder.
"I'm hoping Asher looks exactly like you do, Jeremy."

I smiled at her. "We shall see."

"I'll probably wind up being happy with just two kids as
well quite honestly, MAYBE three, because I look at Madi as
my daughter, too," Alexa confided. "I will look at Asher as
my son just the same way Merissa views Cooper as her son. In
every sense of the word, the idea, except the biological one.
We are all married, and Merissa and I are so close, so very
tight-knit. I've spoken to her a lot about this. Merissa
and I want to be dual mothers for all of our kids."

"You eventually want the children to address both you and
Merissa as MOM - not Aunt Lexi like Madi does, or Aunt Me-Me
like Cooper does. But both of you as... Mom, or Mommy."

"Exactly."

"Children growing up with two mothers does seem awfully
strange and perplexing, but if anyone can pull it off, I
trust that you and Merissa can, Lexi. I know you can."

"One thing I don't like, Jeremy, is not knowing how long
this process is going to take. With Cooper, I was not
expecting to get pregnant at all. I wanted to, but we were
not working on it. It just happened. At the time, I thought
it was always going to be that easy. You got Merissa pregnant
with Madi in no time, it seemed. Asher sort of just happened,
too. Yet I'm older now, much wiser, and I realize that trying
to have a baby can take months, if not years. I don't like
waiting." Alexa sighed. "Now my stomach doesn't hurt so bad.
I guess because we're talking it out, having this discussion."

"Gonna tell you something, Lexi. The other day, when you and
Merissa went out to the movies together in the afternoon, Cooper
and Madi took a nap, and I decided to doze off with them. Yet
Cooper woke me up about an hour later, and we had one of our
man-to-man talks. He was asking about Asher, and then..." I
went silent for a very long stretch, trying not to become
emotional as well. "Cooper started asking about Madi, and when
she was born. And then, he wanted to know details from when HE
was born. I told Cooper the story... of what you and I went
through, specifically YOU, to have him. To have him, all that
excessive time spent in the hospital for you. How sick you
were, how bad you felt. And I was honest with him, and re-lived
all of those feelings in telling your labor story, and he said...
he said... Cooper looked me in the eye, and said... Mommy is a
very special lady, and I love her."

"WHAT?" Alexa exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Why didn't you
tell me that?" Yet she was quick to answer her very own
question. "Because when Merissa and I got home, your mom
called and invited us over for yesterday, and that was all we
talked about the rest of the night."

I choked back the tears. "I looked at Cooper and said,
yes, your mommy is a very special, amazing lady. Yet you too,
Cooper, you're a very special little boy. Our special boy."
I ripped off my sunglasses and dabbed at my eyes with a fist.

"Ohhhhh..." Alexa mewed. "That's so cute. You should have
told me! I bet he listened to the whole story, too. He just
soaks everything in. It's like Cooper has the brain of an
eight-year-old, but he's in a three-year-old's body."

"Oh, he definitely understood," I assured her.

"Cooper is so mature for his little body."

"I love our kids. And I love you, Lexi. I love Merissa.
I love our entire family."

She leaned over and pecked my cheek with a simple kiss.
"And I love you, Jeremy. I love you more than anything.
And I cannot wait to have another baby with you!"

I took a deep breath and smiled. "Boy or girl?"

"I'd like a girl," Alexa responded immediately, without any
hesitation whatsoever. "That would be two boys and two girls,
one of each for both Merissa and I. Would be... perfect."

"Any particular name you have in mind? One you prefer?" I
had never spoken about the possibility of a potential daughter's
name with Alexa before, yet somehow, I already had a feeling
what her answer would be. Alexa's ensuing response simply
reaffirmed my thoughts on the talk I had with my deceased father,
and whether it was a dream, or something much more real.

"I've always thought the name Brooklyn was pretty."

I felt a lump in my throat, then stifled a laugh...

* * *

"Excuse me, Madi. Excuse me!" Seated on her knees, on
the living room floor, Alexa made a silly face and reeled the
precocious youngster back to her. Madison was acting a little
loud and unruly, but that was fine. Going to the park earlier
wound her up in more ways that one. "We are going to do Aunt
Lexi's childhood unboxing!" Madison wandered off again as
Cooper sat against one of her thighs. "So I have two boxes
here, Madi, full of toys and..."

"One," Cooper interjected, slapping the first storage bin
with a palm, and then the other, counting them. "Two!"

"Two!" Alexa nodded, pulling Cooper into her lap. "So I
have two boxes of memories, toys, diaries, prom pictures...
lots of stuff that we're gonna go through."

Cooper slithered away and looked up at her, his expression
full of intense hope. "And cars? CARS?"

Alexa spun Cooper around and hugged him to her. "Guess
what?" She tucked her chin over his shoulder. "Every year for
Christmas, when I was a little girl, I would get _Hot Wheels_
cars. Lots of them!" Cooper gasped as Alexa hesitated, then
added, "I would get _Hot Wheels_ cars in my stocking, and I
think I still have a few unopened."

"Oooooh!" Cooper gushed with toddler excitement.

Alexa kissed his cheek. "Maybe you and Madi can have them.
Okay? Are you ready?" She glanced over at Madison, who was
on the other side of the room with Merissa. "Madi, honey,
you want to come over and help?" She quickly rumbled over as
Alexa popped the lid on the first storage bin.

"WOW!" Cooper roared, sticking his head inside. Both he
and Madison excitedly ripped at the contents and began tossing
them out onto the floor until Alexa slowed them down.

"Wait, you two. Hold up. Can I see that? Can you hand
me that?" Cooper retrieved a large stuffed animal with a
duck's head and bill. He promptly handed it to his mother, as
she had requested. "This is a duck and her name is Daisy.
When I was three years old, the same age as you, Cooper..."

"Look, a diaper!" Cooper exclaimed, pulling a small,
circular stuffed animal out from the container.

"Is that a diaper?" Alexa retorted. "No honey, it's not.
This was my little teddy bear. Look at this. This was
Mommy's little baby toy. Grandpa's friend gave this to me.
His name was Jason and I've had this for... 25 years."

Madison reached into the bin and yanked out a large stuffed
bear. She lost her balance in the process and tumbled onto
her side, which made me laugh as I sat in the nearby lounge
chair and watched. Alexa got the sudden idea earlier that she
wanted to go through some of her childhood belongings, which had
been packed away in storage, and get the kids involved, too.

"WHOOOOOA!" Madison soon screamed, hugging the brown bear
to her and swinging it about wildly.

"Mommy, look! Christmas lady!"

"Is that a Christmas lady?" Alexa asked Cooper, as he held
what appeared to be a holiday figurine.

"Yeah!" Cooper exclaimed.

Alexa picked up the duck toy and showed it to me. "The
reason why this was so special to me is because I remember
listening on the phone to Grandma, and I remember saying,
but why a duck? And she would go, well, don't you like it?
And I remember hearing her voice. And in my head, as a
little girl, I thought, well, why a duck? Why not a dog?
Or a cat? Why a duck? So, to this day, every time Mom and
Dad see a duck, they go... WHY. Why a duck?"

I simply smiled at her as the kids kept ripping through
the contents of the storage container.

"And this is a little baby boy doll," Alexa explained to
Madison as she held and clutched it to her. "This is a
little... _Sour Patch Kid_? Is that what they're called?
Do you see all the other dollies, Madi? These are a bunch
of dolls I have from when I was growing up. I have a really
special one in my bedroom, too, but you're not allowed to
play with it. Only me." Alexa picked up a female doll. "I
remember this one really well, sweetie. Isn't she pretty? I
used to carry this doll around all the time and love on her."

"_Cabbage Patch_!" Merissa exclaimed at Alexa from the
adjacent kitchen, even laughing at her. "Not _Sour Patch_!"

"_Cabbage Patch_!" Alexa agreed. "That's what it is!"
She turned toward Cooper and said, "The last thing I have
in here is what is called a bolo tie. Two months before
Daddy and I got married, honey, I went on a trip with Grandma
and Grandpa, my mommy and daddy, to Camp Philmont in northern
New Mexico. We hiked there; it was a 45, 50 mile backpacking
trip that we did, for an entire week. Grandma and Grandpa,
Cooper, asked me to be the leader for the week, and gave me
this bolo tie. So... this means a lot to me as well."

With the first bin out of the way, Alexa pulled the second
toward her but kept a tight grip on its lid. "Now hold up,"
she said to Cooper and Madison. "This is SPECIAL. This is
special to me." Madison got up and tried to scamper off
toward the steps that led downstairs. "Madi... no, no!"

"Madi no!" Merissa snapped.

"Come sit down," Alexa urged, patting the floor beside her.
When Madison promptly returned and took a seat, Alexa added,
"Look, this is special to me, and you can't just... grab and
grab and grab. This is special. Let me give it to you."

Cooper nodded his head. "Is how its cars?" Toddler talk!

"I think there might be," Alexa told him. When she pulled
the lid off, Cooper and Madison peered in yet again, but kept
their hands at their sides. "Well, look. First, let's unpack
all the books. Look, a little teddy bear book. You want me
to hurry and read it to you?" Instead, Alexa retrieved several
more books from the bin. "These are just all the books that I
had when I was little. Oh my Gosh, this is fun."

My 25-year-old wife focused on a green-covered book. "My
great grandma and great grandpa gave this to me... it's called
_A Girl of the Limberlost_." She opened to the inside cover
and read out loud from it, "Lexi, when we were first married,
we decided that we would not buy flowers, candy and other
things that would not be long-lasting. Our decision was to buy
a book a month for our library. _A Girl of the Limberlost_ was
purchased for our 31st month anniversary. We hope that you
will enjoy having it in your library just as much as we did,
and that you pass it onto your children. Love, Great Grandma
and Great Grandpa [Last Name]." Alexa opened her mouth and
sighed toward Merissa. "Like I don't even think at the time
Great Grandma gave it to me, I realized how special this was.
She passed away when I was 14." Alexa then glanced inside the
front cover again. "They bought this book in 1946. Wow. I
really need to put this book someplace safe."

"Look at this," Alexa said, now shifting her focus to me,
holding up a porcelain house with an electrical cord running
out its back end. "I got this for Easter when I was 10 or 11.
It's a really cute night-light that you plug in, and it
lights up this house. How perfect would this be for Madi's
room?" She showed it to Cooper. "Isn't it cute? It still
even has the price tag on it... it was ten bucks."

Alexa looked over at me for a brief moment. "Okay, before
we get into the books because the kids just want to see the
toys, let me show you this." She retrieved a purple horse-like
figurine with one hand, and a closed shoebox with the other
from the bin. "Madi, honey... look. This is _My Little Pony_.
And look what's in here. Do you know what this is, Cooper?"
She held the box before him. "It's my cars."

"Cars?" Cooper responded in astonishment. "Whoooooa," he
then rumbled, as Alexa popped the lid and Cooper, along with
Madison, stared into it. They could not help themselves,
obviously, and again began sifting through its contents.

"Are those my cars?" Alexa said to them, smiling. "Sit
down, and I'll give them to you." Cooper immediately took a
seat, but Madison was not done looting. "Sit down," Alexa
said again, and she finally did. "Every year for Christmas,
I would get _Hot Wheels_ cars." She pulled out a yellow
school bus. "This school bus, I've probably had since I was
four." Cooper snatched it from her and rolled its wheels
along the carpet. "A lot of these I opened, and a lot of
them, I didn't. I don't know why." She glanced at me again.
"I'm totally fine giving these cars to our kids. Both of
them absolutely love playing with _Hot Wheels_ cars."

"Yeah!" Cooper nodded. "Play wid dem!"

"Madi plays with them because Cooper does," Merissa said.

I ran my eyes over Merissa as she approached us in the
living room. Her brown hair fell full and pretty around her
face, which was also a bit fuller. Her perfect, perky breasts
had become large and matronly this deep into pregnancy, lying
over her belly like two soft grapefruits. She no longer looked
like head cheerleader Merissa. She looked better, much more
mature. She looked like mother-to-be Merissa, and I hoped
that, at some point in the next week or two before our son was
born, Merissa would finally see herself that way, too.

"You couldn't look more beautiful."

Merissa accepted my outstretched hand and gently settled
down onto my lap, and nuzzled against me. The lush smell of
her perfume drew my lips to her neck, and I felt her body
respond in kind. She opened her eyes and smiled, forehead
to forehead, our unborn baby between us.

"Hi," she said dreamily.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Merissa spoke fast, as if
she desperately needed me to hear her. "I'm gonna figure
out how to be better. I was acting all overly frightened
and intimidated when we went to visit your mom yesterday."

I put my finger to her lips. "There is nothing for you to
be sorry about. By the end of the day, you and Mom were
getting along great. I can tell that she likes you, which is
a major step forward in and of itself. Absolutely nothing
for you to be sorry about. You're just one big bundle of
hormones right now, but that will soon be over with."

"I even got a pink slug bug!" Alexa said to Cooper, a few
feet away from us, holding a pink _Hot Wheels_ car in front
of him that closely resembled a _Volkswagen Beetle_. She
gave it to him and said, "Every year at Christmas, I would
get a lot of these in my stocking."

"Here are all of my high school ID's, my library card, oh
my God, look at my hair on this one... that's so funny."
Alexa sifted through the laminated cards, then handed them to
Merissa so she and I could look at them. "And wow, Jeremy,
take a look at this. It's a card that our little niece, Janna
made for me." Alexa folded open the large sheet of paper and
read off, "Dear Aunt Lexi - A-N-T, she spelled it - I love you.
Look how sweet, she drew a picture of me and her!"

"You should look at your yearbooks, your prom pictures,
later on with Jeremy," Merissa suggested, to which Alexa
nodded. "We recently went through his, remember, and I am
sure Jeremy would love a little throwback of what you looked
like when you were a teen-ager, growing up."

Alexa made a face. "Oh, I'm SURE, Merissa, that Jeremy
would LOVE seeing some of these pictures I have from when I
was growing up. Acting dumb and stupid with all of the facial
expressions I'm so famous for, seeing me with my old boyfriend,
and all of the other guys who pursued me through the years."

"I can handle it," I told her confidently. "They're just
pictures. Besides, ultimately, you come home to Merissa and
myself every day, every night. That's all that matters now."

Alexa sighed and brought both hands to her mouth as Cooper
and Madison continued to play alongside her with their new
toys. "Oh my Gosh! Merissa, look!" Alexa reached into the
bin and pulled out a large _Disney_-themed blanket. On it
was a happy, smiling Mickey Mouse with the backdrop of outer
space behind him, and a rocket ship zooming over his head.
Alexa actually became somewhat emotional as she quickly added,
"Merissa, do you remember this?"

"Of course I do."

"You got this for me when I was in the hospital suffering
from anorexia and bradycardia ten years ago!" Alexa gushed.
I winced at those words; I did not enjoy being reminded of
that time in Alexa's life, even though it was three years
before I met her. Alexa nearly died in the hospital stemming
from anorexia and complications it had caused to her heart.
She actually had to stay there for six weeks back in 2007.
At one point, Alexa was thought to be just hours from dying.

"I knew how much you loved everything _Disney_," Merissa
told her, smiling. "You still do, actually. I saw that
blanket at the mall and bought it for you immediately." She
grinned once more and ended, "It had your name on it."

"This was like, the best gift I ever got in the hospital!"
Alexa murmured, holding the blanket out and admiring it. "I
was so scared and frightened, so lonely, yet I remember this
blanket making me feel so happy and cheerful. I have always
loved Mickey Mouse and all things _Disney_! I also remember
you telling me how expensive it was for you, too. It was...
three whole weeks of your total allowance, Merissa? Oh my
Gosh, I need to wash this, and put it in a much more visible
place! What do you think of the reclining chair in Cooper's
bedroom? I think it would look perfect there, over the back."

Cooper pointed at Merissa. "Where Asher?"

"He's still inside Aunt Merissa's tummy!" Alexa answered.

"The baby... still in Aunt Me-Me's tummy right now?"

"Yeah," Alexa nodded.

"I wanna see him!"

Merissa giggled at Cooper. "It's... it's.... it's gonna
take a minute, honey. The baby still needs to grow a little.
Don't worry, Asher will be here soon, and you'll get to hug
and kiss on him like a good big brother should."

Alexa hugged our son to her. "You were in my tummy, Cooper,
and Madi was in Aunt Merissa's tummy, before both of you were
born. Right now, Asher is still in Aunt Merissa's tummy.
That's why Aunt Merissa has such a BIG tummy. That is where
babies grow up and develop before they're born."

"Do you remember," I said to Cooper, "when you snuck up
behind Aunt Merissa just this morning, and gave her tummy a big
kiss? You said, hi Asher! That made Aunt Merissa so happy."

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Mommy may be having another baby here soon, too," I told
Cooper, which caused his eyes to widen. "What do you think
of that, buddy? What would you like to have? Do you want a
little brother, or a little sister?"

"I need anudder Madi."

I laughed at his immediate, sweet response. "Another Madi?
You like her, don't you?"

"Yeah." He pointed at Madison. "Like her! I like her.
I need anudder Madi like her." Cooper then stood and skipped
over to Merissa, and kissed her belly. "Happy Mother's Day,
Aunt Me-Me! I love you!"

"Oh, I love you too!" Merissa fawned, leaning over and
hugging him to her. Yet I quickly reached down and brought
Cooper into my lap, right alongside Merissa. "Is that one
of the cars that Mommy gave you?"

"Yeah," he told Merissa, showing it to her. "YEAH! Mommy
give me... her Christmas cars."

* * *

Nearly 24 hours later, on Monday evening after I had
returned to work earlier that day for the first time since my
father's death, I leaned over in the garage and blew the wood
shavings from the cabinet drawer that I was carving. Cooper
blew on the slab of wood on his own miniature workbench I had
built for him several months ago. My son looked up at me.

I grabbed a gouge chisel and showed it to Cooper, who
promptly scanned his plastic tools and picked up the one that
looked most like a gouge. I grinned and went to work on the
drawer, the two of us humming to the song on the radio as we
worked. Neither of my wives cared for _Guns 'n Roses_, but
Cooper seemed to enjoy the heavy metal rock in short spurts.
He mimicked every move I made in the garage, right down to
wiping his hands on the sides of his shirt. He always felt so
important and happy whenever I let him keep me company while I
worked in the garage on do-it-yourself projects like this.

"Hey there."

Merissa's voice pulled me from my concentration.

"Aunt Me-Me!" Cooper exclaimed, looking up at me before
turning around with an excited grunt.

I curled a hand around the back of Cooper's head and turned
as well, smiling at my wife. I cannot say this enough, but
even at nearly nine months pregnant, Merissa was incredibly
sexy. She looked like a pregnant model. My God, Merissa was
absolutely stunning! The navy fabric of her summer dress
clung to every curve of her life-affirming figure. The
neckline scooped to the crest of her ample breasts, and
Merissa's slim arms and fit legs gave her the appearance of a
girl playing _dress up_ with a fake baby bump.

If only Merissa knew how much I was attracted to her right
now. Yet she was too busy dealing with the hormones that took
her through the blissful highs and disastrous lows of the past
several months to really notice. Regardless, I did everything
within my power to make her feel comfortable, and at ease.

Merissa's lips curved into a smile as she approached us.
"Thank you for the flowers you had delivered today, Jeremy.
They were a beautiful surprise. Wasn't expecting flowers the
day AFTER Mother's Day, too." She held my gaze for a few
long seconds before turning those dazzling brown eyes on
Cooper. "And thank YOU for the delicious cookies. It was
so sweet of you to bring me cookies home from preschool."

"You welcome," Cooper mumbled, blushing.

Merissa glanced over our dual workbenches. "It looks like
you two have been busy this evening."

"Typical evening," I told her. "We came out here to work
for a while." Some nights were better than others with these
home improvement projects that I was working on. Depending on
Cooper's attention span, and his willingness to behave, there
were some nights where I got hardly work in. Other nights, I
could fit a solid hour or two before Cooper had to go to bed.
I actually felt guilty if I did any work here without him. It
was so important to him that he be here to _help_ me.

"Looks like you have a very willing apprentice." Merissa
motioned toward the plastic tools piled up on Cooper's own
workbench. "What are you two making?"

Cooper promptly took Merissa's hand and led her around the
workbenches to the far end of the garage, where the hutch I
had previously carved was waiting for its cabinet drawers and
doors, along with several other pieces in various stages of
creation. "Daddy made all this," he proclaimed.

I joined them, watching as Merissa ran her fingers over the
intricate furniture I had spent months working on.

"This is gorgeous." Merissa looked over the other projects
I had been working on, admiring them with Cooper at her heels.
"You're so good at woodworking, Jeremy... so creative." She
glanced around the garage in general, her eyes drifting to the
opposite corner where I had built a child-sized table and two
chairs for Cooper and Madison. Drawing papers were scattered
over the top, a pile of crayons in the center. I had used
thumbtacks to hang several of the kids' drawings on the wall,
but there were still plenty of empty spots, waiting for Cooper
and/or Madison to create their next masterpiece.

Merissa smiled as her eyes sailed over the cubby-holes I
had built with a wilderness scene carved into the sides,
each one home to an assortment of toys. Along the wall was
a wooden bed I had built. A _Dr. Seuss_ book lay face-down
on the pillow beside a children's blanket. Sometimes, Cooper
napped here instead of in his own bedroom.

"I cannot believe you made all of this." She picked up an
animal that I had carved and ran her finger across its long
neck. "A wooden giraffe. Lexi's favorite animal of all."

"I made Lexi several giraffes a couple of years ago. You
know, the ones on top of her dresser-drawer in the bedroom."

"Daddy make me a lion," Cooper told Merissa. "RAWR!"

"Whoa," Merissa grinned leisurely, gently clutching her
stomach, "don't scare me like that, honey."

Izzy and Teddy, our two family dogs, one a tiny Yorkshire
Terrier and the other a Teacup Maltese - came scuffling into
the garage. Cooper immediately reached for both animals and
petted them gently with his hands. Merissa proceeded to
engross Cooper in a story about from when she was younger,
before her own father passed away, and how he once brought
home an adorable puppy for her and her two brothers to keep.
Merissa had Cooper's undivided attention as she told him the
tale of Drizzle, a Norwich Terrier, who lived for 14 years at
her old family home in Overland Park. Cooper moved so close
to Merissa during the story that he was nuzzling her hip.
She brushed her fingers over Cooper's cheek as he continued
to love and dote on the two dogs. Merissa's eyes warmed and
a wave of fullness crowded my chest.

"Mommy cut Daddy's hair," Cooper said, nudging Izzy and
Teddy away in favor of the wooden animals instead. "My hair
too." He dabbed at his head with a fingertip. "Look."

"I see," Merissa nodded at him. "You look so handsome
with your new haircut, Cooper. So handsome!" Merissa gazed
up at an iron-and-wood chandelier in the shape of a boat,
hanging from the center of the garage ceiling. The light
fixtures were positioned as railing posts around the vast
perimeter of the boat. "Did you make that, too?"

"No. Metalwork demands heat, and that's not my specialty.
Besides, the tools would be too dangerous for any of the kids
to be around. I bought that chandelier a month or two before
you moved in with us." I glanced at Cooper, who was happily
playing with his wooden animals. I then smiled at Merissa and
motioned with my head toward the door that led into the living
room. "C'mon, honey. I want to show you something."

"I stay here?" Cooper moved his toy lion across the table.

"Yep. We will be right back."

I opened the door and Merissa followed me into the house.
I definitely knew what I wanted, but I had to be quick about
it. As usual when she was in my presence, Merissa's beauty
had lured me in, and I had the overwhelming need to feel her
against me. I gathered Merissa close with both arms and guided
her behind the open door, out of Cooper's line of vision.

"Hi, beautiful." I gently brushed my lips over hers, making
sure the heat I felt wasn't one-sided. But Merissa seemed to
be in too chipper of a mood to be going through one of her down
spells at the moment. I doubted she would reject me.

"Hey," Merissa smiled in response. "I hope it's okay that
I came out to the garage while you were working. I did not
mean to interrupt. Lexi and I are going to the grocery store
with Madi, and I wanted to see if you needed anything."

"I need something, but not from the grocery store."

Merissa breathed harder at my insinuation, a rosy blush
spreading rapidly over her cheeks. She wrapped her arms
around my waist and whispered, "You better kiss me then,
before Cooper gets bored in the garage."

I kissed Merissa slowly at first, running my hands up her
back, keeping her close. The feel of her luscious curves was
purely intoxicating, and when I deepened the kiss, she was
right there with me. We actually stumbled back into the wall,
and I fought the voice within my head telling me to slow down.
Slowing down the last thing that I wanted to do. Merissa's
hands were like wildfire moving up my body and around my neck,
spurring me on to become even more aggressive. I crushed my
mouth to hers, kissing my wife forcefully and earning a sweet
moan like I heard when Alexa went down on her last evening.

"I thought about you and Lexi all day at work," I said
between kisses. "Especially you."

"I thought about you too, Jeremy."

I could not get enough of Merissa; ravaging her mouth, her
neck, yet wanting to take things so much further. Just seeing
Merissa had flipped a switch in me, and in my kisses there was
just as much lust as there was devotion. But I knew better
than to allow myself to ride this out to what would assuredly
be an erotic, happy conclusion. I had to slam on the brakes.

"Sorry," I said, but not for kissing her. I was only sorry
for being so forceful and aggressive with those prior kisses.
Merissa did not need that type of treatment right now. I put
some space between us, but reached out and lovingly palmed
her stomach. "Sorry. I just wanted to kiss you hello... not
necessarily attack you."

She clutched my forearms tightly. "I attacked you, too."

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it, then peered
around the door to check on Cooper. Fortunately, he was still
playing with his animals, totally oblivious to what we were up
to. I hugged Merissa close once more, feeling her deep, uneven
breaths on my neck. It triggered something within me.

"You have no idea how turned on I am every single time I
look at you," I offered, massaging her thick, swollen belly.
Then I whispered in conclusion, "No freaking idea."

She laughed gently, and I recognized that tender, nervous
sound as sweet, quintessential _Merissa_.

"It does seem kind of odd that you're more hyper and active
about me when I am nine months pregnant like now, compared to
when I was a mere 110 pounds, and in perfect, tip-top shape."

"I haven't been able to keep my lips off of you for the
past three years, regardless whether you were pregnant or not."

"I like your lips," Merissa responded shyly.

I kissed her again, savoring every second of our closeness.
"Merissa," I said as our mouths parted. "God, I love you."

"I love you too."

"You have no idea how happy you make me."

"I've always been careful, and took things slow, but being
around you and Lexi these past three years has turned me into
one of those girls who wants to share their bodies like candy.
I'm not candy." Merissa dropped her eyes and ran her finger
up my arm. "But with you and Lexi, I kind of want to be
_Snickers_ and _Skittles_ and _M&M's_ and lollipops all
wrapped up in one big sugar-coated..."

My mouth swooped down and captured hers. I could not help
it. The need to possess her, to taste the naughtiest thoughts
I had ever heard Merissa say as they slipped from her tongue,
was too strong to resist. My wife clung to me, making hungry,
sensual sounds, driving me up the wall. Yet somewhere in the
far recesses of my mind, Cooper broke through, and I once again
forced myself to release Merissa. We came away breathless.

"I need to check on Cooper," I said, peering around the
doorway again. Merissa sighed but nodded her head, knowing we
had to stop somewhere. It was part of being good, responsible
parents. Cooper was sitting at the drawing table in the
garage/workshop, still playing with the wooden animals.

"Madi, go into the garage and play with Cooper," I heard
Alexa say from behind us, and I quickly turned and focused on
her. Alexa had just entered the living room on the opposite
side and was holding Madison's hand as they both scurried
toward us. "Go on, Madi," she again encouraged her. "Go into
the garage and play with your brother." The 23-month-old
toddler broke away and went frolicking into the garage.

Once confident that Madison was preoccupied enough with
Cooper at the drawing table, Alexa kissed Merissa's opposite
hand and laced their fingers together. Again, unable to
resist with both wives now present, I reached around Alexa
and slipped my hand into the back of her camisole top. Her
skin was warm, despite the fact that we preferred to keep
the air conditioning low throughout the house. Alexa was
wearing a pair of red sweat pants folded down at the waist
to make them smaller, and they nearly fell off her hips.

She rose up on her tip-toes and kissed me flush across the
lips. "Hey Jeremy, baby. Why don't you and Cooper come along
to the grocery store with us tonight?"

Merissa eyed Alexa intently, especially once her lips had
left mine. "Hey!" came a whiny protest. "Where's my kiss?"

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Alexa pulled Merissa's
face toward hers and kissed her. Merissa seemed to lose all
rhyme and reason instantly, not caring about right or wrong,
as she melted into those glorious lips of Alexa's, a warm,
truly magnificent kiss. Merissa pushed her fingers into her
wife's blonde hair as Alexa deepened the kiss. Merissa loved
Alexa's long hair almost as much as I did. The first touch of
their tongues was urgent and reckless, and I saw Merissa's
body react accordingly. Alexa invariably tasted like sex and
sin wrapped in heat and a silky sweetness. She had a hand on
Merissa's hip, holding her steady, the other on the back of her
head. Merissa groaned deeply against Alexa's mouth. Her own
hands were on a mission, running through her hair, over her
arms, up her neck. Suddenly, both of their bodies were aflame
as the kiss turned overly ravenous, the tangling of their
tongues sensual and possessive, the combination electric.
Alexa and Merissa kissed like they often spoke to each other,
confident and full of truth, warmth and utter devotion.

"Girls," I frowned, having to step between them, and put
an end to their blissful union. Another couple of seconds,
I figured, Alexa and Merissa may become so overwhelmed that
they lose total control of themselves. That simply could
not happen right now. They glanced up at me, both equally
upset for my interruption, as I motioned toward the two
toddlers in the garage. Their expressions quickly softened.

Yet I stole a quick kiss from Alexa anyway. Tasting
Merissa, so fresh on Alexa's sweet lips, was a double pleasure.
"It's getting kind of late to take the kids out anywhere, don't
you think?" I glanced at my wristwatch; it was 6:15pm. Cooper
and Madison were usually fast asleep by 6:45 every night.

"They can stay up a bit longer tonight," Alexa told me.
"We let them do that from time to time. Besides, the longer
they stay up tonight, maybe that means the later they wake up
in the morning. Will make things easier on Merissa since she
has to watch them while you and I are off at work, Jeremy."

"True," I relented. I had no idea how Merissa was able to
chase after two toddlers and keep them in line being so deep
into her pregnancy while Alexa and I were away at work.

"Come to the grocery store with us," Alexa reiterated to
me. "You and Cooper. We want to pick up some goodies."

Having heard his mother's words, Cooper emerged from the
garage with wide eyes and glared up at Alexa. "Spaghetti
and ice cream? Candy bars?"

"Oooooh, ice cream," Merissa smirked, as if she had just
gotten another of her famous, hormone-fueled cravings.

Alexa leaned down at eye level with our son. "Could you
be any cuter? Sounds good to me."

45 minutes later our little family made our way into
_Hy-Vee_, our grocery store of choice, located in nearby
Shawnee, Kansas. It did not seem too busy for a Monday
evening. As we went through the bakery section, an employee -
a teen-aged girl - nearly bumped into me as she whipped out
from behind the service counter.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Her eyes sailed over me, down to Cooper,
standing beside me, and then to Alexa.

"Don't mind him," Alexa told the girl, pointing at me. "He
always has a knack of getting in the way."

The employee giggled and gave me a long look, but then
crouched beside Cooper, who slipped behind my legs for cover.
"Well, hello there, handsome. I just baked a fresh batch of
chocolate chip cookies. Would you like one?" She quickly
corrected herself. "I should have probably asked Dad first.
Sorry. Is it okay if I give him a cookie?"

"Sure," I said, lifting Cooper into my arms. "Of course."

"One cookie coming right up!" The girl hurried back behind
the counter in search of chocolate chip delight.

"Jeremy," Alexa whispered. "She likes you. I can tell."

"Hmmmmm? What do you mean?"

"Oh boy." Alexa smiled and wiggled Cooper's foot. "I'm
glad that Daddy only notices me and Aunt Merissa anymore. He
is totally oblivious to all other females. That's awesome."

"Here we go," the girl said to Cooper once she returned,
handing him a cookie wrapped up in a napkin.

"What do you say?" I asked Cooper, already with a mouthful
of cookie crumbs tumbling out of his mouth.

"Thank you."

Merissa smiled as she gently rammed Alexa's backside with
the shopping cart that she was pushing, with Madison sprawled
out inside of it. Madison was overly tired and should really
be back home, in her crib already. Oh, hopefully Madison
would not be in a cranky mood in the morning as a result.
Merissa had enough to deal with at the moment.

Yet Merissa was suddenly tired just a few moments later
too, zapped of her energy just like that, and one of the
grocery store managers was kind enough to retrieve a large,
comfortable chair from the employee office upstairs and let
her relax in it, near the front cash registers. Merissa did
sit down, but refused the offer of free bottled water or a
treat from the bakery. Several employees wrongly wondered if
she was going into labor. Merissa was upset and grumpy again,
but insisted that we finish our shopping trip.

Cooper helped Alexa push a new grocery cart down each of
the aisles, which left my hands free to touch her every chance
that I got. When Cooper was busy picking out sprinkles, Alexa
reached for the ice cream, and my hands grazed over her lower
back. When she stood behind Cooper, helping him push the cart,
I took full advantage, sneaking kisses to the back of Alexa's
neck and placing a possessive arm around her waist. Every
furtive glance, every secret touch, made me all the more
aroused, hotter, needier, and by the time we put the groceries
in the back of the minivan, I felt as if I was ready to
spontaneously combust. Yet I had to temper it.

When we finally got home at 8:10pm, I put Madison down in
her crib as Alexa helped Merissa get ready for bed. It was
an unfortunate side effect of being pregnant. Merissa had been
so cheerful and energetic just a short time ago in the garage,
but now she simply wanted to curl up in bed and wilt away. I
felt so sorry for her. With Alexa still busy with Merissa,
now helping her adjust to the most comfortable position in her
pregnancy body pillow, I went down to the kitchen and began
putting away the groceries while Cooper played on the floor.

Alexa returned to the kitchen moments later and brushed
against my back while reaching for a cup high in the cubbard,
and when I turned to put the milk in the refrigerator, Alexa
was _right there_. The gallon of milk actually hit me in
the stomach. Not that I was complaining, mind you, but when
had the kitchen become so incredibly small?

"Can I make you a late dinner?"

Yet in my head I heard Alexa ask, _Would you like to eat me
as your late dinner_? I was still wound up from the endless
flirtation earlier with not only Alexa, but Merissa as well,
and I was probably losing my mind. It certainly would not be
the first time. Alexa noticed my quandary immediately, and
chuckled as I put the milk in the refrigerator.

Cooper raised his weary eyes and said, "Have some ice
cream, Daddy. It good for you."

Alexa blinked and smiled at Cooper. "Oh, you look so tired,
honey. You look so sleepy! How about Daddy and I take you up
to your bed and tuck you in, and you get some night-night?"
She crouched down just in front of him. "When I get home
tomorrow afternoon from work, how about you and I, and Madi
too, go to the mall and get an ice cream cone from the food
court? You know, the ice cream you like so much?"

"Aunt Me-Me too?"

Alexa grinned at Cooper again. "Aunt Merissa is welcome
to join us if she wants, but she may be too tired. You know,
having that baby in her belly makes Aunt Merissa feel really,
really tired. Kind of like how you feel right now, honey."

"Yeah," he frowned, nodding.

Cooper offered no resistance as I picked him up and carried
him off to his bedroom. Once he was in his pajamas, I allowed
Alexa to finish the job as she tucked him underneath the covers
and whispered sweet, soothing words of motherly love to him. I
snuck away undetected and went straight out to the patio that
flanked the living room. In all honesty, I had been a hot mess
since Merissa joined me in the garage earlier and we started
hugging and kissing on each other. Alexa adding herself to the
mix just intensified everything more. I leaned my palms on the
front railing of the porch, closed my eyes, and inhaled a deep,
cleansing breath. I could do th...

A pair of slender, feminine arms circled my waist. Alexa's
breasts pressed against me, her hands crossed over my lower
torso. Oh God. She felt so good. Smelled so sexy.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was soft, timid, a whisper.

I was certain that Alexa could feel my heart pounding
through my back. I turned in her arms. My stomach tumbled
beneath the heat of her lovely, innocent stare.

"Yeah," I replied breathlessly.

She kissed my shoulder. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I just needed some air. It's been a..." I tried to
avert my eyes from hers, but Alexa had me under some sort of
wicked spell. "A hectic day. I need to listen to some music,
maybe take a walk, or something."

"You're trembling, Jeremy. Are you sure you're okay? Did
you have a rough first day back with your patients?"

"Not rough. Just typical." I did not want to burden Alexa
with the particulars from my work day. Yet I suddenly found
myself distracted by the alluring bounce of Alexa's braless
breasts and the tantalizing peak of her nipples pressing
against the soft white cotton tank-top to worry much about
it. She must have changed her clothing after coaxing Cooper
off to sleep. Yet why were there transparent wet spots along
the swell of Alexa's breasts? I dropped my gaze, hoping to
slow the heat flooding my veins, but got stuck on a flash of
taut skin between her top and those minuscule, hip-hugging
booty shorts she had on. This was not settling me down.

I dragged my eyes back to Alexa's face, praying that would
be safer. Yet her hair seemed tousled in that devastatingly
sexy, just-had-a-good-mattress-romp way she typically wore
around the house. Sweet Jesus! How could I possibly contain
myself with all of Alexa's natural sexiness on total display?

"You want to stay outside for a bit?"

Actually, I preferred to go right to the bedroom, and get
Merissa involved with us. But that was probably out of the
question tonight, unfortunately. "Sure, but you need to put
on a sweatshirt or something."

"Why? It's not cold out at all."

Like metal to magnet, my eyes found her breasts, and I felt
myself get instantly hard. Alexa followed my gaze to her
breasts and her cheeks suddenly pinked up in a blush.

"Sorry." Alexa hurried back into the house and I followed
her, knowing she would throw on her favorite pink hoodie with
the white stripes on the sleeves. I could not believe that I
had all of Alexa's favorite clothes memorized and cataloged,
among which were her strappy leather sandals and those tiny,
black-and-blue booty shorts she had on right now. Alexa and
Merissa were slowly torturing me, but at least it would be an
awfully enjoyable death. A happy, slow death.

Alexa pulled her hoodie on and zipped it up with her back
to me. "I was thinking, Jeremy. Today was your first day
back to work in three whole weeks after your father passed
away. Merissa is due less than two weeks from now. Instead
of taking another two weeks off from work once Asher is born,
like you plan, let me take time off from my own job instead.
You've missed a lot of work already with the funeral, and I
think it would be special if I was the one who stayed home
and waited on Merissa and the new baby, hand-and-foot. I can
tell my boss that I simply need some personal time off."

"I need to be there for Merissa."

"She is just as much my wife as she is yours," Alexa told
me. "Let me take care of her? You have your patients to
tend to. You don't to be away from work for five whole weeks
in a six or seven week span, do you? You may lose patients."

"Our family is more important."

Alexa spun around with a playful glint in her eyes that
nearly made me forget everything, except the desire to take
her into my arms and devour her whole.

"Better?"

"Hardly." I strode through the house and opened the door
to the porch. As Alexa stepped outside, I added, "Remind me
to buy you a big, bulky sweatshirt."

"What's the fun in that?" she laughed as we sat down on
the swing, side-by-side, our legs brushing. "Just think
about it, okay? You have no idea how special it would be
for me if I was the one in charge of taking care of Merissa
and Asher, not to mention Cooper and Madi, full-time. My
boss won't have any issues letting me off of work for awhile."

"We'll see," I relented.

"Now what's wrong, Jeremy?" There was a slight pout in
her voice that drew me even closer. I slipped an arm around
Alexa, pulling her against my side and trying to ignore the
lust brewing within my gut. Impossible.

"I just want Asher to be born, perfectly healthy, and for
Merissa to progress through her after-birth recovery, and for
things to be the way they used to be between us. I mean, look
at it, Lexi. You and I are all over each other every chance
we get. Merissa? Sometimes she's in a good mood, other times
she is depressed, gloomy, put-off. I know it's the hormones,
but I cannot wait for the day when all three of us are all up
into one another, equally, like how you and I are now. Not
too long ago, Merissa was insatiable for us. Both of us."

"People always say how difficult pregnancy can be for a
woman," Alexa said softly. "But what they fail to realize
is just how difficult it can be for the father, the husband,
too. I've witnessed that first-hand, baby, being Merissa's
wife. Because for as often as she has lashed out at you, or
had one of her mood swings, Merissa has done it to me, too.
I get home four hours before you do each day from work. You
should hear some of the things she says when I first get home.
Trying to keep up with Cooper and Madi really frustrates her.
Especially when they want to challenge her, and misbehave.
Merissa cannot chase them throughout the house like we do.
And a lot of times, she takes that frustration out on me."

Alexa fidgeted with the edge of her hoodie, but her eyes
never left mine. "I've told you before, Jeremy. You have
two wives, and you have put up with so much from us over a
total of three pregnancies now. You're so calm, so cool, so
easygoing toward us no matter what we have said to you, how
we screamed at times. I have no idea how you do it because
sometimes, Merissa just makes me want to cry."

"Yet you still love her."

"With all of my heart." Alexa dropped her eyes, a shy
smile on her lips. "The hormones will pass."

"You know what I find most appealing about you?"

Alexa's eyebrows lifted. "What's that?"

"You're careful, honey. You're giving, and without even
trying, you make others want to open up and trust in you.
There is an innocence about you that is so intriguing, yet I
like the snarky side to your personality too. The side of
you that you reserve for just Merissa and me, but only when
you're in a playful mood. Those facial expressions, those
playful, little sneers. But what do I find most appealing?
It's not how incredibly sexy and irresistible I find you every
day and every night. There is a GOODNESS about you. You trust
and you share like it's as easy as inhaling and exhaling. I
realized this about you a long time ago, and you made me open
up as a result because you deserve to be with someone who can
do the same. Just be totally upfront and honest."

I pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers, and Alexa's
eyes darkened. I loved that look so much. I leaned forward
and kissed her gently. Her lips were moist and warm, and
when I deepened the kiss, I leaned into Alexa, her fingers
curling themselves around the back of my neck. She kissed me
hungrily, her tongue moving swiftly over mine as I slid my
hands beneath her hair, angling her mouth so I could take the
kiss even deeper. She was sweet and wholesome and hot, and
tasted so damn perfect. I did not have a chance in hell of
backing off, and when Alexa moaned into my mouth, my senses
nearly exploded. I palmed her breasts through her hoodie,
earning another sweet, needy sound.

"Remember what Merissa always tells us," Alexa murmured
against my lips. "Don't back off of each other on account
of her. No matter what type of mood she is in, or how she
feels, Merissa never wants us to back away from each other
because of her. She always says you and I... have at it."

My mouth opened wider in response, and my tongue thrust
deeper. I groped Alexa's ass, tightening my hold on her
hair like a beast, tugging her head back and exposing her
luscious neck for me to claim. I ground myself upon her
hips, spurred on by her whiny pleas and the feel of her knee
sliding up my thigh. I grabbed hold of it, rocking against
Alexa as I caught her mouth again. When that wasn't enough,
I lifted her up and into my lap. Her legs circled my waist
as our mouths crashed together, tongues thrusting in urgent,
wet kisses so sinfully good that I nearly got swept away.

The porch swing actually thudded against the side of the
house. I reluctantly tore my mouth away. Alexa's blue eyes
widened in surprise, but a soft laugh escaped her swollen
lips, and it did me in. There was no turning back now. Yet
I needed something unique, something different, as a release
tonight. Something that was not all too common for us.

"I want you to go to the guest bedroom downstairs, Lexi,
take off all of your clothing and lie on the bed, face down,
with two pillows under your hips. I'll be there shortly to
give you a spanking while you suck my cock."

Alexa's jaw dropped, but no words came out. How could
something so lewd also sound so... right? Alexa had a
submissive streak in her, and she enjoyed receiving a (very
light and playful) spanking in short, simple doses, perhaps
once a month. Indeed, this was something out of the ordinary
that would give pleasure to both of us.

I actually followed her and Alexa found, when she got to
the guest bedroom, that I had already put the pillows in
place. All she had to do was strip off her clothing, as
sensual of a sight as that would be for me, and then lie
down over the pillows, naked, feeling how they raised her
luscious, little ass to present it to me.

"Mouth right at the edge of the bed, nice and open," I
instructed her from the doorway. "Hands down, next to your
hips." I closed the door behind me as Alexa obeyed. She
watched me undress, out of my dress shirt and jeans, her
breathing suddenly very ragged. Alexa had seen me naked
thousands of times throughout our six years of marriage,
but she gasped regardless once my cock, long and hard as
it was, sprang from my boxer shorts.

I chuckled. "That's your fault, sweetheart. You and
Merissa constantly teasing and flirting with me. Now you're
going to do something about it, while you get your spanking."

I took a heavy clump of Alexa's blonde, sunrise-gold hair
and wound it once around my left hand. I moved close to the
bed, holding my cock in my right hand, loving the feeling of
having naked Miss America willingly in my power. Alexa looked
so pretty over the pillows, waiting for whatever I wanted to
do to her, her eyes fixated on my erection just as they should
be. I could not resist the urge; I entered her sweet mouth
quickly, and began to fuck her there.

Alexa whimpered around the hard, bulging cock I had sheathed
so pleasurably between the petals of her lips, and I brought my
right hand down upon her bottom, so that the whimper became a
cry of submissive discomfort. It was very light and playful,
but hard enough to give her a little buzz, a stinging sensation.
I moved my left hand to the back of her head, again twining my
fingers in her hair, just to keep her still as I enjoyed her
mouth. Yet a groan of ecstasy escaped my own throat; Alexa was
an expert cocksucker, a truly ravenous one at that, and could
never seemingly get enough from me. She LOVED sucking my cock.

I pelted her ass again and again with my right hand, taking
it nice and easy because of our awkward position at the moment.
Alexa was definitely buzzing and turned on; being treated a
little rough was appealing to her. As for tonight, I simply
wanted Alexa to have a little lingering warmth in her bottom
when we eventually went to bed to help remind her of me. In
the morning, hopefully, it would still be there when she woke
up and eventually went off to work at the health club.

I thrust in and out of Alexa's mouth more rapidly, suddenly
coming up with an idea that would most assuredly remind her of
me well into tomorrow, and perhaps beyond. Excited at the
mere thought, the wet sounds of a proper face-fucking rose in
the little guest bedroom. I brought my right hand down, a tad
bit harder, and reaped the reward of Alexa's willing cry around
my cock. Her cheeks clenched in discomfort as my cock leapt in
her mouth, her little ass writhing over the pillows.

An orgasm began to seethe in my testicles, in my lower back,
and I roared out at its power. But I did not want it to happen
yet. No, I had other ideas.

"Oh, Lexi," I said, pulling out of her mouth. "Oh God. I
am going to fuck you now in that sweet, little pussy." I sat
down on the edge of the bed and again brought Alexa into my
lap and kissed her, my tongue pillaging her mouth almost as
much as my cock did. I found her bare ass with my right hand
and slid a finger between her moist thighs. Alexa gave a
little cry as I toyed with her clitoris and the tender, lush
opening where my cock would soon plummet.

"We have to go to the hospital tomorrow night to speak," I
reminded her, talking softly, teasing her. "Be a good girl
now, so you'll be able to sit down tomorrow evening at the
seminar. I WILL spank you again if need be."

"Of course, Jeremy," Alexa responded, giggling. "But this
is much nicer than the hospital, though."

"Is it now?" A smile twitched upon my lips, but an instant
later, Alexa cried out in surprise as I literally tossed her
onto the bed beside me. Alexa seemed as if she may faint for
a split-second, and then drew a deep breath as she watched me
climb onto the bed, my eyes now locked on her.

I reached for my wife, placing both hands beneath her knees
and pulling her toward me. Alexa gave a sudden cry at the
suddenness of the movement and the effortless way I could
bring her tiny, 102 pound frame toward me - toward my cock -
displaying a certain amount of control, power, over her.

"Look into my eyes, honey," I instructed her, and she did.
Then I raised her knees and parted them, now able to glance
down at the pretty, pink, little pussy that I could never get
enough of myself. Alexa kept herself waxed bare at all
times, just the way Merissa and I preferred her to be.

"Show me where my cock goes, honey."

Alexa bit her lip and made a little whining sound of shame
and arousal. She shook her head, very slowly, but her hands
reached down to obey me, because I had asked her to do this,
and she loved me. She touched her clitoris and spread her
slippery, needy inner lips, and then closed her eyes.

"Hmmmmm," I moaned in satisfaction. "You're not quite so
flirty and snarky when I treat you like a nymphomaniac. You
suddenly turn into this needy, little submissive girl."

"Please fuck me, Jeremy," Alexa simply begged, desperate.

Yet my eyes drifted elsewhere, toward the little dimple
just inches away from her pussy lips. It was nearly a month
ago when Alexa, after years of trying to coax her into the
idea, allowed me to penetrate her anally for the first time
(that was detailed in chapter one, for those of you who may
not remember). Tonight, I wanted to have her ass again...

"Open your eyes, Lexi," I encouraged her. "I'm going to
put my cock into your pussy and give you the fucking that
you so desperately need right now."

Alexa swallowed hard, and opened her eyes to find me
staring right back into her face. Despite my forward and
passive-aggressive nature and tone right now, I was gauging
Alexa and her arousal, making certain that she enjoyed this
as much as I did. Oh, trust me... she did. I would never
hurt her in any shape or form, or make her feel uncomfortable.

"Hold your knees for me now," I said, moving my right
hand down between her spread thighs and making Alexa mew out
as I prepared her, opening her tight, little nether lips so I
could lodge the tip of my cock inside them.

Up and down, in and out - I felt total bliss as I moved
my cock within her before giving her my first hard thrust.
Alexa gave a sharp cry and bit her lip, staring up into my
face, which was framed by the feet she now had hooked over
my shoulders. My own eyes moved downward, toward the sight
of my cock just inside her tender, fertile pussy, then back
to her face. I took hold of her ass and lifted her a little
off of the bed, toward me. Confident that our position was
good now, I then began to fuck Alexa with reckless abandon.
I stared into her eyes as my cock plunged in and out. "Oh
Lexi," I said in a thick voice. "Such a tight, little pussy."

When Alexa's body started to quiver and tremble beneath
me, I slowed my rhythm considerably and spoke with concern,
"Want me to stop? Am I being too rough with you?"

"Never. More, Jeremy. More!"

I thrust in deeper and harder, feeling her arms strain
against me. I searched her eyes, again checking to make
certain that we were in sync together - oh yeah, we were in
sync, all right - and then I felt her muscular, little legs
flex, and watched her eyes slam shut.

"Jeremy..."

"Cum for me, baby." I pumped faster, taking her right to
the edge. God, I loved watching Alexa orgasm. Her body tensed
around me, and she made the sexiest, little noises, which
slipped out like promises in the dark. When she eased down
from the orgasm, even as the last tremors vibrated through her,
Alexa was not finished. She still wanted more.

"Again!" she demanded.

I moved my hips faster, pushed in deeper.

"Again," she urged.

I rode her as hard as I could.

"I'm not going to last."

She made one of those sexy sounds again. "Try."

Holy fuck, was Alexa joking? Did my wife have any idea how
close to the edge I was? If I wanted to follow through with
my original plan, I had to do it now.

"I want to finish in your ass," I told her, short of breath.
"Just like three, four weeks ago, that one night, when you let
me have your ass for the first time. God, Lexi... that was my
last, ultimate fantasy come to life! I want to cum inside it."

Alexa clawed at my back, pretzeling her legs around my torso
now. "Then do it," she simply said. "Cum in my ass."

I pulled my cock out as Alexa, perhaps a little nervous but
desperate now to feel this final climax just as much as I was,
rolled over onto her stomach. She positioned the aforementioned
two pillows beneath her pelvis, raising her backside, gifting it
to me. Alexa set the side of her face upon the mattress and
watched for a few seconds as I applied a generous amount of
lubricant to my hard, aching cock, then simply closed her eyes.

"I'll be gentle," I promised her, "and it won't last long.
Just relax, sweetheart. I won't hurt you."

"I know you won't."

Alexa moaned as I pressed the head of my cock to her tiny,
puckered rectum. With a soft cry, Alexa took me inside and I
pushed further, filling her and holding her tight, burning
ring open as the wetness from her pussy helped ease my entry.

"That's it," I murmured. "Oh, that's so nice, honey. You
have the world's sexiest ass, bar none." I nudged forward,
receded, impaled her more deeply, so that Alexa gave a loud,
wailing cry. "I want to get lost in there! That has to be
the world's TIGHTEST ass, too..."

"Play with yourself, Lexi," I soon encouraged her. "See
if you can make yourself cum again, when I do, with my cock
in your ass. Oh, it won't be long... trust me."

Then I became less gentle, being urged on by the necessity
of my pleasure, and I began to fuck her ass as I had previously
fucked both her mouth and pussy, though not as hard or as fast.
Alexa moved her right hand between her thighs, to her pussy lips
and then her clitoris, and back again, rubbing frantically.

"Harder!" she pleaded.

"Lexi!..." I groaned, capturing her left wrist with my hand
and pinning it to the mattress beside her as I pumped away even
faster than before. At the same time, she continued to openly
masturbate right in front of me with her right hand.

"Oh God! Oh God..."

"Come on, baby. Oh God, Lexi. You're so fucking hot,
and you drive me totally insane. You always have. I'm not
going to last! I just can't..."

"Cum with me." Alexa's blue eyes flew open as she glanced
back over her shoulder at me. "With me, Jeremy."

Her invitation sent a surge of molten heat tearing right
through me, spurring me into a blind frenzy of want and need
and everything in between. I drove in harder, deeper, and
released her hand. She clawed at my thrusting hips with both
hands now, my thighs, digging her fingernails into my skin and
driving me out of my ever-loving mind. I shuddered, and felt
my cock spasm inside Alexa's rectum, filling her bottom with a
heavy, thick dose of warm, gushing semen.

I stayed in deep, roaring out in my own, intense pleasure
as Alexa experienced another orgasm of her own. We remained
tangled, our bodies joined as one, both of us struggling to
regain control of our senses, spent, satisfied, and drenched
in perspiration. I held Alexa against me, my cock still in
her ass, until her pulse slowed and her breathing eased.

I lifted but Alexa let out a needy whine, and tightened
her grip on my side, wanting to hold me in place. "Don't go,"
she whispered. "I love being this close with you."

I rested my head on the 25-year-old's shoulder and kissed
her heated skin. "I'll never leave you." Though zapped of
nearly all of my strength and energy, I hugged Alexa closer
to me and made a motion to sit up. "But we have to go up to
bed, honey, and be with Merissa. She may need us."

"Not as much as I need you and her," Alexa said dreamily,
though nodding her head in agreement. "Let's go to bed..."


<<<- End of Chapter 14 ->>>


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