The Bullies' Karma (gxg)

Chapter 32

Sydney and I waved at Emilia and Heidi as we made our way hand in hand up the stairs. I wasn't in a hurry, I was just floating along, happy to have my girl back with me. When we got to my room, I quickly closed the door, and pulled Syd into another embrace.

               "Welcome home," I whispered, trying and failing to not sob.

               "Thanks, Nai'a. I'm so glad you reached out." I could feel her hot tears on my neck, and knew we were in a similar state right now. "I didn't think you'd want to be with me anymore."

               "I never wanted anything else. I just thought you'd want me to stay away so you didn't lose Rose," I explained. "But I feel a lot better now that I've talked to her."

               I heard her sniffle a little. "She was trying to talk me into it too before she came over. She really is a good kid; I just wish I'd known what she was doing so I could have stopped her years ago."

               "I know, I wish things could work out differently, but she wants to work on making a better version of herself."

               "I don't know that prison is the best place to do that, but I hope she can do it." I could hear the nerves in her voice and squeezed her a little tighter.

               "I'll make sure she gets a job when she gets out. Maybe I'll start working with my folks, we'll get our degrees and I'll find something for her. Hell, worst case I'll have Heidi train her in security," I promised.

               "You'd really do that?"

               "I would. I forgave her, and I know she meant her apology. I understand what she was doing and why, but she knows she still has to pay for it. If she's going to learn and grow, then I'm going to support her. She's going to be my stepdaughter after all." I separated just enough to kiss her lightly on the nose while she just stared at me.

               "Stepdaughter?" she said in wonder.

               I just smirked a little. "Tell me you haven't thought about it. I know I'm not the only one thinking about us being married, am I?"

               "No, you're not. I mentioned it to Rose earlier. She knows I'm serious about this," Syd admitted.

               "Then, as weird as it may be, Rose will be my stepdaughter. But I think if she comes out of there with a new attitude, that I'll settle for friends first."

               "That would be good. A real friend, who actually cares about her instead of fake ones, is what she needs." Syd stepped out of my embrace and kicked her shoes off before getting into my bed. "Come snuggle?"

               I quickly joined her, our heads on pillows as we gazed into each other's eyes. Yeah, I could have just attacked her, but we needed to reconnect emotionally before jumping right into sex. Our sex life was always healthy, but the last two weeks had dented our emotional wellbeing, and we both needed the reassurance that we were back together and weren't going to be splitting up ever again.

               "Sydney, I love you so much. These last few weeks have been torture, and I don't ever want to go through something like that again. I can't be apart from you ever again," I whispered to her, our lips almost touching as we let our limbs tangled together.

               "You won't be. I'm yours Nai'a. You won't lose me again." Her lips touched mine briefly, a prelude and promise of more.

               "Syd, that isn't what I meant. I mean, I don't want to be apart from you. Ever. I know I kind of joked about it before, but would you and the family like to move in? Have them come over for dinner and see how it goes? Rose saw a little of the house today, and she seemed to like it, but we never discussed it. I wanted to meet Jude and Alex before, and still need to. Could we do that?"