Frankie
Ronnie ends up staying an extra couple of days due to her bruise getting worse before it got better. She signed up for self-defense classes and found some for me to join here also. I've been taking the classes and really like them so far.
The next couple of weeks go by quickly and before I know it, February is here. I'm sitting in class with Cameron and the teacher decides to let us have the rest of the period free. We pull out our homework and start discussing it. When we finish, I ask, "What are we doing for Dylan's birthday?"
"I don't know. Do you have anything in mind?"
"I don't. What do you all normally do for his birthday?" This is the first time that I have celebrated anyone's birthday.
"We normally just take him out to dinner at his favorite restaurant and hang out at the arcade or something," he tells me.
I pull out my laptop for birthday ideas. I've never done this before and I want to do this right. I know that I need to have a cake. I'll also cook dinner.
"Do you have friends here that you would like to invite over for his birthday?" I ask.
"Not really. We talk to some of the guys around here, but mostly keep to ourselves," he tells me. It makes me realize how lucky I am that they chose me.
"This is what we will do. I'll make his favorite meal and his favorite flavor cake and we'll figure out an activity for him to do. What does he like to do?"
"I know that he'll like the dinner and the cake, but he'll want to you to pick out something that you would like to do for an activity. He wants you to have new experiences also. Think of something that you would like to do and we'll make it happen," he leans over the table and grabs my hand.
I squeeze his hand and think of something that I would like to do but haven't. I'm going to have to do some internet research because there's so much that I haven't done. "What is his favorite meal?" I ask.
"He likes the comfort foods, like pot roast, mashed potatoes and veggies with some cornbread. Our grandma used to make that for him on every birthday," he sounds wistful.
"Where is your grandma?" I feel his hand tighten on mine a little.
"She died last year. We really miss her. She was the only person in our families that didn't try to control us or bend us to her will. She just loved us unconditionally. I believe that she was the one who talked our grandfather's into signing our trusts over to us when we turned eighteen," his eyes start to look far away as he remembers her.
"Whose grandmother was she actually?" I can't help myself. I need to know as much about them as possible.
"She was mine, but she treated us like we were all her blood grandchildren. That's why we all spent as much time as possible with her. When she was around, there was no tension or anyone trying to bend us to their will. Just love and time spent together," there's a catch in his voice.
"I'm glad that you all had that in your lives," my eyes start to mist over. I'm starting to feel a little sorry for myself that I didn't have that.
He squeezes my hand, "Sweetie, you will have the love that we received from her as long as you want us. We love you so much and I love you to distraction."
I smile, but still not sure, "But what about your families? What are you going to do about them? I know they expect you to take over the family business."
"After what Dylan's father did to you, we won't be going back. We almost lost you because of him and besides, my brother is itching to take over the family business. That's why he's marrying one of the trio next month," he informs me.
My eyes widen, "No way! Which one?"
"Olivia."
"No way!" I say again a little loudly. He smiles and shushes me because the whole class is looking at us now. "After what she did to Dylan, he's still willing to marry her?" I say softly.
"No scruples. Besides, he's always wanted her anyway and she wants to be a part of our family anyway that she can. We talked to our fathers after you disappeared, and told them after what they did, there would be no way that we would work for them or take over the firm. They finally gave up and my brother stepped right into the shoes that they wanted. After we graduate, we plan to figure out where we all want to live and that's where we'll go. It'll be up to you in the end, but we'll follow wherever you are going." He starts to collect his things and I copy him, putting my things in my backpack. He grabs my hand and we walk out the door. Dylan is waiting for us when get to the bottom step.
"Ready for our lunch Peach?"
I nod and say bye to Cameron. He waves, walking away to his next class. Dylan grabs my hand, "What are we doing for lunch? Have any suggestions?"
I shake my head, "I'll go wherever you take me."
"How about a cheeseburger?" He opens the car door for me. I get inside and he closes the door behind me.
When he gets inside the car, I tell him, "A cheeseburger and some tater tots sounds good." He grabs my hand kissing the back of it, before putting his hand back on the steering wheel and pulling out of the parking spot.
After lunch, he drops me off at my next class with Rand and he goes on his way. After class, I fill Rand in on what I have planned for his birthday. Rand likes the plan and confirms the dinner that their grandma used to make for him on his birthday. I asked if he knew Dylan's favorite cake, but he doesn't. I have a couple of weeks to find out and I'm a bit antsy about it.
During dinner, I start the conversation about cake and how I like chocolate. Rand and Cam chime in with their favorite kind of cake and I ask Dylan about his favorite kind of cake. He tells me coconut. I've never made that before. I'll have to look the recipe up online.
After dinner, I do my research online and come up with a recipe for coconut cake and figure out what we can do on Dylan's birthday. Now that I've got it listed, I need to put it into action.
Rand takes me grocery shopping and I remember that I also have to go get the items for the headbands and bracelets. The school store ordered ten of each to see how they sell. I need to have those done by the day before Dylan's birthday. I'll be busy the next couple of weeks.
The next couple of weeks go by quickly. I'm able to finish the headbands and bracelets and take them to the store and I wake up early today to start Dylan's birthday breakfast.
He comes downstairs, "What are you cooking?"
"Your birthday breakfast silly. Here you go." I sit a plate down with all of his favorite breakfast foods on it, "Happy Birthday!"
"Thanks Peach!" He digs into his breakfast, practically inhaling it and drinking the Orange Juice I put in front of him before he comes around the counter, sitting me on it. He steps between my legs and pulls me to him, kissing me, deepening it right away. He pulls me close to him and I feel heat curling up in the bottom of my stomach. His hands rubs up and down my back, stopping at my hips. My arms are around his neck and our tongues are at war with each other, stroking and caressing.
I feel his hands tighten on my waist and I pull him closer, wrapping my legs around him. "Woah! Maybe I should go back upstairs." Rand's voice comes to us. We pull back, both of us sucking in much needed air. Dylan kisses me again and helps me off of the counter.
"Happy Birthday," Rand laughs, "I couldn't have made it as happy as Sunshine here, but you and I have some things to do until later. Give her one more kiss and come with me."
I lower my head, my face red. Dylan tips my chin up and plants another short, hot kiss on my lips, "I love you Peach! Thanks for breakfast and I'll see you later."
"See you later. Happy Birthday again," I gaze into his eyes.
"The best one I've had so far. Love you, see you later," he goes upstairs to get his things.
"You've made his day and it's just started. I can't wait to see what happens when we get back," Rand walks over, folding me in his arms.
Dylan pounds back down the stairs, "I'm ready! Let's go." Rand kisses the top of my head and follow Dylan. I hear the door close as they walk out of it.
I think about the kiss that Dylan and I shared and all I can say is wow! I think I need to research sex on the laptop or I'll give Ronnie a call and talk to her about it. She and Amy will be down later today to have dinner and go to the Science center with us.
I finish cleaning the kitchen and head into the living room to watch television until it's time to start dinner. Cameron walks into the living room, "Hi sweetie, how did Dylan like his breakfast?"
"He really liked it," I almost lose my cool, but I dive right in and ask, "What can you tell me about sex?"
His eyes widen in surprise and he chokes some. After he coughs a couple of times, he asks, "Why do you want to know?"
I play with my fingers a bit, and bite my lip before answering, "Dylan and I had a heated moment this morning and it got me thinking. I know that sex is a natural progression in our relationship, but other than the mechanics of it, I know nothing about it."
He sits beside me and I gaze up at him, his eyes softening, "Sweetie, anything you need to know you can ask any of us," he takes my hand, "Sex to me is an expression of love between two people. When they feel strongly about each other, sex will come along eventually. It is a natural progression like you said."
"Have you ever had sex before?"
"I have," he seems embarrassed.
"When was the last time you had sex?"
"About a month before we met you," he's looking ashamed.
"What's wrong?" I put my hand in his.
He pulls me closer to him, "It took meeting you to make me realize that sex isn't about scratching an itch. It's about sharing something with someone you love. I have to admit to you that I slept with Wendy at the restaurant. That was the real reason that I insinuated to her that you were my girlfriend. I wanted her to leave me alone," he kisses me on the top of my head, "I'm still really sorry about doing that to you. I didn't think that she would retaliate against you."
"I forgive you. We can no longer go to that restaurant anyway unless Wendy doesn't work there anymore. Or any of her friends for that matter." I'm half-joking, half-serious.
"We'll find a new Italian restaurant to go to for dinner one day. We'll be leaving here in a few years anyway, we'll just find a restaurant there that we like," he says.
"I'm fine. I've never had it before. We can make it work," I look down and then look back up at him, "Do you have sexual feelings towards me?"
"More than you can ever know. Sex is the most intimate thing that you can do with someone. It can strengthen or destroy a relationship if it isn't done at the right time. Dylan, Rand and I all know that we need to wait for the right time with you. We love you and can wait as long as we need for you to be ready." His arms pull me tighter to him and presses his lips to mine and pulls back.
"Where did Rand take Dylan?"
"I don't know. They do this every year. They're gone most of the day and then come back and we do our guy birthday thing," he answers.
"Have you ever asked?"
He shakes his head, "I figure that if they wanted me to know, they would invite me or tell me themselves. It's not a big deal."
"Do you feel left out?"
"I don't. There are times when I do something with just Dylan or just Rand that the other one doesn't know what we do. I take this time to chill out and do a couple of things that I don't get done otherwise. Today, it gives me alone time with you, so I have no complaints." He's smiling when he finishes. I'm smiling too.
He decides to teach me how to play one of their video games. We play until we hear the door open and Amy's voice coming to us, "Uncle Dylan! Happy Birthday!"
She runs into the room and stops looking around, "Where's Uncle Dylan?"
"He and Uncle Rand went out. They'll be back later," Cameron tells her.
She shrugs and looks over at me, "What are you doing Frankie?"
"I'm playing this game with Cameron. Now I'm getting ready to go start dinner. Do you want to help?" I stand up and feel Cameron's hand pat my behind. I look down at him and smile before walking into the kitchen.
Ronnie follows me in the kitchen, "What was that about?"
"No hi, hello, how are you doing?" I pull the pan out of the cabinet.
"Hello. How are you doing? What was that?" She comes to stand beside me while I start to prep the food for dinner.
"What was what?" I ask.
"The booty pat. That's new," She looks over at Amy who's checking out what's in the fridge.
"I asked him about sex," I admit.
"So no sex has been had?"
I guess she wants me to clarify.
I shake my head and explain, "Dylan and I had a moment this morning before he left and it led me to ask Cameron about sex. I was still going to call you, but I wanted his take on it."
She considers what I said for a moment, then watches me while I put the pot roast in the oven. I start to prep the rest of the food when Amy asks for an apple. I pull it out of the refrigerator and cut it up for her and she leaves the kitchen, going into the living room telling Cameron that she got apples for them.
I start putting the ingredients together for the coconut cake for Dylan. "Have you had sex with anyone other than Amy's father?"
"I'm ashamed to say that I had a lot of sex after I had Amy. I think it was my way of erasing him out of my life. It took a few times and another pregnancy scare to make me realize that sex wasn't about that. I had sex for the right reasons, but none of it was my fault. I've worked hard to get where I am today." She tells me.
"Where are you today?"
"I'm at the point that I know that I have to really be in love to have sex again. I'm not stupid like I used to be, I won't just drop my pants for the first guy to pay attention to me and tells me that he loves me. He really has to earn my love to get to that point." She tells me.
"Are you dating anyone now?"
"I've been on a few dates, but no one has stuck. Do you think you're ready for the next step with them?" She asks.
"I don't know. I just know that I need to be prepared before it happens. I don't want to have to stop in the middle of whatever we're doing because I'm not prepared emotionally or physically," I stop what I'm doing and turn to her.
"I understand. I'm here to help you with whatever you need," she steps to me and gives me a hug. We hug it out for a minute and then step back.
I finish putting together the ingredients for the coconut cake and put it in the oven. Now it's just time to wait for the timer bell to go off.
Cameron
They come into the living room and Frankie sits down beside me. Although it was a hard conversation, I'm glad she felt comfortable enough with me to ask me about it. I know Ronnie will take up any slack that we miss.
I grab her hand and pull it to my mouth, kissing it. She smiles at me and settles in beside me. Amy leaves my other side to go sit in her mother's lap.
We watch television, wait for the bell to go off in the kitchen and for Dylan and Rand to come home.
I glance at the blond and purple haired beauty that owns my heart. I'm so glad that it's her and not someone else.