LiamI was seated in my bedroom, on top of the bed with my laptop on in front of me. It was about time for me to go to school, and I was doing last minute checks to be sure I didn't forget something before I had to leave. I would be leaving for the city tomorrow morning, taking a few things with me to my new apartment that was closer to the school and my job. I would be coming back when I had to time off, but it killed me that I had to move away from my wife and daughter like I knew it bothered Ade-le.Shit, we hadn't even explained it to Harmony right that I wouldn't be around all the time anymore. There were phone calls and video calls, but it was hardly the same."Are you done?"I looked up to see Adele just walking out of the bathroom with a bathrobe around her and a towel around her neck as she wiped at her hair."I can do whatever's left once I get there," I said, closing the laptop and setting it aside without taking my eyes off her."I'm going to miss you when you l
AdeleI sat on the couch, holding Harmony in my arms. I felt a little bad for taking so long, but when we'd woken up and started getting ready for Liam's departure, I fig-ured it had been about time to let our little girl know that her dad would be going away for a while.She hadn't cried, but she was being pouty about it, and not speaking. I knew, sometime after he left, she'd come to me and cry, and when she did, I would cry with her. Sometimes, things just seemed to hit her late, and when they did, they hit hard. It reminded me a little of myself at times.Liam brought down the last of his suitcases and set it at the base of the stairs, then glanced over at us. He arched an eyebrow at me, but all I could do was sigh."Harmony?" I said slowly, pulling her away from my chest so I could look at her face. She kept her head ducked down, but I tilted it up by the chin, and she final-ly met my eyes. "I know you're sad that Daddy is going away, but he has to leave soon, so why don't
AdeleI hated her so much. Chanel had dragged me to one of those parties that the popular girls and boys went to on the last Friday of every month. It was some kind of crazy ritual that every kid in school dreamed about being invit-ed to. Not me. I had a dream, and it was to get an education and get out of town. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with the town of Small Borne, but there's more to life than one place and I want to experience it. And that's why my body, mind, and soul were fo-cused on college. Not like Chanel; she only had her body, mind and soul focused on Dwayne, the all-star quarterback that was going places. Just like me. "Adele, can you walk faster? We're late!" Chanel half-whispered and half-screeched at me. "I would if I didn't have this stupid skirt on, and make-up that's a second skin on my face."Okay, so it was a bit of an exaggeration. The make-up wasn't stopping me from seeing, but I was only keep-ing her company and I didn't want
"There they are."I stood nervously seeing just Liam and Dwayne were sitting by the electric lanterns, which were in a cir-cle."Where's everyone else?" I whispered to her as she picked up her pace. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. We're the only ones com-ing.'""What?""Last week in the barber shop he asked me to come alone. Well not exactly alone," she paused, but then con-tinued, telling me a different story to the one that she'd been telling me ever since she told me about that night. "He said that I should bring a friend.""A friend!""Yes, but that was code for just bringing you.""How did you work that one out?""Come on, it's not like I'm going to bring anyone else."I held on to her arm before she even thought about taking another step. "Why didn't you ask Hazel or Rebecca or someone else? We hang out as a group!""Oh, none of them would come. Besides you and Liam have history together."Before I could even say another word as quick as lightning she wa
The night seemed to go on and on, and not only was I slightly dizzy from drinking too much, but also I was cold from sitting in my panties in the damn woods. It was my idea; I was the one that started playing this stupid game. No one had forced a gun to my head. The crazy part was that Chanel felt bad so she had stripped to her underwear too, before it was even her turn. Neither of the guys protested about it. I did, a bit, but once again I felt like the stick in the mud at even sug-gesting that she should keep her clothes on, when every-one was happy for her to be naked.I must admit that the guys had thought of every-thing and weren't the reckless assholes that I had thought they were. They had made some hotdogs so we wouldn't be completely drunk, and the mood changed as they didn't seem so sleazy as Liam lifted up his arms and took off his shirt. "About time it's not just us that are half-naked!" I sighed. At least they were stripping as I shoved the last piece of hotdog in
I was a virgin and we were in the woods. I couldn't believe that I had openly invited him to take me right then and there. I had envisaged, like most girls did, that it would be at the Prom or on a date night that a couple would seal their love for each other. Then again, there was no love between Liam and me. Only lust. It had to be that. "Touch me," he blurted. God, it must have been written on my face. From the moment he took off his shirt, that's all I had wanted to do. Touch him. Does that make me some kind of freak?I didn't care as I started to drag my fingers through every groove and channel of his torso. It was as if there wasn't any meat on him, only muscle. His abs, they were so damn big. There was something that was so damn potent, yet dangerous, about it. As if he could take me at any mo-ment and I didn't have the strength to fight him off. But I could tell by the fact that he wanted me to feel him, that he wanted me to do it of my own free will. I loved the
We were dressed and Liam was holding me in his arms. I felt safe and warm as we sat on the mat. I knew that something had changed within me after we put on our clothes. He didn't feel like the boy that I wanted to avoid anymore. The opposite; he felt like the boy that I couldn't see myself without. "Liam, are things going to be different now?""Do you want them to be?"I hated when someone answered a question with a question. He laughed and then kissed me on the cheek, "I was kidding; sure they'll be different."I was just about to say something when both Dwayne and Chanel came out of wherever they'd disap-peared to and it was clear-as Chanel's skirt seemed to be a thing of the past-that they'd been up to exactly the same thing we had been. I laughed as I saw Chanel trying to get the leaves out of her hair. I stood up and decided that I would help her, "Have fun did we?"She hugged me and said, "More importantly did you have fun?"I kissed her on the cheek and squeez
"We need to stop doing this," I purred as he started to study me with lust. It was written all over his face. My mom was out with his dad and they wouldn't be back 'till late. Real late, and we were using that time to get to know each other. All over again. "It's not that I don't enjoy it. It just feels wrong.""And that makes you want me even more."His eyes were undressing me as we stared at each other. Our eyes continued to be locked as we both head-ed up the stairs and toward my room. "Besides, coming in through the front door is so much easier than climbing the tree. Sorry about the photo. Did I break it?"I quickly changed the subject, remembering the other night when he climbed into my room and nearly broke the photo. The last one that was taken before he was taken away from me. A hit and run they'd called it. They never caught the person, but I knew that one day they'd find out who did it. Until that day, I kept his pho-to near my bedside just a reminder that I'd ne
AdeleI sat on the couch, holding Harmony in my arms. I felt a little bad for taking so long, but when we'd woken up and started getting ready for Liam's departure, I fig-ured it had been about time to let our little girl know that her dad would be going away for a while.She hadn't cried, but she was being pouty about it, and not speaking. I knew, sometime after he left, she'd come to me and cry, and when she did, I would cry with her. Sometimes, things just seemed to hit her late, and when they did, they hit hard. It reminded me a little of myself at times.Liam brought down the last of his suitcases and set it at the base of the stairs, then glanced over at us. He arched an eyebrow at me, but all I could do was sigh."Harmony?" I said slowly, pulling her away from my chest so I could look at her face. She kept her head ducked down, but I tilted it up by the chin, and she final-ly met my eyes. "I know you're sad that Daddy is going away, but he has to leave soon, so why don't
LiamI was seated in my bedroom, on top of the bed with my laptop on in front of me. It was about time for me to go to school, and I was doing last minute checks to be sure I didn't forget something before I had to leave. I would be leaving for the city tomorrow morning, taking a few things with me to my new apartment that was closer to the school and my job. I would be coming back when I had to time off, but it killed me that I had to move away from my wife and daughter like I knew it bothered Ade-le.Shit, we hadn't even explained it to Harmony right that I wouldn't be around all the time anymore. There were phone calls and video calls, but it was hardly the same."Are you done?"I looked up to see Adele just walking out of the bathroom with a bathrobe around her and a towel around her neck as she wiped at her hair."I can do whatever's left once I get there," I said, closing the laptop and setting it aside without taking my eyes off her."I'm going to miss you when you l
AdeleIt was getting closer and closer to the fall, and with it, nearer to the time Liam had to go off to law school. As summer was winding down, Liam had to get a bunch of stuff in order before he could leave. The one thing I hated most, though, was when he was looking for a place to stay. I knew he wasn't leaving me, but I still hated that he had to move out of the house.I woke up one day, too anxious to sleep longer, and both Liam and Harmony came down to find me on the couch, and breakfast nowhere in sight."I'm so sorry, honey," I said, referring to both of them, but looking at my pouting daughter. "I haven't cooked anything, but we still have cereal would you like that?"Immediately, she perked up. "Yay, cereal!"She shot toward the kitchen, and Liam grinned at me. I didn't usually like her having cereal, so I tried to lessen how many times in a week she could have any, and she'd already had it twice. She preferred the extremely sweet types, and the sugar rush always h
LiamWe had a late night, but I still woke up early. My body was too used to getting up at a certain time in the morning every day, I was up before the alarm even rang, and I reached over to shut it off before it got too annoy-ing. Then, I turned to the woman sleeping in my arms.I hadn't moved yet, and already I could feel the aches all over my body that pretty much meant we'd had a really fun night last night. After how that disastrous dinner had been, and then the day of circling each other while I thought of how best to cure Adele of her disap-pointment, I couldn't have asked for a better end to our long streak of no sex.There was still school, and I sighed as I wondered how I was going to work both that and my job into my family life. If Harmony did start going to school at the same time...it would be so much more convenient for everybody.After leaving a peck on her forehead, I slid out of Adele's arms and went to the bathroom. The area around my upper arms and back stun
AdeleIt had been a whole day since the dinner fiasco. I'd stopped crying a while back, but I was still pretty bummed out about it. Liam noticed, and he'd left me alone since then. I hated that he had, though, because he didn't even come to the bedroom to sleep last night. I must have cried myself to sleep, and when I woke, I found him sleeping on the couch in the same outfit from yesterday with his jacket thrown over him.Since he'd ignored me first, I'd done the same to him throughout most of the day. We didn't eat the food from yesterday, but at least I'd left it all covered, so all it needed was some warming. In fact, last night's dinner was pretty much all we had throughout the day; I warmed separate portions for breakfast, lunch, and din-ner. We ate separately and stayed in different rooms of the house.I hated how it felt like we were in a fight when the reason I was in such a mood wasn't even because of him.Is he just going to let things stay like this? I mused to myse
LiamIt was evening already. Adele had spent most of the afternoon cooking, and I could smell all sorts of amazing scents wafting from the kitchen. I'd kept my ass on the couch and my focus on the TV, though, so I wouldn't bother her. I could have helped, but... I was feeling a little lazy. And I was kind of uneasy over what Adele planned to do. So I left her alone. She wouldn't give me a plate before our guests were present, but my mouth was practically watering, and my stomach kept growling in hunger.To hurry things along, I got up to head for the kitchen, and see if she at least needed help with some-thing."Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked while leaning against the door. Hoping that her answer would be no.She glanced at me over her shoulder, paused with her arms raised where she was reaching for plates from the cupboard. I walked across the room and reached for the same plates, glancing down at her. She was just standing there, staring at me with wide eyes.
AdeleMy mom and Liam's dad were going to spend the day with Harmony; Liam's birth mother was even going to join them in spoiling her, and then she was going to spend the night over with them. She was four-years-old already and didn't exactly mind the attention, taking af-ter her dad in one more thing, among others, including her pretty looks.She should be starting school soon...and the idea of it scared me, the fact that she's grown up so fast.Where did the time go?It was something I had to talk to Liam about at some point. For the moment, she was still going to day-care, but it would probably be better to get her into kin-dergarten already instead of waiting too long, or she'd end up older than the other kids in her class.I was pretty much a stay at home mom, even though I'd gone through college and gotten my degree. It wasn't something I couldn't put to use while staying at home, anyway. Considering how far the world had ad-vanced already, it wouldn't be so difficult t
Liam"Are you going to meet Dwayne?"I looked up to see Adele, my wife, and sweet-heart walking down the stairs to join me in the living room. I was tying up my sneakers, ready to head out."Uh..." I stalled. "Am I not supposed to?"In the past four years since we'd graduated high school, we'd had a baby, completed college, and gradu-ated in our respective courses. Adele and I stayed in her family's house instead of looking for a different place for ourselves, and her mom stayed with my dad at our old house."It's not that you're not supposed to," she mum-bled, joining me on the couch.I rested my elbows on my knees, leaving my sneakers alone for a moment. Adele folded her legs under her on the couch, her arms wrapping around my middle as she settled into my side."What's up?" I asked."Well..." she hesitated. "It's just, I've organized a dinner...""For us?" I frowned, confused. "What for? I don't think I've missed any important dates..."Her arms squeezed me a lit
There was no huge disaster like I'd been worried about all along. We all got ready in time and then started heading out to the church in groups. Mom and I were among the last, of course, and we got out together and rode in the same car, one of the many we'd rented for the occasion. It was big enough to carry six people, so we each had two friends with us in the car.We arrived at the church just in time. We waited in the car as everyone else got things ready inside, Chanel and Rita waited with us. Once we heard the wedding march playing inside, they stepped out first, and we fol-lowed.Neither of us had someone to give us away. So, we walked down the aisle holding each other's arms. Mom's veil wasn't as dense as mine, so I could only hope that she wouldn't trip, as I learned mostly on her. We each held small bouquets of white and pink roses.The church had been set up so the audience could mingle and sit wherever they wanted. Mom and I had both decided there wasn't much point in