If you want something different, you have to stop accepting what you are used to. – Samantha King Holmes
Ty was released the following day after the pulmonary specialist was able to assess him. The family dinner was moved to their house to accommodate him. His voice was still a bit raspy but he sounded more like himself.
Bunny kept apologizing for the meal. She had pulled out two frozen packages of chili for the slow cookers. And attempted cornbread. The bottoms were burned and the centers were gooey.
“You, go sit down.” Helen told the younger woman.
Tears threatened to fall as she laid her head on Helen’s shoulder. “I just can’t do anything in the kitchen.”
“That’s OK. You can do other things.” Helen assured her. “Come on, let’s go talk up here. JD can you make some cornbread?”
“You trust him to cook?” Jaxon teased
Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. – TupacBunny came back downstairs and grabbed Jaxon by the hand. She pulled him over and sat him down next to Ty.“We did something.” She said handing over a test to each of them.It took a second for it to register and then both men stood up and hugged her. There were hugs and kisses between the three of them.It wasn’t until Jaxon looked over at his mom who was kissing Reese that he realized his secret was out. Ty reached up and turned Jaxon’s face to his own. He kissed the other man.“She knows.”Bunny kissed both of them. “She just wants you to be happy.”Jaxon kissed Bunny and Ty before laying his head on the other man’s shoulder and pulling Bunny into a tight hug between them. “I am happy.”“I’m happy too.” Ty sa
You can’t hesitate about who you are. – Viola DavisHank was tracking her and Jolene did not know how he was doing it. She had stopped on the way home from work to check on Ty. When Hank got home early Saturday morning, he had gone stupid crazy.The new neighbors had called the cops again. Again, he told the men that he worked with that nothing was going on.And again, they believed him.After they had left, Hank gagged her and finished her punishment. As always, he was careful not to leave any bruises. At least, not where you could see them.Saturday, while he slept, Jolene studied and worked on her latest paper. This time it was for history. She was very careful not to make too much noise. Hank had become so irrational and unpredictable lately.The sergeant test was only a few weeks away. Once that was done and, hopefully, he passed, he would go back to being his
Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light. – Brené BrownHelen pulled up to the Queen Anne style house and noticed the other cars in the lot. Somehow, she doubted that all five belonged to employees. When she told Bunny about the appointment, she insisted on doing Helen’s hair and makeup.She felt so weird walking into the house. She had never done pictures of just her before. Sure, there were family pictures and candid shots that the kids had done. But never anything like this.“Helen?” a woman asked as Helen came through the door.“Yes.”“Oh, good. I need a second set of eyes.” The woman with rainbow colored hair said handing her a picture. “Do they match?”Helen took the picture and looked at the adults recreating a childhood picture. Seven were lined up in age or
A hero is someone who understands that responsibility comes with his freedom. – Bob DylanJD had mentioned that he had a school assignment to write a paper about the American elections process. One of the requirements was to interview someone involved in an election. Reese told him that he knew the undersheriff who was running for sheriff.After a quick phone call, the whole family was invited to the election night watch party.JD walked into the hotel ballroom with Helen, both unsure of what to expect. They were immediately stopped by a young woman with a clipboard who after checking their names off the list, put name badges on them.“Awesome!” Dean said rushing over to them. “Uncle Owen said that you were coming.”Helen hugged the girl and noticed that she hugged JD also. JD was not a hugger. But he hugged her back and then kept his arm around her shoulders.“Where i
Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. – German ProverbSaturday morning, Reese sent Dean to do whatever she wanted. He handed over a credit card and the keys to his recently restored Mustang. She called JD, who she had been hanging out with a lot lately, and they went to do… he really didn’t know. He really didn’t care.Then he went and met Bunny and Helen at their weekly brunch. Bunny had the glow of pregnancy about her and did not notice the nervousness between the other two. The drive back to his house was long and quiet.Unnerving him the whole way. He had not intended to talk to Helen about the playroom yet. She was barely comfortable being partially naked around him. There was no way that she was ready to wear nothing but Shibari knots.Reese parked in the driveway and rounded the car to open the door for her. He unlocked the house and then led her down the hall to the only rooms she ha
If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. – BanskyAfter their talk, Reese told Helen not to stop going to the gym. She was doing good and should keep up her routine. Monday she didn’t go. Tuesday she almost talked herself out of going. But she went.Pinky realized immediately that Helen was not her usual happy bubbly self. Her heart wasn’t in the workout.“Helen? Why don’t we go talk in my office?” Pinky suggested.Helen nodded and followed her into the small office behind the reception desk. “Let’s go ahead and get your weight and measurements.”She stepped up onto the scale and Pinky wrote down the number. Then she stood still as her waist, thigh and arm measurements were taken. When that was all done, they sat on opposite sides of the desk.“What’s bothering you?”“It’s nothing important.”
Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. – Napoleon HillSomething was wrong. JD knew it, he just didn’t know what. Saturday after he got home from the movies with Dean, his mom was home. Sunday she said that she didn’t feel good and asked to skip family dinner.Jolene and Hank wouldn’t be there either, but that was becoming more and more common. He was working for a promotion. She was finishing up her classes and trying to secure a student teaching position.JD went but worried about Helen the whole time. Reese and Dean didn’t come either. So he texted her and she replied with IDK. No one seemed to know.And the two that did, weren’t talking.Monday, when he got home from swim practice, his mom was sitting on the couch watching a movie. When he asked if she was going on her date, she simply said no.“Are you going next week?”
To ignore evil is to become accomplice to it. – Martin Luther KingHank had thrown away the rest of Jolene’s birth control the morning after he decided that they were going to have a baby. The pill packs had been thrown away and taken to the dumpster on his way to work.He had been taught by his father and uncle that women were manipulative and sneaky. If there was any chance that they could do something that they were told not to do, they would. A man had to keep a tight rein on his woman.The man was the head of the house. The leader of the family. The ultimate authority. The woman was to submit to his wishes.Currently, his wish is to have a baby. More importantly, he wanted a promotion to sergeant. A steady home life would help. And a baby would show that he had a steady and secure home life. Therefore, his wife would give him a baby.By the time she had the baby, she would be done with school.