This is an ongoing story, and likely won't make much sense without reading the previous chapters for context.
This story contains themes of BDSM and kink. So if such themes make you uncomfortable then you might want to give this chapter a pass.
As always, I urge you to vote, comment, or message me to give me your thoughts. It can only help me in my future efforts.
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Diane sat, staring out into her backyard as the last of the day's mid-winter sun shone into her sunroom window. Her eyes followed two squirrels as they pranced around underneath a hardwood tree, not really seeing them at the same time.
She'd been that way for close to two months now. Going through the day to day routines of life while putting on a face that said all was well.
In truth, though, Diane could feel herself dying inside a little at a time. Some days it was just tiny increments and specks while on others, chunks of her soul seemed to be missing when the mother of two took a personal inventory at days end.
Diane looked down into the bourbon glass she held, the golden liquid beckoning her to indulge herself until she could no longer feel the multitude of things that pained her. It would be easy to give in to the alcohol's warm embrace again and again until her anguish was forgotten, but Diane knew that would be selfish. It was narcissistic behavior of that type that had sunken her into the emotional abyss she now found to be her world, and Diane couldn't afford to think that way any longer.
Diane picked up the divorce papers that had been resting in her lap and read through their contents again, trying to absorb the meanings and implications they held. Her lawyer had warned her they were coming, tipped off by a friend in the Superior Court offices. Yet even though they'd been expected, the emotional weight they carried was almost more than Diane could bear.
The days following her breakup with Kayla had been a whirlwind of crisscrossing phone calls and pleas that she meet with the Native-American beauty and hear her out. Though she hadn't spoken to Kayla since the day she left her house, Diane had been engaged by every person her former Domme could convince to argue on her behalf, including Diane's own sister Dana.
Diane had refused each woman's endeavor to explain Kayla's actions by merely pointing out that the seductress had brazenly lied to her. Something she'd apparently been doing for weeks. The raven-haired beauty had been carrying on a secret relationship with another woman, a woman who wasn't her submissive. While she'd been doing that, she'd hardly had time for Diane yet had the nerve to have the twin's mother working tirelessly to set up her new business.
Of course, Dana had been quick to point out that Diane had been doing the same things to Jerry. Her barb had stung, mainly because Diane knew it was one-hundred percent true.
Kayla, God knows, even know it hurt Diane to think of the raven-haired beauty. She still dreamed of the younger woman every night. They were passionate and erotic dreams of the type that led to her awakening with her panties soaked and her energy reserves feeling only half charged.
Even now, Diane's heart ached at the thought of the stunning young seductress. The love she felt for Kayla was a daily reminder of how close Diane had been to completion as a person for the first time in her life. Yet it was also a warning of how little she could trust her own judgment when it came to such things.
Sensing a presence standing in the doorway to the sunroom, Diane looked up to find Lana staring back at her, a look of concern etched into her countenance.
"Hey, baby girl, is there something I can do for you?"
Diane folded the divorce papers and stuffed them back into the envelope they'd come in, not eager to discuss their significance with Lana. Both girls were aware the couple's marriage was likely over, but Diane saw no sense in bringing up how final that reality had become. She thought she'd let them have a few more days of peace before she broke the news.
Their fathers move into the guest room the week after Diane and Kayla had split was a pretty good indicator for the twins that there were problems. They didn't know the specifics of the issues behind them, though. Diane knew the time was coming when she would have to share those too. She couldn't hide her sexuality from the girls forever.
Lana made her way over to where her mother sat and joined her on the couch, resting her head against Diane's shoulder. Diane slipped her arm around the teen and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"I hate seeing you so sad," Lana said, sounding forlorn and lost.
Diane cringed. She thought she'd done a much better job of hiding her feelings. But then again, Lana had always been particularly attuned to her mother's moods. The girl's capacity for empathy when it came to Diane seemed endless at times.
"I'm okay, Lana. Married people go through hard times like this, it isn't all that uncommon. Not every marriage has a fairytale ending, unfortunately."
The teen turned her head, looked up into her mother's eyes, and said, "I don't think that's what has you so sad. Heck, Mom, even Lena, and I could see this thing between you and Dad coming from a long way away. I think there's something else though I can't figure out why you want to hide it."
Lana's words surprised Diane. She'd always known that the child was intuitive and intelligent, but she'd always assumed that her children paid little mind to the goings-on surrounding their parents' lives.
Apparently not.
"What makes you say that?" Diane asked. She didn't want to confirm Lana's suspicions if this was just a sly fishing expedition on her daughter's part.
Lana stared back at her, seeming to consider her question before answering. Her eyes probed Diane's as if in search of a missing piece to the answers she sought.
"Because for the longest time, you didn't seem happy. Lena and I used to talk all the time about how bored and sad you appeared to be. We always assumed it was because Dad was never home, and even when he was, he never seemed to pay you any attention," Lana offered in explanation.
Diane wanted to reply and tell her daughter that she couldn't blame her father for the malaise she'd found herself living in. But she didn't; she could see Lana had more to say.
"Then, a few months ago, everything changed, and you suddenly seemed happy and full of life. At the time, we didn't know what had caused it. We knew it wasn't Dad, though, because nothing had changed on the homefront."
Diane felt her body stiffen, suddenly tense at the words her daughter was saying.
"It was Kayla, wasn't it, Mom. Meeting her is what made you so happy, wasn't it?"
