*All persons engaging in sexual activity are depicted as being over 18*
Early April
Year 3 of Us
Wednesday
It was just after sunrise as I lifted the last of the bags into the back of Lacey's car while Roni placed the final carrier of baby things beside it. She grinned at me, and faked wiping sweat off her forehead. Tina and Cathy were checking the car seats before Miriam and Lacey brought the twins out.
When they did come into the garage, I walked over to them. I took Samantha from Lacey, gave my daughter a hug and a kiss, then handed her to Tina. I repeated the process with Duncan, handing him to Cathy, who gave me a gentle smile before they placed their charges into the car seats.
Lacey looked at me. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
I nodded and wrapped her in my arms. "Yes, my Princess. I'll be fine." I moved her to arm's length. "You have fun and make some great videos with Erica and Travis."
She gave me that rising sun smile and I nearly melted. Again. "I hope so. I'm glad that Cathy is coming with me."
"Who else is going?" I asked.
"Just Cathy." Lacey looked past me and tilted her head, a curious expression on her face. I turn around to see all four of Lacey's friends standing there.
Tina said, "I have to be in the office later today, and through next Tuesday, so I'll be heading out in an hour or so." I nodded as Lacey wormed herself under my left arm. "Cathy is going to Erica's."
Lacey said, "Yes. So, is there a problem?"
"Well, yes," answered Miriam. "With Roni and I staying here with Wyatt..."
"What?" That surprised me -- I had been trying to adjust myself to the thought of being alone in the house, except for the dogs.
Lacey looked at me, her head tilted again. "Well, yes. You didn't think I was going to make you stay here by yourself, did you?"
"The dogs..."
"The dogs love you to death, but you're going to have human companionship for these next four days!" Her voice told me that I had no say in this, so I just kept quiet. "Good boy!" Lacey started to giggle, and they all joined in.
"You pat me on the head, and I might bite..." I grinned.
"Promises, promises," said Lacey. "At any rate... What were you going to say, Mir?"
The redhead smiled at us, and I noticed that Roni was grinning. "Since you made that rule about us and Wyatt. The one where we can't play unless you're with us..."
"Oh, my!" Lacey laughed and leaned against me. "I think I can guess where you're going with this." She stepped to the side, away from me so that she could see us without having to turn her head. "Official ruling: If I'm away overnight, Wyatt will not sleep alone. Period. End of story. If you want to play with my cowboy while I'm away, I give my blessings." She smiled and turned to Miriam. "Is that what you were wondering about?"
"You know, I slept by myself for a long time..." I protested.
Lacey shook her head. "Doesn't matter what you did. Before." She stepped close to me and took my face in her hands. "I promised myself that you would never sleep alone." Her voice was stern. "I love you, and I meant it."
I did the only thing that I could think of -- I leaned closer and kissed her. "I do love you, Lacey. My Princess. Holder of my heart."
"And I love you, Wyatt." She smiled and we kissed again.
When I straightened up, I caught all four of the ladies smiling at us.
"I think you've answered our questions, Lacey." Miriam said with a smile. She looked back into Lacey's car and nodded. "They're still asleep, but you guys need to get going!"
With that said, Lacey quickly moved down the line, giving Tina, Miriam, and Roni hugs and kisses before heading to her car. When she had the driver's door open, and Cathy had already gotten in, Lacey looked at me. "You behave, and take care of yourself! We'll be back Saturday night."
I nodded. "I thought you were coming back Sunday morning?"
"Changed my mind," Lacey said simply.
Then Miriam said, "We'll take care of him, Lacey!"
With that, I hit the controller, the garage door rolled up and they were off.
Tina hurried inside and we followed. I looked down at the dogs, then bent over to scratch their heads. "It's okay, you two. Mommy and the babies will be back Sun... Saturday night."
LB looked at me and then headed for the front door. I sighed. "Well, I know where they're going to be spending a lot of time."
"Where?" Roni asked.
I watched, then pointed. They both were up on the low bench by the front window.
Miriam giggled. "Whose idea was that?"
I simply grinned at her. "Everybody needs an observation point, and I put that up when they kept trying to look out."
Roni looked at me. "What's that got to do with them?
"Oh. They kept trying to look out the window, but they were scratching the sill and the wall. Lacey was getting annoyed and told me to fix it." I walked over to where the dogs were sitting. "I built the platform and put the ramp here. It's away from the main flow of the rooms, so nobody trips over it."
Roni walked over to the platform and grinned as both dogs looked at her, tails wagging. "You guys know that it's going to be awhile, right?" LB just looked at her and wagged her tail some more.
I looked at Roni. "This is the first time that Lacey has been gone overnight since the babies were born. She did three overnight stays before then, and these two spent most of their time on that platform."
"I thought that Lacey said..." Miriam started.
"She did say something about me not sleeping alone." I smiled at Miriam. "I think that was her promise after I got hurt. She turned into a mother hen when I came home from the hospital." Miriam snickered.
When Tina came down the stairs a few minutes later, with a couple of her bags in hand, I walked over and took one from her. We trooped out to the driveway, and I put Tina's bag in the trunk. She closed it and looked at me. "Don't do anything stupid, Wyatt."
"Why, Tina," I grinned. "I'd almost think that you cared!"
"I do care, you ass!" She smiled at me.
I gestured with my head at Roni and Miriam. "They're going to be riding herd on me."
Roni nodded vigorously as Miriam said, "You bet." She grinned. "You think I want him to get hurt and have Lacey hold *me* responsible?"
Tina gave me a hug, then did the same with Roni and Miriam. "See you in a few days!"
After she drove off, Roni looked at me and asked, "Now what?"
"Well, we try to keep our normal schedules -- so we can either have breakfast now or go walking. Considering the time, either one will work for now."
Roni looked at Miriam, who said, "Let's go for a walk -- just down the road and back. You need to keep working, carefully, with that leg."
I just smiled and headed for the stairs. After getting hiking boots on, I headed back down, to find both dogs sitting at the foot of the stairs. Roni was already pulling on a jacket and Miriam came down after me. I went into the closet, pressed my hand on the sensor, and when the gun cabinet opened, I pulled the revolver out. I wrapped the holster belt around my waist and slid the pistol in, after checking to make sure it was loaded.
Roni looked at me. "Do you really need that?"
"Hopefully not. I'd rather have, and not need it, than need it and not have it." I pulled my jacket over my shoulders, checked the ride of the pistol, and turned to the dogs. "I'm more concerned about two-legged predators than anything else."
"Oh." Roni took the leashes from the coatrack near the door. Both dogs rushed over and sat, ready to go outside. It took just a few moments to get them prepped and then all three of us left through the front door after I set the alarm.
The morning walk was on one of our normal routes, but both LB and Sherlock seemed to wonder where Lacey and the babies were, since each of them came up to me and needed to be reassured. As we made the turn to head back home, I realized that being alone would have sucked.
"Ladies, I have a confession to make." I said a few minutes later.
"Oh?" Roni asked.
"Yes. I was wrong about this. I wouldn't have been able to handle being here alone. Even with the dogs."
Miriam reached over and patted my arm. "I won't tell Lacey how right she was about that."
I shrugged. "That's okay. *I'll* tell her. Probably this evening when she calls."
"How do you know she'll call?" asked Miriam as we got closer to home.
"She always has." I said it simply, secure in the knowledge that she would call, just to check with me.
"Damn," said Roni as I opened the door and shut off the alarm.
"What?" I asked, curious as to what made her say that.
"You two sure are in tune with each other!" Then she smiled at me as she let the dogs free from the leashes. They ran to their water bowls, then ran through the dog door into their area of the back.
We spent the rest of the day taking care of things around the place.
Shortly after lunch, I felt a wave of tiredness wash over me, and I looked at Miriam, who was sitting on the couch beside me. "I think that I need to go lay down."
"Wyatt?" I heard her ask.
"What?" I looked at her.
"Are you okay?"
"Just need to lay down for a while." I started to get up and then Roni was beside me, helping me. Miriam looked into my eyes and shook her head.
"Even with us here, he's been pushing himself too hard." Miriam put an arm over her shoulder, and Roni did the same on my other side. "Let's get him upstairs and tuck him in."
Somehow, they got me upstairs and into bed, fully dressed. At least I was able to pull my shoes off before I started to fade out.
I heard my phone ringing, and I blinked my eyes. I tried to roll over, but there was someone pressed against my back.
"What?" Roni mumbled.
"My phone. It's Lacey."
"Oh." I felt her roll away enough for me to grab my phone. When I looked at it, I smiled. "Hello, love."
"Hi! How are you?"
"In bed."
"Already? Are you alone?"
I shifted onto my back and Roni cuddled under my arm. "No, I have Roni here." I looked at her. "Roni, where's Miriam?"