The Lawsons

This is a continuation of The Lawsons Pt. 4.

Recap - Roger, Emma, and Tina spent an amazing night together, allowing Emma to explore her newfound sexuality with a woman. Later, in his straightforward manner, Roger's honest words begin to fluster Sarah who is dealing with having been a widow for five years, but no luck finding love since. During a shopping trip in town, Roger purchases a beautiful promise ring for Emma to ensure she knows he is both devoted to her and that he will eventually marry her. After the celebration dinner, and another honest meeting with Sarah, Emma and Roger come clean about Emma's newfound sexuality and her willingness to share Roger with Sarah, along with an admission of Emma's attraction to Sarah. With a promise that their relationships hadn't changed due to this revelation, Sarah leaves the two alone and Emma shows her appreciation to Roger for the purchase of the ring.

All characters in this story are 18 years of age or older. This is a work of fiction.

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** The Next Morning**

Roger awoke to a slim body crawling atop him, gently kissing its way up his chest and to his lips. Emma gently probed his mouth with her tongue, but Roger unexpectedly turned away.

"Babe, I haven't brushed yet. I'm pretty sure I have dragon breath," he said, wincing apologetically.

She kissed him once more to make a point. "As long as you have breath in your lungs, dragon or otherwise, I will kiss you."

He slid a hand across her cheek and then pushed her hair out of her face. She appeared to have slept well and was happy to be awake. Her smile always warmed him, and he looked forward to each and every one. "I take it you want to do something this morning?"

As she wiggled back and forth atop his chest, she smiled almost mischievously. "Yes, but probably not what you're thinking."

"I'm game, whatever it is.

With that, she rolled off him and started to the closet. "Good. Get something on that you don't mind getting dirty. Did you pack a jacket and gloves?"

"Just like you told me to do," he said as he slowly stood. He was starting to feel his age, so he took the time to stretch before joining her in the closet. "What are we doing? Slopping the hogs, feeding the chickens, and milking cows?"

She popped her head out of the closet door. "We don't have any of those. Just the horses."

Having leaned down at the waist to stretch his hamstrings, hearing that Emma still had horses made his torso pop up as if he were a bent spring. "You still have horses? Why am I just hearing about this?"

She laughed as she slid on tight, black leggings and then pulled jeans on over them. Next was a skintight thermal shirt which was covered by a thick flannel button up. Joining her in the walk-in he saw the clothes she wore and asked, "Damn. How cold is it out there?"

"It dipped down to twenty degrees last night. Today should be no more than thirty-one." She opened a door in the closet that contained a ridiculous amount of shoes. Roger's eyes were wide as he saw the collection she had amassed over the years. She decided on an old pair of square-toe cowboy boots and slid on a thick pair of wool socks.

Roger, on the other hand, didn't have a large selection to choose from, but he did pack a few things to keep him warm just as Emma had suggested. From the cold weather gear he had been issued in the military, he packed his silk weight tops and bottoms. Emma's wrinkled nose and curled lip indicated her displeasure with the look of them. The coyote brown colored clothes may have been ugly, but they got the job done. Jeans, a blue flannel shirt, and his tan USMC issued cold weather boots finished out his ensemble.

"Honey," she said circling him, "please remind me to take you shopping. I'm sure you're warm, but...yikes."

He laughed. "Okay, okay. I admit it's not the most glamorous, but it's warm and that's what you said."

"Come on, Mr. Practical. Let's find a little something to eat before we go." She pulled a thick black headband and a jacket from a hook by the door and walked out.

Roger found his own jacket in his bag and made sure that his gloves and wool cap were still in the pockets, then followed her. Down in the kitchen, Cal, the chef, had just arrived and was warming up the ovens and, more importantly, had coffee brewing. But as was always the case, there were leftovers galore. Emma made Roger sit at the bar while she found some biscuits and sausage patties to warm up for them.

When Cal asked Roger if he'd like a cup of coffee, Emma jumped in with, "I've got it."

Roger couldn't help but smile. He loved how she liked to take care of him, even with small things like this. She was so proud when she put the plate and cup of coffee in front of him with a big smile on her face.

"Thank you," he said and sipped the coffee.

"So," she said as she sat on a stool next to him, "the plan is to take the quads out to ride around a bit on the property, then we'll head over to the stables to see the horses."

"So, have a little fun, then have more fun with horses," he said. "Good plan."

"Well, I haven't been here in six years. I need to get familiar with everything again, check the fences and all that." She took a small bite and swallowed. "But yeah, I think it's fun riding around."

The chef stepped up to the bar and refilled Roger's cup. "Miss Emma--" he started.

"Just Emma, Cal. Please."

He nodded. "May I suggest taking a rifle with you? Some of Carl's boys spotted some coyote on the property last week."

She nodded. "Good idea." She declined the top off of her own coffee. "Looks like I'll get to show you the armory, Roger."

He slowly set his coffee cup down. "Armory?" Narrowing his eyes playfully, he asked, "What else are you keeping from? And why was this armory not on the tour yesterday?"

She shrugged and popped the last bite of the sausage biscuit into her mouth and washed it down with what was left of her coffee. "That was Dad's personal man cave," she said as she stood to take her plate and mug to the dishwasher.

He understood what she meant. It was a place that meant quite a bit to her father, which meant that it was hard for her to go in there still. Even Cal looked like he regretted mentioning needing a rifle, seeing how it hurt Emma in that way. Roger was still amazed at how much everyone here liked her.

"We can skip it," Roger said. "I'll run back to the room and get my KA-BAR."

The look on Cal's face showed that was confused. Emma clarified for him. "His knife from the Marine Corps," she said, then came back to take Roger's empty plate and mug away. "No, Cal's right. Best not to take a chance. Some of the coyotes around here can be quite aggressive."

With a nod, Roger stood and thanked the chef. Following her to the foyer she stopped at what looked like a normal wall and hit a nondescript button on the wall. The fancy wood panel slid open revealing an elevator.

"I'll be damned," Roger said. "You said there were elevators. I must have passed this a hundred times."

As they stepped on board she explained, "This one is hidden because it lets out next to the armory, which is actually a panic room. But Dad had it decked out with more than just some provisions."

The doors opened into a hallway of a sub-level that was not as decorated as the rest of the house and looked more like a mid-priced hotel hallway. The door to the armory was large and quite thick. Her father also was not playing around when it came to security because there was a keypad and a retinal scanner required to gain access. Roger briefly wondered about what would happen if the power went out but then he remembered the two large, diesel generators in a hardened building behind the house.

Emma punched in the code and scanned her eye. The door popped open, and the lights flickered on. Roger had barely stepped in and had to stop.

"Holy shit," he whispered.

Just inside the door, on each side of the wall, were racks with various rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Beyond that was a living area with couches, chairs, and a large television. There were also a few computers that had surveillance feeds running on the screens. He assumed that was for the panic room part of the armory. But beyond that the walls were lined with more weapons, stacks of ammunition, various holsters and packs, food and hygiene items, and flashlights. Everything one would need to survive a home invasion...or potentially invade a small country.

Emma walked straight past the center living area to a drawer which she opened and produced a tan leather holster. It had a paddle back that allowed her to secure it into her jeans without feeding a belt through it. She then pulled a silver-colored revolver down and began loading ammo into it. When she shoved it into the holster and gave it a few jerks to make sure it was secure, Roger couldn't help but stare.

She saw the lovestruck look on his face and chuckled. "This was always mine," she said as she patted the holster. "Dad was adamant that Mom and I knew how to shoot and handle guns." She loaded two speed loaders and put them in her jacket pocket. "He started me off with a .22 rifle, then a .38 revolver. Then I graduated to my .357 here."

"You amaze me more each and every day," Roger said. "I had no idea."

She smiled and enjoyed how much he loved her. "Okay, loverboy, find something you're comfortable with and load up. I guess that's pretty much anything in this room," she said as an afterthought.

"Uh, let's see," he said. "Coyote. Is that the biggest thing we're likely to run into?"

"Probably. The bears are usually already heading in for hibernation. Mountain lions are active year-round, but they have to be pretty desperate to attack humans."

He was amazed at her knowledge of the local fauna and the goofy smile on his face showed it.

"Oh, stop," she said laughing. "It pays to know these things out here and Dad drummed it into me."

As Roger walked through the large room, he noticed that each section had a label indicating the caliber of the weapons in that section. He stopped at a section with the .308 rifles and took an M1A rifle from the rack. There was no magazine in it, so he pulled the action back to make sure it was unloaded and checked it for cleanliness. It wasn't up to his standards, but it would do. The shelves under the wall rack had several magazines already loaded with ammo so he took two of the 10-round magazines.

"This will work for a mountain lion and will devastate a coyote," he said as he rejoined Emma next to the door. They walked out and the door was closed. "So, uh...can I hang out in here some time?"

She smiled. "Of course. I figured you'd like it in there. Remind me later to write down the house alarm code and to get you registered in the system for the armory."

They made their way back up the elevator, out a side door from the kitchen, and to an outbuilding that had several 4-wheelers, and UTVs. "You've ridden one of these before?" she asked as she straddled her own 4-wheeler.

"It's been a few years, but I remember what to do." He was happy to see a rifle scabbard mounted to the front of his ride. After inserting the magazine, he slid the rifle into the scabbard and secured it with the Velcro strap.

He followed her through the main yard and a few gates to get to the larger part of the property. At first, he thought the gates were magic or something because they would open before they approached and then closed on their own. Emma laughed later when he told her, and she showed him the wireless gate controls mounted on the handlebars.

"Don't worry," she said. "You'll figure it out. Like you said, you're just not used to all of this yet."

They rode for a long time following the fences around the property. He noticed that the fencing close to the road was all the same fancy type you'd see around a horse farm, but as they moved to the more internal sections of the farm the fences were wire with wooden posts. The one thing he noticed, though, was that Emma wasn't just doing this for show or purely for fun. She was serious about her property. It could be that she felt bad about having been gone for so long and leaving it all up to Sarah to manage, but while she was here, she was going to take on her responsibilities no matter what. She had even begun to take notes on repairs or issues she found on a small notepad she kept with her.

Two hours later they were at the horse barn. Shutting off the engine, Roger dismounted and followed Emma inside. While he wasn't raised on a farm or around horses, what he had seen of stables had never been this nice. The building was made with rough timber, the main floor running the length of the barn was brick, and the gates to each stall were a mixture of wood and black wrought iron. It was easily the fanciest barn he'd ever seen.

"Dad loved the idea of having horses and maybe even breeding and selling them," Emma said as she walked through the barn to an office on the far end. "So, he had this built. He said he wanted his horses to have a nice place to live." She laughed. "I guess they like it."

The office was occupied by a woman Roger remembered meeting the night before, Aubrey Lane. She was in charge of the horses on the property. It seemed like a relatively easy job since there were only four horses now. But after speaking to Aubrey at the party she babied them and tended to their every need. She really loved the horses and had been working with them for seventeen years.

"Of course they like it, Emma," Aubrey said, having heard the conversation. "These babies love the pampering." She stood and rounded the desk at which she had been sitting. "Are you here for Bella? I think she has been missing you something awful."

Emma looked sad at hearing this. Bella had been her horse for many years. Just disappearing like she did for so long was a horrible thing to do, not only to her friends, but also to Bella. Emma couldn't hold back the sadness any longer and tears began welling up.

Aubrey saw it and immediately pulled her close. "Oh, Emma, I didn't mean to upset you," she said as she rubbed on Emma's back. "Roger, could you get the tissues, please?" she said with a nod toward her desk. She pulled a few out of the box that he held and dabbed at Emma's eyes. "Okay, Little Miss," Aubrey said, pulling Emma back to arm's length and lifting her head up by the chin, "enough of that now. She may have missed you, but I can guarantee that she will be excited when she sees you again. And she will be so happy to get to spend time with you today. So, let's show her that happy, beautiful young lady that she remembers and not the sad one that's standing in my office right now."

It was apparent to Roger that Emma had had several 'mothers' growing up. Some were older and some were younger, but they all clearly cared for her despite not being blood relatives. Emma was a very lucky young lady.

Emma held out a hand to Roger and he stepped close to hug her. "I can't believe I just abandoned her like that," she said and sobbed into his chest. "I was here, and then I was just...gone. And no one could even explain it to her."

Holding her gently he let her cry. He wondered if she would ever get to this point. Sure, she had a good reason for running away. A very painful reason. The humans that missed her could piece together why she was gone, and Sarah made contact with her on occasion for important decisions, but that was it. She hadn't told him about Bella, though. From Emma's reaction it seems like their bond had been strong, so he understood her pain right now.

"Where is Bella?" Roger asked Aubrey.

"In the back paddock with Winnie," she replied.

He kept rubbing Emma's back and kissed the top of her head. "Can you have Bella come to the big door out there? I think they have some things to work through."

Aubrey wasn't sure about the idea, and she definitely wasn't sure about taking orders from Roger. But she saw Emma nodding into Roger's chest.

"I don't know much about horses, Emma," he said quietly, "but I think you and Bella must have been very close." It wasn't his intention, but his comment got another loud sob from Emma. "Shh, shh," he said. "Listen. If you were that close, Bella may recognize, or...feel your emotions right now. I think she'll understand, Emma."

"But what if she doesn't?" Emma squeaked out.

"Then we'll work together and wear her down until she realizes that you didn't mean to hurt her, and that you miss her as much as she missed you."

He'd heard Aubrey calling for Bella and thought that they should start heading that way. Walking out of the office and the short distance to the main door, Emma's face was still buried in Roger's chest. He saw a beautiful buckskin horse walking toward Aubrey. At first, she didn't seem to mind that Roger was there, but when he told Emma to look up, Bella stopped in her tracks and took a step back.

Whether it was just that she recognized Emma and was upset herself, or she recognized that she was obviously sad and crying, Bella didn't move for a moment after backing up and stomped a hoof on the ground showing that she was irritated. This caused Emma to cry even harder thinking that Bella would never forgive her.

It hurt Roger very much to see her this way. He had promised to do everything he could to make her happy, but unfortunately, he had no control over this situation. All he could do was try to get them to reconcile. "Call to her, Emma. See if she'll come over."

She slowly looked up, tears streaking down her face, and with a wavering voice she called out to Bella. For a moment, the horse didn't move and was distracted when Winnie, a gray Appaloosa, walked up next to her. Emma swallowed hard and tried again. "Bellaboo," she said, her voice still wavering, "I'm back. I'm so sorry that I just left."

Her own words made her cry even harder, and she just stood in the open doorway of the barn, her shoulders slumped, and her hands on her face. Roger started to go to her, but Aubrey put a hand on his forearm to stop him. "Wait," she said. "Give it a minute. I know these horses, Roger. Trust me."

Bella dipped her head and slowly walked up to Emma. To her credit, she didn't move as the horse approached, but Roger recognized the foot stomp and Emma could be on the receiving end of either a hug or a very painful bite. Bella stopped with her muzzle about a foot away from Emma. After a moment, Bella blew in Emma's face and stepped closer to rest her head on Emma's shoulder.

Aubrey squealed a light "Yay!" as Emma wrapped her arms around Bella's neck.

"So...what happened?" Roger asked, confused.

"Well, Bella was obviously perturbed when she first saw Emma. That's why she backed up and then stomped her foot. It was a little touch-and-go for a bit when she was approaching," Aubrey said as she shook her head still having been worried, "but when Bella blew in her face, I knew it was all good."

Roger was still confused. He watched as Emma kept hugging Bella and rubbing her muzzle and forelock. Bella seemed to be happy, but he really couldn't tell. "And why did she blow in her face?"

"It's a sign of trust," Emma said, the tears on her face now happy ones. "So is resting their head on you." She turned to Roger and motioned him over. "It means that we're okay. I just don't know what to do once your vacation is over," she said worriedly.

"Don't worry about that," he said as he kissed her cheek. "For now, you need to show this gorgeous girl how much you have missed her. Enjoy the moment."

"She's a lady, not a

girl

," Emma said proudly. "Bellaboo, my beautiful lady."

Emma introduced Roger to Bella. She wanted her horse to know that Roger and Emma were together and that he wasn't just another human. He was special to her. Emma had Roger rub on Bella so she would get used to him and his smell, but she also hugged him and kissed him in front of her hoping that Bella would get the message. Finally, Bella nickered and nudged Roger with her nose. Emma was happy with that.