A Different Kind Of Valentine

Valentine's day 2025 contest

A Different Kind of Valentine

A/N: While this is not my first story it is my first posting to Literotica. I hope you enjoy it.

Despite the category, this is not strictly speaking a lesbian story. It's just the place that it best fits given it's content.

If you like it. I'd love to read your comments. If you didn't like it, I'd still like to read your comments as long as they are insightful or thoughtful. Since this is for a contest, I'd love to get your vote. Thank you.

Happy Valentine's Day

I rolled over and started jabbing my finger down on my phone trying to blindly find the snooze button. Somewhere around the 5th or 6th stab I got it right and the damn thing shut up. My head hurt like hell and my mouth was dry. I pulled the blankets back over my head to block the light stabbing through the window. The problem was that I was awake now and that meant that I was done sleeping. Some days I hate that about my brain, but most days it was useful.

I pulled the blanket aside and stumbled to the bathroom. It felt like I was pissing forever, then I remembered why. I had probably drank a dozen beers last night, which is way more than I normally drink. However, yesterday was Friday the 13th and that meant that Odin, Scott, and Thomas had come over for a slasher marathon. It had become a tradition that started in college. We'd all managed to land fairly close to each other after graduation and it was the one thing we kept going. This was the first year it hadn't been a stag party: Odin was married now, Scott was engaged and getting married this summer. Thomas wasn't technically tied down, but he was part of a non-exclusive polycule. I didn't get it, you loved one girl, she loved you, you took on the world. Thomas wasn't wired like that though, and it didn't keep him from being the kind of friend you could call at 3 am if you needed to move out of a place in the middle of the night.

I pulled on something that looked like clothes and headed downstairs. As I stepped off the stairs I heard a moan and a giggle from the air mattress in the middle of the room. I didn't say anything, just headed to the kitchen and found a clean pint glass I could fill with ice and water to wash down some aspirin. That done, a coffee pod went into the Kuerig and I breathed in the heavenly aroma of Columbian roast. I was shocked at the amount of beer bottles stacked up on the counter. I didn't know we could still drink like that. There had to be 30 or 40 bottles scattered around the kitchen, and I was sure there were more in the living room. Although it would help explain why I felt so shitty this morning.

It took about 15 minutes to get them all gathered and stacked back into the 12-pack holders so they could go into the recycling. That done, the dishwasher was next. I was just finishing that up when I felt arms wrap around my middle.

"Thanks for hosting," a younger female voice said. "Sorry it didn't work out."

"Work out?" I asked as I turned around and saw Susan standing there in the button down that Thomas had been wearing last night. He was 6'3" and a former lacrosse player. She was a 5'3" gymnastics scholarship athlete. She was practically swimming in the damn shirt and it was just as hot as all those ads and shots from Hollywood made it seem.

"Jenny was hoping you and I would hit it off." She was cute, but I had kind of pawned her off on Thomas when there were only 3 girls and 4 guys.

"It's probably for the best. I'm in no shape to be good company for a woman as pretty as you." She blushed. It was nice to know that compliments still worked occasionally.

"Odin told me a little bit about your ex. She sounds like a bitch."

"Not really. I just got tired of the constant accusations. I understand she's had some shitty boyfriends, but she seriously needs to fix her shit before she tries finding another relationship. Any time I mentioned that to her, she just went off on me about maybe I just needed to man up."

"Maybe she just needed a good spanking." Her eyes glittered.

"Was that what that sound was last night?" Her pale skin turned apple red as she giggled. "Then I'm not the guy for you, anyway."

"Maybe not, but you seem like a good guy. The right girl will show up sooner or later. If it doesn't happen sooner, maybe I'll send a couple of my friends your way."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I knew a girl that was pretty much what I wanted in a woman. The problem was that she was married to my sister. I shook my head, I did not need to go down that road today.

"Doing anything for Valentine's Day?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's today, isn't it." I definitely did not have plans for tonight. "No, I think I'll sit home and read a good book. I just picked up Name of the Wind, been meaning to read it for a couple of years now."

She shrugged, and then got a far away look in her eyes. "One year I was bitching about not having anything to do on Valentine's Day and my dad told me I should do something for someone that needed a helping hand. My grandfather was really ill at the time, so I went over to his house and helped grandma with her chores. She taught me how to make Beef Bourguignon, which was grandpa's favorite. That night I acted as a waitress for them so they could have a candlelight dinner at home." There was a wistful smile on her lips. "It was the first time I ever saw my grandparents as people that were in love. It was their last Valentine's Day together, and grandma told me later it was the most special one they'd had since before my dad was born."

It made me want to hug her, but she wasn't sad, just remembering. We continued to visit while her coffee brewed. Thomas borrowed a t-shirt from me, since he said his shirt looked way better on Susan than it did on him. I gave her a bandana so she could belt it around the middle. I wiped out the last of the bacon and eggs making breakfast for everyone. Susan made toast. Odin ran to the liquor store for Bloody Mary mix and Vodka, fortunately they also had orange juice.

Susan offered to stay and help cleanup, but she and Thomas had been making eyes at each other all through breakfast, so I told her to go with him. He gave me a fist bump on the way out the door and told me he knew a couple of girls that might be into a guy like me. I told him if I ever got desperate enough for his sloppy seconds I'd give him a call. He laughed and led Susan to his car. Odin and Jenny thanked me for hosting and the use of the guest room. She threw the sheets and some towels in the washing machine while Odin helped me gather up the last of the trash from last night and haul it out.

Once I had my place back to myself I sat down to enjoy another cup of coffee and thought about what Susan had said. I got up and wandered back into the kitchen and inventoried what I had on hand. An idea began to form as I pulled out ingredients and stacked them on the counter. Once I'd verified I had everything I needed, I headed upstairs and looked over the two rooms. The guest room was crowded with a bed, a desk, and my exercise bike, but my room was open and mostly clean. A plan decided on, I called my sister.

"What's up, Jake?" She sounded stressed.

"Everything okay?"

"No. I've got to work until six tonight, Carol still isn't sleeping well, Steph is at her wit's end with the colic, and I can't figure out if it's the lack of sleep or if the hormones aren't fully treating her post-partum depression. On top of all that today is fucking Valentine's Day."

"Jesus, sis. Why didn't you tell me? I've told you I'll help out where I can. And Valentine's Day is exactly why I called."

"Ha ha, very funny. I don't have time or money to do anything for V-day, and I think Steph is starting to think I don't love her anymore." I could hear tears in her voice, but then she coughed as though trying to clear them.

"I'm assuming Steph is at home with Carol?"

"She was when I left this morning." I laid out the plan for her. She cried and I apologized for making her cry at work. She's a shipping manager for a local window and door manufacturer. The guys in her office would probably give her shit for crying, she tries to be 'one of the guys' and they have mostly accepted her. She said the guys all got a lot nicer after they met her wife. She was still a woman, she was never going to be fully accepted by a group of Hispanic men, but they could appreciate that she did a good job and never tried to undercut their machismo.

I spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon cooking and cleaning. I convinced the neighbor to run to the store and get me a dozen roses and a chocolate cake. When I explained what I was doing she was only too happy to help. She even loaned me a glass pedestal cake plate. My work done, I grabbed a shower, wiped down the bathroom, and headed to my sister's apartment after slipping into some comfortable clothes.

I heard Carol before the door unlocked. She did not sound happy. The door opened and Stephanie stood there with the baby on her left hip. She was a wreck. Her hair was up in a messy bun, strands of greasy hair sticking out every which way. Her golden-brown skin was pale and sallow. She had bags under her eyes, which were sunken and dull. The sweatshirt she was wearing had stains on it, some of them looked to be 2 or 3 days old.

"Sorry about the mess," was all she said as she turned around and shuffled toward the hall. I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. I felt her flinch slightly. I knew why, and it made me feel like shit. Falling in love with her was not part of the plan when they asked me if I'd be the father of their child. It was a great idea: both of them would have a genetic connection to the baby, they'd know the health and family history of the father, I could be around to provide a male role-model. If I'd just had to jack off into a cup it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, Stephanie couldn't seem to catch when it was artificial.

She'd prayed about it, she was still a good Catholic girl at heart, at least as much as she could be. She gave her confessions at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and did penance as provided by the priest. She believed that God wanted her to know a man that she might conceive. She talked to her priest, she did penance for adultery, but she caught in the first month that we tried it. Unfortunately for me, a baby wasn't the only thing that caught.

I'd tried to keep it to myself, but Mickey knew. Stephanie suspected, and I'm sure that Mickey told her. Things were awkward between us for a while. Then they introduced me to Janet and things got better between Steph and I. This was the first time I'd seen Steph since Janet and I broke up on New Year's Eve. I wasn't looking to rebound, and I sure as hell wasn't rebounding with my sister's wife.

"Are you doing okay?" It was a dumb question. I could see that she wasn't doing well. I wanted her to know I was still here for her though. She was my sister-in-law and I had loved her that way before the faux pa, and I was trying to love her that way again.

The look she gave me told me just how dumb that question was. "Can I hold Carol?" I hadn't held her since she came home from the hospital. I'd been avoiding coming over to my sister's place because things between Steph and I were still uncomfortable, or maybe I just thought they might be since I hadn't really taken time to talk to Stephanie about it.

"Do you even know how to hold a baby?"

"Yes, I know how to hold a baby." The look she gave me told me all of the doubts she had. "When Rich went out of town right after Jacob was born, he asked me to come stay with Eileen 'just in case.' Turned out it was a dastardly plan by Eileen to make sure I knew how to take care of a baby." That made her laugh. She handed me Carol and I slid my left arm underneath her and cradled her head in my elbow.

She had her mother's dark hair and brown eyes. Her skin was a little paler than Stephanie's, but still a gorgeous golden tan color. Her nose and chin definitely came from my side of the family. I couldn't tell about the shape of her mouth because she didn't stop screaming. I gave her a knuckle to chew on, the quiet lasted for all of about three seconds.

"I'd give you a bottle to feed her, but she just ate 20 minutes ago."

"We'll figure it out. I heard it's been rough, can I give you a hug?" She moved to my right and wrapped her arms around me.

"I was sorry to hear about you and Janet. I'm glad you dumped her though. She wasn't good for you."

"Thanks." Everybody else had said they were glad we broke up, that she had issues and needed to get them straightened out, that she was a bitch that didn't deserve me, all the usual platitudes. Stephanie saying she wasn't good for me touched me in a way that none of the others did.

She finally pulled away after a couple of minutes. "So what made you decide to come over. Mickey's text just said that you were coming over to help out and that I was supposed to listen to you." She had to speak a little louder than normal to be heard over Carol.

"Mickey's taking you out on a date for Valentine's Day. I'm hanging out with my daughter. See if I can't straighten her out a bit." I smiled trying to convey that I was being cheeky. Steph was a good mom, she was just in a bad situation. I'd heard of colic, but had never dealt with it. I was very quickly coming to the conclusion that dealing with this all the time would be awful.

"A date," she looked like someone had just kicked her dog. "I just want to get a good night's sleep. I look like shit. I can't go out."

"That's why I'm here now. I'm going to take care of Carol, you're going to shower and do whatever. Mickey will come home and shower, and then you two will go out."

"Any idea what she's doing? And how is she paying for this? Things have been pretty tight since I'm not working."

"You're going out for dinner and spending the night somewhere quiet. I'm staying here." Her eyes went wide with what I assumed was horror. "I'm just going to crash on the couch." I'd slept in the bed she normally shared with my sister, but I was sure that was not a good idea now.

"My house is a disaster," she wailed. "I can't have company in this... pigsty."

"I'm family, not a guest," I said as I held her against me. Apparently that didn't make it any better. I took one last shot. "Besides, she's my Christmas Carol too. I should have been doing more to help out." After a few minutes she stopped crying.

"I'm sorry I got snot all over your shirt." I was about to say something about how I was sure it was going to get worse when Carol stopped crying and screwed up her face. Her stomach rumbled and the palm of my hand felt the warmth of her filling her diaper. Steph snorted a laugh and looked up at me. "Changing table is in the nursery, Daddy."

I laid my daughter on the changing table and located everything I was going to need. Eileen had drilled into me to make sure everything was close at hand, because the longer you took the more likely you were to get surprises. Carol voiced her displeasure at this turn of events, though I'm not sure if this was a new fit or a continuation of the old one. I got her changed without throwing up from the smell and without her peeing on me. Apparently little girls were just as bad about that as little boys were. I was also lucky that she hadn't had a blow out that required a bath. Jacob had done that to me three times in two days.

"I'll have to thank Eileen," Steph said from the doorway. "You handled that much better than I thought you would." Carol started to calm down, and I looked down to see her chewing on her fist. "Tummy full, butt dry, time for nap." I picked her up and turned toward the crib when she started reaching for my face.

"Oh, what is it," I cooed to her. "Do you want to give daddy a kiss?" I brought her up to me, but apparently what had her so fascinated was the short beard I had started growing when Janet and I broke up. I made the cardinal mistake of forgetting that a baby has a grip like a steel claw. She got a handful of beard, then took her hand out of her mouth and got another one. The only way to get her to stop pulling was to bring her closer, so I did. I leaned down and blew a raspberry on her tummy. She actually giggled, so I did it again. By the third time she was done with it though. She started to wail again. I looked over to Steph.

"Just put her down. There's nothing else you can do. She might fall asleep." I made my way over beside Stephanie.

"How does she do in the car?" I asked, thinking about how to make the situation less awkward.

"Pretty good, it usually puts her to sleep." I could hear a bit of wariness in her voice.

"Why don't I take her for a ride? I've got a couple of errands that I didn't get done this morning. That'll give you some privacy and quiet time so you can get a shower and a nap." I glanced at my watch. "You've got about three hours before Mickey gets home."

"I can't. I have to clean up the house if you're staying here."

I took her by the shoulders. "No, you don't. You're half asleep on your feet. Get a shower. Take a nap. Enjoy your date. Those are the only things you have to do today."

"How is she paying for this?"

"She isn't."

"You can't pay for..." I put my finger on her lips.

"I'm not. It will make sense when you get there. Let me do something nice for the two of you. Besides," I smiled at her. "I want to spend some time with my daughter." The fight went out of her like a deflating balloon.

"I love you, sis." I kissed her on the forehead. My small brain got a couple of bright ideas, but I ignored him. "Where's her diaper bag?" It took ten minutes for Steph to find and explain everything she thought I'd need for a three-hour tour. Then I added her pediatrician, Children's Hospital, and Stephanie's mother to my phone contacts. Never mind that her mother lived 14 hours away, and in another country, I had to have that number in case I needed it.

By the time we got everything together and the car-seat and baby into my car it was nearly 4:00. I wasn't worried, I had no deadlines. I was just worried that Steph would decide she needed to clean house instead of taking a nap. Once Steph went back inside I texted my sister and told her what was going on and to keep her wife on task. She replied back with a whip-crack gif that made me laugh.

As soon as we hit the highway Carol zonked out. I had never realized how loud silence could be. Instead of heading to the store I was planning to go to, I drove 30 miles south to a neighboring town just so that Carol could continue to sleep. About half-way there I got a call from Steph. I assured her that everything was fine and Carol was sleeping soundly in her car seat. Once Steph assured me she had taken a shower and was getting ready for a short nap, we hung up.

Since Carol's carrier snapped in and out of the car seat, I didn't even have to wake her up. I was also very pleased to find out that whatever engineer had designed this carrier included notches that just so happened to fit over a standard grocery cart. All the valentines day stuff was on clearance, and I found a pink and red Frankenstein that did an homage to Alice Cooper when he sang,

"Be my Valentine/I'm hungry for love and it's feeding time."

That went into the carrier with Carol while food for breakfast went into the cart along with a baby swing since I had not seen one at Mickey and Steph's apartment. Carol woke up while I was checking out. Fortunately, Frankenstein seemed to be entertaining and tasty. She started to fuss when I took him away to scan him, but settled down when she got him back.

During that trip I also noticed something. Women love babies. Men with babies and no wedding rings seem to be particularly attractive. I'd always been told to get a dog if I wanted to meet women. This seemed way more effective. Although once I admitted that I was babysitting for my sister and her wife the interest cooled in most cases. I took one phone number, but I had no intention of calling a woman with two kids by two different fathers. I also discovered that having changing stations in the men's room is very handy. All those guys that say they should only be in women's restrooms can kiss my ass.