All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
"Let me out! Let me out!" Penelope Nisha leaned her dark face against the small window in the cell's only door. The room they had her in was so antiseptically white and bright that she had a hard time seeing through the glass out into the hall. She would have beat on it with her fists, but the heathens that ran the hospital wouldn't let her wear gloves for "safety" reasons. She had begun to suspect that the doctors and nurses garnered some sort of perverse joy by undressing their patients so. "Please let me out!" Penelope choked back the sobs that wanted to spill out of her. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
I'm brave. I'm loyal. I'm a loving wife and mother. I just want to go home.
There was noise from the other side of the door. She could hear faint voices and the sound of metal clicking on metal. They were coming in again. Penelope stepped back from the door, trying to tidy her raven hair. They wouldn't allow her a pin or a hat, so it fell past her shoulders. She straightened her bodice, smoothed her skirts, and fixed her green eyes on the door hopefully. Her hands went behind her back again for modesty.
There was a loud click and door swung into the room. Two doctors strode in wearing a white coats.
Penelope put on her best smile and curtsied. She recognized the taller doctor with glasses. "Dr. Montgomery. I assure you I am no threat to myself or anyone else. If you could please notify my husband, I'm sure he would -"
"She is a beauty, you were right," said the doctor Penelope didn't recognize.
"She is." Dr. Montgomery nodded to his colleague and turned his attention back to Penelope. "Your husband is at the hospital, Mrs. Nisha." Dr. Montgomery consulted the screen that hovered over his hand. "Do you still remember nothing since the night of January thirteenth, 2196?"
"My husband is here?" Penelope's heart thumped in her chest. "Please, can I see him? Can I have a pair of gloves?"
I love Felix so much. I am a loving wife.
"Your memory, Mrs. Nisha." Doctor Montgomery frowned. "Please answer the question."
"Yes, I remember that night. The next thing I know, I'm in your hospital. I don't know how I got here. I told you..." Penelope tugged at her fingers behind her back, her body tense with anxiety. She'd had a fight with her husband that night. But then again, she and Felix often fought. Poor Theodore and Winifred had witnessed the screaming match, and she had turned her vitriol on them. She felt ashamed at the way she'd acted. Her back straightened, and she stepped closer to the doctor. "My son. Is Teddy here, too? I would very much like to see him."
I love Teddy so much! I would do anything for my son.
"I'm sorry, Penny. Teddy is at home. But I'm here." Felix Nisha walked into the room wearing one of his flawless checkered suits with a striped tie.
"Oh... Felix." Penelope wanted to run into her husband's arms, but she was too overcome with emotion to move. Her forehead beaded with sweat, her mind swirled, her bare palms became damp, and her vagina hummed, becoming a veritable cascade. "I feel... so strange."
"I'm here, darling." Felix closed the distance between them. He wasn't a tall man, but he was rotund and strong. His wife was about four inches shorter, and fourteen years younger, than him. Despite the weight of her ample curves, he lifted her off her feet and hugged her tightly. "Promise you won't ever leave us again."
"I promise, darling." Penelope's mind spun faster. What did he mean?
Did I leave the house and check myself into the hospital?
An ugly thought occurred to her. "How long have I been gone?"
"Two and a half years. Where have you been? Where have you been?" Felix put her back on her feet. His inscrutable brown eyes searched her dazed green ones.
She was frozen by his words. They had taken the breath right out of her.
Years? I've been gone years?
It felt like the fight on the thirteenth was no more than a day ago. "How... how... how...?" She put her hands on his shoulders, forgetting her modesty.
"Yes, Penny?" There was so much joy written on Felix's face. He had the expression of a man who had discovered lost treasure.
"How... old is Teddy?" She finally managed to get the words out.
"He's nineteen, taking a gap year after school. He can't wait to see you. He's..." But Felix wasn't able to finish his thought before his wife's eyes rolled backward, and she fainted into his arms.
~~
"Your parents will arrive soon, Teddy." Winifred stood in the doorway to Theodore's bedroom. She was the house's AI, and often took the form of female robot. She had some biological parts, but was more mechanical than anything else. At one point, the home's master, Felix Nisha, had offered her an Alternate's body. This was an extravagant offer. Alternates were outrageously expensive, and looked completely human. But Winifred had declined. She had been created in a world without Alternates and was programmed to be herself. She wasn't human and was comfortable with that fact. She waited with her gloved, polymer hands clasped in front of her skirts. "Did you hear me, Teddy? Your mother is almost here. Perhaps you should put on a jacket and tie to greet her."
"She left us, Freddie." Theodore didn't look up from the book he was pretending to read. His shirt was partially unbuttoned, and his trousers pulled up past his calves, showing his plaid socks. His pudgy body was propped sideways on the armchair by his bed. The window near his right hand was open and dark. Crickets thrummed outside. He scrunched up his face, waiting for Winifred to say something. The house AI had practically raised him, and she knew when to wait him out. He raised his green eyes toward her, brushing back his black hair. "Dad shouldn't bring her back. She left us. She should stay left."
Winifred offered her mechanical smile. Her robot body had the same dark skin as the family she worked for, which made her smiles seem particularly white. "We don't know why she left. Give her a chance to explain. She loves you, Teddy."
"You love me, Freddie. She... is fond of me... maybe. That's the most you can say." Theodore shrugged.
"She brought you into this world." Winifred walked over to his closet, opened it, and picked out a suitable jacket and tie. She folded them neatly over her arm and turned back to him.
"Any animal can have a child. It doesn't mean they can be a mother." Theodore sighed, put down his book, and stood. "Fine, I'll wear the jacket and tie. Give them to me." He dressed himself and went downstairs. Somehow, his mother was returning.
~~
On the car ride home, Penelope couldn't contain herself. She planted kisses all over her husband's neck and face. The windows were tinted, and the car's AI was rudimentary, so it couldn't spy on them. She reached into his trousers. "Ohhhhhhh... Felix... your thing feels magnificent. Has it really been so long since I touched you?"
"Calm yourself, Penny." Felix removed her now gloved hand from his trousers and sat her upright next to him. "The doctor said you might experience some odd mood swings do to whatever caused your amnesia. Try to remember that you're a proper lady, and we'll have plenty of time for intimacy in our bedroom this evening."
"Oh... yes, of course." She nodded.
I am a good wife.
"I don't know what came over me." It was true, she didn't know. In the last decade, they hadn't spent much intimate time together. But now she had to reign in the urge to pounce onto his lap and ride him like a stallion.
"We're almost home. Do you have any questions before we see Theodore, Winifred, and Cora?" Felix gave her an encouraging smile. He could see she was working hard to control herself.
The mention of their terrier, Cora, brought back memories of arguments over getting the puppy. She hadn't wanted the extra responsibility and had never warmed up to the dog. But now, she was almost looking forward to seeing her furry little face.
I am brave.
The thought of the little canine gave her courage. "The doctors didn't say what happened to me. Where was I? Was there some sort of accident at the house? Was I in a coma all this time?"
"Hmmmmmm." Felix pressed his lips together and chastely held her hands. "I wish I had answers for you. All that I know is that we had a fight, and you left us in March of 96. You packed a suitcase and departed for gods know where. I searched for you but found nothing. Then, two days ago, the hospital informed me that you admitted yourself. They scanned your face and called me right away. You had total amnesia at first, but some of your memories returned. Dr. Montgomery said that extreme trauma can cause this sort of gap in memory, and your amnesia might be temporary. Or, you might never remember what happened over the past two and a half years. The important thing, darling, is that you're home with us. And that you won't leave again."
"No... I would never... I can't believe I... are you sure I wasn't kidnapped?" Penelope tried to fathom why she would leave. She remembered that things had been rocky, but looking at her husband now dispelled any doubts she had about her marriage.
"Winifred saw you leave on your own and enter a hired vehicle." Felix shrugged. "Try not to be upset. I know our marriage has had its troubles, but that's behind us now. And look, up there..." He pointed through the windshield. Their large home came into view, rising between the trees like three stacked boxes that were all perfectly out of alignment. "Welcome home, Penny."
"It's so hard to wrap my mind around all of this. My last memory is months before I left. In my mind, I was here a few days ago. But... I can see things have changed." She squeezed his hands, suddenly nervous to see her son. Would he welcome her? Would she be a good mother?
"Things have changed. But perhaps this will allow us to begin anew." Felix kissed her chastely on her dark, round cheek. The car pulled into the drive and parked in the roundabout. The door opened. He stepped out and pulled her out of her seat. "I am so happy that we're a family again."
"Me too." Penelope nodded. There were tears in her eyes. It was true, joy swelled inside her. Whatever had happened, she knew it was right that she was home. She could feel the truth of that in her bones.
~~
Of those assembled to welcome Penelope back home, only Winifred's greeting was warm.
Theodore was laconic and withdrawn. He offered a perfunctory hug and nothing more. When his mother commented on how he'd grown into a man, he scowled.
Cora gave Penelope a few cursory sniffs and walked into another room. She had never cared for the woman.
It was late, but Penelope insisted on making supper. She went upstairs and put on her own clothes. It spoke to her husband's undying faith in her that he hadn't disposed of her things after she left them.
I can't believe I would leave my family. There has to be some other explanation.
Seeing her familiar outfits brought a smile to her face. Everything was a bit dusty, but otherwise in order. Only a few things were missing. She must have packed light the night she...
